Chapter Thirteen

 

“The Beantown stalker? Here?” Colby couldn’t believe her ears.

“Do you think he’s after me then?” Ash asked even as his left palm settled easily over her right knee, the one closest to his chair. This Irishman had nerve. She chalked his cocky over-confidence up to the wild morning they’d just been through and let it ride.

For now, they sat opposite Fire Chief Kevin Hayden’s desk at Boston’s Fire Station on Cambridge Street. It was late afternoon of a beautiful spring day. The weather was still cool enough, she’d worn a light windbreaker over a Navy-blue button up shirt tucked into her favorite stone-washed jeans. After years in the Army, she valued a civilian wardrobe.

Daylight savings time hadn’t rolled the clocks over yet, and the sun was due to set in the west within the hour. Fire chiefs, it seemed, worked around the clock.

“That’s the thing,” Kevin said, his hazel eyes sharp behind his horn-rimmed glasses. “The arson investigator uncovered some very strange things since your place went up in smoke. Mind if I ask who you bought that shipment of Brazilian rosewood from?”

Ash’s brows angled upward in surprise. “What are you talking about, man? I don’t import rosewood. ‘Tis endangered, man. I could lose my business license if I were daft enough to buy the stuff, not to mention the fines I’d get.” He let out a cocky snicker. “What have you been smoking?”

Kevin’s gaze dropped to the unopened file folder on his desk. Pursing his lips, he lifted his gaze to Ash, not a trace of a smile in his eyes. “We’ve been friends since you came to Boston, but mind me now. This is serious. Things will go easier for you if you’re straight with me from the get go. We found ebony in our investigation, too. That wood’s just as illegal to buy and import as the rosewood.”

“I am being straight with you,” Ash answered, his head cocked. “Who found ebony? Where? Not in my shop you didn’t.”

Colby leaned forward, her elbows to the edge of the desk. Ash’s grip on her knee remained firm and annoying and—warm. Damn near seductive. It was an unwelcome distraction she didn’t need in the middle of this investigation, but could she bring herself to brush it off? She thought about it. “You don’t really suspect Ash, do you? He’s your friend. You’ve known him for years.”

Kevin ran a hand over his red hair as he pushed back in his chair. “I’ll be honest with the two of you. No, the ebony and rosewood were not found in your specific shop, Ash, but there’ve been five fires now.” He lifted three fingers. “At the first three, we found burned and scorched pallets of lumber, some logs, and other wood-related products in the debris. It’s taken our investigator this long to put the pieces together and to run down the few leads that didn’t burn in the fires, but every last one of the rosewood and ebony shipments leads back to you.”

He shook his head as if trying to make sense of it. “The investigator also found bills-of-lading that listed you as sole receiver, Ash. He’s searched the original orders. He’s talked to the suppliers, some of them no good, underhanded smugglers. Granted, not all his sources are reputable, but he’s located three written orders for those endangered woods, all signed by you. If you’re dealing with black marketeers, tell me now. We’ve got you dead to rights, man. Where in my city are you meeting these smugglers?”

Ash grunted, his demeanor surprisingly as steady as his grip on her knee. That thumb of his burned very deliberate circles into that denim. Here, at what could be the end of his reputation and the beginning of a prison sentence, he seemed as cool as if he were simply down at the local pub, ready to throw one back with his drinking buddy. “You know me better than that, Kev. Give me a tablet and a pen if you’ve got one handy. I’ll give you me written name to compare with your supposed evidence.”

Kevin couldn’t look Ash in the eye, and he blinked rapidly, as if conflicted—or as if his eyes were extremely dry. After a minute or so, he dug a paper tablet out of his side drawer and tossed it with a pen to Ash, though how Ash meant to sign it one-handed remained to be seen. His steady attention to her knee was slowly working her last nerve—her starving, I-haven’t-had-sex-in-years last nerve. The smallest sizzle crept along the inseam of her jeans like a flame, reaching higher. Still, she didn’t discourage him.

“I can’t show you the evidence,” Kevin admitted, “but I’d be pleased if you’d give me several samples of your writing. I’ve got nothing else to fight this case they’re building against you.”

Ah, so he did intend to fight it. Good to know. Colby leaned her elbows to the desk, while Ash maintained his hold on her knee as he adeptly stroked off several signatures with his right hand. “Who’s building a case, Kevin?” Why did her voice sound breathy? Colby cleared her throat and asked more evenly, “Are we looking at one person or several?”

“That’s where I have my greatest misgivings.” Kevin’s gaze flickered to Ash. “Well, my second greatest. I’m sorry, Ash. This is as hard on me as it is you. Truth be known, this coincidence raised considerable flags in our investigation. Leviathan Mutual is the underwriter behind the first three arsons. They’re the ones building a case against you.”

Colby cocked her head, not believing what she’d heard. It was getting harder to focus. That simmering trail of sparks had morphed into yearning. Why couldn’t he keep his hands to himself? “Interesting.”

Kevin nodded. “That’s not all. They’ve got a bulldog of an insurance investigator who knows a lot about you. He’s laying for you, Ash. I’m surprised he hasn’t caught up with you yet. The last time I had the unpleasant duty to meet with him, he had some very unkind things to say about you.”

Ash didn’t rise to the bait and ask what those things were like Colby would’ve. He kept his cool, as if this were just a misunderstanding amongst friends over a game of pool.

“I have nah been home,” he admitted as he handed the tablet back to Kevin, his left hand still very much in play. “There you go. Check those against your evidence.”

Nodding, Kevin flipped his file folder open, tracking the signatures on his sheets of evidence against Ash’s. The poor man’s forehead glistened and he licked his lips as down the pages he went.

Colby threaded her right hand through the tendrils at her temple. She wouldn’t want to be in his shoes, having to question the integrity of his friend. He and Ash went back ten years that she knew of. Unlike Hammer, he was the steady wingman who’d showed at every soccer match alongside Ash. Sometimes, in face paint. Sometimes with hand painted signs boasting of her wicked killer instincts on the field. She licked her bottom lip and wished for a breath of cool, fresh air. Or a stiff drink. Is it hot in here?

At last, Kevin lifted his face to the ceiling. His cheeks ballooned and his chest swelled as he puffed out a deep breath. “Oh, for the love of Mike, you’re a life saver, Ash. Not a one of these signatures is a match. They’re not even close, and I’m proud to know you. Thank the Lord for small favors.”

“And large ones in return,” Colby breathed, though where that sentiment had sprung from, she had no idea. It just blurted out of her.

Ash leaned his elbow to the edge of the desk, his chin resting on his free hand. “Of course, they don’t, Kev. I didn’t write them. You had to know that.”

Kevin nodded, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. With another deep breath, he smiled for the first time since he’d sat down. “I did, brother, I truly did. ’Tis a madman we’re up against. If he’s targeting you, no one you care about will be safe. I’m calling the police to put all of you in protective custody.”

“Nah.” Ash waved him off as he reclined into his seat again, a true study in self-control. “I’ll not be bullied by the likes of a sneaky coward with a can of petrol and a match. Let him come at me again, and I’ll bust his balls. Would you like me to carve off one for a souvenir for you?”

Kevin’s ruddy face beamed. “I would at that, but I can’t let you take the chance.” When Ash huffed his annoyance, Kevin brushed it off with, “At least let me move Colby and her mother out of town ’til this is settled. Then maybe you and I will run this bugger to ground an be done with him.”

“Uh-uh, I’m not going anywhere,” Colby shot back at him. For all his good intentions, that would be the day she ran and hid while the men folk did the dirty work. She was trained for this. It took her a full minute to realize Ash was grinning at her, not until Kevin chin nodded to him and said, “You’re right. I can see it. Best to keep on her good side, boyo.” To Colby he said, “Are you certain you’re not a reincarnation of Grace Malone?”

“Who?” She had to ask.

Ash’s hand moved from her knee to cup her elbow. “Never mind, love. I’ll explain, but first I have something to show you. Later, Kev. If you need another one of my signatures, just ask.” He stuck his thumb to the end of his nose and wiggled his fingers. “I can do this all day.”

Kevin reached across the desk and snagged Ash’s hand in one of those grips that went up to each other’s elbows. “Keep an eye out. This bloke could’ve killed you and everyone in that house today. By the by, you haven’t seen Hammer lately?”

“I did. We threw a few back at O’Toole’s last night—” That would be O’Toole’s Pub, another favorite haunt. “—least ‘til his phone rang and he had to run. The man’s whipped, Kev. Like a good little boy, one call and he ran home to his wife.”

Kevin’s head bobbed knowingly. “Aye, it happens to the best of us. His poor missus seems to be sick a lot.”

“Aye, I’m not sure of what though. Hammer never tells, just ups and runs to her bidding. You didn’t happen to tell anyone which hotel we’re in, did you?” Ash asked as he snaked a hand around her waist when he tugged Colby to her feet.

Ordinarily, she would’ve given him a proper shove off, but not today. There was something about the rugged strength of the man who’d saved her mother’s life. He’d displayed uncommon valor. For the first time in her life, she leaned into a man for more than another pack of ammo.

“I don’t want to know,” Kevin declared, his head turned to the side. “It’d be best if you kept that to yourself until we’ve got this bloke behind bars.”

“Or dead,” Colby added. “If he comes after my mom again, I’ll end him, so help me God.”

Kevin nodded at her in that patronizing way of so many men in her life, but Ash. He was the smart one. He leaned into her cheek, whispering, “And I’ll be there to help you bury the body, love.”

She could’ve kissed him right there and then, but Kevin’s chair screeched when he pushed back. He stood and waved them off. “Stop it, you two! I can’t hear another word. My ears are slammed tight.”

“Sláinte,” Ash said easily as he pulled Colby to her feet.

Kevin mellowed, a friendlier smile on his face. “And to you, Ash. May you both be well and smiling. Now be gone with you!”