Heat Flash (5 page)

Arm in arm, Kendall and Olivia took one last glance around the gloomy office before they closed and locked the door.

“If there is anything I can do for you, call me. I would be happy to help you with your business.”

“Thanks.” She wrapped her arms around Olivia for a quick hug. “You may hear from me sooner than you think.”

“All right ladies. Take care of yourselves. If you need anything, let me know.” Marks handed each of them his card with the precinct number as well as his cell number.

With a sigh and a backward glance, Kendall drove away from the office. One part of her was sad, mostly because she would miss Olivia and her clients. A bigger part of her was excited about the idea of starting her own business. Sure, at first it would have to be run from her home, but who knew what the future held.

“Dammit.” She slammed her hand against the steering wheel. Why, at the thought of her future, did the vision of a ruggedly handsome, black-haired, blue-eyed man by the name of Mason come to mind?
Ridiculous
.

Chapter Four

He glanced at his watch. Nine-fifteen. The bitch probably wasn’t in bed yet. He would have enjoyed waking her up in the middle of the night. But this was the only chance he would have to make the call. He had other things to do tonight. He pulled to the side of the road, reached into his shirt pocket to pull out the pre-paid cell phone.

He took a moment to stare out of the windshield, mesmerized by the swishing of the wipers. The storm that blew in fit his mood—dark, howling, and sinister. While dialing her number, he turned off the wipers. The rain pelted onto the cars’ windows, swallowing him into its tentacles, dragging him down into oblivion.

“Hello.” Her words held a touch of fear now. “Hello, anyone there?” Her tone picked up a notch. He smiled. He liked making her nervous.

Before she had the chance to hang up, he broke the silence. “Bitch, your time is coming.”

“Wha...Who is this?”

Yes, he could hear the panic. It felt good. It excited him. She would pay for the damage done to his life. But first, he would enjoy watching her squirm for a while. She wouldn’t know his identity until he was ready to reveal it to her. This was going to work on his schedule, not hers.

“What do you want from me?” The rise of her voice burned his ear right before the line went dead. No doubt, she slammed the phone down.

His laughter reverberated through the dark night.

****

Kendall slammed the phone down in its cradle on the nightstand. “Dammit.” She jumped out of bed to check the locks on the doors and windows throughout the house. Everything was secure, as she already knew. Never in her life had she had to double check locks for safety in her own home. The thought irritated her.

Finally making her way back to bed, she pulled the covers up to her neck and flipped through the TV channels, hoping to find something light-hearted and funny to ease her jittery nerves. It was too early to fall asleep, but her body was worn out from the past week’s activities. And now, these prank calls plagued her at all hours of the day. And night. Surely it was just some crazy teenagers getting their kicks. She hoped they would get bored with it soon.

Her thoughts drifted to Mason. Now that he fulfilled his duty of protecting her, would she see him again? Would he call her, or should she take the plunge and make the first call?

Half an hour later, still wide awake, she picked up her cell phone and dialed the number already branded in her memory. Seconds before a connection was made, she punched the End button.

Still unsettled by the earlier prank call, Kendall turned the volume down on the TV and snuggled under the blankets for a fitful night of sleep.

****

“Hello.” Kendall darted across the house to find her cell phone in time to answer before the caller hung up. It could have been another client. Or, it could have been another prank call. She was tired of answering the phone only to have the caller disconnect as soon as she spoke, or worse, hear the unidentified person mumble something incoherent, or laugh until she thought she would go crazy. Her gut kept telling her that she needed to tell Bobby and Mason about these calls, but her stubbornness refused.

“Sounds like you’ve been running. Everything okay?” Concern laced the deep masculine voice. It took a minute to catch her breath, both from the daily workout she just finished, and because she recognized the caller. Since last week at Bobby’s, she had not seen or heard from Mason, not that she expected him to call her.

“Everything’s fine.” She took a drink of water and dropped onto the sofa. Workout done, it was time for a break.

“Kendall, I know I acted like a jerk in the hospital. I apologize.” Nothing like getting straight to the point. Some things never changed.

She sighed around a smile. “Don’t apologize. I’m just so thankful you got to me that night before Tom did. I still get chills whenever I think about it. Ugh.” She fought back the urge to reveal to him the calls and the dead rat. No, she couldn’t tell Mason. He would tell Bobby and before she knew it, her entire family would be making a fuss over her.

“Look, I really need to talk to you. Can I come over?” His voice was distant. His words vague.

“What’s going on?” Her intuition kicked in. Something wasn’t right.

“It’s…” He paused. “Well, it’s a business proposition. Bobby and I need your help. How about we discuss it over dinner?”

Business, again. No surprise there. Was he being totally honest with her? His hesitation caused her to doubt that. “I don’t know.”

“Come on, say yes, Cookie,” he practically begged.

“Cookie?” she repeated, with a chuckle.

“Yeah, you remember. When you were a freshman you decided to bake cookies for me and Bobby. They didn’t quite come out like they were supposed to. If memory serves me correctly, even your cats wouldn’t eat them. You swore there was a misprint in the recipe.” He genuinely laughed.

That brought a smile to her face. She missed the friendship they once shared. The guy whose scratchy voice made her insides tremble, yet she had the safety net of them treating each other as siblings. “I remember. I also recall a few months later, I perfected those cookies, and you two constantly begged me to bake them. You couldn’t get enough of them.”

“Yeah, you’re right. So, what about dinner? I’ll even let you bake some cookies. Just don’t burn them and try covering it up with icing.”

“You win,” she conceded with a laugh, already heading to the kitchen to start preparations. “Pick up a bottle of wine and some garlic bread. I’ll make lasagna.” Her mother’s lasagna recipe was another favorite of Mason’s.

“Yum. See you in an hour.” She smiled at the joy in his voice.

After they hung up, she raced around gathering ingredients for the meal- pasta, tomato sauce, onions, bell pepper, oregano, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese. She took a pound of ground beef out of the freezer and popped it in the microwave to defrost. Her mom’s recipe had been stored in her memory years ago and everything needed to prepare it always stayed stocked in her kitchen. Not only was Mrs. Reed’s lasagna a family favorite, it was one of Kendall’s comfort foods.

Mason arrived just as the meal was coming out of the oven. “I’ll set the table then warm the bread.” Kendall said, leading him into the kitchen.

He unpacked the bags of groceries. “How about if you set the table, but I’ll warm the bread?”

They worked together to get the meal ready. A longing jolted through Kendall at the sight of a man in her kitchen lending a hand. The aroma of fresh bread filled the house, making her mouth water.

Mason held up the bottle of wine in one hand. “Corkscrew?”

She instructed him where to find the corkscrew and wine glasses. Other than those few words, Mason didn’t speak much during the first part of the meal. Kendall got the impression he had something on his mind and didn’t want to waste any time with chit-chat. She didn’t push him into conversation. Instead, they ate in silence. When they both had their fill, he became more talkative. Guess he just needed food.

“That was delicious. You make a killer lasagna. Just like your mom.”

“Secret family recipe. Sorry, can’t share it with you.” She teased.

“No need to reveal family secrets. I’ll just let you cook it for me. By the way, how are your mom and dad? It’s been months since I’ve seen them.”

“They’re fine. Enjoying retirement.” She smiled as she thought about how lucky she was to have such great parents. “They’re celebrating their fortieth wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks.”

“I know. Connie sent me an invitation. It’ll be so good to see them again. You know, they were more like parents to me than my own were.” A distant cloud crossed his face.

“Yeah, I remember.” She recalled the countless nights Mason crashed on their couch, or in Bobby’s room, because his dad was drunk. Mason couldn’t stand to be around his father when he was drinking.

Kendall did learn that, much like herself, Mason had never married and was not currently in a relationship. Of course, if memory served her correctly, Mason never stayed in any relationship very long. He had a reputation of using women, only to dump them before they could develop serious feelings for him. Or rather, as Kendall always suspected, before he could develop feelings. Even back in school there was always another one waiting on the sidelines. Just about every girl in high school wanted the chance to be Mason Black’s girlfriend. Almost every girl in her high school had that chance. Every girl except one. Kendall.

Kendall poured more wine and carried the bottle into the living room with them. She sank onto the overstuffed sofa. Mason walked around the coffee table to stand in front of the fireplace where several burning candles gave off a warm glow. He picked up a picture of Kendall, Bobby, and Mandy. A frown touched his face as he studied them before setting the frame back down.

“I like how you’ve decorated in here.” He looked around with a wistful expression. Slowly he made his way over to the sofa to sit next to her. He rearranged several of the red and sage colored throw pillows before settling in. “It’s classy, but very cozy and inviting.”

“Thanks. I have to give a lot of the credit to my sister. I gave her my ideas, and she brought it all together. I guess that’s why she’s the interior decorator. She has such a knack for this sort of thing.”

“Maybe I’ll call her. I’m still living out of boxes. I could use some help decorating and organizing. I could never make a place look and feel as good this. Mandy would definitely earn her money helping me.”

Kendall turned and caught him staring at her, a reverential expression on his face.

“So,” she said. “What about this business deal of yours and Bobby’s?”

“Well, in the beginning, we shouldn’t need a lot of help. But as we grow and take on more clients, we’re going to need someone to give us a hand taking care of the books and money side of things. Bobby and I talked it over and thought that since you were breaking out on your own, like us, maybe we could get together and work out some sort of arrangement.”

“Hmm.” She tilted her head to the side while she considered the idea. That would mean she would have to work side by side with Mason. Although it had been years since their last encounter, her heart was not ready to deal with him again. But they were adults. Surely she could put her feelings aside for business.

“Is that a yes, or a no?”

“I, um, I guess that could work. But you guys would have to remember, I’m the one with the business degree, not you. I need to be totally involved. You’re talking about me handling all of the bookkeeping duties, not just your monthly financials.” Her brother could be overbearing and pushy at times. And she assumed Mason was no different since the two men had so much in common.

“No problem. I told Bobby you’d agree to help us. He was nervous about asking.”

“Why?”

“I think he didn’t want you to feel obligated.”

“So you thought you’d use your charm, and I wouldn’t be able to say no?” Before he could respond, she cocked her head and shot him a sideways glance. “Might work.” Too late, she couldn’t pull the words back. Damn the wine.

Mason studied her for several seconds before a smile lit his face. “This really means a lot to both of us. We can iron out details later. We’re still in the planning stage, so it will be a little while before we’re ready to kick this off.”

Mason poured more wine. Two glasses, and Kendall was saying things without thinking. She really didn’t need another, but she accepted the glass Mason held out to her. Why not? There was no harm in drinking with an old friend, right? A tingle ran down her arm as their fingers touched briefly.
Yeah, what harm indeed
.

“Man, I’ll be so glad once we get this going full-time.”

“Really? I thought you loved the FBI.”

“I do like the work. I love the work actually. I’m just getting tired of all the red tape. It’s gotten to where there is so much bureaucratic paperwork and incompetency these days. I’m ready to get back to finding and catching bad guys without worrying about endless details. And, I’m tired of all the traveling involved. I don’t see how Bobby keeps everything under control when he’s on the road.”

“So you want to solve cases without rules. Brute force and no paper trail.” She chuckled. The wine was definitely making her giggly. And it was settling in other parts of her body, warming her. Parts she hadn’t experienced feelings in for quite some time.

“No, I just don’t want guys who’re a lot dumber than me making the rules.”

“I see. And, I know for a fact Bobby and Connie have to work hard at raising their family because of his schedule. They’re looking forward to this venture also so he can spend more time with them.”

Mason became silent, almost brooding.

“You okay?” she asked. This wasn’t the first time tonight he seemed a million miles away.

Chapter Five

Mason shook his head. “Sorry, it’s nothing.” He looked around the living room again. Kendall’s warm personality was evident everywhere. The splashes of red reminded him of her independence and security, and her boldness. Pictures revealed the closeness of her family. There were even a few older snapshots that included him.