When the Smoke Clears (Deadly Reunions) (15 page)

“Don’t you have to get to work?” Hunter asked.

Chad’s eyes darkened and his lips tightened. “No.” He headed toward the restaurant, saying over his shoulder, “I’ll get us something to eat. You can eat yours on the way to the hospital.”

“Chad, you need to get checked out by the EMS . . .”

But Hunter’s words were waved off as his brother never turned around.

An officer approached, followed by an EMS team. Alexia allowed them to bandage her knee but refused the offer of a ride to the hospital. And after she signed the form releasing them from any responsibility, they left her alone.

She wasn’t hurt that bad. Besides, she wanted to make sure she was with Hunter when he left. She desperately wanted to see the videos of her attack. Silently analyzing her reasons for feeling so strongly about it, she decided she was just plain tired of being a victim. This was an opportunity to take some control and do something about it.

Hunter gave his statement to the officer, then Alexia watched as he walked over to speak with someone who looked to be in charge of the whole scene.

As Alexia recounted the incident, suppressing a sick shudder as she relived the terrifying moment, she spotted Chad on his way back from the restaurant, a large bag of food gripped in his left hand and a smaller one in his right. She told the officer, “He’s the one that saved me from being roadkill. He may have something to add.”

“I’ll be sure to ask him.” The officer glanced at Chad as he approached. “I’ll get your statement as soon as I’m done over here.”

Chad nodded at the officer and sidled up to Alexia. He held out the larger bag. “Here. Wouldn’t want you passing out from hunger.”

“Thanks.” Alexia took the bag.

“So, we’ll do lunch another time.” Chad gave her a wink.

Alexia wondered if her earlier comment had been a bad idea as she forced out a halfhearted smile. The awkward silence hanging between them was broken when Hunter walked up. He looked at the takeout bag in Alexia’s hand and then at his brother.

“Thanks,” Hunter said. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Chad gave them a brisk nod, turned on his heels, and headed toward the officer who wanted his statement.

Hunter looked at Alexia. “I think we’re done here. Are you ready to head over to the hospital? Katie said she’ll meet us there.”

“Sure.” More than ready to see the videos. Not so ready to see Hunter’s partner, who probably still thought Alexia had something to do with Devin’s death.

Alexia followed Hunter to his car. Once again, she’d be dependent on him to return her to her vehicle. He opened the door for her, and she slipped into the passenger seat, setting the takeout bag on the floor then buckling her seat belt.

When he was settled in the driver’s seat, she asked, “Did you see the driver?”

“A glimpse, but I couldn’t give you any details.”

She’d been afraid of that.

“Hopefully, our tech guy at the lab will be able to pull something from the video.”

“Hopefully.” Shifting on the seat, she grimaced and decided she might need to pull out her old prescription painkillers to get some sleep tonight.

As he drove, Hunter tapped the steering wheel with his left hand. When he realized what he was doing, he curled his fingers into a fist.

He was nervous.

“Are you okay?”

Alexia’s question made him jump. He hadn’t expected her to be that in tune to him. “Yeah. I just need to ask you something and I’m not sure how you’re going to take it.”

She lifted a brow at him. “Want to give it a shot?”

Blowing out a sigh, he glanced at her, then back at the road. “I have a dinner I have to go to.”

He paused and felt her stare boring holes into him. “Yes? And?”

“I . . . uh . . . was wondering if you would consider going with me.”

She shot him a suspicious look. “What kind of dinner?”

“My father’s running for mayor. It’s a dinner to raise money for his campaign.”

“Seriously?” Suspicion went straight to disbelief. “Of all the people in this town, why would you ask me?”

Hunter cleared his throat. “I don’t know. I’m not dating anyone and I like your company.” He took his eyes from the road for a brief moment to meet hers again. “I like you. Why not?”

“Um, maybe because your father hates my guts?”

Hunter winced. “He doesn’t hate your guts, he just needs to get to know you.”

Disbelief colored her cheeks. “He was friends with my father who blamed me for burning down the house.” Her eyes dropped. “Even my father hated me.”

Hunter’s heart squeezed at her very uncharacteristic, yet revealing statement. “My dad’s not like that, I promise.”

Alexia eyed him. “What about the case and the fact that I may be a suspect? Wouldn’t me going to the dinner with you be a conflict of interest or something?”

He’d thought about that when he’d considered asking her to go with him. Now he shared the mental argument he’d had with himself last night. “You’re not officially a suspect. There’s no proof that points to you. You’ve not been arrested, you’re not on the list of persons of interest.” Although he had to admit, if she became a suspect, he could be in some serious trouble. It wasn’t enough to deter him. He had a squeaky clean record. If he wanted to take Alexia to the dinner, he would take her. He was doing nothing wrong.

“I’m on Detective Katie Isaac’s list.” She sounded a little bitter.

“Well, you’re not on mine.”

“Let me think about it,” she hedged.

At the hospital, Hunter found a parking spot in the front, and they pulled out the sandwiches, making small talk in between bites. Hunter finished his quickly, while Alexia nibbled on hers and finally rolled up the leftovers. They headed into the building together. As they wound their way through the maze of halls, he noticed Alexia limping slightly.

“How’s the knee?”

“It’ll heal.”

Her tight words told him she didn’t want to discuss it. Hunter briefly wondered why he was so attracted to a woman who seemed to have no real interest in being in his company.
Lord, show me where you’re going with this, please?

They finally ended up in front of the room that said Security. Katie stood outside texting on her phone. She looked up at their approach. To Alexia, she said, “I hear you had a rough landing.”

Alexia forced a smile. “Fortunately it was softer than it would have been if Chad hadn’t knocked me out of the way.”

“Chad, huh?” Katie lifted her brow to Hunter, who frowned at his partner.

“Drop it,” he ordered. Then lifted a fist to knock on the door.

21

Wednesday, 2:25 p.m.

Alexia followed Katie and Hunter through the door. Shivering in the cool building, she couldn’t slough off the feeling of being watched. She looked behind her and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Just a hospital hallway full of people.

Telling herself she was just being overly sensitive, she pulled her gaze to her present location and took in the large room filled to capacity with monitors.

Ann Hyder, head of hospital security, was saying, “We have one of the best security systems available. Cameras are located all over the hospital that provide views of all building entrances and exits, in the hallways, elevators, and fire escapes.”

“What about the parking garage?” Hunter asked.

“That too.”

Alexia followed them into a side room where Ann pulled a keyboard up onto the table and typed a few commands. A monitor to her left flashed and a picture came up.

Ann pointed and said, “You needed the footage from Monday night around 9:00 p.m. Correct?”

“A little after nine,” Alexia said.

More tapping. Then the video started to play.

She leaned forward, determined to catch each and every detail offered by the video. “There’s my car.”

Hunter moved closer to her and she got a whiff of his cologne. She liked it. She liked his proximity. His strength, the way his eyes crinkled at the corners. In fact, other than his initial suspicion that she had something to do with Devin’s murder, she really couldn’t think of anything she didn’t like about him. His father was another story.

Katie’s voice intruded on her thoughts. “Can you switch cameras? That angle doesn’t really give us a good view.”

A few more clicks on the keyboard and Alexia saw her car enter the garage once more, this time from a different angle—and they watched headlights turning in to follow her. The vehicle waited while she parked. Then turned into a spot, pulling forward so all the driver would have to do was climb in and go. No wasting time backing out.

Alexia squinted. “I can’t see inside the car. Can you zoom it?”

She felt a hand on her shoulder and then a light squeeze from Hunter’s fingers. She looked at him and he smiled. “Good question. Ann?”

“I can give it a try.” Her fingers flew over the keyboard and the car came closer. Along with a shot of the back of someone’s head.

Hunter gave a grunt. “He was prepared for the cameras. He already had the mask on when he entered the garage. The parking spot was sheer luck for him. My guess is if that space hadn’t been empty, he would have just jumped out and left his car running while he took care of Alexia.”

She shuddered at the thought. Then wracked her brain trying to remember what he’d said. “Tell me.”

“What?” Katie looked at her.

“That’s what he said. ‘Tell me.’ Then you showed up and he didn’t get to finish.” In her mind, she heard the words clearly now.

Rubbing his chin, Hunter studied her. “So your attacker thinks you know something? He wanted you to tell him something?”

She shrugged.

“Or,” Katie mused, “he was getting ready to play some sick game with you before he killed you.”

Alexia shot her a black look. “Thanks.”

Katie shrugged. “Sorry. I’m thinking out loud. But seriously, the hospital parking lot is a busy place. So is the restaurant. Seems to me that getting Alexia is a pretty high priority for someone or he wouldn’t be willing to take so many risks by attacking her in such high traffic areas.” Before Alexia could respond, Katie had already turned her attention back to the tape.

Alexia’s nightmare unfolded on the screen before her. Her walk toward the elevator, the person behind her, hitting her as she spun, and then her fall to the floor of the parking garage.

When she watched him jam the gun into her temple, she flinched as she felt it all over again.

And then Hunter was there. Rescuing her.

Pulling in a deep breath, she just noticed that at some point during the viewing he’d placed an arm around her shoulders.

Katie’s critical eye didn’t miss his gesture of comfort. Uncomfortable under the woman’s scrutiny, Alexia moved away from Hunter.

He shifted and said, “Not much help, is it?”

Katie shook her head. “But we now have a make and model. We can still send it up to the lab and see if our tech guys can get the license plate. I don’t know how quick they’ll be able to get to it, but it’s worth a shot . . . I suppose.”

Her last two words were said while eyeing Alexia, and Alexia wondered if the detective thought she’d set the whole thing up to throw suspicion from herself.

Eyes of blame. Feelings of guilt. Her past assaulted her . . .

“Come on, Alexia”—the deputy state fire marshal, Hunter’s father, leaned toward her—“just tell me why you set the fire. Your dad was painting and you used the paint thinner as the accelerant.”

“I didn’t.”

“Sure you did. Even your father says you did it. The father who’s in and out of a coma. Why would you do that?”

Alexia jumped up from her seat. “I didn’t! Okay? I wouldn’t! I don’t know!” She gripped her head as she struggled to remember exactly what had happened. How the fire had started. “We were arguing. I was getting Dad a beer . . . and I don’t know. Then there were flames. And smoke . . . and screaming.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “Please,” she whispered, “I don’t know. I can’t remember. I . . .”

The memory made her blink. She hadn’t relived that day in a long time. And this time the memory came with more details, bits and pieces she hadn’t remembered . . . until now.