When the Smoke Clears (Deadly Reunions) (10 page)

“Do you mind if I go with you?”

Before he could answer, an officer approached from across the street. “I’ve knocked on a lot of doors. Almost no one’s home. Guess they’re at work. The lady across the street and a few doors down said she saw a dark-headed guy with a backpack walking his dog.” The officer shrugged. “Could be a cover. Why would somebody carry a backpack on their morning walk?”

Hunter nodded and looked at Alexia. “You remember anyone like that?”

“No. I talked to Lori Tabor and another neighbor, Harold Yarborough.”

“Yeah, I talked to him too,” the officer said. “He didn’t have anything interesting to add other than he wished you’d leave and take all your trouble with you.”

Alexia flinched. “That’s pretty much what he said when I talked to him a little while ago.”

Hunter frowned. “He has something against you?”

“He and his wife are friends with my mother. He thinks he’s protecting her.”

Hunter raised a brow at that. She refused to explain. He nodded at the officer. “Let me know if you find anything else.” To Alexia, he said, “I’ll be right back.”

She watched him walk over to one of the CSU team members. Climbing out of the car, she decided to follow him and got close enough to hear him ask, “Hey Shelly, do you mind if I take one of those darts to Rick?”

“Now?”

“Yep.”

Shelly shrugged. “Sure, you know what to do.” She handed him the computer. “Sign there.” Then she handed him a clipboard. “And there.”

Hunter complied and Shelly handed him the bag.

“Thanks.”

“Gonna hit Rick up to process your stuff first, huh?”

He grinned. “I’m taking the fifth.”

Shelly rolled her eyes and went back to work.

Hunter turned and spotted Alexia hovering behind him. She said, “So? Do you mind if I go with you?”

“That should be all right. I’ll have to call ahead and let them know I’m bringing you. There’s a lot of security and restricted places in the lab. You can wait in the waiting room or maybe Rick’s office. All right?”

“Fine. I just want to be involved. I’ll go crazy if I have to sit around doing nothing.”

“I understand. Plus,” his lips tightened, “you might just be safer with me than anywhere else right at this moment.”

She grimaced at the truth of his statement and didn’t bother trying to deny it.

Hunter pulled into the parking lot of the state crime lab. One of the perks of working in the capital of South Carolina. Another plus was the fact that his tennis buddy Rick Shelton was head of the lab. Hunter tried not to take advantage of the relationship but had to admit when he needed something fast, he didn’t hesitate to ask. And Rick came through for him when he could.

“Come on, follow me.”

He got her through the security checkpoint, obtained a visitor’s pass, and together they walked as far as Rick Shelton’s office. The lab would be off limits.

He found his buddy munching a ham sandwich and rummaging in his desk. “You got anything yet?”

Rick looked up. “What makes you think I’m working on your case?”

“Because you want to date my sister and you need a good word from me?”

Unfazed by the comment, Rick simply lifted a brow. “The last thing I need is a good word from you. Christine and I can handle our own relationship, thanks.”

“Aha! So, you admit there is one. A relationship, that is.”

“I admit nothing.” He went back to his desk. “Bingo. I knew I had a package of pepper in here somewhere.” He opened it and looked back at Hunter. “This your friend you called about?”

“Alexia, Rick Shelton.”

Alexia nodded and smiled. Rick held out a hand and she shook it.

Hunter dropped the bag with the dart in it on Rick’s desk. “How fast can you find out if there’s anything on the tip of that dart and if there are any fingerprints to run?”

Rick simply stared at him over his black-framed glasses.

Hunter couldn’t read the man’s face. A fact that frustrated him often.

Taking pity on his friend, Rick finally sighed and said, “Can you give me thirty or forty minutes?”

“Sure.”

“I assume this has something to do with her?” He gestured toward Alexia.

Alexia said, “Someone tried to plant one of those in me this morning. I’d like to know what would have happened if I hadn’t moved fast enough.”

Rick frowned. “Well, that’s just plain mean.”

“I kind of thought so,” Alexia murmured.

“Come back in thirty to forty minutes.”

Hunter took her arm and led her from Rick’s office. “Let’s go down to the little café and grab an early lunch. The food here’s actually pretty good.”

“I take it you come here often?”

Hunter smiled. “Rick and I went through high school together. I bug him often enough. Are you telling me you don’t remember him?”

She frowned. “Nope, can’t say I do.”

“Not surprising. Rick was always in the biology or chemistry lab. A major nerd.”

“And you, the captain of the football team, hung out with him?”

“Yep. I liked him.”

The look in her eye changed from teasing to admiring. “So you weren’t just a shallow jock back then?”

He felt a flush start at the base of his neck and cleared his throat. “Nope. Not all the time.” And if she’d given him half a glance, he would have been glad to prove it to her.

But she hadn’t. And now that he had an idea why, he supposed he couldn’t hold that against her. They entered the café and ordered their food.

Tucked away in a corner booth, Hunter watched Alexia pick at her tuna sandwich. “Can you think of anyone who’d want to shoot at you?”

“I have no idea.”

They ate in silence for the next few minutes, then Alexia said, “Back in Washington, I was on a call at a fire and I ran out of air. Someone messed with my fire gear. Punched itty-bitty holes in my hose. I didn’t know it and went in to save a kid. My captain ordered me out when my alarm went off indicating my air was low. I ignored him and saved the kid. I ended up running out of air and passing out. All ended well, but the reprimand was pretty harsh and I’m on leave until I can appeal the decision.”

“So, what you’re saying is someone tried to kill you—or at least cause you serious harm—in Washington. And you’re wondering if this person followed you here?”

She shrugged. “Maybe. I think the incidents could be related but have no idea how to connect the dots.”

Before he could answer, his phone rang. “Hello?”

“I got your answer. Want to meet me back in my office?”

“Sure. We’ll be there in five minutes.”

When they entered, Rick looked at Hunter. “I ran tests on some of the more common narcotics used in tranquilizer darts and got a hit. These particular ones have midazolam on them.”

Hunter’s brow creased in thought. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

“It’s a fast-acting drug that’s usually used for treatment of seizures,” Rick explained. “Sometimes it’s used for inducing sedation before medical procedures.”

“So, it’s a knockout drug?”

Rick rolled his eyes. “In layman’s terms, sure, a knockout drug.”

“But nothing that would kill her?”

Rick shrugged. “Depends on how many darts hit her.”

“Fortunately none did.”

“Then no, they won’t kill her,” Rick deadpanned.

Alexia snickered.

Hunter rolled his eyes. “Wise guy.”

Hunter took Alexia back to get her car. Then he followed her to Serena’s house. She parked in the drive and Hunter pulled in behind her. When he got out, she asked, “You want to come in for a few minutes?”

He nodded. “Is Serena here?”

“Yes. Probably packing.” She explained about Serena’s unexpected trip to China. “She heads to the airport first thing tomorrow morning.”

Alexia opened the door and they stepped inside the foyer. Hunter shut the door behind him.

He glanced around and gave a low whistle. “Nice.” Then he frowned. “So you’re going to be here alone?”

“Yes.” She shrugged. “I’ve lived alone for the last ten years. It doesn’t bother me.” Much.

“You haven’t had someone taking shots at you for the last ten years.”

“So what do I do? Crawl in a hole and hide?”

He shook his head. “No. You just be extra careful. Watch your back.”

Footsteps came from the kitchen. Alexia turned to see Serena, dressed in blue jeans and a knit T-shirt, coming toward them, Yoda at her heels.

Serena smiled. “Hey there.”

“Hey. You all ready to take off?”

“Almost.” Her eyes narrowed on Alexia’s long pink T-shirt. “What happened to you?”

Glancing down, she saw an oil stain on her hip. Probably where she hit the concrete in the carport. “Oh. I didn’t even notice that. I had a bit of excitement at Mom’s house this morning.” She filled her in.

Serena paled. “You’re kidding. Who would do that?”

“I don’t know.”

“But we’re going to find out,” Hunter promised.

Concerned, Serena looked at Alexia. “You need to make sure you activate the alarm each time you get here and when you leave.”

“I will. Come on, guys.” She scratched the dog’s left ear. “I’ll be careful. Now quit worrying.”

“What’s your schedule like for tomorrow?” Hunter asked.

She thought. “I plan to go back to Mom’s house. I still have to cut the grass, and I need to look around. I want to just be there and see if there’s anything I missed yesterday. Some kind of clue or hint as to what Devin was into.”

Hunter nodded. “All right, I’ll see you in the morning.”

“What?”

“After what happened today, I don’t think you should go back alone. We’ll go together.”

“But—”

His raised finger stopped her. “I’m serious.” Then he glanced at his watch and said, “Now, I’ve got a meeting about Devin’s case. I’ll be here first thing in the morning.”

14

Wednesday, 8:16 a.m.

Hunter watched Alexia descend the front steps of Serena’s house and head for her car. She looked tired, stressed—but very, very good. He wondered how she would feel about the fact that he still found her attractive.

How did
he
feel about that?

He wasn’t sure but decided it was worth investigating. At some point. He’d not been interested in pursuing a woman in over a year. Not since Heather had decided she couldn’t live with a cop’s hours. And now Alexia appeared on the scene and his attraction radar went haywire.

Interesting.

Scary, but definitely interesting.

He saw the moment she caught sight of him. Her breath hitched and she stumbled on one of the stepping-stones leading out to the curb where he waited. “Good morning.”

“Hi.” A wariness that wasn’t there yesterday afternoon emanated from her and he winced. He supposed he couldn’t blame her. He wasn’t very subtle about his suspicions with her involvement in the death of her ex-boyfriend.

However, he’d done some research on Devin and was itching to share it with her. “You ready?”

“I suppose.” She bit her lip and looked at him. “You don’t have to drive me. I don’t mind taking my car.”

“I want to do it.”

“That’s not in the job description, is it?”

“No.” He left it at that.

Intense green eyes studied him. For some reason, he wanted to squirm like a kid caught doing something wrong.

But he hadn’t done anything wrong.

“You might be stuck with me all day if you do that,” she warned.

He felt a smile curve his lips. “That wouldn’t be so bad.”

Satisfaction curled through him when the wariness easing from her face was replaced with a questioning look. “No?”

“Nope.” He opened the passenger door for her, and with one more lingering look at him, she slid in and he shut the door.

As he climbed into the driver’s seat, she asked, “Won’t your father have a problem with you being stuck with me?”

He cut his eyes at her as he cranked the car and pulled away from the curb. “Probably.” His father wasn’t happy that Alexia was back. As the investigating deputy state fire marshal, he had insisted that the fire that burned down the Allens’ house had been deliberately set and that Alexia had done it. And even though the evidence gathered at the scene was inconclusive, he’d always blamed Alexia simply because her father did.