Hell Is Burning (51 page)

Greyson wasn’t happy. The killer was likely yanking their chain.

“You’re staying here.”

Emma didn't listen. Instead, she followed him out the door, closing it behind her. “The team will be here any minute. We’re both going.”

“Emma!”

She shook her head. “Greyson, you’re the main target. We’re just the people you surround yourself with. Don’t think for one moment that this asshole won’t take you out too. The shooter is dead, and now bait is left outside the detective’s home? Seriously? You’re not going anywhere alone. End of discussion. This may be a trap.”

He knew she was right, but still…

“Don’t do anything stupid,” he ordered.

Well, it was too late. They took on a wacked out corruptor months ago. In hindsight, that wasn’t the smartest thing to do.

       
         
* * *
  Croft & Croft  * * *

The Crofts were running in circles.

That was the plan. When they least expected it, they were going to find themselves at the end of the game.

It was coming.

There was no doubt that tonight, someone wasn’t walking away in one piece.

It was only a matter of picking which of them would die. It didn't really matter since they both needed their pathetic lives ended.

Blood would be spilled.

Would it be from the man who wouldn’t back down as Fed? Or would it be his lovely wife, devoted, caring, and very protective of her man?

Someone was taking a trip to the morgue tonight, and it would be decided in the heat of the moment. Whoever was easier to lure away would be going out of the party in a body bag.

Beggars couldn’t be choosers.

One way or another, it was going to be over.

Tonight, hell would get a new tenant.

Enough was enough.

Greyson Croft was going down.

       
                   
* * *
  Croft & Croft  * * *

When they got there, it was indeed Brynn’s car sitting in front of the detective’s house.

This looked really bad for him.

Not only was he having an affair with a married woman, at one point suspected of killing her, but now the evidence had fallen into his lap.

He looked guilty as sin, and they would have bought it had they not already believed the person after Greyson had killed Brynn.

It was the little details that mattered most, and that pointed the finger away from the man inside.

Still, they could use this to get any information out of him. He didn't need to know what was going on in the case.

As they got out, he came rushing toward them.

Both pulled their guns.

He slid to a stop. “I didn't do this! You have to believe me! I swear to God! Someone is trying to set me up!”

Emma moved closer to the car while her husband kept the man under a watchful eye. She could see Brynn’s badge, gun, and purse on the front seat.

“This has to be her husband screwing with me!” Detective McGuire accused. “He has it in for me!”

Greyson holstered his gun while Emma called it in. “There’s only two problems with that Greg,” he began.

“What?”

“Curtis stayed at my place last night, and he was there when we were called out this morning for a new body. You said this wasn’t here when you came home. He would have had to sneak out of a house monitored by our security, come here, place the car, and walked all the way across town in order to be seen at three in the morning.”

The man stared at him.

“We live at least seven miles from here.”

It seemed to shut the man up.

“What’s the other thing?”

“He’s moved on. Right now, he’s angry with his wife, not you, and just in case, he’s at the FBI building in a room full of people. He has an alibi, but you don’t.”

Greg stared at him.

“You think I did this?”

Croft shrugged. “You tell me.”

He turned and headed back to his house. “Screw you both! I knew you wouldn’t be fair. Curtis Briggs is your pet, and you’re as crooked as they come!”

When he slammed the door, Emma started to laugh. “Did you have fun? You know he didn't have anything to do with this.”

Greyson was well aware. “He deserves it for sleeping with a married woman. Vows are sacred, and he and Brynn don’t deserve my kindness.”

Emma understood. Curtis mattered to her husband. Brynn was just lucky she was dead, or Greyson would have taken her down a peg or three.

“We should head in.”

She wasn’t sure why he was getting edgy. “Are you okay, Grey?”

He shook his head. “I feel eyes on us, and I’m not sure if it’s Dimitri or not. I know he’s lurking, but still...”

That was good enough for Emma. She didn't want to make him more edgy than he already was.

A stirred up Greyson was a dangerous Greyson.

They all knew that.

       
                   
* * *
  Croft & Croft  * * *

FBI Las Vegas

Conference Room

Saturday Early Afternoon

When they arrived at the office, the team was busily working on their individual assignments. Mace was going over all the trace reports, reading each line as he searched for anything that would help them out.

Paris and Tessa were running background checks on Fred Dyson, James Bleu, and Liam Eckerly. As of yet, they didn't have anything worth mentioning.

Curtis was there too, and he was staring off into space.

“Hey, son, are you okay?” Greyson asked.

The man glanced over as if noticing them for the first time.

“Yeah, I was just thinking about the case, that’s all. I was also hoping to get the hell off desk duty, and soon.”

Greyson took a seat beside him. “Shortly, we’re heading home to get ready for tonight. Emma just wants to head down to the morgue to see what we have before we leave. Do you want to go with us?”

He looked surprised that he’d be allowed to join them. “Yeah, I do.”

“Great. Let’s break this down and get moving. I have to shave and get into my tux. I can’t have my wife outclassing me tonight.”

Curtis laughed. He already knew what was going to happen. Greyson would get cleaned up, Emma would walk in wearing some gorgeous number, and Croft would get all tongue tied.

It was the same old every time, and it was sweet to watch happen. Curtis was a bit envious. He really hoped one day, when he was healed, he’d find that kind of love. It hurt that he’d been fooled into believing that he’d once achieved it.

“What do we have?” Emma began, sipping some coffee.

“We’re running the three men you sent over, and so far, not one has a police record. They’re all clean. Now we’re going to cross check them against the victims, Brynn included, just to be sure. IF anything pops in their financials, we’ll be on it, and fast.”

She was good with that.

“What about the car?”

Mace fielded this one. He told them about the dead man with no ID on him. “Steele has him in the chiller, but he said something about having obligations tonight, so the autopsy will have to wait until tomorrow.”

“Yeah, he’s attending this charity thing too.”

Curtis was glad he wasn’t going. Tonight, he wanted a beer, the couch, and to think about things. He wasn’t in the mood for a tux and snotty rich people.

Then he glanced over at his family. Not them. He was beginning to see that family was all that mattered in life.

“We had a little twist in this case,” Emma stated. “While we were out doing the interview, we got a call.”

She told them everything, and the whole time, she never looked away from Curtis. She wanted to see his reaction, and from the look of it, he was getting over the anger.

“I know why you’re staring at me, Mom. I’m fine,” he stated. “If Brynn was alive, he could have her. I would have filed had I known she was sleeping around.”

She patted him on the back.

Greyson glanced over at his profiler. “What can you give us?”

“Well, until I run everything, not much. I will say that I find it suspicious that all the victims, sans Brynn, were all sexually deviant.”

They waited for him to say more.

“The first victim, Shirley, was a lesbian. The killer’s second victim was screwing men openly at the gym, and then Kelly Granger was involved with a man who couldn’t keep it in his pants.”

Greyson added the swinger part.

“That might be enough to piss a killer off. If it’s someone who’s damaged, he’s going to lose it. Thus, beating her face in or raping Carrie Corwell. Our killer is evolving, and that’s going to make this difficult.”

He thought about it. Croft never considered that the killer might be selecting them because they were easy. Could it all be about sex?

“So, our killer hates women who aren’t afraid to be sexually liberated,” Emma stated. “That opens this up to a lot of possible victims. This is Vegas. They don’t call it
‘Sin City’
for the fun of it. God moved out a long time ago.”

They all agreed there.

“Are we sure Brynn wasn’t part of this?” Curtis asked. “Screwing your partner, while married, is definitely ‘sexually liberated’,” he said, using her words.

They were fairly sure.

“I need to profile the three men, add it in, and see what I come up with,” Paris stated. “I’ll work on it tonight while I’m here.”

Emma shook her head. “You and Tessa can’t be here together.”

They looked over.

“Why not?” Tessa asked.

“It’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding,” she stated.

“Oh, is that what I did wrong?” Curtis asked, trying to be funny, but the humor wasn’t reaching his eyes.

“When Greyson and I got married, we had our honeymoon first, and on that last day here we got married. He insisted we go our separate ways, and then met at the chapel on the strip. You two can’t see each other.”

“We’re in the middle of an investigation,” Tessa said. “Besides, I don’t want to leave him alone here to do all the work. Someone is a workaholic.”

Paris laughed. “I don’t want Tessie by herself at home. There’s a killer running around.”

Emma had a solution. “Tessa is coming with us. We have a room ready for her, and she can get dressed and ride with us to the wedding.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. “What about Paris? I can’t leave him behind.”

Mace raised his hand. “Since the person after Greyson might take a shot at you two, Paris is coming home with me. He’s going to hang out at my bachelor pad. We’re going to eat Chinese, drink beer, and find a killer.”

He grinned. “That sounds close to a perfect evening.”

“Then it’s settled,” Emma stated. “You two are getting married tomorrow morning. We’ve worked around the clock on this one, and hopefully, the killer will take a night off. Tomorrow, you’re getting hitched.”

They couldn’t wait.

“Don’t work too late tonight, Paris. You have a bride to meet at the altar,” Emma stated, getting up from the table.

Oh, she didn't have to remind him. This was the day Paris had worked so hard to reach. Here was his end goal. “Just keep my bride-to-be safe. I’ll get you the profile.”

As they headed out, Curtis was really quiet. He wanted to be jealous, but he knew his partner had to fight tooth and nail to save Paris from himself. She deserved this.

“Want to come tomorrow?” Tessa asked.

“Who? Me?”

She laughed. “Yes, you. You’re my partner. I can’t imagine you not being there.”

“Yeah, I think I will.”

She dropped her arm over his shoulder as they followed the Crofts out. “You’ll find the right one,” she promised. “I can already tell.”

He glanced over at her. “How do you know?”

“You’re due. When shit hits, it’s a sign that the good mojo is on its way. You handled this like a champ. There’s no way you won’t win the big prize. Just keep fighting.”