The he sobered. And wondered how much of him had rubbed off on the English teacher. The fire would be going by now, but without the gas, it might not be enough to destroy everything. He'd used a condom. He'd worn gloves. But he might have dropped a hair. Still, in order to use it against him, they'd have to find him first.
He didn't have much time and he still had to find Laura Dougherty. Then there were four more. They were the worst. They hadn't been merely involved in Shane's death. They'd killed him. One was in Indy. He'd find the other three, then he'd be finished.
He'd roll into a new life just as he'd rolled into this one, make new friends, find another woman to serve his needs at home. He'd have to think about his next job. He'd never thought about doing the one he had now. It had been the right time and place, so he'd snatched the opportunity. But he'd been good at it.
Who needed a college degree? He was the master chameleon. Like in that movie where the guy impersonates a doctor and a lawyer and a pilot. Maybe he'd try his hand at one of those jobs next time around.
Thursday, November 30, 3:50 a.m.
"Holy shit." The words wheezed from Mia's chest as she lay limp and lax and sated.
Beside her Solliday chuckled. "I love your way with words, Mia."
She pushed up on her elbow and smiled down at him. "You know we're going to be wrecks tomorrow. Today," she corrected, glancing at the clock next to her bed.
"I know, but it was worth it. I don't think I realized just how much I needed this."
She slid her palm across his hard belly, feeling the muscles quiver. "How long has it been?" she asked quietly.
His eyes flicked up to hers. "Six years."
Her brows went up. "Holy shit," she said and he laughed. She raked her fingers through the coarse hair on his chest, sobering. "I needed it, too."
He studied her for a long moment. "I want to know why you didn't want to want this."
"And I'll tell you."
"Just not now?" She nodded her eyes solemn. "Tonight?" he pressed and again she nodded wordlessly. "It'd be better if you could come to me, after Beth's in bed. That way I don't have to ask Lauren to watch her like I did tonight."
"Somehow I didn't get the impression that she'd mind," Mia said wryly and his expression changed. He hadn't told Lauren where he was going. His sister thought he'd been called to a fire. The realization stung a little. "You don't want her to know."
"Not yet." He sat up and she rolled to her back. The night was officially over.
"Tomorrow," she started. "Today, I mean. We're colleagues. Nothing more."
The look he sent her was level. "Nothing more." Then he surprised her by leaning down and kissing her with a hunger that stole her breath. "Tonight, though, much more."
He was buckling his belt when his cell phone rang. "Solliday." He got down on one knee to find his socks. "Was there a gas explosion?… Fine then. I'll proceed to 2026 Chablis Court. Thanks, Larry. I should be there in fifteen to twenty."
"It's way past midnight," Mia observed and he threw a look over his shoulder.
"There was no gas explosion, so it's probably not our guy. It's an apartment fire, so they've called four companies to the scene-Larry's is one of them." He slipped his feet in his shoes. "There's no reason for us both to lose sleep. I'll check it out and call you. Can you give me a hand with the buttons on my shirt? It would be faster that way "
She helped him, making quick work of the buttons. "I do hot dogs, too."
He lifted one eyebrow and now she could admit that had turned her on from the beginning. "You are a very bad girl, Mia."
"Mustard, Solliday." She smacked his ass as he walked away. "Think condiments."
"Very bad girl." He was almost to the front door when it struck her-2026 Chablis. "Reed, wait." She ran after him. "Did you say 2026 Chablis Court, like the wine?"
He frowned. "Yeah, why?"
Her heart skipped a beat, visualizing the records check she'd run yesterday. "That's Brooke Adler's address."
His expression went grim. "Meet me there," he said. "Hurry."
Thursday, November 30, 4:15 A.M.
The fire was contained to one apartment building, the end of a row of five. To the untrained eye it might seem chaotic but it was under control. People stood on the edge of the parking lot, huddled in small groups. Many were crying, child and adult alike. The apartment fire he'd worked last year came back and with it the horror for the victims.
And while every one of them was important, one victim was at the front of his mind. Reed found Larry Fletcher and immediately knew it was very bad. "What's happened?"
"We were still en route when you called back, told us about the Adler woman." Larry's voice was flat. "The 186 was doing search and rescue in the building, but Mahoney and Hunter wanted to go in. Wanted to win this time. Chief of the 186 said it was my call, so I let them. Now I wish I'd said no."
"They're hurt?"
"Not physically. They pulled out Adler and her roommate. It was bad, Reed."
Reed looked over his shoulder. Mia was turning in from the main road. "Alive?"
"One was DOA. The other's on her way to County."
Ten cruisers surrounded the perimeter, uniforms controlling the crowd and passing out blankets to the victims. "What about the cops who were first on the scene?"
Larry pointed to a cruiser farthest away. "Jergens and Petty."
"Thanks." He jogged over to the cruisers. "Solliday, OFI. Jergens and Petty?"
"I'm Jergens, this is Petty," the officer on the left said. "We were first on the scene."
Mia was walking toward him. Red gestured for her to hurry and she closed the distance at a run while he took out his recorder. "This is Detective Mitchell." He turned to her. "Two women pulled out of the fire, one dead, one en route to County."
"This is the guy that did Burnette's kid," Jergens said, his mouth flattening. "SOB."
"Which woman is dead?" Reed asked and the two shook their heads.
"Both were burned pretty badly. The neighbors said they were both about the same size, both brunettes, but nobody would make an ID. That's the DOA." A gurney was being rolled toward the ambulance, the body bag zipped.
Mia motioned the ME's to stop. "Well, let's find out." They cringed then exhaled in unison as the ME unzipped the bag. The burns were bad. "Not Adler," she murmured, then turned back to Petty and Jergens. "Did the neighbors at least provide a name?"
Jergens checked his notes. "Roxanne Ledford. She called in the 911."
"Tell us what happened," Mia said calmly. "Start from the 911."
Jergens nodded. "Rape in progress was called in at 3:38. The 911 operator told her to vacate the premises, but she didn't. We got here at 3:42.
"We could see flames upstairs and in the lobby when we got here. Petty radioed for the fire department. I grabbed the extinguisher from the cruiser and tried to go in, but the fire in the entry was already too big. Another cruiser was behind us. I went to see if the perp was still on the grounds and Petty and the other two started evacuating."
Mia lifted her eyes. "But you didn't find anyone?"
"No. I'm sorry, Detective. There was nobody around."
"The last time, he drove off in the victim's car. I want you to find out which cars belonged to Adler and Ledford and see if they're still here. If not, put out an all points."
"What else?" Petty asked. "We really want this SOB."
Mia looked around. "Any of these guys the super?"
"That one," Petty pointed. "Tall, big guy wearing the fuzzy pink slippers."
"Find out if the building's got security cameras. I want any and all tape from the last week. Oh, and what are we doing for these people? We gotta worry about exposure."