Firestarter (5 page)

“I can’t wait to see how you manage that.” He pointed to the side rails.

Looking down at her exposed legs in the short dress, she knew he would get an eyeful of more than just her thighs. With a shrug, Cammie gave him her most stunning smile, expertly lifting herself into the Jeep, happy she wore a pair of panties instead of a thong.

She patted his chest when she was firmly planted in the seat. “I do it all the time, big guy.”

“I’m sure you do. But do you always wear that?” He gestured at the expanse of exposed leg in her outfit.

She liked teasing him. “Nope, I wore this just for you.”

“You’re a cheeky girl, and I mean that in every sense of the word.” He gave her a devilish look. “Here, put your number in for me.” Keanu handed her his phone.

29

Dear Lord, he was making her, a grown woman, blush, just because he’d caught a glimpse of her ass.
Shit.
She hoped he liked what he saw, since visions of his naked ass were upper-most in her mind.

Cammie hurriedly programmed it into his phone. “Okay, here’s my number. Let me know

the details about our next date.”

Feeling his big hand resting on her thigh gave her all kinds of naughty thoughts, making her inner bad girl want to leap out, or leap on, whichever it may be. Barely restraining the urge, she placed her hand over his and squeezed. The heat of his palm on her leg seemed overly warm, but she shrugged it off as a result of the warm night air, and her overly sensitized hormones.

When he flashed his whiter-than-white smile, and his twin dimples appeared, she almost threw caution to the wind and asked him to follow her home, but reality kicked in. With a final wave, she started her jeep and waited for him to step back. His reluctance to let her go was like a balm to her ego.

Cammie drove the several miles home in a daze, almost hitting a deer that leapt out of the woods. She nearly wet her pants in fright. And hello, they didn’t need to get any wetter, thank you very much. She focused back on the road. “The man is gonna be the death of me.”

Sighing, she drew up outside her oasis. The garage door opened with a push of a button, lights illuminating the interior. She waited for it to rise completely before pulling into the bay. A familiar barking had her hopping down, hurrying to the adjoining door where her fur ball waited to attack her.

“Did you miss mommy, LeeLee?” She scratched the wolf-hybrid’s ears, giving her a little loving. They walked together through the dark house, the moon giving her enough light through the windows to navigate toward her bedroom.

Cammie set her alarm before she took a quick shower. It felt heavenly as she finally sank into her five hundred thread count Egyptian cotton sheets. “Cammie, you’re one lucky girl,” she murmured running her hand across the soft bedding.

Sleep didn’t come easily. She tossed and turned, and thoughts of Keanu kept intruding into her consciousness. She gave up, padding through the dark house to the kitchen. Cammie hoped something warm would help. Not bothering to turn on the lights, she grabbed a glass out of the cabinet.

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She decided on a drink of water instead of milk and turned to the sink, when a set of lights turning into her driveway had her freezing in place. Grateful for the cover of darkness, Cammie watched as the lights went off at the end of her property.

The open layout of her A-frame house meant you could see from the kitchen, clear to the front of the house. Placing her palm on her jumping stomach, Cammie picked up her phone to find no dial tone.
Shit.
The beams coming on nearly blinded her, causing her to drop the glass of water, sending shards of glass all around her feet. Staring transfixed, as the lights seemed to dim before disappearing from her sight, Cammie let out a nervous laugh.

“Kids probably turned in to make out,” she whispered, and pressed a palm to her chest. “I’m losing my freaking mind for real.” Cammie scrubbed her hands over her face. In her bare feet, she carefully stepped over the glass, trying to avoid the sharp pieces, and quickly cleaned up the mess before heading back to bed. She prayed for sleep.

31

Chapter Three

Keanu smiled to himself, feeling like a rookie on his first day of work. The old fire chief, Brick Taylor, still held the proverbial reigns in his hands. From the looks of it, he was every bit the same oversized man today as he was ten years ago. At close to six and a half feet tall and weighing over two hundred thirty pounds, the man looked more like a lumberjack.

“Keanu, it’s good to have you back,” Brick said, giving him a pat on the back.

Barely able to hold himself up after the chief slapped him on the shoulder, he returned the gesture. “It’s good to see you, Sir. You haven’t aged a bit.”

The chief grinned. “Neither have you, son. You still got that silver tongue I see.”

Holding back a smile at the same words the other man had uttered more times than he could count, Keanu didn’t contradict him. He’d made it a habit of showing up a half an hour early when starting a new job. This time was no different. The place looked the same as the last time he’d seen it, except for the names on the roster.

“Come in and have a seat. I don’t think I need to go over all the rules, they’re in the folder there.” He tapped the yellow file. “Here are some forms for you to sign.” The chief slid the papers across the desk.

Keanu scanned the forms, signed his name where it was needed, and then looked up at

Brick. Patience was a virtue that Keanu had in spades. He waited until the other man filed the paperwork, and turned his focus back to him.

“Tell me about these fires, and why you think they’re suspicious?” Keanu looked Brick in the eyes.

“Straight to the point I see. I like that.” A sharp nod accompanied the statement from the chief.

He listened intently to the descriptions of the fires, and noticed how close they were to the logging facilities and Cammie’s family home. The knowledge made his inner fire leap to life.

The thought of Cammie being so close to those unforgiving flames, had him seeing red. He banked down the heat, and turned his focus back to the rest of the conversation.

Brick’s gaze drilled into Keanu. “So you’ll be partnered with one of my newest, but one of the most natural firefighters on my team. Her partner was the one injured, and God willing, he’ll 32

make a full recovery.” He made the sign of the cross. “I’m really glad to have you back, what with you being a big time Jumper and all.”

Keanu ignored the good-natured taunt. “Did you say her? I’m partnering with a woman?”

The door behind him creaked. “Do you have a problem with that?” Cammie asked, stepping into the room.

His eyes widened. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing, but I think it’s pretty obvious.”

The woman who’d kept him up half the night with erotic visions strolled in without a
how
you doin'
, and all he could do was curse at her.
Real
smart
,
asshole
.

“Sorry, you just took me by surprise is all.” He cringed at his words. She didn’t look at all shocked to see him sitting in the chief’s office. Which begged the question, what the hell was the woman up to? And how did it involve him?

“What’s the matter? Do you have a problem working with a woman? Or is it just me?”

“Listen, I’m an equal opportunity guy. If a person, no matter their gender,” Keanu paused to look directly at Cammie, “if they can do the job, then I say good for them. Man or woman, if they can handle their load without slowing down the rest of the team, then in my opinion it’s all good.” Keanu hoped the truth of his statement rang out clearly.

“All right.” The chief tapped his desk. “Then I’ll leave you in Cammie’s capable hands. I have paperwork to file.” Brick picked up a stack of papers, tapping them on his desk, - the sound and action a clear sign he was done with both of them for now.

The man’s words made Keanu think improper thoughts of things they could do to each

other, but he worked to focus on Brick.

After they were waved out of the office, Keanu followed the fine ass of his co-worker. He thought of all the things her capable hands could do to him. He needed to get his libido under control, or he’d be fucking one Cammie Masters in the first bay of the fire station, and he was pretty sure that wouldn’t look good on his first, or even his last day of his new job. But damn, the woman had a perfect backside that would give any red-blooded man impure thoughts. And, Keanu wasn’t just any man, he was an elemental with fire running through his body, right along with his life’s blood.

“Did you hear a word I just said?” Cammie stopped mid-stride.

33

“Sure I did. You pointed out where the locker rooms are, where the kitchen is, and where the sleeping quarters were. You forget, sweetheart, I used to work here.”

Heh, there
, he silently told her. See, he could multi-task. He mentally ticked off all the things he’d done in the last five minutes. One, he’d watched her ass sway so enticingly in her standard blue slacks; two, he’d fantasized about peeling the offending garment off; and three, he’d gotten a hard-on. Whoever said men couldn’t do more than one thing at a time didn’t know shit about him.

“I didn’t forget anything,” Cammie whispered, staring at his face.

Whatever else they may have said was lost when the alarm sounded, signaling a fire. They listened as the dispatcher came over the loud speaker and gave the location. They both ran to suit up.

Since he was essentially the new guy, Keanu jumped on the back of the fire truck and held on as it made a hasty exit. Adrenalin spiked through his veins the closer they got to the fire.

This wasn’t going to be a little flame they could easily extinguish.

He prayed there’d be no casualties, but something told him his prayers wouldn’t be

answered.

Running in the direction of the blaze, Keanu followed the captain’s instructions and headed around back, with his partner in tow. The house looked new; judging by the structure and grandeur he’d guess they had money. Their five-member team made a quick assessment of the surroundings, communicating through their headsets. One of his team members said they thought the family was still inside after he noticed both parents’ vehicles were in the garage.

“Get that hose around here, I’m going in,” Keanu yelled.

“That’s not proper procedure,” Cammie shouted above the wail of the sirens.

“Fuck proper procedure, I hear a little kid screaming. Her parents should already be awake, which makes me believe they’re unconscious. A scared child could get themselves killed, and I’ll be damned if I allow that to happen.” He knew his words could be heard by the whole team.

Keanu used his Halligan tool to smash a hole in the window. His inner fire started to burn, licking at his insides like it was saying hello to a long lost friend. Twisting the lock, he entered with Cammie hot on his heels. He knew telling her to wait outside would be like telling a thief not to take the bag of money lying on a curb.

34

With a silent curse, he slowed his longer stride, hoping like hell she could keep up. He’d hate to sacrifice an innocent kid, but if he was forced to choose… shaking off those thoughts, he let his inner fire lead him to the child. The closer he would get to any heat source the hotter his own flames would get, and his internal temperature rose, the closer he got to the steps.

The blaze seemed to come from the third level, presumably where the bedrooms were,

making this a life-or-death situation. He took the stairs with caution and radioed their location to the rest of the team. The fact that Cammie never faltered in her steps, taking them two at a time, gave him confidence in her abilities.

At the second landing he heard a child’s cry coming from the end of the hallway. Keanu motioned for Cammie to follow the noise and continued to the upper floor where the temperature seemed hottest.

The heat level climbed several degrees the farther up he went. He let his element lead him to the cause of the flames, coming to a stop at a set of French doors. He sucked in a breath, drawing heat into his lungs before turning the handle. A blast of hot air that would’ve knocked down a lesser man hit him, but he relished the temperature.

It took Keanu a few seconds to make sense of the scene in front of him. He looked in horror at the macabre sight. Lying in a bloody tangle of limbs and blonde hair was a woman he assumed was the lady of the house. A huge ball of flames licked up the walls a few feet from her body.

The unmistakable form of a man was almost completely engulfed by the fire. Within minutes, the room would be one big roaring pit if he didn’t get it under control.

Reaching out with his right hand, Keanu called the largest flame into his palm. He could hear the sound of feet pounding up the steps, but he continued to pull the heat into his body. If the top floor went up in flames and collapsed, then the rest of the house would follow under the heavy burden. He needed to give Cammie and her charge a chance to escape.

“Yo, man, what are you doing?” Alec, one of his team members roared.

Keanu had his portable extinguisher out, and pointed at the blaze he had already doused.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m putting out the fire from the inside.”

He continued to sweep the nozzle at what was left of the flames, assuring the crew outside that he had control of the roof through the microphone attached to his helmet.

“Cammie got the girls out.” Alec motioned for Keanu to follow him. “They said the only other people in the house were their parents. Let’s go, man.”

35

With a nod Keanu made sure there were no other embers that would spark back to life. He looked at the lifeless bodies and wished they’d been able to save them. He knew the fire wasn’t the cause of their deaths, but a convenient cover-up.

* * * *

Bob grabbed Ted by the throat, throwing him up against the van. “You little shit. I told you to kill the girls after I took care of the parents. What part of no survivors didn’t you get?”