Hearts on Fire 9: Her Shadows of Light (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  “I don’t know. It was special. I never felt like that before.” Rusty played with the rim of his beer can.

  “Me either. Who knows? If it’s meant to be, we’ll meet her again. If not, then every woman we meet from here on out will be compared to her,” Reece said, and Rusty agreed.

  Pat looked at his brothers. He not only felt bad for them. He also felt envious. This woman really had made an impression. The effect she had on them made him want to meet her, too. But obviously that just wasn’t going to happen. They had yet to find a woman the four of them liked in that way. Considering the current circumstances, it wasn’t looking as though this particular woman was going to break their streak of no luck.

  * * * *

  “I don’t have time to talk. I just got into the office and it’s crazy busy already. I’ll call you later, Jenny.”

  “You’d better,” Jenny said, and then Brighid disconnected the call.

  She punched the information into the computer and worked diligently to get things started. Her bosses, Lenny McCoy and Ray Syrias, were in Lenny’s office with the door closed. Something was going on.

  She took a deep breath and thought about why Jenny was calling her this morning of all mornings. For a woman who wanted to forget about a one-night stand with some amazing firefighter, she sure wouldn’t stop talking about the guy or his friends. Hence why Brighid didn’t want to discuss it. She was so embarrassed for sleeping with two brothers she didn’t know and for not even remembering most of it. Throughout Sunday, she kept remembering little things. The feel of their bodies, the touch of their hands, and the way they’d undressed her and explored her together.

  She was glad she was on birth control and had an IUD, or she would be worrying now about pregnancy. By mid-week that worry would change to possible contracting some sexually transmitted disease from them. They were so hot. They could have their choice of women. In fact, women probably lined up to get fucked by them.

  She banged a little too hard on the keyboard, and it lifted up and banged back down. Why did the thought of them being with other women upset her so much and make her feel jealous? She was never going to see them again. So it didn’t matter that she really liked them and that they were perfect for her and they’d had so much in common. It wasn’t meant to be. Now get back to work and focus on making money to pay for the condo and living expenses. She didn’t want to hit up her savings at all.

  “Brighid, do you have the file from the Anders investigation handy, or is it still in the boxes? We tried so hard to get everything set over the weekend but it’s been nuts. Especially hiring a few more office assistants,” Lenny asked her.

  “I think I just set that one into the filing cabinet. I already downloaded the documents, scanned them, and saved them on the portable hard drive.”

  “Great. Can you send that over to me please?”

  “Is everything okay with that case? It has been closed for a few weeks.”

  “Yeah, there was just something we needed to look over. There’s a number we need from one of the contacts in there.”

  She stood up. “I can check it out for you. What’s the name and number?” she asked, taking her pen and pad and looking at him.

  “That won’t be necessary. You continue getting everything into the system. We expect some new clients this week and want you to be on top of the organization to ensure no mistakes are made.”

  “Okay.” Her gut clenched. It was awfully weird for him to react to her like that. Over the past two years, they always had her look things like that up. Unless they had some sort of personal attachment to the case, which was rare.

  She went back to work, trying to remain focused on the job and not on the two firefighters who’d changed her life from just one night.

  * * * *

  “What are we going to do? We’re not here in this town for two days and this guy won’t leave us alone,” Lenny stated.

  “Fuck him. He isn’t going to do shit, Lenny. We’ve covered our tracks. We’re in charge. It doesn’t matter what he wants. He’s the best guy out there, and he’s all ours.”

  Lenny ran his fingers through his hair.

  “He’s been acting funny for several months now. What if he screws up a deal and we get caught? We’ll lose everything.”

  “It’s not going to happen. We got away with the last fire where the old lady was killed. We’ll continue to get away with this. Don’t go gaining some sort of conscience now. He gets paid too good, and he likes doing this shit. Maybe he wants more money, a bigger piece of the action? I don’t know. If you’re worried, we’ll lay low for a while. We’ll tell him we don’t have any jobs for him right now. Maybe he’ll hook up with someone else. He did some work for Baragio.”

  “Baragio hasn’t shown his face for months. Not after that criminal investigation by the feds.”

  “Which is another reason to not piss the guy off. Listen, it’s all good. We’ll be fine,” Ray stated with a confidence that Lenny just didn’t feel.

  “No one expects anything. We help law enforcement officers, firefighters, and military people, too. In a town like this, no one will expect shit. Believe me, we’ll be back on track, rolling in the dough, and our little friend will be the happy little arsonist he enjoys being. I have a few possible new cases lined up. I’ll be meeting the clients and seeing where things are. It will all work out.”

  “I sure hope you’re right about this, Ray, because right now, I’m not feeling too certain at all.”

  * * * *

  The first few weeks of work had passed quickly. They were incredibly busy and had a series of insurance claims concerning fires in the business district a few towns over. She had taken a call for Lenny from some irate customer who claimed that he should have gotten a bigger payout than what he had gotten. It happened often and was based on the plan people had and how much they contributed to that insurance and what it covered. This particular man was seriously misguided and demanding to speak with Lenny. She connected the call and heard Lenny raising his voice. When he came out after the call, he advised her to not patch through any of the calls to him again.

  She’d noticed a change in Lenny and Ray recently. They were on edge and not really talking with the three other new staff members in the office. She had taken on the role of office manager, and they seemed fine with that. She kept abreast of what was going on and tried handling situations she knew how to handle and then called in Lenny or Ray to handle the things she wasn’t certain of or felt responsible for.

  The business was expanding. They were picking up accounts across the United States, and with the expansion, more incidents popped up. Plus, Lenny was taking a key interest in certain cases, never even letting her see the files or assist even with correspondence. It was kind of upsetting. That, of course, made her suspicious of their behavior. Could they be up to something illegal? If so, she wouldn’t want to be attached to it. That made her think about how much trouble she could get into. She needed this job. She didn’t have any family and didn’t know any people other than her bosses and staff members, who were new to the area, too. It made her feel uneasy, but then she convinced herself that she was jumping the gun and drawing conclusions that probably weren’t true.

  The front door to the main office opened, and a man stepped inside. Normally the front desk secretary handled any walk-ins, but Lisa had just walked away from her desk to grab a coffee and use the ladies room.

  Gina helped him. “Hello, how may I help you?”

  “Looking to see Lenny and Ray.” He scanned the area. He was an attractive man. Tall, like six feet three, and dressed nicely. He wore designer dress pants, a black belt with silver clip, and a dark green button-down shirt. Then his eyes locked onto hers.

  She immediately looked away from him. There was something in his eyes that unnerved her. She swallowed hard.

  “They’re in a meeting right now. Is there anything I can assist you with? Are you a client?” Gina asked.

  The man ignore
d her and started walking farther into the office.

  “They’ll see me.”

  Brighid could see that the man was getting angry. Her bosses were in a meeting with some clients and had asked not to be disturbed. Now Gina was appearing frazzled, and considering Brighid was the main office admin, she decided the help out.

  She stood up from her desk and smoothed her hands down her Ann Taylor navy blue dress.

  “Perhaps there is something I could assist you with today? I’m Mr. McCoy and Mr. Syrias’s personal assistant.” She walked closer.

  The man was abrupt, and add in his facial expression filled with annoyance and his dark hair and dark eyes, she found herself looking down to catch her breath and regain some confidence. When she looked back up, his eyes roamed over her body then returned to her eyes. He gave a small smirk.

  “Very nice.” He licked his lips, giving Brighid the creeps.

  “But that won’t be necessary. I’ll meet up with them later.” He stared at her for a few uncomfortable moments, and then Brighid gave him the once-over before walking away. She just wondered why she felt such an uneasy feeling for the stranger, as though she shouldn’t turn her back on him at all.

  Two hours later, Brighid leaned back in her chair and rubbed her temples. She could feel a small stress headache brewing. One look at the clock and she was shocked to see she was well past her normal hours. The last file she was working on had been red-flagged by other sources. Sometimes in fire investigation incidents, if numbers didn’t add up or the investigation left questions, money could be withheld from the client until those red-flagged items were resolved. She’d spent the last few hours working on such a case, but all seemed to be fixed now.

  She logged off of her computer and became aware of her bosses’ voices in the office. It was so quiet. The other staff members had left, but she was so absorbed in resolving the case to close it and move on that she’d barely noticed every had left.

  The voices grew louder, and she knew they were arguing. Lenny and Ray hardly ever fought, but lately she could sense their uneasiness. She figured it had to do with the transfer to New Jersey from Connecticut and the additional clientele they’d picked up. Perhaps they were growing too quickly?

  The door suddenly opened just as she bent down to grab her bag.

  “Don’t walk away. Not after we get a letter like this and the phone calls,” Lenny yelled at Ray from inside the room.

  Ray locked gazes with Brighid just as Lenny came out after him.

  “Brighid, so sorry, we didn’t know you were still here,” Ray said to her.

  “I lost track of the time. That Parker case had me boggled down all day, but it’s resolved now. I’ll close it out tomorrow morning.” She placed the strap of her bag onto her shoulder.

  “What case did you say?” Lenny asked her.

  “The Parker case from Connecticut where that fire took out most of the storefront mall. There were some red flags brought up along the investigation and unanswered questions by investigators, things like that. I called them up, straightened it all out.”

  “Oh, okay, great. See you tomorrow morning then?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh, I know the rest of the staff doesn’t get in here until nine tomorrow, so why don’t you do the same? You’ve been coming in extra early every morning and leaving extra late. That can’t be good for your social life,” Lenny said to her.

  “What social life?” she said and chuckled.

  “A beautiful woman like you should be out having fun, going on dates. I hear there are a lot of fun places in town.” Lenny looked her over.

  She didn’t know why, but it made her feel kind of creeped out. Especially when Ray looked at her that way, too. In the past few years working for them, they’d never hit on her, so why would they now? It was odd, but since sleeping with those two firefighters, she felt almost guilty if another man flirted with her. That was pretty crazy, and she needed to get over those types of feelings fast.

  “My friends and I will be going out this weekend. Thank God tomorrow is Friday. Have a good night,” she said, wanting to get out of there.

  “You, too, sweetheart,” Ray said, and when she looked over her shoulder as she left, she caught both men checking her out. Weird. So very weird.

  * * * *

  “What are we going to do? He’s fucking threatening us. He wants more money,” Ray said to Lenny the second Brighid was out the door.

  “I told you we’re not paying him. He can fucking hold off until we need him for another job,” Lenny replied.

  “You know what, Lenny? You may not want to take his threats too lightly. He did do some major fucking jobs for us. He could bring us down, report us, and we could lose everything and wind up in jail. Just return his calls and pay him something to keep his mouth shut and keep him hungry for more work.”

  “Not unless I have to. This guy doesn’t scare me. What’s he going to do to us? I’ll take my chances. Guaranteed, he’s bluffing. He can wait a little longer. I need to seal these deals with the clients, or there won’t be any money to make.”

  * * * *

  He could feel his heart racing. He couldn’t believe it. It was immediate, the moment he’d locked onto her gorgeous red hair and then those green eyes. An angel of fire. She was special, sweet, yet had a toughness about her, which alerted him to new possibilities and their connection. She felt it, too, but ignored it. She insisted upon trying to help him when the other annoying secretary didn’t know shit about helping people. He knew he’d taken a huge risk coming to the office, and he had gone back and forth contemplating the move to put the pressure on Ray and Lenny, but obviously there was a higher power at work here. The redhead was made for him. He felt it in every fiber of his body. He was on alert. He wanted her with him, and she was nothing like the others. He wanted her. The excitement filled his body.

  He gripped the steering wheel and watched her. He needed to find out more about her. A chance encounter, a playful meeting somewhere. Something before she got away.

  It was late. She would probably head home, which wouldn’t be a bad thing, but he would have no reason to follow her to her house. She would call the cops. No, he needed to think rationally. He held his head but stared at the building. It was getting later and later. Could she be involved with Lenny and Ray? Could they be screwing her right there in the office after hours? He became enraged. No. They can’t be. She’s too special. I felt it. She’s mine.

  He banged the steering wheel and knew he needed to act fast.

  He looked around the parking lot. No one was there. He made his way across the street. There were only three cars, and he knew which belonged to Ray and Lenny. The small, beat-up convertible had to be hers.

  He looked around again and then pressed the knife into the tire. Not too much, just enough to slowly lose air and allow her to get farther away from the building where he could make physical contact with her again.

  He smiled, closing the knife and heading back to his car. He would be sure to be the Good Samaritan that changed her flat tire and got to know her better while he made some plans. This move, this situation, was looking brighter than ever. Things appeared to working in his favor after all.

  * * * *

  Investigator Jeffrey Stone and Investigator Gregory Voight of the Connecticut State Police were formulating some possible leads into what they believed to be a series of connected homicides. Along with the local authorities, arson investigation team, and bureau of criminal investigative unit, they finally seemed to have some concrete evidence that linked the murders and a recent fire.

  “So let me get this straight. You’ve analyzed the accelerant in the four homicides, as well as the two fires at the retail store and the car explosion in the garage, and they match?” Investigator Stone asked the lab coordinator at the state police forensics lab. His partner, Gregory, as well as an investigator in the arson unit, was with him.

  “Yes, sir. It’s a perfect match from what the testi
ng has shown, indicating precisely the same chemicals used, which are not found in any common, over-the-counter products. It’s a homemade formula, so dangerous to combine that the person would need to have knowledge of each of these chemicals and risk causing an explosion while combining them. The thing about the chemical this individual created is that it leaves a light coating of a white substance. That’s what the arson investigators were able to find and get samples of.”

  “So this white substance, the remnants from the chemical used, was also collected and found at the other sites?” Gregory asked.

  “Yes, sir. The forensics arson technician should be commended because this is like finding a needle in a haystack. It could appear just like ash, a white powdery substance with black soot around the edges.” She reached for the file next to the one she had open and opened that one.

  Jeffrey immediately saw the pictures of the victim burned to death. The coroner had stated the flesh was burned prior to the room being set on fire, and it had obviously been done to destroy evidence.

  “We also matched the same chemical substance on the clothing remnants of the victims in the last three cases you felt were linked because of the MO. I’m currently getting a hold of the material sampled from previous female arson victims around Connecticut that you believed could be linked. So far, three others contain that same white substance, and my technicians are running those through testing. I should know within the day if the same chemical was used on the others.”

  “Holy shit. This is great news,” Investigator Voight told her.

  “Do you have a list of the chemicals so we can look into where a person can get these things?” Jeffrey asked.

  “Sure do.” She handed him a copy.

  “You can’t buy the chemicals in regular stores, but there are sites online, and you can have it shipped right to your home.”