Against the Fire (15 page)

“Clayton Sanders?”

“That’s him. As I recall, you two went after the same woman. Seems to me, you ended up with her.”

“That’s right. Rachael Hayward. We dated for a while before I left the corps. What about it? That was a long time ago.”

“Maybe not so long to Sanders.”

“How’s that?”

“After I gave Dev the name, I got to thinking about it. I decided to do a little checking on the internet.”

Gabe chuckled. Jackson was a Google whiz. “What did you find out?”

“After you left the service, Sanders re-upped. He went full-bore, Force Recon, and they shipped him off to Afghanistan. When he came back to North Carolina, he and Rachael started dating. A year later they got married.”

“How the hell did you find all that out?”

“Newspaper articles here and there. I found their marriage license on the Net. I also found out they got divorced about three months ago.”

“So? I still don’t get it.”

“Here’s what makes it interesting. Rachael Sanders’s latest address is listed as 5517 Dublin Street, Dallas, Texas. Your old flame is back in town, buddy. I’m thinking maybe Sanders thinks she’s there because of you.”

Gabe couldn’t quite grasp the notion. And yet Rachael had arrived not long before the fires had started. “I haven’t talked to Rachael in years.”

“Still, it’s worth looking into.”

“You bet it is.” As much as he hated to think Clay Sanders would carry an old grudge to the point of burning down buildings, Clay had always been a hothead. Back in the day, he’d been crazy in love with Rachael. At the time, she had considered him only a friend. Gabe had been the man she wanted and for a while their affair had been hot and heavy. Clay and Gabe had brawled over the lady more than once.

Now she had rejected Clay a second time and recently moved to Dallas. Jackson, as usual, was right. It was worth looking into. “I’ll get right on it. Thanks for the heads-up, brother. If you think of anything else—”

“Don’t worry, I’ll let you know. Take care of yourself, Gabe.”

“I’ll do my best.” Gabe closed the phone. It was probably nothing. Rachael hadn’t been part of his life in years. Still, if she’d moved to Dallas and Clay was still as hot-tempered as he used to be…

It was a possibility he couldn’t ignore.

“Gabe?”

His head came up at the sound of his name being called from the doorway of the trailer.

“What’s going on?” Mattie asked. “You look like you’re a thousand miles away.”

She stood there outlined by the sun and he felt the same kick in the gut he’d felt at the hospital when she’d let him hold her while she cried on his shoulder. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you on the stairs. Come on in.”

Dressed in jeans and a sleeveless orange cotton top, she walked into the trailer, her hair windblown as she rarely allowed, a light sheen of perspiration on the scattering of freckles on her cheeks and the swell of her breasts above her scoop-necked top. For an instant, Gabe just sat there soaking up the sight of her.

Mattie walked over to his desk, which was stacked with files and dominated by the computer in front of his chair.

Gabe collected his wits and rose from his chair. “That was my brother, Jackson. I told you a little about him and my younger brother, Devlin, the night we went to dinner.” They’d talked that night.

The night they’d spent in bed, he hadn’t been thinking about his brothers. He hadn’t been thinking of anything but being inside her.

He warned himself not to go in that direction but it was too late. His body stirred and his pulse quickened. He could feel the blood pumping into his groin.

Gabe forced himself to concentrate on the reason Mattie was there.

“Any change in Angel’s condition?” he asked as he led her over to the table and both of them sat down.

“He’s still the same.”

He nodded, wishing the news was better. “Dev called Jackson about the fires and Jackson called me with a lead. Dev’s working on the list I gave him, anyone who might have a grudge against me.”

“He’s a private investigator, right?”

“Mostly retired, so he claims. He also owns a security company.”

“And he’s investigating the names you gave him?”

“That’s right, but to tell you the truth, I can’t believe I’ve done anything to anyone to warrant this kind of retaliation.”

“So what was the lead your brother gave you?”

Gabe’s shoulders tightened. He didn’t want to discuss his old girlfriend with Mattie. “Just an old buddy from my days in the corps.”

“What happened?”

“It’s a long story.” Gabe rose from his chair. “Why don’t I tell you about it on our way over to talk to Pete Dare?”

“Who’s he?”

“Concrete guy I fired. I doubt it’ll come to much, but I don’t want to overlook any possibility.”

“You’re right. We have to start somewhere. Your enemies are as good a place as any.”

Gabe sighed. “I didn’t think I had that many, but I’m beginning to wonder if I was wrong.”

Gabe held the door while Mattie walked past. He got a whiff of her soft perfume and began to go hard. He forced down his lust and continued down the stairs.

“I thought we might also talk to the cook who found Angel,” Mattie said, “see if the guy might have seen him in the area, seen who he was talking to.”

“Good idea.”

The cab of Gabe’s pickup was hot and steamy when he opened the door to help Mattie climb in. He forced himself not to reach for her, bend his head and kiss her. Wondered what she would do if he did. It had been too long since he’d had her. He hadn’t stopped wanting her. He didn’t think he was going to anytime soon.

“You shouldn’t be getting involved in this, Mattie,” he said. “This kind of business can be dangerous.”

“We’re only asking questions.”

“That’s all Angel was doing,” he reminded her.

She looked him straight in the face. “Angel didn’t have you there to protect him.”

His worry expanded. Then again, at least in this she believed in him. Trusted him. He told himself that after today, Mattie would give up the notion of trying to help him. Her life was busy and complicated, her job all-important.

But part of him wanted this time with her, wanted a chance to see where his fierce attraction might lead.

In the meantime, if the police didn’t catch the arsonist who seemed to be targeting him, Gabe intended to find the bastard himself.

Mattie walked next to Gabe as they approached the construction site where Pete Dare was working. A concrete truck with DARE CEMENT on the side churned away in front of the lot, just a few feet from the road.

“How’d you know where to find him?” Mattie asked, though it was clear Gabe knew just about everyone in the construction business.

“I wasn’t completely sure Pete would be here, but he does a lot of work for Gleason Construction. I knew they were building a set of apartments over here.”

They walked toward the truck, Mattie hurrying to keep up with Gabe’s long strides. He slowed when he realized she was almost running.

“Good thing I keep in shape,” she said with the hint of a smile.

“Sorry.” His gaze found hers, caught and held. There was so much heat in his incredible blue eyes, her stomach contracted. Memories of their lovemaking rushed into her head, the deep saturating kisses, the feel of him inside her.

Mattie jerked her gaze away but it was too late.

“I want you, Mattie.” His words came out gruffly. “I haven’t stopped thinking about making love to you since the night we spent together.”

Mattie just stood there. She wanted that, too. More than anything she could remember. But the powerful desire she felt for Gabe was frightening.

“Give me some time, Gabe. Let me think about it.”

“Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe you think too much.”

Maybe she did. Because her body was aching for him to touch her. If she listened to her needs instead of the alarm screaming through her head, she would welcome him into her bed.

They reached the cement truck and Pete Dare walked toward them. Mattie was grateful for the distraction.

“What are you doing here?” Pete practically snarled. “What do you want, Raines?” Dressed in dirty jeans and a work-stained T-shirt, he was a lean, sandy-haired man in his thirties.

“I want to know where you were the night of the fire at the Dallas Towers.”

Pete’s eyes widened, erasing the little wrinkles at the corners. “You’re kidding me, right? You think I had something to do with the fire?”

“Where were you?”

Pete’s jaw tightened. “Home in bed with my wife. I go to work early, remember?”

“How about last Friday when McKinney Court burned down?”

Pete took an unconscious step backward, some of his bravado fading. “For chrissake, Gabe. I’m the one who screwed up, okay? I should have abided by the contract we made instead of trying to save a little money. You were right. I was wrong. I learned my lesson. I may not like what you did, but I hardly hold you responsible.”

He seemed sincere. Mattie thought Gabe believed him.

“You got any idea who might be interested in some kind of payback for something I might have done?”

Pete started shaking his head. “I haven’t heard anyone talking. I can’t think of anyone who’d do something that drastic.”

“The cops may talk to you. If they do, tell them what you just told me.”

Pete nodded.

Mattie let Gabe lead her back to the pickup and help her climb inside. She was getting used to his attentiveness. It didn’t seem overbearing, just gentlemanly.

Her lips twitched. Remembering Gabe in the back room of Club Rio, pulling up her dress, cupping her bottom and pressing her against his heavy erection, it was hard to consider him a gentleman.

“Whatever you’re thinking, it’s turning me on.”

Mattie blushed.

“Let me make you dinner tonight. Believe it or not, I’m a fairly decent cook.”

She wasn’t all that surprised. Gabriel Raines seemed to be pretty good at anything he set his mind to.

“I’m planning to spend the evening with Rosa at the hospital.”

“How about tomorrow, then? We’ll go see Angel first. But sooner or later you have to eat. You might as well let me fix you dinner.”

She shook her head. “I promised I’d have dinner with a friend. I can’t disappoint him again.” She and Aaron planned to catch up. They were going to Taj, Aaron’s favorite restaurant.

Gabe was frowning. “You’ve got a date?” he asked darkly.

“I told you he’s just a friend. We work together at the office.”

“In that case, we’ll make it Saturday.”

His hard look dared her to refuse. She knew she should. Her mind was screaming again. “Um…maybe that would work.”

His gaze ran over her, swift and hot. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Anticipation settled low and warm in her belly. She worked to compose herself. “I know where that deli is, the place where Angel was found. Let’s go talk to the cook.”

Gabe’s mouth curved sensuously, but he just nodded.

The cook, Robbie Carr, a fat, ruddy-skinned man with a ready smile and kindly eyes, didn’t know a darned thing. He’d never seen Angel before he found him in the alley. He had no idea who might have attacked him.

“The cops was already here,” Robbie said. “I told them I didn’t see nothing. I wish I had.”

“Are you sure there isn’t something?” Mattie asked, anxious for anything that might help. “Some small detail that maybe you didn’t think was important at the time?”

Robbie scratched his head. “Now that you mention it, the kid, Angel, he mighta been here once before. Looked like him, but I can’t say for sure. He stopped a couple of guys on the street. Looked like he was askin’ them something. Like I said, I ain’t real sure.”

It wasn’t much, but it reinforced their theory that Angel had been asking questions the arsonist didn’t want answered. “Thank you, Robbie,” Mattie said.

“I hope you find the guy.”

Mattie just nodded.

“We need to canvas the neighborhood,” Gabe said as they walked away, “see if we can find someone Angel might have talked to.” He glanced down at his heavy wristwatch. “Unfortunately, it’s too late to start this afternoon.”

“You’re right. Besides, I need to get back to the hospital, check on Rosa and Angel.”

Mattie left Gabe’s trailer and drove straight to Baylor Hospital. She planned to stay a couple of hours so that Rosa and the kids could get something to eat. According to the doctors, Angel’s condition was stable, at least for the present.

“It’s still touch and go,” a thin, dark-haired doctor named Burton said. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Mattie nodded, her mouth feeling dry. When Rosa returned, the doctor convinced her and Mattie to go home and get some rest then come back in the morning. It had been a long day. Exhausted and worried, both women eventually agreed.

Tigger was impatiently waiting when she arrived home, meowing and looking up at her as if she had abandoned him.

“Hello, pretty baby.” She knelt and scooped him into her arms, stroked his fur as she carried him into the kitchen and set him down in front of his food bowl. “You finished your crunchies, didn’t you? Well, how about a nice can of tuna?”

Tigger meowed.

“Good boy.” As soon as the cat had settled in to eat, she went into the bedroom to change into baggy shorts and a T-shirt and kick off her shoes. She was on her way back to the living room to turn on the TV when Tracy arrived at the door.

Breezing through the living room, blond hair flying, she headed straight for the kitchen.

“I brought Chinese. I figured you probably hadn’t eaten yet.”

Mattie smiled. “Believe it or not, I’d forgotten all about it.” But now that she smelled the delicious aromas of chop suey, almond vegetables, rice and fried shrimp, she discovered she was starving.

While Tracy opened the cartons and pulled out a bottle of sake, Mattie set the table in the kitchen. Tracy poured the sake into the smallest glasses she could find, set them next to the plates and both of them sat down and dug in.

“So how’s Angel?” Tracy asked, forking in a load of crisply cooked vegetables.

“He’s stable at the moment. They’ll know more in the morning.”