Against the Fire (20 page)

Gabe stood there watching him walk away, staring past him at the smoke and debris, the firemen sloshing through puddles, coiling up lengths of hose. He felt Mattie’s hand settle gently on his arm.

“This isn’t your fault, Gabe. The only person to blame is the man who set the fire.”

Gabe shook his head. “It’s connected to me. They’re all connected to me in some way. That means I did something to someone bad enough to make him want revenge.”

“There are nutcases everywhere. He could have picked you randomly because you bumped into him on the sidewalk. Maybe you took the parking space he wanted.”

“Maybe. I guess it’s possible.” He sighed. “I just don’t know.” He reached for her, gently caught her shoulders. “I want you out of this, Mattie. A man is dead. Angel’s in the hospital. If something happened to you—”

“Something happened to Artie Roser and he was nowhere near you. He probably hadn’t seen you in years.”

“No, but—”

“This man may have already seen us together. Do you really think I’ll be safer if I stay away from you? He could set my place on fire just as easily as he set this building on fire. He could assault me the way he did Angel.”

Gabe’s insides knotted. He raked a hand through his hair. “God, Mattie.”

“We’re going to keep searching, Gabe. We’re going to find this lunatic before he hurts somebody else.”

He shook his head. “I don’t like it. I don’t want you involved.”

“I’m already involved and you know it. I’ve been involved since the day we had coffee in the lobby of my office building. If this man is trying to hurt you, he could go after any person you know.”

His gaze found hers. “And especially the woman I’m sleeping with.”

Her face turned faintly pink beneath the haze of freckles over the high bones in her cheeks. But she didn’t correct the statement.

“We’ll do this together and we’ll succeed,” she said.

Gabe felt a fresh stab of worry. He didn’t want her getting hurt, yet he knew she was right. She wasn’t safe no matter where she was. Not until the bastard was caught.

“All right, we’ll do it together—on one condition.”

Her russet eyebrows drew together. “What’s that?”

“From now on you spend your nights with me. I want to know you’re somewhere I can keep you safe.”

She opened her mouth to argue.

“It’s that or we stop right now.”

Her chin firmed. “I’m not stopping. I owe it to Angel.”

“Then I guess from now on, you’ll be sleeping with me.”

She shot him a glare. “That’s blackmail!”

“It’s what we both want and you know it. And I’ll feel better if I know you’re in a place where I can protect you.”

Mattie seemed to mull that over. Her gaze measured the width of his chest before her pale blue eyes jerked back to his face. “All right. For a while we’ll do it your way.”

A corner of his mouth edged up with the first trace of humor he had felt since Thomas Daily’s phone call. “We can do it any way you want, sweetheart. In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m extremely open-minded.”

Nineteen

“There’ll be questions to answer,” Gabe said as they walked back to his truck.

Knowing the guilt he suffered, Mattie felt a rush of sympathy. “You’re only as far away as your cell phone.” She increased her pace. “Come on. We need to find Clayton Sanders and that means calling on your old marine buddies.”

He helped her into the pickup. She knew he felt responsible for the death of Artie Roser or whoever it was who had died in the fire. Gabe was the kind of man who shouldered his responsibilities, perhaps more than he should. Mattie realized she had come to admire him.

As the pickup rolled toward the home of Gabe’s friend, former marine corporal Bobby Haslim, she thought of the deal they had struck.

She could have said no. She could have simply refused his outrageous demand that she spend her nights in his condo. Besides being oversexed, the man was demanding and wildly protective. She would probably be fine in her own apartment without Gabe hovering over her like her own personal bodyguard.

On the other hand, there was a chance he could be right and the arsonist with Gabe in his sights would aim his weapon at her.

It was the excuse she’d latched on to, though the truth was far simpler. She wanted Gabe Raines. She had admitted that to herself the night she had left his apartment after supper and realized how much she had wanted to stay. Gabe had awakened sexual yearnings she didn’t know she possessed. She was a woman with needs, she now realized, needs only Gabriel Raines seemed able to satisfy.

She intended to have him for as long as their passionate interlude lasted.

And there was the vow she had made. She wanted the vicious man who had attacked Angel Ramirez caught and punished. She intended to do whatever it took to find him.

The truck rounded a corner into a respectable and well-kept neighborhood. Gabe pulled up in front of a set of apartments built around a big, rectangular swimming pool. The splashes and laughter of noisy children and adults filled the air as she and Gabe walked toward the entrance and went in through an ornate wrought-iron gate.

“Bo lives on the second floor,” Gabe said. “Number forty-two.”

Mattie let him lead her in that direction up a wide set of stairs. Gabe knocked, and a stout, good-looking man in his early thirties pulled open the door. Still wearing a marine buzz cut, he was at least four inches shorter than Gabe but just as powerfully built.

“Gabe! Hey, man, come on in!” Bo stepped back and Gabe rested a hand at Mattie’s waist, guiding her into the living room, which was surprisingly neat, considering Gabe had told her Haslim was a bachelor.

“Bo, this is Mattie Baker.”

“Nice to meet you, Mattie.”

She smiled. “Gabe’s told me a little about you. I guess you guys were in the same unit at Camp Lejeune.”

“Man, those were the good ’ol days.” He winked. “Well, maybe not that good as I look back on it. We worked our butts off getting through boot camp, but we made it. We served our country, and as hokey as that might sound, I’m proud of it.”

“It doesn’t sound hokey at all,” Mattie said, meaning it. “I can’t imagine where we’d be without guys like you.”

Bo seemed pleased. “You two want a beer or something?” He held up the can of Coke he was drinking. “I’m working the night shift this week so I don’t have to leave for a while.”

“Bo’s a chemical engineer,” Gabe explained. “Unlike me, after he got out of the corps, he used his G.I. bill to go to college.”

Bo grinned, flashing a set of straight white teeth. “Yeah, that way I didn’t have to start actually working for four more years.”

Mattie laughed, though clearly Haslim was not a shirker. For the first time, it occurred to her that Gabe didn’t have a college education. It should have bothered her, considering the high standards she set for any man she might consider dating. But Gabe was smart and successful. He had worked hard and educated himself, and as Mattie thought about it, she admired him even more.

“So what brings you around here?” Bo asked.

“We’re looking for Clayton Sanders. We were hoping you might know where he is.” Gabe went on to explain about the fires, about Rachael, and that there was a chance Clay might be in Dallas. “I’m not saying he’s the guy who set the fires. We just need to talk to him.”

“Man, I wish I could help you. Last time I saw Clay was about three months ago. He said he and his wife had split up, but he was sure they’d be getting back together.”

“Rachael mentioned Clay’s visit,” Gabe said.

“That’s it. I haven’t heard from him since. Dobie might have seen him, though. They used to be pretty tight.”

“I figured I’d go by and see him after work.” Gabe’s mouth faintly curved as he looked at Mattie. “Dwayne ‘Doberman’ Penser. Dobie for short.”

“Interesting name,” Mattie said.

“Remember how he got it, Gabe?” Bo turned to Mattie. “A bunch of us were drinking down at Tiny’s Bar and Dwayne started chasing after this hot little babe in a miniskirt. She kept telling him to leave her alone, but Dwayne wouldn’t give up. Then her boyfriend showed up and grabbed Dwayne by the shirtfront. We all ended up brawling, trying to get him out of there in one piece. Gabe took on about half the guys in the bar. The other half—”

“I don’t think Mattie’s interested in how Dwayne got his nickname.”

Mattie grinned. “Oh, but I am.”

“Let’s just say the man is tough as nails and so is Gabe.”

He cast Bo a warning glance. “On that note, I think it’s time for us to go.”

Bo walked them to the door. “Man, I wish you luck, but I gotta say, I can’t imagine Clay burning down buildings. He could get a little crazy at times, but that’s way over the top.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Nice to meet you, Bo,” Mattie said.

“You, too, Mattie.” His gaze ran over her and he flicked Gabe a look of approval. “Nice goin’, buddy.”

Gabe just smiled. His hand returned to the small of her back as he walked her toward the door and she wondered if he could possibly be marking his territory.

Surely not, she thought, a hollow feeling settling in her stomach. Gabe wasn’t interested in anything more than she was. Hot sex for as long as it lasted.

“I need to go to the hospital,” Mattie said as they started driving again. “Since we can’t talk to Dobie until tonight, maybe you could drop me off at Baylor for a while.”

“All right. We’ll see how Angel’s doing and you can stay for as long as you like. I need to check with Sam McBride and also Jake Turner. He’s the foreman on McKinney Court.”

Mattie shifted a little in the seat. “I’ve heard about your friend Sam. He’s been seeing my friend Tracy. What’s he like?”

“Sam’s a great guy. Steady, loyal, hardworking. He’s got drive and ambition but they never overpower his sense of responsibility or his principles. I guess you could say, aside from my brothers, Sam’s my best friend.”

Mattie fiddled with a pleat in her white cotton slacks. “There’s nothing…you know, wrong with him? Sexually, I mean.”

Gabe laughed. “You mean is he gay or something? Not even close. Sam’s interested in your friend. I gather he thinks she’s special. Your friend could do a whole lot worse.”

Mattie made no reply. Gabe wondered if she thought that because their relationship was mostly sexual it lessened her value somehow.

“Whatever you’re thinking, I’m glad you don’t have your girlfriend’s hang-ups.”

Mattie settled back against the seat. “I had plenty of hang ups before I met you.”

He knew she hadn’t been aware of her passionate nature, though he had sensed it from the start. Images flashed of her naked and moaning, his erection buried deep inside her, and a rush of heat went straight to his groin.

“Tonight,” he said gruffly, “when we get back to my place, we’ll see if we can get rid of a few more.”

Mattie’s eyes widened. She jerked her gaze toward the window, her cheeks flushing prettily. Gabe didn’t tell her that as much as he wanted to have her a dozen different and erotic ways, the notion of making slow, sensual love to her was equally appealing.

They went into the hospital together to discover that Angel had been moved to a regular room, but still remained unconscious.

“I wish the news was better,” Dr. Burton said. He was a tall skinny man, his fingers long and thin. Gabe liked the concern he read in the man’s narrow face. “At least he’s stable and all his vital signs are strong.”

“I guess that’s something,” Gabe said. He looked down at the boy who had once been so full of life and energy. His smooth, dark skin was pale, his cheeks sunken in. A blunt-fingered hand lay limply on top of the sheet, scabbed over from his fall to the pavement. Gabe felt a rush of guilt for what Angel had suffered, perhaps because of him.

It was followed by a fierce shot of anger that the bastard hadn’t been caught.

“Mattie!” Rosa Ramirez spotted her next to Angel’s bed, hurried over and enveloped her in a slightly desperate hug.

“Señor Raines,” she said to Gabe as the women ended their embrace. “Thank you for stopping by to see my son.”

“We’re all holding good thoughts for him,” Gabe said.

They talked for a while. Gabe asked about her other two children, which made her smile, then excused himself, leaving the women to sit at Angel’s bedside.

As he headed for his truck, he phoned Sam, who had just left Greenwood and was on his way to check on the work being done at the Towers. Gabe fired up the pickup and drove in that direction. He was still a working man with bills to pay and construction deadlines.

But he couldn’t get the memory of Angel Ramirez’s still figure out of his head.

Or the thought of Artie Roser trapped and dying in the flames.

Tomorrow he would visit Artie’s wife. If Artie turned out to be the man who had died in the fire, the least he could do was express his condolences.

Gabe tried to ignore a fresh shot of guilt.

Mattie waited in front of the hospital as Gabe pulled over to pick her up. She opened the door and climbed inside using the chrome step beneath the door, getting used to the height of the vehicle.

“Everything all right?” Gabe asked.

“Status quo. Rosa is doing better. She’s a strong woman.”

Gabe just nodded. “I thought we’d go by your house so you could pack some things to take over to my place. It’s about time for Dwayne to be getting home from work. We could drive on over from there.”

“All right.”

Dusk had settled over the horizon by the time they left Mattie’s loft and drove to the Oak Lawn area, rolling through streets lined with modest family homes. According to Gabe, Dwayne “Doberman” Penser was married with two small children, a boy and a girl.

A slender, cocoa-skinned woman opened the door.

“Gabe! Come on in!” She was willowy and beautiful, wearing a turban and big gold hoop earrings and looking like a picture from an African travel brochure. “I’m Viola Penser, Dwayne’s wife.”

“I’m Mattie Baker. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Dwayne just got home. Why don’t you make yourselves comfortable and I’ll tell him you’re here.”

The sound of children’s laughter reached them in the living room as Gabe escorted Mattie across the dark brown carpet to a brown plaid sofa. The house was neat, except for a stack of puzzles, a set of dominoes and a coloring book sitting on the walnut coffee table. A small stuffed rabbit peeked out from behind one of the sofa pillows.