Hell Is Burning (15 page)

Emma begged him never to stop.

Greyson wanted to lose it, but he needed to fall with his woman. So, he reached around to slide his fingers through the wetness. As his mouth was so very close to her ear, he began telling her what he was going to do when she was bound for him. His words were raw and filled with passion.

Emma shook.

His body tightened.

Everything in them began breaking a part.

Then, it happened.

Greyson exploded, pouring hotly into her body. Emma took all he had to offer, wanting more and more. There would never be enough of her sexy cave Croft.

“Oh, Grey!” she whispered, as her body shattered under the pleasure filled thrusts.

Together they tumbled, the colors and pleasure swirling wildly around them.

Neither spoke.

There was nothing to say.

Instead, they drifted. It wasn’t until Emma could feel him sliding out of her body, and as she was being lifted, that she opened her eyes.

Greyson was moving her in to her position on the pillows. There was nothing she loved more.

When he hit the lights and climbed into bed, she cuddled against him.

“Promise me you’ll never leave me, Emma,” he said.

She looked up at him in the dark. Even in the moonlight, she could see the tension across his face. He was scared. “I swear I won’t.”

Then she kissed him, and that’s how they drifted off to sleep.

Warm.

Wet.

Content.

Satiated.

And gratefully… alive.

Chapter Four

Wednesday Morning

When morning finally came, they were exhausted, but it didn't matter. They had a job to do, and the team would be arriving soon. It wasn’t logistically possible for Emma to make breakfast for everyone there, so they ordered in. Sometimes, you just had to take the easier route to solve a problem.

When security delivered from the local bakery, Greyson was already salivating.

Don’t get him wrong.

He loved Emma’s muffins, but the prospect of biting down into one filled with nothing but unhealthy lard and sugar filled him with such giddiness.

Sex last night.

Sugar this morning.

All he needed now was a cigar, and he was pretty much set for the perfect day.

It was the little things like this that kept him going when he knew the reality was going to be a cold hard bitch. This case was going to be painful to all of them.

Glancing over, he noticed his wife was watching him. Greyson knew how to lighten the mood.

So, he went with it.

“Emma, she means nothing to me,” he stated, holding the blueberry muffin in his hand. “I swear. It’s just a cheap, tawdry affair, and when she’s gone, I won’t daydream about her like I do you.”

She snorted. “You’re out of control, and it’s barely eight in the morning.”

He grinned. It did him good to chase the shadows from her eyes. Croft knew his wife. She was hurting deep down. The cop veneer was just that. Emma was mourning the loss of her friend.

As his brother and Steele wandered into the kitchen, both men were dressed, but one looked a little messed up. Someone had been mauled. It was obvious.

“Steele, your tie is crooked, and your hair is standing up,” Greyson said, slowly stripping his muffin from the wrapper.

Dante grinned. “Gee. How did that happen?” he asked, going to Emma to give her a kiss. “Ohhhh, muffins! Now I know why my brother is smiling.”

Greyson wiggled his eyebrows at Emma. He was thinking about the hours before. Muffin schmuffin--he had some hot sexiness before bed. That was the surefire way to get him to grin.

When Dante took a seat, Steele helped himself to some coffee. Emma straightened his tie for him and fixed his hair. No one missed the motherly act. “We can’t have you leaving Castle Croft looking like you were jumped.”

Greyson choked on muffin. “Really? I don’t need to picture it.”

Dante grinned at his brother. “I do, and it was stellar--if I do say so myself. Oh look! I just did.”

Steele grabbed a muffin and took a seat beside his boyfriend. Then he elbowed him. “Don’t torment your brother,” he ordered.

Dante stared at him. “Are you kidding? This is the one time in my life where I can bust his ass, and he can’t do anything about it.”

In all honesty, Greyson didn’t mind. At first, he was a little uncomfortable around the two men and their sexuality, only because he didn't get it. He liked breasts.

Specifically the ones attached to his sexy wife.

So, this was odd to him, but now… it was normal. His brother was gay, he was having a hot and heavy relationship with an ME, so he’d adjusted.

“Actually, he can. He’s my boss.”

Again, Greyson grinned. When he reached for another muffin, Emma stopped him.

“He can’t do anything to Steele, because I happen to love him, and that would make me mad. As for another muffin, it’s not happening.”

“But I…”

She cut him off. It was a good thing, because there was a knock at the door.

Croft gave up. He’d at least had one, and if there were any left over after their breakfast debriefing, he’d steal one on his way out the door. She may be boss of the baked goods, but he was still king of the castle.

When Croft opened the door, Paris and Tessa rolled in.

Literally.

She was sitting in his lap, holding his messenger bag.

“Sorry, boss, but we didn't have time for the gym, and this is my exercise,” Paris said, flexing his arm.

He didn't mind. The two people entering his home had become part of his family. When Curtis and Brynn dumped them out of anger, he and Emma had found other people who filled their hearts.

His profiler and his woman were part of their inner circle.

“No problem. There are muffins and coffee on the island. Dante and Steele are here, and we have two more coming.”

Greyson followed them into the kitchen where Emma handed Paris a plate and mug. He balanced it on his lap after Tessa had vacated her seat to sit on a stool.

A lot happened in the last two months. While their relationship had been rocky, now it was leveling out. Tessa stopped babying the man, and he stopped having a pity party.

“How’s Curtis?” Tessa asked.

Everyone went somber. It was like the switch was flicked, and they weren’t going to be the family, but the team of people who fought crime.

“He’s in his room,” Croft said. “I brought him here.”

That said it all.

“I feel bad for him,” Dante said. “If there’s anything I can do to help out just let me know,” he offered. “He has to be hurting over all this.”

Croft was glad to hear that. “He is, and that’s why I need a favor.”

His brother was all ears.

“Can you work from the condo today?” he asked. “I know that you’re busy, but this is important.”

Dante sipped his coffee. His brother looked dead serious, and that was his cue not to bust his ass.

“Sure. I can do that for you, Grey.”

Dante was running their empire, and if they wanted him to be there, he could do it. It might be tricky while he was overseeing the construction at Terrace Glen, but it could be done by video conference.

“I appreciate it.”

“Are you worried about Curtis?” Dante knew his brother loved the man just as much as he loved him. There was a bond there--well, before Curtis bailed on him. Apparently, it was never severed.

“Steele is heading in to work in the morgue, Emma and I have to investigate and do interviews, and my two agents are going to be working from my office. We don’t want to leave Curtis alone.” He lowered his voice. “He’s going to need everyone to circle around him and keep him isolated. If this hits the media, you know how they are. He’ll be on the front page, simply because of his connection to me.”

They all understood.

“I can handle it. I don’t mind babysitting.”

It was time for Greyson to come clean. If his people were going to protect Curtis, then he needed them to know the entirety of the situation. “You should know that last night, I found him ready to take his life. I don’t want him to hurt himself, so you really have to watch him. I think it was the booze and his feelings of hopelessness. I hope I’m not going to have to turn him over to a shrink.”

Paris spoke up, “I can evaluate him if you want. It’s not my job as an FBI profiler, but I’m qualified to pick up any of the signals that he might hurt himself.”

He thought about it.

“Just keep your eyes on him. We may have to take that route later. I have to have hope that he’s going to pull through this. Curtis is strong. His family will get him through the rough patches. I know we can do it.”

Before anyone could speak, there was knocking at the door. Emma went to get it, but Greyson stopped her.

“I have it, honey.”

When he got to the door, after pulling it open, Greyson was happy to see Christopher Ford and Emma’s partner, Mace Bristol. The last of the team had finally arrived, and they could get down to business.

“Come on in. Breakfast is in the kitchen--coffee too.”

He didn't need to say it twice. Both men were bachelors, and they didn't mind stopping by for food and camaraderie. In fact, Greyson was perfectly fine with that too. You could never have too many loyal friends surrounding you.

“Captain,” Emma said as he entered.

“Chris,” he stated. “I’m not on the clock.”

She smiled and handed him a mug of coffee.

When he sipped it, he took a second to enjoy the taste. There was no doubt that the Crofts knew how to spend their money the right way.

Caffeine was the way to go.

“Hey, Mace, are you hungry?” she asked, handing him the last blueberry muffin.

Intentionally
…

Greyson actually growled in her ear as he moved into the kitchen to refill his coffee. He’d been foiled again. Well, little did she know, he’d eat any baked goods. Blueberry was his favorite, but he wasn’t above chocolate chip muffins either. After all, beggars, or men who had strict diets--thanks to their wives--couldn’t be choosers.

“Since everyone is here, we should get started,” Croft offered, leading them, with their food, into the living room. Everyone took a seat, and they pulled out their files to get down to business.

“I printed these out, and then locked down the rest of the autopsies,” stated Steele, handing out the three copies of the results to everyone in the room. “I think they’re pretty cut and dry, but I’m able to answer any questions you might have.”

They all flipped through them, scanning the details.

“How about you give us a quick breakdown, Doctor?” Emma asked. She liked hearing the report. For some reason, she picked up more information regarding a case that way.

Steele sipped his coffee as he flipped through his own copies until he got to the first two victims.

“Max Pauley got the ID’s matched, and we have the victims’ names,” Steele began. “Our first woman is Shirley Golden. She was twenty four at the time of her death. I did a thorough autopsy on her and found that COD was definitely strangulation. Thankfully for her sake, she wasn’t likely alive when she was strung up. There was bruising around her neck and under the magnifying lens, it appeared to be handprints. If you take that and add it to the fact that her hyoid wasn’t broken, that to me indicates that she was likely strangled before she was strung up.”

Emma fielded this one. “Okay, so she was taken, strangled, and hung up there for us to find.”

“That’s my professional opinion.”

They all made notes, especially Paris. Already, he was building his profile in his head. If the killer was taking their life first and then hanging them, it was about the presentation. In the killer’s mind, he or she was setting a scene.

“Our second victim, Blanca Reilly, was also fairly young. She was twenty two at the time of death. From her examination, like Shirley, she was in perfect health.”

“And COD?” Croft asked. He knew that her health didn't matter. All that mattered now was finding the animal who stole her life.

“Again, she was killed by the same method. I found her hyoid wasn’t broken either, and she was dead before he strung her up.”

Emma was running this case, so she needed to start handing out the duties.

“Paris, you’re on profile. I need to know why this sicko is doing this to the women. It seems odd to me that he’s killing them, dragging them to a forest, and decorating the trees with their corpses.”

Dante whistled. “That’s definitely crazy.”

They were all aware.

Emma continued, “Tessa and Mace, can you handle the research? We’re going to have to interview anyone who knew these two women.”

Tessa glanced over at her fiancé. It was hard not to think back to her last male partner--before Curtis. It rubbed Paris the wrong way. When he simply winked at her, she knew he was fine with her partnering up with the Native cop.

What a relief.

“We can do that, Emma,” Mace stated, finishing his muffin. It looked like they were going to be tied to some desks on this one.

“Emma?” Steele began, getting her attention before she could go on.

“Yes?”

“Before you get started, there’s something else we need to discuss. I know you’re ready to jump into this one, but I need to lay out all the facts.”

“What?”

He lowered his voice. “Brynn was definitely alive when she was hung up in that tree. She fought to get down. The other two women had no DNA under their nails, but she had a ton under hers.”

“Okay, so he didn't kill her. Maybe he thought she was dead, and when he lifted her from the ground, she came to?”

“I don’t think so. This is like a puzzle piece that doesn’t fit for me. I thought about it all night, and it’s off.”

They stared at him.

“What has you all stirred up, Steele?” Greyson asked. The fact of the matter was, this man was good at his job. Yes, he hired him to work on his team, but it wasn’t all because of his brother. Croft saw intelligence in the man, and that was always welcome in the FBI.

“As I was doing the autopsies, there were too many inconsistencies.”

Emma was curious. “Like?”

“First, there’s the rope. It was the same for the first two women, but then Brynn’s was different,” he offered. “I know that may seem insignificant, but it’s bugging me.”