Playing with Fire (18 page)

She smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Follow your heart, Shane, it won’t lie.”

A sense of intense sickness and desolation
swept through his weary bones as he watched her leave through the
maze of fire trucks. Dropping his head into his hands, he cursed
himself again for jumping to conclusions.

“You did it, didn’t you?” Dylan said from the
doorway.

He lifted his head and nodded. “How long have
you been there?”

“Long enough to hear my wife rip you a new
one. Damn, Shane.”

“Dylan, I screwed up.”

“Yeah, you did.”

“Think there’s any way out?”

Dylan didn’t hesitate. “No.”

“Did you come here to cheer me up?”

“No.” His friend’s angry gaze didn’t waver.
“We’ve got another fire.”

He grabbed his keys. “Sonuvabitch.”

“I’ll drive,” Dylan insisted. “I want to get
there in one piece.”

Minutes later, ashes floated through the
stale air like confetti as Shane’s boot scooped them from the
floor. He wandered around what was left of the Book Nook, silently
willing the blackened walls to speak and end the madness in his
brain. Walking through the storeroom, he felt as though boxes and
shelves full of charred books called to him and begged him to put
them out of their misery.
Why the bookstore
?

He rubbed the back of his neck as he walked
back into the front room. His heart wasn’t there and in all
reality, he couldn’t care less what caused this fire. Not this
time. Not if the evidence proved Liberty responsible.
Half-heartedly searching a separate enclosed area, his stomach
rolled when he spotted a familiar clue. Acetone.

Adjusting his gloves over his fingers, he
stepped closer to retrieve the can when he stopped short.
Positioned beside the can on a small table spared by the flames, an
eerie display caught his attention.
The Ins and Outs of Sex
Therapy
by Dr. Liberty Elizabeth Prescott. The book stood
proud, untouched by the unforgiving fire, with a silky leopard
print scarf draped across the top.

He cautiously threaded the bewitching fabric
between his fingers and found himself strangely aroused. Catching
the scarf by one finger, he dropped it back to the table,
mesmerized as it floated through the musky air. The scarf folded
itself into a heap on the table, revealing yet another clue. In
small, script letters
LEP
was monogrammed along one
edge.

“Holy hell,” Dylan muttered from behind
him.

His knees buckled as he reached for a chair.
LEP. Liberty Elizabeth Prescott
. His whole body shook out of
control. Tears burnt the whites of his eyes.

Dylan’s hand weighed heavy on his shoulder.
“Pull it together, Hartwell.”

Shane took several deep breaths and coughed
as the debris entered his lungs.
This isn’t logical.
Granted, he didn’t want to believe Liberty set the fire, but the
evidence was entirely too neat.
She took the time to arrange a
display
? No, this scene was staged.

“She did
not
set this fire,” Dylan
demanded.

“No,” he agreed, as his cell phone rang.

“Hey, Shane.” Jake yawned over the line. “I’m
calling it a night. Liberty’s been on lockdown since nine
thirty.”

“Are you sure?”

“Hell yes, I’m sure,” Jake snapped. “No
offense, Hartwell, but your girlfriend is boring. She doesn’t even
undress in front of a window.”

“Rawlings,” he growled.

“Relax, I’m yanking your chain.” Jake
snickered. “I heard about the fire over the radio. Any leads?”

Shane relayed the evidence.

“Someone’s trying to pin her.” Jake suddenly
didn’t sound so tired. “She’s been home all night. She’s still
here.”

Shane felt both relieved and pissed off. How
could he have been so stupid? “Go home, Jake, get some sleep.”

Shane disconnected and tossed his phone back
into his pocket.

“She’s home,” he told Dylan. “She has been
all night.”

“Of course.” The other man gave him a silent
dumbass
. “It’s dark.”

He winced at his best friend’s mockery.
“You’re in deep shit, Hartwell,” Dylan continued as his cell phone
rang. “You’d better hope that size eleven boot fits in your mouth
... Maddie? what’s wrong?”

He dragged himself from his miserable stupor
at the worry in the other man’s voice.

“On my way, sweetheart.” Dylan disconnected
and shot him a scathing glare. “I’ve got to go home. Use the walk
home to kick yourself in the ass and remember what I said.”

Shane watched Dylan march out of the store.
His obsession with Zach’s death had made everything such a mess,
chasing away the very people who cared so much about him. He
exhaled a hard breath and left the scene. Ironically, he was
turning into the one person who relieved his pain. He and Fred sure
had a way with words.

Hot, blinding sunlight coerced Shane from his
cocoon the next morning. Propping himself against the headboard, he
shook the sleep from his brain and attempted to straighten his
wrinkled thoughts.
Wait a minute
. Sleep.
I actually slept
without a nightmare.
And without Liberty.

Damnittohell
.

It was time to do the inevitable, swallow his
pride and admit his mistake. He reached for the phone beside the
bed and dialed. His heart throbbed uncontrollably at the sound of
her silky voice as she answered.

“Liberty —”

He frowned at the dial tone in his ear. He
re-dialed and again, she greeted him with a breathless hello.

“Liber—”

The same, menacing, dull tone rang true.
Right. I get it, she’s pissed
. Determined to explain
himself, he punched her number a third time.

“Damn it, Liberty —”

He growled and slammed the receiver into its
cradle.
Fine
. He’d wait her out. As long as he could.

Steam flew from Liberty’s fingers as she
sorted through file folders, tossing page upon page into the air.
The answer lie somewhere in this organized mess.

“What do you think, Bri? Do you see
anything?”

Bri shook her head from the pile of folders
that surrounded her. “Not yet, but there’s bound to be something
here.”

Liberty flipped through another file. Damn
Shane. Why was it so important to prove him wrong? She should’ve
just told him to go straight to hell, she didn’t have anything to
lose. Except her professional reputation. She snorted. And the man
she loved.

She’d made a career of studying the human
brain and she still didn’t understand him. Sure he was desperate to
put an end to the terror in his brain, that she did understand. But
did he have to sacrifice her to do it?
That’s what you get,
Liberty
. She’d walked into it with her heart wide open.

“Have you come up with a profile?” Liberty
refocused on her mission and glanced at Bri.

“I think I’m close.” Bri stopped sorting.
“I’m pretty sure we’re looking for a male. One who has a very big
problem with women. Maybe his hatred started with his mother, maybe
not. In any case, he feels he is superior.”

“So far I agree.”

“I believe he has abused a woman in the past.
At least one, maybe more. He abuses to feed his need to
control.”

“Wow!” Liberty had never been so glad to have
a confidante in her life. “You are good.”

Bri gave her a sweet smile. “I’m just glad
you asked me to help.”

“Me too. What else.”

“Obviously, he likes fire. He gets
satisfaction, possibly sexual, from watching things burn.”

“Oh my God.”

Liberty tossed file folders into a pile until
she found what she knew to be the key to this whole messed up
puzzle.
Anne Woods
. Her brow furrowed as she laid the file
on the coffee table and opened it. As she read the treatment notes,
a chill ran up her spine and memories began to resurface.

“
Lucius set another fire last night,” Anne
said slowly. “Burnt the garage down and stood there with a hard-on
the whole time.”

“
Did you call the Fire
Department?”

“
I tried. Lucius threatened to throw me
into the flames if I did. He’s going to kill me, Liberty,” Anne
told her matter-of-factly. “He won’t be satisfied until he
does.”

“
It’s time to leave him, Anne,” Liberty
said sternly. “If you’re in danger, you’ve got to get out. I can
help you.”

“
I don’t think you can.” Anne shook her
head sadly. “He’s very determined.”

“
Is there someone you can stay
with?”

“
No.” Anne shook her head. “Wherever I go,
he will find me and he will kill me.”

“
How will he kill you, Anne?”

“
He will set me on fire and watch me
burn.”

Liberty gasped as she thumbed through the
pages and finally stopped on Anne’s obituary. “Bri, I think I found
something.”

The other woman crawled to sit beside her,
silently reading the same information. “Bingo.”

Liberty’s heart thumped wildly. “The coroner
ruled the death a suspicious burning when Anne’s car plummeted over
the side of a cliff, but he was unable to determine if she burnt
before or after the crash. The date of death was March 17, 2007,
the day after Anne told Lucius she was leaving him.” Her eyes
widened with realization. “The same day an evil Lucius stormed my
office with a promise of revenge.”

She pressed her fingers to her temples,
willing herself to remember something else. Anything. Lucius hadn’t
struck her as someone who chose to stand out in a crowd; he was
more the type to use the crowd to hide. He reminded her of a
military type and a stickler for detail.

She snapped her fingers. “Military. The
tattoo. Anne told me Lucius served in Desert Storm as an ammunition
specialist. The man had biceps the size of rump roasts.”

“He had a tattoo?”

“Yes, his nickname. Lucifer.”

Her eyes widened while she mentally heard her
conversation with Anne as if the woman sat in the same room.

Lucifer,” Anne explained. “You know, Satan
himself.”

“
Did the military change him?”

“
Oddly, no. It’s like he just walked
further into the darkness.”

“
Did anyone ever recognize his
behavior?”

“
No, he’s a maniacal loner. There’s no way
to stop him.”

“
We need to notify the police,
Anne.”

“
And tell them what? We think my husband
is Satan and he’s come to take me to hell?” Anne scoffed. “They’d
really believe I’m crazy then.”

“You know what you have to do,” Bri said
quietly.

Without a second thought, Liberty jumped off
the sofa and banged her knee against the coffee table as she rushed
to the phone. Rubbing the throbbing muscle, she dialed
furiously.

“Hartwell.”

She quenched the desire from her mind at the
sound of Shane’s husky voice. “I’m glad I caught you.”

She heard him take a deep breath and then
exhale. “I thought you weren’t speaking to me.”

“I’m not,” she spat, “but I need you to come
to my house. I have something to show you.”

“I’m on my way out.”

“Shane!” She was close to hysterics and
didn’t really give a damn if he knew it. “Stop being such an ass,
put out that cigarette, and get over here!”

Bri cleared her throat as Liberty slammed
down the phone. “Would you like me to give you two some
privacy?”

“No, stay put. I may need back-up.”

Shane attempted to pry his jaw off the floor
as the dial tone sang in his ear, now for the fourth time.
Did
she just scream at me
?
And how did she know I’m smoking
?
He exhaled one last time, tapped the half-smoked cigarette into an
ashtray, and slammed the door behind him.

A few minutes later, Liberty flung open the
door before he could even ring the doorbell, grabbed him by the arm
and yanked him inside. He stood dazed and shocked by her
aggressiveness.

“Sit.” She pointed to a chair and handed him
the obituary. “I’ve solved your case.”

He glanced at Bri. At least he had a witness.
His gaze scanned the newspaper clipping and then sought
Liberty’s.

“She was one of my patients,” she explained.
“An abused wife.”

“What does this have to do with the
fires?”

“I think her husband set them.”

“What proof do you have?”

She dumped a box of file folders in his lap.
“Loads.”

He gave her a cautious look, partly because
he was a little nervous to question her but mostly because he was
concerned about blowing the case. “Isn’t this illegal?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Anne swore Lucius
would kill her. She signed a release, granting me permission to
give whatever information necessary to the authorities.”

“Why didn’t you tell someone before now?”

“Because up until now, I thought she died in
the car accident. She didn’t, Shane, I believe she was murdered
before the car left the cliff.”

“How do you know?”

“The death was ruled suspicious. All the
pieces fit together into one life-ending puzzle. And now, he’s come
after me.”

The hair stood on the back of his neck. No
way in hell would he doubt her this time. “Call Jake.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “Walk across the
street and get him yourself, he’s parked there.”

“Liberty, we had to be sure.”

“Whatever. Just get him so you can read the
file.”

He dialed his cell phone and two minutes
later, Jake sauntered through the front door.

“Liberty.” Jake nodded and then glanced at
Bri. “Hello, Bri.”

Bri pursed her lips. “Hello, Detective
Ramsey.”