Bad Boy's Touch (Firemen in Love Book 3) (6 page)

“What's the problem with it? I'm clearly the best choice. I was in the bar when the perp started the fire.”

He plopped down in his cushy leather chair. “I understand that, Madison. But we're not talking about writing speeding tickets here. If someone is purposely setting fire to buildings, you could be putting yourself in danger.”

I growled. “Danger? What would you call last night, when you sent me to break up the fighting? I put myself in danger everyday because it's my job. I don't need you trying to 'protect' me, like I'm some kind of delicate wilting flower.”

He said nothing, just cracked his knuckles and studied me. There was a coldness in his eyes, cruelty almost, that he'd rarely shown me before.

To think that I slept with this jackass made me sick.

“I don't allow the others to speak to me that way, you know.” He chuckled. “Were you anybody else, I'd have fired you on the spot for insubordination.”

I couldn't let him get to me. Even now, months later, he was still trying to get me back.

A younger, dumber me would have probably given in. I wasn't that desperate girl anymore. Being alone didn't scare me. I'd find someone better – way better.

Better like Brett?

Yeah, not a good time to be thinking about getting laid.

“If me telling the truth equals insubordination, then go on and fire me.”

He'd already lost interest. Now, his work on the computer was more important than me.

“I don't know what I would do if you got hurt. To think that last night, you could have
died.
”

“I'm just as capable as any of these men here.” Had to keep my tone firm. Steady. “I would appreciate it, sir, if you'd treat me as such.”

He waved a hand. “Oh, no need for formalities when we're alone together. Call me Vic, just like you used to.”

I said nothing. Ugh, if I didn't love the job so much, I would have handed in my resignation form ages ago.

“I see you're insistent.” He stopped typing and looked at me. “Give me one good reason why I should give you this promotion.”

“Promotion? I don't want a new job title. Don't even need more pay.”

“Then tell me what's in this for you?”

Whenever I closed my eyes, I lived it all over again: the orange and yellow flames growing, consuming everything in their path. The searing heat, the smoke burning my lungs, as I crawled to safety through that broken window.

I saw my nine-year-old self, crying in terror as I searched for my family. Mom, dad, Jenna, Charlie... I thought they died and left me all alone.

“Madison?”

I shivered. Years of therapy couldn't undo the nightmare in my head. I couldn't go back in time and save my home from burning down. But there was one thing I
could
do, now, in the present.

“What's in it for me,” I repeated. “Revenge.”

It wiped the cocky smile off Victor's face. Vengeance, getting back at those who slighted him, was something he understood well.

“Ah, yes. Now I remember. An arsonist set fire to your house when you were just a girl. They never caught the sick freak, did they?”

“No, they didn't.”

“And you think by catching an arsonist now, it will somehow make up for that?”

“Nothing can make up for it. I just want to stop this person before it happens to someone else.”

He smiled again. “It's a great story. Tugs at your heartstrings. The media will love it.”

I should have known he'd approve so long as there was something in it for him.

“Then it's settled.” He scribbled a few sentences on a paper and stamped it with his signature. “You have my approval to join the investigation.”

I took the paper with shaking hands.

“Don't make me regret this,” he muttered on my way out. “I expect results.”

I sure hoped Brett was right about this.

Chapter 5 - Brett

Jayce held up a pair of panties, his nose wrinkled.

“Well, at least our investigation won't be boring.” He threw the ladies' underwear at me. “Here. Want a souvenir? You spend so much money at this place, you deserve it.”

The sparkly, frilly undergarment landed in the charred remains of the bar. This was ground zero, where it all started. Looked like a bomb went off in here – technically, it kind of did.

“Won't be spending much money in here anymore,” I muttered, tripping over a burned chair.

“That's a shame. Whatever will you do without all those lap dances and cheap booze?”

I had no answer. Wasn't really thinking about it right now.

It was Madison who'd been on my mind all night.

I didn't know what to make of her. Getting girls into bed with me was usually easy, but she resisted my flirting and brushed me off. Probably 'cause she was the cop and I, in her eyes, the bad guy.

“This feels like a waste of time.” Jayce kicked a pile of broken bottles away. “What are we even looking for? Can't believe you pulled me away from the poker table for this.”

I gestured to the hall by the bar. “The culprit was standing right behind this wall.”

“Well, he's not there anymore. You sure this whole thing wasn't an accident? I mean, you got bullets flying, flammable liquid... It's easy to imagine.”

One of the strippers, Cocoa, burst into tears. She hadn't been here last night and dropped by this morning to get her paycheck. Now she stood in the manager's office, sobbing.

“What do you
mean,
the club is closed? This is my only job, Toby! I can't afford to take time off.”

Toby patiently explained that there was nothing he could do. Our investigation could take a while, and the repairs even longer. Cocoa cried harder.

“Damn it,” I growled. “These girls don't deserve this. They're poor college students. Single mothers. What are they supposed to do now?”

Jayce picked through the rubble with a sigh. “That's the way fire is. Nobody deserves to lose their house, their job, their belongings... or the people they love.”

I swore when I found who was responsible for this, I'd string him up and beat his ass myself.

Okay, I had to focus. Blinding myself with anger would help nothing.

Best to start around the hall, where the guy had been. The floor there was cement, light colored in most places – except for a blackened trail that led all the way to the bar.

“Look, this is where he poured the alcohol. The trail stops halfway through the hall, here.” I marked the spot with a yellow evidence card. “Then goes right down the middle and up the bar counter, where all those shelves of liquor were.”

“Like the fuse of a bomb,” Jayce added. “I gotta say, it
is
pretty strange. The chances of this being accidental seem slim.”

Unfortunately, the explosive blast had been so powerful that much of the evidence had likely been destroyed – if the arsonist left any for us in the first place.

Then something caught my attention in the midst of the mess. There, underneath a clear bottle of rum, was a match. It was blackened from top to bottom, but still intact.

I carefully picked it up, fearing that it might crumble to ash in my fingers. This was the match that started the fire; it had to be!

Before I could show Jayce, a car pulled up in the parking lot, then Madison strode through the front door.

I almost dropped the match. God, she was even more beautiful in the daylight.

Our eyes met, and she looked away, a hint of a shy smile on her lovely face. Wow, what was wrong with me? The last time I'd gotten butterflies in my stomach, I was sixteen years old and crushing hard on the homecoming queen.

It was a feeling I hadn't realized that I missed, a feeling that one-night stands and casual encounters never gave me.

Jayce got to her before I could say hello. I was real glad the guy had his own wife, or else he'd be flirting his ass off right now – and given his charm and movie-star looks, he'd probably succeed. Bastard had stolen girls away from me more than once before.

“You're with the police department, ma'am?”

She nodded. “I've been assigned to investigate the possibility of arson here, so I suppose our cities will be working together on this one. And please, no 'ma'am.' Call me Madison.”

Jayce's gold wedding band gleamed on his hand. Looking at it made me feel weird.

Jealous?

Nah, don't be ridiculous. Marriage just wasn't for guys like me. I played the field too much. Got myself into trouble and was real good at breaking the law.

No sane woman would have me, especially not a cop.

I cleared my throat loudly. Jayce looked at me, then at her. He grinned and winked. We'd been friends for so long, he knew easily when I had my eye on a girl.

“I'm gonna go check out the room next door. See if I can find anything.”

He left me and Madison alone. Her expression was serious, all business.

“So it looks like we're a team for now,” she said. “Find anything yet?”

“Don't tell me you forgot about last night.” I put the match in a baggie, then climbed over the debris to get closer to her. “Because I sure as hell haven't.”

She pulled a notepad out of her pocket and scribbled on it while doing her best to avoid eye contact. Hoped she was writing her phone number down, but no luck there.

“How could I forget being taken hostage, almost getting shot, and barely escaping a burning strip club with my life?”

“Not that stuff. The kiss.”

She dropped her pen and swallowed hard. When I handed it back to her, our fingers touched. I lingered for a moment, enjoying the spark, before she pulled the pen away.

“That kiss,” she muttered, “should not have happened.”

“Why not?”

She gaped. “You don't know me. What kind of man goes around kissing strangers? Do you make a habit of asking random women to sleep with you?”

Ah, so she was one of
those
types. Had to get to know a guy before taking her clothes off for him.

Usually, when I found that out about a girl, I moved on. Wasn't worth my time and energy when there were so many other, more willing ladies in the sea.

But Madison entranced me in a way those others didn't.

“Sorry if I offended you, but I couldn't resist.” I grinned. “Guess being locked up in handcuffs really does it for me.”

“Keep pushing your luck, and I'll be glad to lock you up in them again.”

I gently put a hand on her shoulder. She didn't remove it.

“Is that a promise?”

“Great! Now we got cops snooping around here too. Just what I needed.”

We were rudely interrupted by Toby, who stood in the doorway, watching Madison with some suspicion. With all the not-quite-legal stuff that went on here, he was right to be wary.

“You're the owner and manager, I take it?” She stuck out her hand. “I'm officer Madison Finley. I'll be working with Brett to help determine the cause of the fire.”

Toby did not accept the handshake. “Yeah, that's me. Look, is this gonna take long? I'd like to get this place fixed up ASAP. I'm bleeding money as we speak.”

“We'll work as quickly as possible. If you have the time, I'd like to ask you a few questions.”

He begrudgingly accepted. Now, I was supposed to be digging through the crime scene for clues, but watching Madison play detective was much more entertaining.

“Nah, I wasn't here last night. My assistant manager, Randy, had run of the place. You wanna talk to him.”

“Do you or the club have any enemies? Anybody who'd want to do you harm?”

He laughed. “Lady, I'm sure there are hundreds of folks who hate us, all for their own reasons.”

She nibbled the end of her pen. That drew my attention to her full and luscious lips, which snowballed into fantasies of her tearing off my pants and sucking me dry...

Oops. There'd be no hiding that hard-on now.

“Excuse me, but I was here last night,” said a young woman's voice. “And I think I saw something.”

One of the club's dancers, Holly, had come into the bar. She fiddled with the ends of her hair and wouldn't look up at any of us.

“Tell me,” Madison said to her. “What was it? Be as detailed as you can.”

“I arrived here at eleven for my shift. Parked in the employee lot, as always. On the way in, I noticed a strange car parked in front of the emergency exit. You can get in trouble for blocking that, which is why it caught my eye.”

“Can you describe it?”

She nodded. “It was just a black Honda, nothing really to make it stand out – except there was no license plate on it, which I thought was odd. Windows were darkly tinted, too.”

Madison and I exchanged knowing looks. Unless this was a brand-new car, why would someone have no plate? That's what criminals did when they knew they'd be caught on camera.

Hey, wait – the cameras! A place like this had beefed-up security for sure. I made a note to ask Toby about it.