Crave the Heat

by Marnee Blake

  “I’m working on this. I’m going to go see your father today, try to have a conversation with him. If you tell anyone now, you might close the line of communication with your father.” She snagged a T-shirt off the floor, needing to cover herself. It didn’t do much, though, leaving most of her butt hanging out the back.

  “Yeah, but if they know they’re being watched, it might keep you safer. Whoever tried to hurt you last night is feeling ballsy. If no one puts pressure on them, what keeps them from trying something else like that again? And what if the next time you aren’t so lucky?”

  A shiver slithered down her spine. In spite of her best effort to appear strong and confident, she couldn’t help worrying about the same thing. But, she was sure she was right about his father; the second Dak’s family came under official investigation, there’s no way she’d get anything out of them. “Please, let me talk to him. Today.”

  Dak’s eyes narrowed. “You have an appointment to talk with him?”

  “Well, no—”

  “Let me guess, he hasn’t called you back.”

  “Well, no.”

  “When did you call?”

  She pursed her lips. “I’ve left three messages.”

  He shook his head, getting to his feet. “He’s not going to talk to you, Heidi. We need to tell Jesse and you should tell the rest of the agencies.”

  “I need more time to try.” She reached for a pair of panties, frustrated with his highhandedness. “If he doesn’t talk to me, what makes you think he’ll talk to anyone else?”

  “I don’t care about him,” he said through gritted teeth. “I care about your safety.” The words were ripped from him and full of so much concern that she paused in her hurried dressing. His eyes were pleading. “Please. You have to see that this isn’t worth risking your safety over.”

  She stepped closer, wrapping her arms around him. “I promise you, I’ll be careful. If I don’t get through to him soon, I’ll take it to the next level.”

  He shook his head, studying her face. She expected him to continue arguing, but instead, he tucked her head under his chin and squeezed her.

  Closing her eyes, she breathed him in. Though she’d love to stay there with him, to maybe drag him back to bed, she needed to get to work.

  “I’m going to be late,” she said, pulling away. As she scurried around, calling a car service, grabbing clothes and telling him that she’d call him at lunch, he was quieter than usual.

  As he kissed her goodbye, he remained thoughtful. It was obvious he didn’t like to wait, but she could feel it, that today was going to bring something different. Something in this case.

  She was due for a breakthrough, wasn’t she?

  * * * *

  “Thanks for meeting me, Heidi.” Jesse Broadridge stepped forward, his hand outstretched.

  Heidi smiled as she shook it. “Thanks for calling me.” He’d left her a message this morning, saying they should talk about the newest development in the arson case. She’d headed to the reservation after lunch, dropping Jesse a text to tell him that she would see him when she got to the police department.

  She hoped that it was something to do with Lyle Parrish, his role in this. She’d asked Jesse if there was another way to get in touch with him. He’d agreed to see if he could get him to follow up with her. “No problem. I said I’d keep you in the loop when we found out something.” He motioned toward the building. “I assumed Dak would fill you in, but it is early. Maybe he didn’t call you yet.”

  “Dak?” It might have been stupid, but she swore her face heated. Jesse’s grin faded, his expression getting serious. “Yeah.” He held the door open for her. “Since he was the one who called me. It’s his brother.”

  She ground to a stop right on the threshold of the door, her hand holding it open. “It’s Dak’s brother?” No way. He’d agreed to wait for her to try to talk with his father first, before he called Jesse with his suspicions.

  At least that’s what she thought they’d been discussing. Now, as she replayed the conversation, she wasn’t sure if he had actually agreed with her. He’d only stopped trying to persuade her. She gritted her teeth.

  Jesse nodded. “Dak called me this morning. His brother ran with a rough crowd when he was in high school. Dak told me that their family home had burned when he was a child, that maybe it would be a good idea to talk with him about these arsons.”

  She could only blink at him. “Did he specifically ask you to call me to talk to him, too?”

  “He did.”

  Well, wasn’t that just thoughtful of him? She shook her head, her irritation level so high she could feel the heat on her neck.

  Pushing forward, she followed him inside and he waved her into an interrogation room. She still hadn’t recovered before she stood in front of a man in his early twenties who looked remarkably like the man who’d shared her bed last night.

  “Mike Parrish, this is Heidi Sinclair from the Forest Services. Now that she’s here, we’d like to ask you a few questions.”

  Dak’s brother crossed his arms over his chest. Heidi tried to find any trace of the man she’d slept with. The resemblance was there in his jaw, his eye color. But, there was a cynical twist to Mike’s mouth, a hardness about him. It made her miss Dak.

  Except Dak had ignored her wishes, gone around her and had his brother turned in. So maybe she didn’t know him as well as she thought either.

  “Good morning, Mr. Parrish.”

  “That’s my dad, not me.”

  “Funny, your brother made the same joke.” She folded her own arms in a mirror of his standoffish stance.

  “You know Dak, then, too?” Mike shook his head. “So this should all be a formality. I’m sure he filled you both in on how awful I am, even though he hasn’t been in the state for over a decade.”

  Whatever was between Dak and his brother wasn’t pleasant, apparently. “I actually haven’t heard anything about you at all, Mr. Parrish. Maybe Officer Broadridge knows you, but it’d be nice if you fill in the blanks.”

  Mike looked her over, his glare shifting from defensive to skeptical. She waited. She’d interrogated witnesses before. Most people didn’t like empty air space and would step in to fill it up.

  True to that, he leaned back. “When we were kids, I had a few brushes with the law. Shoplifting, loitering, vandalism. Dak seems to think that means I started these fires.”

  “Did you?”

  He laughed. “Why would I do that?”

  She studied him, searching for any hint of falsity. Usually there was some hint that someone was lying, that they were hiding something. She couldn’t find anything there, though. “Your brother must think you had something to do with it.”

  “Dak has Superman syndrome. Thinks he can fix every problem.”

  The words sent a chill along her spine. She’d fallen for someone like that before. Jeff had wanted to save the world. Was that what she was getting into there? He definitely hadn’t taken her wishes into account today. “So you don’t know anything about the arsons on the reservation.”

  “I wish I could give you more information.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. He hadn’t said he didn’t have the information, only that he wished he could give it. She opened her mouth to drill into him.

  He cut her off. “Did you ask Dak for any information?”

  “Your brother knows, but you don’t?”

  “That isn’t what I said. I asked if you asked him any questions.”

  Heidi didn’t want to go into what she had or hadn’t talked about with Dak. Clearly, they hadn’t said enough to each other because he could have definitely clued her into this. Like, when he kissed her goodbye this morning, he could have thrown in, “Hey, babe, I’m going to turn in my brother anyway, even though you don’t want me to. Because I don’t care what you want. T
hought you might like a heads up.”

  Then again, why did he have to clear anything with her? This had been his information to give. They’d gone out once, shared a couple of steamy kisses, and then slept together. A few times. Or maybe because they’d done it all during the same visit, that only counted as once. Whatever. The point was that they hardly knew each other.

  Last night had meant something to her, but did he feel the same? If she’d learned anything from her marriage, it was that she shouldn’t assume that people were as straightforward as she was.

  Except she wasn’t the sort to keep things casual. She wouldn’t have slept with him if she hadn’t already fallen hard for him.

  Which made her stupid.

  “Let’s leave your brother out of this.” She should have taken that advice earlier. “What do you know?”

  “He won’t be answering any other questions.” A man in a suit stepped into the interrogating room. He pulled a paper out of his suitcase, and dropped it on the table. Tapping it, he offered her and Jesse a formal smile. “I’m Terry Greenburg. I’m representing Mr. Parrish and he’ll be remaining quiet.”

  Mike stood and touched his brow in a mocking salute. “It was nice to meet you, Ms. Sinclair. Tell my brother I said hello.” He followed Mr. Greenburg out of the room.

  When they were gone, she leaned against the table, folding her arms over her chest. “Is he right? Does Dak know more than he’s said?”

  “I don’t know.” Jesse stared at the door, distaste on his face. He didn’t seem to like Dak’s brother any more than she had. “I wasn’t expecting his father to lawyer him up that fast.”

  “You think that was Lyle?”

  “Yeah. I just don’t know why. This was questions. He came in voluntarily when I asked him, and he wasn’t under arrest. Why not talk, get it out there? Now I’m wondering what they’re hiding.”

  Jesse wasn’t the only one with questions about hidden agendas. If Dak had given her more information and more time to prepare, maybe she could have had a better direction to question his brother. Instead, she’d been blindsided. “Now what do we do?”

  “I don’t know.” Jesse’s expression was grim. “But there’s more here going on than we know. And now I’m going to take a closer look at the Parrish family.”

  She couldn’t agree more.

  Chapter 13

  At the air center, Dak was busy building fireboxes. Inside these boxes, they stowed the gear the smokejumpers needed during their fire calls. Food, water, hand tools, all of the things that would keep them alive in the wilderness went into them. Packing them didn’t require too much mental acuity. Thank goodness, because right now all he had to give was physical labor.

  It wasn’t a job he loved, but he’d been happy to pair up with Digger, who didn’t need to fill up the silence with small talk. He could use some quiet, because the chaos in his head was distracting enough.

  Heidi had left him a message. Her voice had been strained as she asked to see him, to see if she could ask a few questions about his brother. She’d been angry, obviously. The distance had been there, in her tone. Of course it had.

  Because he’d completely ignored what she wanted him to do. He’d kept his intentions a secret even as he kissed her goodbye this morning. Apparently his father wasn’t the only Parrish who could keep secrets.

  But he’d been so afraid for her. If she’d had her way, she would wait for his father to come around. Good luck with that. And the longer that went on, the longer she was exposed. Someone had targeted her. Maybe she was fine taking a chance like that, but he wasn’t.

  His father had sent his attorney, slimy Mr. Greenburg, to keep Mikey from talking to Jesse Broadridge. Dak should have guessed that his father wouldn’t let his brother sit in the police station without counsel. It made Mikey look guilty as hell, but his dad probably didn’t see it that way. The arrogant bastard was probably outraged that anyone had dared question his son.

  At least that son.

  “Parrish.” Tim, one of the more seasoned smokejumpers, stood in the doorway of the cargo bay. “Someone here to see you.”

  He got up from where he knelt next to a firebox, his eyes finding Digger. The other man didn’t say anything, only waved him away. Dak grinned, wiping his hands on his pant legs. He strolled to the front of the building, and pulled up short.

  His mother stood there, her hands folded in front of her.

  As he stilled and the two of them stared at each other, he was struck by how much he favored her side of the family. His coloring—his darker complexion and hair—was his father’s, but he had the same curve to his face, and definitely her eyes. It had always been strange looking in the mirror and finding them staring back at him.

  “Hello, Dak.” Her voice was exactly the same, but other things were different. Nothing dramatic, but the lines on her face had deepened. Her mouth didn’t look as soft as he remembered. And, she definitely didn’t smile.

  He looked for signs of her recent visits to the hospital, but he saw nothing. She was as lithe and put together as she’d always been, every hair in place.

  “Hello, Mom.” He swept forward, folding her slight frame against him. She remained stiff against him, but he didn’t move, only held her, breathing her in. Finally, she patted his back, leaning into him.

  When he retreated, she smoothed her hand over her hair, tucking a nonexistent stray strand behind her ear. “You look good, Dak.”

  “You, too.” She did. He wasn’t sure what to expect, because he’d heard that she’d been in and out of the hospital for her heart over the past year. He didn’t know much about heart disease, but it happened inside, right? There was a chance that it wouldn’t be apparent on her. Reaching for her hand, he squeezed. “How are you feeling?”

  Confusion clouded her features. “Feeling?”

  “Yes. Your heart. I’ve been worried.” He wanted to ask her why she hadn’t called him, why she hadn’t written him back. But it didn’t seem like the time.

  Any hint of emotion slipped from her features, leaving the mask he’d come to recognize as his mother in its place. She nodded, gripping her purse tighter against her. “I’m well. Thank you.”

  “Why are you here?” He glanced around, gripping his elbow with his hand. “I’m happy to see you—overjoyed, really—but it’s been months. I’ve been trying to get in touch with you.”

  “Your father asked me to come.”

  “Dad?” What was this?

  She stepped closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. “He wants you to be cautious. Your brother was brought in for questioning today.”

  “I know. I had Jesse talk to him.”

  “You did?” Her eyes had widened. The expression made her look both younger and scared. He hated it.

  “Mom, you know that he’s had his trouble with the law.” This wasn’t news to her. “And the day I fought with Dad…” He didn’t want to talk about finding Mikey with the lighter fluid. Not there, not right then.

  “Mikey has been working so hard to get his life together.” Her words came quickly, and her fingers fluttered next to her. She glared at him, her words a hiss. “He’s happy, has a good job. He’s been doing so well.”

  “He knows something, Mom. He knows about the arsons. I know he does. Someone’s going to get hurt.” He took her hands in his, cradling them, and held her gaze, searching her eyes for any hint of the woman who had raised him. “Heidi Sinclair, the special agent from the Forest Services, her car was blown up. She could have been hurt, really hurt.”

  “Who is this woman?” His mother’s anger was unexpected. In his entire life, he’d only seen her upset like this a handful of times. In surprise, he dropped her hands. She spun away, and paced to the door before returning. “She’s some newcomer, poking around where she doesn’t belong.”

  “I care about her.” He had dropped his own
tone, both because he didn’t want to make a scene there in his workplace and because seeing his mother like that was disconcerting. If he raised his voice, got sharp, he was afraid she’d break apart she was so brittle.

  She jerked back at his words. “You care about her?”

  “Yes.” He nodded. “We’ve been dating.”

  The silence stretched between them. She stepped back, as if he’d slapped her. He didn’t understand, so he remained as still as possible, afraid that if he moved too quickly she’d spook, but knowing that she was slipping from him anyway.

  “Oh, Dak. You’re so foolish.”

  “Mom.” He reached for her, his helplessness a physical weight in his chest.

  “I can see this was a waste of time. I’m sorry I bothered you here, at your work.” She spun, clutching her handbag closer, and fled outside.

  By the time he followed her, she was already in the parking lot, sliding into the driver’s seat of her car. As he watched her drive away, he gritted his teeth against the urge to cry out to her.

  He hadn’t allowed himself to have expectations about how his mother was doing. Maisie had mentioned that she’d been in and out of the hospital, so he’d expected her to look…sickly, maybe. That wasn’t what he’d seen. She looked normal, in fact. Like he remembered. If he had to be honest, she might even be more put together than he recalled.

  Now he was left with more questions than he’d had before.

  * * * *

  When Heidi’s doorbell rang that evening, she checked the peephole and found Dak on her front step. Swinging the door open, she sighed. “Wasn’t sure you remembered how to get in touch with me.”

  “I know you’re upset, but I was hoping I could come in and explain.”

  She stepped away from the door, leaving it open.

  She shouldn’t. All day, she’d been trying to figure out what the hell was going on with him. They’d spent the night together. It had been amazing. At least it had been amazing for her. She had no idea what he’d thought about it.

  She’d left him a message as soon as she got out of Jesse’s office. Then she’d spent the rest of the day trying to not call him again. It had been difficult. She didn’t keep secrets and she sure as hell didn’t appreciate being lied to.