Preferably one from Lora. The woman had great hands. Long fingers. Delicate bones.
After stretching his arms over his head, Kenton said, “I’m gonna need Monica on this.” Because when it came to killers, Special Agent Monica Davenport was the best.
“Done.”
“I could sure use Sam, too.” He watched Hyde carefully now. “It seems like the fires stopped for almost six months… then started again with a freaking vengeance.” And a break period like that just wasn’t normal. “I’m thinking our guy just went somewhere else for his fun and games. Sam could do a check for me, cross-reference fires in a three-county radius and see if—”
“Not Sam.”
But when it came to patterns, Samantha Kennedy was a genius. Give her a computer, hook her up to the SSD’s files, and the woman could have a dozen linked cases in an hour.
“How is she?” Kenton asked bluntly, because he knew the other agent had been through hell. On their last big case, Sam had been captured by the perp. By the time they’d found her, the guy had already gotten off on torturing her and making Sam wish for death.
Beg for it.
It wasn’t easy to come back from something like that. He knew.
Some crimes—they killed the victim right away. A quick, clean kill.
Others—they left the shell of the vic alive, but on the inside, the person slowly died. One piece of the vic’s soul at a time.
“Sam took some extra time off,” Hyde told him, voice smooth. “She’s getting some rest. Taking it easy.”
Getting help. Christ, yes, she needed to talk to someone.
He’d seen her eyes in that hospital room. He knew when he was staring into hell.
“I’m trying someone new for the tech work right now. A guy who finished from MIT with Sam and did well at Quantico.” Hyde inclined his head. “I’ll get him to run your search.”
“I’m investigating the scene today.” Kenton took a quick breath. Time to lay it all out there. “I’ve asked Lora to be my local contact for the cases.”
No flicker of surprise. But then, when had Hyde ever been surprised? “From what I hear, Lora’s one of the best firefighters Frank has on his team.” He gave a slow nod. “You can use her eyes on the scene.”
Yes, he could.
“Just be careful, Lake. Until we know exactly what we’re dealing with here, we need to keep our investigation very, very secure.”
In other words, don’t trust the locals with all the case details. That was a lesson he’d learned the hard way before. “Yes, sir.”
CHAPTER Four
Who the hell are you, and what are you doing at my scene?” The snarl came at him the minute Kenton and Hyde crossed under the yellow line of police tape at the torched house on Byron Street.
A tall guy, with blond hair and narrowed brown eyes, glared at them, crossing his arms over his chest.
“We’re the FBI,” Hyde told him, in that deep, booming voice of his. The voice that made the words sound like I’m God—who the f**k are you? “And, son, this is our scene.”
The muddy eyes became slits then. “I don’t think so.”
“Serial Services Division.” Kenton pulled out his ID. Just to be official. Sometimes, you had to follow the rules. “We believe this case is linked with a series of arson-related murders in the area, and we’re taking over the investigation.”
“Didn’t get your name…” Hyde said, but the words were a definite demand.
“Gentlemen, you’re looking at Chief County Arson Investigator Seth MacIntyre.” The husky words came from behind them.
Kenton spun around. Ah, there she was. Right on time.
Lora had on a black T-shirt, faded jeans, and a pair of tennis shoes. Casual, but damn, still sexy.
The woman always was.
As he watched, Lora pulled on a pair of gloves. One blond brow rose as she turned her gaze on Kenton’s boss. “And you’re Keith Hyde.”
Hyde turned his head slowly and locked his eyes on her. “Spade.”
Her head inclined, just a bit.
“What? Hold on, just hold on a minute here!” Seth snapped. “I don’t need any Bureau boys coming in, telling me how to do my job. Clear my scene, now. I haven’t even had time to check for—”
“Seth, you’ve been here for five hours.” Lora’s cool-as-you-please voice. “Forget the pissing match. They’re taking over because we’ve got to stop this bastard.”
The man’s face flushed red. “I’ve got this, Lora. I can—”
“We’re all in over our heads. They’re the SSD—this is what they do. They stop the serials.”
“W-we can’t even prove all the cases are linked,” Seth sputtered. “With Jennifer Langley—”
“Let us worry about the links,” Hyde told him, stepping into the charred house. “You just worry about collecting arson evidence from the scene.”
The scent of smoke burned Kenton’s nostrils. Two of the walls were all but gone, leaving blackened studs struggling to hold up part of the roof. Ashes covered the floor. Burnt insulation hung from the sagging roof.
“The SSD. I heard about y’all but…” Seth’s jaw clenched.
But you didn’t call us in. You had a serial hunting and you thought you could handle him on your own? Kenton stared at the guy. Just stared.
Seth swiped his hand over his face. “What are you hoping to find here?”
Kenton didn’t answer as he headed inside. Lora followed close behind him, then she swept past them all, going to study the partially intact wall in the back.
Seth took a deep breath. He’d come in behind them. “There’s no signature, okay? With the arsonists, there’s always a tag. They like to start ’em the same way. Same place. Origin’s usually fixed.”
Not with this guy.
The arson investigator shook his head. “I know these guys. They have a pet accelerant. One they always use to get the burn just right—”
“I told you, Seth. This jerk likes to change his fires.” Lora tossed this back without looking over her shoulder.
Seth’s shoulders sagged a bit. His face didn’t look quite so tense and angry then. Fear flickered in his eyes. “Another call came in?” A little bit of fear there, probably because the guy knew.
“Yeah,” Kenton told him. “It did.”
A rough sigh slipped past Seth’s lips. “I didn’t—I wasn’t told—”