Ashes, Ashes, They All Fall Dead

by LENA DIAZ,

  In spite of Madison’s good-natured teasing, Matt wasn’t sure he believed her. His sister-in-law was ridiculously independent and didn’t like anyone to worry about her. If she thought the entire Buchanan clan might descend on her house because they thought she was in trouble, she’d probably lie to keep that from happening. He was about to insist on talking to Pierce when the door to his father’s bedroom opened.

  His middle brother, Devlin, lounged in the doorway, arms crossed, a mischievous grin on his face.

  That didn’t bode well.

  Standing a few feet behind him in the hallway was Matt’s twin, Austin, with an equally wicked grin on his face. Matt’s oldest brother, Braedon, leaned back against the wall, as if he was settling in to watch a show.

  “What have you done?” Matt demanded, images of Devlin making a pass at Tessa already having him clenching his fist.

  Devlin spread his hands in an innocent gesture. “I’ve been a perfect gentleman.”

  “What’s going on?” Madison asked.

  “Hold on a sec.” Matt lowered his phone. “Your definition of a perfect gentleman and mine are distinctly different, Devil.”

  Devlin clucked his tongue. “Such mistrust. I came in here to warn you. I shouldn’t have even bothered.” He turned to leave.

  “Wait, wait.” Matt jumped off the bed.

  Devlin turned around, an innocent expression on his face. “Yes?”

  “Madison,” Matt said, “call me if you need anything, okay? I’ve gotta go.”

  “I’m fine. Pierce is taking good care of me. Bye, Matt.”

  “Love you. Bye.” He put his phone away. “Okay, I’ll bite. Warn me about what?”

  “Your girlfriend is—”

  “She’s not my girlfriend.”

  “Uh-huh. Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter, then.”

  Matt was seriously considering punching his brother’s grinning face. The fact that he’d probably end up in a free-for-all with all three brothers stopped him. Not because he wouldn’t enjoy exchanging some punches, but because his father wouldn’t approve. “What doesn’t matter?”

  “Your hot little redhead is on the back deck. Alone. With Alex. And I’m pretty sure she’s getting one of those ‘special’ speeches of his.”

  Matt cursed and shoved his laughing brother out of the way. He nearly ran Austin and Braedon over as he sprinted down the hallway.

  TESSA SHOOK HER head in bewilderment and leaned back against the deck railing.

  “Alex, why are you asking me all these personal questions?”

  “Because Matt brought you home.”

  She let out a strangled laugh. “We’re not dating, sir, if that’s what you’re implying. We’re working together, or we were working together.” She let out another forced laugh, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. “Do you grill everyone he brings here, asking them about their families and what they do in their spare time?”

  He leaned against the railing beside her, his intense dark gaze boring into her. “I wouldn’t know. He’s never brought another woman home before.”

  Her mouth dropped open. The sliding glass door squeaked behind her as it rolled back on its track.

  Matt’s enormous dog came bounding across the deck and launched itself at Alex. He firmly pushed her down and frowned at Matt, who was just a few steps behind. Matt gave Tessa a wary, questioning look before grabbing his dog’s collar and pulling her off his father.

  “You need to teach that horse of yours some manners.” Alex brushed dog hair off his shirt. But in spite of his harsh-sounding words, he patted Ginger on the head, as if to make sure he hadn’t hurt her feelings.

  “Sorry, Dad. Everything okay out here?”

  His brothers chose that moment to come out of the house. They grinned and waved at Tessa and headed to the grill on the far end of the deck, where the mouthwatering smell of steaks filled the air.

  Desperate to escape the inquisition, Tessa used the first excuse she could think of. “I . . . ah . . . need to use the ladies’ room.” She hurried past Matt and went inside.

  MATT WATCHED TESSA escape inside, then turned in time to see Ginger trying to tackle his father again.

  “Oh, good grief. Down, Ginger. Down.” He pulled the dog off his dad and directed her toward his brothers. “Someone distract her, feed her, do something.”

  Devlin dropped to his knees and clapped his hands.

  Ginger loped toward him, much like the horse Alex had described.

  Devlin wrapped the dog in a bear hug. He patted her head and took her down the back steps to play fetch in the field behind the house. Matt would have to thank him later.

  His father started plucking dog hairs off his shirt.

  “Sorry about the hair. Next time I’ll put Ginger in a kennel.”

  Alex’s head shot up. “You will not. She needs room to run. She’d be miserable locked in a cage.”

  He wasn’t surprised his dad had said that. Alex might get irritated at the upkeep a dog like Ginger required, but he had a soft spot in his heart for her.

  “From the way Tessa ran inside to get away from you, I can only assume you gave her one of your infamous back-deck speeches. What did you say?”

  Alex shrugged. “I asked her about her family. She doesn’t have any siblings. Did you know that?”

  He hadn’t known that, but it helped make sense of why she’d be willing to move away from her family for her career, since she didn’t have a large family like he did. He figured his dad would lock him up in chains if he ever wanted to leave Savannah. Family was everything to Alex Buchanan, as evidenced by the fact that he’d raised his own twin toddler boys along with the three sons he’d inherited by marriage when Matt’s mom ran off with another man.

  “No, I didn’t know that,” Matt answered. “And I shouldn’t know that, unless Tessa decided to tell me. You shouldn’t have asked her personal questions. We’re working together. That’s it. There’s nothing personal between us.”

  “That’s what she said.”

  Matt stiffened, then forced himself to relax. It shouldn’t bother him that Tessa had insisted the same thing he was insisting. There wasn’t anything else between them. Not now, anyway. “Well, she’s right.”

  “She was your date at Pierce’s wedding.”

  “That was years ago, and she wasn’t my date. She went to the wedding, alone, because she’s Pierce’s co-worker.”

  Alex grabbed two bottles of beer from the cooler by one of the chairs. He twisted off the caps and handed a bottle to him.

  Matt nodded and took a deep pull, relishing the cold liquid in contrast to the warmth outside. Summer was barreling into town. Soon it would be too hot, even at night, to cook outside without getting drenched in sweat.

  “You sat by her at the wedding.”

  Matt choked on his beer. He lowered the bottle and coughed several times before he trusted his ability to speak. “Again, years ago. And it wasn’t a date. We’re not dating. I may have wanted to date her, a long time ago. But she made it perfectly clear she wasn’t interested.”

  “She’s a smart woman, with a fine career. I like her.”

  “Maybe you should date her,” Matt grumbled. “She prefers older men.”

  Alex’s eyebrows rose. “You sure about that? I could have sworn she liked you. I can usually read people pretty well.”

  “Trust me. I’m sure.” He didn’t count that kiss in Priceville. That was a one-time thing, a miracle, a memory he’d always treasure. And last night she’d been drunk, so he didn’t count that either. He’d blown his one shot with her, if he’d really ever had one, when he’d switched that damn letter.

  “Sometimes it’s hard to tell,” Alex continued. “People are complicated. Maybe she—”

  “Dad, stop it.”

  “I’m just saying you might be wrong.” He tilted his beer up for a drink and watched Devlin playing fetch with Ginger.

  “I’m not wrong, and I didn’t misunderstand her. When I aske
d her out, a long time ago, she told me she didn’t date younger men. She said she’d had a relationship with a younger guy once, back in high school. It was the best three minutes of her life.”

  This time Alex choked on his beer. It spewed out of his mouth over the railing and he started coughing.

  Matt pounded him on the back until his father held up his hands in surrender.

  “Okay, okay. You’re not a couple.” He gave Matt a rare smile. “Boys.” He waved at Austin and Braedon, who were pulling the steaks off the grill and putting them on a stainless- steel platter. “Tell Devlin to put that monster in the back room and wash up. Let’s eat.”

  WITH PIERCE GONE, there were only four Buchanan brothers to contend with at the dinner table. But along with their father, Alex, that meant Tessa was the only woman among five brawny males, every one of them six feet tall or more. All that testosterone was a bit intimidating.

  Without exception, the Buchanan men were solid and heavily muscled, probably from a combination of working the family construction business and helping maintain the extensive property on which Alex Buchanan’s house resided.

  Beside her, the oldest brother, Braedon, leaned down. “You look confused, darlin’,” he whispered.

  “I guess I am,” she whispered back. “I know Pierce, of course, because we work together. But I don’t know that much about the rest of you. I’m trying to remember which ones work in construction and which ones work, well, somewhere else.”

  “The construction business is my baby,” he said. “I’m Braedon, the oldest brother, in case you don’t remember.”

  “I know who you are.”

  He winked and she couldn’t help but grin in response. Braedon was like a gentle giant. His smiles and good humor were contagious.

  “Everyone helps at B and B on occasion,” he continued, “like Matt used to, during summer breaks from college. Austin hasn’t had much of a chance to work construction because of his mobility problems in the past, but he’s making up for it now. Matt has helped the most. Still does. I think the exercise helps him think. Give him a tough case to crack in his PI business and he’ll end up at a job site somewhere for a couple of days.”

  Tessa nodded. That pretty much fit what Matt had already told her. “Who’s the other B in B and B Construction?”

  “Alex, my father. He gave me the seed money to start the company years ago. He never let me pay him back, so I named the company after him and gave him a piece of the business.”

  “Why do you call him Alex instead of dad?”

  He shrugged. “It never felt right calling him dad since we’re so close in age. He’s not my biological father. He was much younger than my mother. And I was fourteen, a son from one of her previous marriages.”

  Tessa blinked. Apparently liking older women ran in the family, at least where Alex and Matt were concerned. “None of you are his real kids?”

  “We’re all his sons,” he said, looking serious for once. “But only Austin and Matt are his biological children.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend. I shouldn’t have pried.”

  His smile came back as if it had never left. “You didn’t offend. And nothing we’re talking about is a secret.”

  He answered a question from Austin, sitting across from him, leaving Tessa to wonder about the brother Braedon hadn’t mentioned: Devlin. All she knew about him was that he was the tallest, fell somewhere in age between Pierce and Matt, and sometimes his brothers called him Devil. He was a charmer, like Braedon, but she sensed a darkness inside him and had no clue what he did for a living.

  “If you want to date Devlin, just ask him.”

  She jerked at the sound of Matt’s voice. He was sitting on her right and had just whispered that outrageous comment in her ear.

  “What are you talking about?” she hissed.

  “You’re staring at him. He’s only about three years older than you, but still, he is older. I figured, with your preference for older men, you were angling for a date. Just ask him. Trust me. He’ll say yes. He never turns down a beautiful woman.”

  Tessa’s face flushed hot both from his sarcastic comment and his buried compliment, calling her beautiful. She doubted he’d even realized he’d said that.

  But he was right about one thing. She had been staring. Devlin was sitting across from her, but thankfully he hadn’t seemed to notice she’d been watching him. He was too busy finishing off the last of his steak and nodding at whatever Alex was saying beside him.

  “I was curious about your family,” she said. “I’m not interested in Devlin, or anyone else at this table.”

  Matt’s jaw tightened at that comment. He stabbed the last piece of his steak with his fork and shoved it in his mouth.

  Alex glanced at him then. His brows lowered and he looked around the table. “Boys, I think we’re pretty much done here. Clean up and let me have a few minutes with Matt and Tessa.”

  Tessa expected these full-grown men to complain about being told to do chores and ordered to leave the room, but no one said anything. They simply cleared the table and disappeared through the archway into the foyer on their way to the kitchen, leaving her and Matt with Alex in a suddenly ominously quiet dining room.

  Alex folded his arms on the table in front of him and sized them up as if he was in a courtroom. “Tell me everything, from the beginning.”

  Tessa blinked in confusion. Was he bent on prying more personal information out of her? “I’m sorry, sir, but I’m not sure what—”

  “He’s asking about the case,” Matt said. “I told him a little bit about it on the deck. Dad is a good sounding board. He used to be a defense attorney. I wanted to get his perspective.”

  “My license is still active,” Alex corrected him. “I’m not quite in mothballs just yet.”

  Matt gave him a wry grin. “My apologies.”

  “This is why you wanted to bring me here tonight?” Tessa asked. “To talk about the case? There is no case anymore, not for me, not for us. I’ve been suspended. Or had you forgotten?”

  She started to scoot back her chair, but Matt stopped her with his hand on top of hers. She glanced up at him in question, trying to ignore the little burst of pleasure his touch had caused.

  “Are you really going to give up that easily?” he asked.

  Her back stiffened. “I’m not in the habit of giving up, no, but what else can I do? Without the FBI’s resources behind me, there’s nothing I can do.”

  “I’ve got plenty of resources. And I cleared my schedule for a full week right after you came to Pierce’s house to talk to me about the letters. It’s only been a few days. We can still work together through the end of my original contract and see what happens.”

  She tugged her hand out from under his. “It’s not that simple.”

  “I agree with Matt,” Alex said. “You should continue to work together and see what you can find out. He’s owes you that much. From what he told me, it’s his fault you got suspended.”

  “Gee, thanks, Dad.” Matt’s voice was dry, with a hint of humor underlying his tone.

  Alex shrugged. “It’s the truth. And what better way to rehabilitate your career after a suspension than to solve a major case? Especially if you solve it before an entire task force can solve it.”

  “Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do, both of you. And I admit I’m tempted. The Ashes case has been an obsession for me for a long time. I’d love to be the one to find and stop the killer. But, as callous and selfish as it may sound, I have to consider the impact to my career. I’m sure my boss doesn’t want me continuing the investigation, even in an unofficial capacity.”

  “He doesn’t have to know,” Matt said. “We can keep it a secret until or unless we find some hard evidence to share with the task force.”

  “Keeping secrets from Casey hasn’t worked out well for me so far.” She waved her hand in the air. “This is all an exercise in futility anyway. My finances won’t allow me to spend mon
ey out of my pocket to continue the investigation. I don’t make much as a special agent. I can’t afford to fly around the country, or fund any special tests that might be needed. All I can do is good, old-fashioned legwork and interviews, without even having the benefit of my FBI credentials to make people cooperate.”

  “I’m happy to cover any expenses. And I can use my PI credentials when we interview anyone. You’d be amazed how easy it is to get people to talk to a private investigator.”

  She shook her head. “No. I’m not a charity case. I don’t want you spending your money on me.”

  His gaze searched hers. “Let me do this. I owe it to you. And as far as Casey finding out you’re working with me, you can always tell him that I refused to stop investigating, so you went along to ensure I didn’t interfere with any work the task force was doing.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not going to lie.”

  His jaw tightened. “It wouldn’t be a lie. I’m not going to stop trying to find the Ashes Killer.”

  “Why? Why are you doing this? Why can’t you just let it go?”

  “Because, like it or not, I feel responsible for your safety. Casey may not be taking the link between you and the killer seriously, but I do. This killer is someone you know, someone from your past. You have to consider that he sent those letters to your place of work so you would see them. He’s playing some kind of game. And so far, everyone he’s fixated on has died. You have to go on the offensive, find him before he finds you. And I’m not going to let you do that alone.”

  The concern in his voice both surprised and confused her. Did he really think she was in danger? And when had he started to genuinely care about what happened to her? Or was she reading him wrong? She shied away from that question, not sure she really wanted the answer. Instead she focused on the rest of his argument, mainly that she needed to take control of her own fate, go on the offensive. That rang true with her more than anything else. If the killer was someone from her past, someone who wanted to hurt her, she’d be damned if she was going to sit around and wait for permission from her boss to see to her own safety.