Bad Boy's Touch (Firemen in Love Book 3) (30 page)

“Maybe I'm not ready for another boyfriend after what Victor did to me. I looked up to him, believed he was a good guy, and see how wrong I turned out to be? Brett shows me his sweet side, but how do I know what he's hiding under that?”

Jenna smiled at the cute waiter who held the door for us. “There's no harm in trying. If he turns out to be a dick, just dump him.”

“Maybe if he makes some changes in his life,” I mused. “No more racing, or fighting, or any of that dangerous stuff. If he agrees to settle down for once, I might consider it.”

Inside, it was clear the city was going all out for this dinner. The lights were down low; decorations and signs hung everywhere, and a live band played smooth jazz on center stage.

“Look; there.”

Jenna discreetly pointed to the table closest to the podium. At it sat Victor, a few other high-ranking officers, and a trio of men in black suits. I wagered they were the FBI people.

“Makes me ill,” I muttered. “They have the power to arrest him, only they have no idea the things he's done.”

Harvey was nowhere to be found, though, and I still couldn't see the guys. We took our seats at an empty table. I gratefully accepted when a waiter came by offering wine.

I'd just barely taken my first sip when someone's hands on my shoulders made me jump out of my chair.

“Maddie, you sure do look lovely in that black dress.”

Brett stood behind me looking pretty damn handsome himself. He'd actually bothered to shave the stubble which seemed to perpetually cover his cheeks, and he wore a nice suit with a cobalt tie.

Not to mention that sexy-smelling cologne which, if we had been alone, probably would've been enough to get me naked for him.

I was helpless to fight against my need for him, now as I was the moment we met.

Jenna giggled and blushed. “What a gentleman he is, sis. Well, go on. Aren't you going to invite him to sit?”

“A gentleman, huh? More like a wolf in sheep's clothing,” I teased, pulling out a chair for him. For a moment, I almost forgot what we'd come here to do.

“Where's Charlie?” Jenna asked, peering over his shoulder at the door.

Brett sat down and cleared his throat. Right away, I got that funny feeling that something wasn't kosher. Would he ever stop hiding things from me? How was I meant to trust him if he couldn't?

“He, ah, made a pit stop to the restroom. He's not used to wearing dressy clothes, and when we stopped at Sonic for some milkshakes, he spilled his on his shirt.”

I folded my arms and frowned. “Where is he
really?
”

“He'll be here soon.” Brett returned my stare.

Of course, I didn't believe him. Without any clues as to where Charlie could be, though, I had no choice but to sit tight and wait.

Must remind myself to have a very serious chat with Brett once this was over...

Jenna, sensing the tension, excused herself from the table to get some appetizers from the buffet. Brett tried to reach for my hand, but I jerked away.

“What did I do this time?”

“What
haven't
you done?” I swigged my wine. “I think you forget who you're lying to. I'm not one of your dumb blonde bimbos from the club, Silver.”

His jaw clenched. “That's not fair. How can you say –”

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us this evening,” said a man on stage. “On behalf of the Kingston Police Department, we're here to honor chief Victor Patterson for the good he has done our wonderful city.”

I kept my eye on Jenna as she piled food on her plate. But then, just to the right of the buffet and almost hidden in the shadows, was a familiar face.

“Harvey,” I hissed.

Brett's attention snapped from me to him. Why did he look so worried?

“Now I'm starting to wonder what's taking Charlie so long.”

Harvey stood by himself, a strange, blank expression on his face. He looked as if ready to cry.

Earlier, when I was hiding in the archives, he mentioned that three days from now was when he'd lost his son. For anyone else, I would have been sympathetic.

He was probably on the verge of snapping. The loss of a family member, especially a child, would put anyone on the edge of insanity.

I knew well how dangerous people in his shoes could be. They didn't care anymore because they had nothing else to lose.

The crowd applauded as Victor went to the stage, looking even more smug than usual.

“When I first took the reins as chief of police back in two thousand six, this city had a serious problem with violence, gangs, drugs – and it was only getting worse,” he began.

Brett's phone vibrated in his pocket. He quickly pulled it out and checked it with a frown. To my surprise, he got up and patted my shoulder.

“I'll be back. Charlie wants my help getting the stain out of his suit.”

Before I could reply, he darted off – in the direction opposite the restrooms!

In my head, I called him a whole bunch of names. I was still fuming when Jenna returned, her plate piled high with snacks.

“Where did he go? Looked to be in a real hurry.”

I followed Brett with my eyes as he passed by Harvey. The two exchanged challenging stares for a long while before Brett shuffled past him.

“Something's not right. I've got to follow him.”

Jenna grabbed my arm. “Whoa, Mad. We agreed to stick with the plan. Don't do anything dangerous or stupid.”

On stage, Victor kept prattling.

“Though crime rates have fallen, they remain at levels we deem unacceptable. No longer will we tolerate gangs in our schools and drugs on the playground.” He lowered his head as if he gave a damn for real. “That's why, starting this September, we'll be partnering with select members of the FBI and ATF to get this problem under control.”

People clapped, but there was obvious confusion about the whole matter. Was this the sort of thing the FBI would normally do: take time off their busy schedules to help a mid-sized southern city with its drug problem?

It made no sense. Surely, they had bigger crimes to fuss over.

Harvey, apparently, had heard enough. He turned and vanished down the same hall Brett had.

“Stay here, Jenna. I have a very bad feeling about this.”

“What do you think you're gonna do?” She grabbed for me. “Don't leave me here alone.”

Her cries hurt, but this was not good. Brett lied to me; Charlie hadn't been seen since we got here, and Harvey could be after them for all we knew.

“I'll be back in a minute. Have a glass of wine and wait for me.”

I ignored her protests and darted through the shadows, weaving through tightly clustered tables and people mingling around the buffet.

A man stepped out of the line with a drink in his hand and almost collided with me. He had one of those wire things leading up to his ear – a walkie-talkie, or whatever it was secret agents used. I bet he was with the FBI.

If only I could tell him that right there, up on that stage, was a criminal who deserved life behind bars or worse.

“Pardon me,” he said, his hand settling on my back for just a second. Then, before I could muster the courage to speak, he disappeared into the crowd.

The guy gave me a weird feeling, but there wasn't time to mull over it. Where had Brett and Charlie gone, damn it? I'd never been in this building before, and the layout was confusing.

I rounded the corner – and smacked straight into Harvey!

He gave me the most icy, frightening look, the look of a man clinging to one last thread of sanity.

“Madison,” he grunted. “So you came. Quite a surprise.”

“Well, uh... Victor's the boss, so it's not like I had a choice. If I didn't show, he wouldn't let me hear the end of it.”

I peeked over his shoulder. Behind him was a long hallway – looked like it was used by restaurant staff – and a door at the end of it. Had Brett gone through that door?

I had to do something. Had to stall Harvey.

“I was told the Ventura trial will be this upcoming Monday,” he said flatly. “I doubt it's going to go well for him.”

“I can't believe you, Harvey. Sending James to jail won't accomplish anything. You know, this isn't like you at all. The man who mentored me would never do such a horrible thing.”

He shook his head. “It'll accomplish a lot more than you'll ever know. This has to be done; don't you get it? He was unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time, but someone has to take the fall.”

“Take the fall for
what?
”

He didn't answer. More than anything, I longed to ask him one question. I needed to know if he was the one who burned our house down. But try as I might, the words wouldn't come.

“You know, I just saw your boyfriend headed that way.” He gestured to the back door. “Wonder where he could be going? It's employees only back there.”

“My boyfriend? Don't know what you mean.”

“Brett Silver, the fireman. Don't play dumb.” He scowled. “Ever since the first fire, you two have become awfully chummy with each other.”

“I fail to see how that's any of your business.”

But the look on his face said it all. He was
jealous
of Brett. Oh, God.

“I must say, it's just disappointing,” he muttered. “You know, Mad, I've never told you this... But you've always reminded me so much of my beloved Ellen.”

Chapter 22 - Brett

Madison was mad at me again. Could I do anything right by her?

I tried so hard to impress her, but guess it just wasn't working. A man ought to know when to give up and cut his losses. If she didn't want me, what more could be done?

“Ugh... Damn this thing.”

I found Charlie on the side of the restaurant, where the overflow parking lot was. Lucky the sun had set, or anybody could see him on his knees, trying in vain to pick the lock of a cop car's trunk.

“I dunno what you called me out here for, but it better be important,” I grumbled. “This is the first time I've seen Maddie in a dress, and I've decided I rather like it.”

“Stop thinking with your dick and help me out here.” He jammed the pick in again and turned. Nothing. “Either this thing is junk or I've gotten rusty the past few years.”

I just stood to the side and watched him, none too eager to get caught breaking into a police car.

“What do you want me to do, bust a window? You better hurry. She's wondering where you are, and I passed by Harvey on the way out here. He looked awful suspicious.”

Charlie fretted and tried again. At last, there was a surprising click, then the trunk popped open easily.

“Told you so,” he said triumphantly. “I knew my days of going for joyrides weren't for nothing.”

I peeked through the door, but couldn't see anyone coming yet. Charlie opened his backpack and pulled out several brick-sized, plastic-wrapped cartons of white powder.

“What is all that? Did you really need so much?”

“Grade-A Colombian cocaine, brother. And it's enough to send a guy away for a real long time.”

Made me very nervous, that was for sure. The hardest drug my friends and I did was weed. I'd never even
seen
real cocaine before.

I wanted nothing to do with this. Wanted to get back inside and find Maddie, to try and make things work with us.

Charlie was about to dump the bricks into the trunk when a familiar car pulled up, blocking the way out of the alley. I'd know that ugly neon-green Civic anywhere.

“Rico,” I muttered. “The hell's he doing here?”

“Who's that asshole?”

Rico got out of the car with three of his boys. He wore a smug grin and a gun on his hip. Clearly, he hadn't run into us by accident.

“Well, look what we got here, fools,” he said. “Looks like the rat led us right back to his hole.”

We didn't have time for his crap. Any minute now, someone would come out here and catch us. If things were bad enough with just me and Charlie, they were much worse now. Nothing good happened where Rico was involved.

“What do you want, Rico? You shouldn't be here.”

He chuckled. “Oh, and
you
should be? What is this, some kind of police ball? Funny place for a piece of shit like yourself to be hanging out.”

“Hey, man,” Charlie snapped. “Don't talk about him that way.”

One of Rico's boys felt for the knife in his pocket. Wisely, Charlie backed down.

“I told you I got connections. Drugs don't change hands in this town without me hearing about it,” Rico said, eyeing Charlie's stash. “So when a little birdie told me some punk white boy just paid a few grand for a whole key of coke, you can bet I was listening.”

“You followed him here,” I said.

“Damn straight I did. Thought with that much drugs involved, guy's got to be a dealer. What, you plan on selling to these crooked cops after they finish stuffing themselves with steak and lobster?”