Hell Is Burning (46 page)

“I was right. We don’t have any facial trauma.”

“This is the weirdest case. He obviously has an issue with women at that gym.”

They didn't disagree with Emma.

“We need to get there to do the interviews today,” Greyson stated.

She was well aware.

When Steele pulled out the temperature gauge, they waited for him to get a time of death.

“TOD is about nine last night. She’s been dead less than eight hours. Rigor is just setting in, and her eyes are only just beginning to cloud up. She died as we were having drinks on your patio.”

Emma made notes. As she glanced over, her partner, Mace Bristol, was on his way toward them.

“What did you find?” she asked.

“The man and woman who found her were here making out. It seems that they are just shy of the legal drinking age, and wanted to drink a few beers, make some love, and not get interrupted.”

Emma pointed at the body. “Well, that’s a surefire method of birth control. He won’t be suggesting the game lands any time soon--if he can ever get it up again.”

Mace agreed. “I don’t think they had anything to do with this.”

“Yeah, let’s cut them loose. Get their information in case something comes up. Our victim died last night. They’re clear.”

“I’ll head into the office to start helping the Feds run some details. I saw the trace reports were coming in, and I’ll dig through them. Maybe our killer left something behind.”

Emma gave him an elbow bump since she was gloved up. “When we come in, we’ll bring baked goods or something to feed the team.”

Mace grinned. “Are you sure you don’t have a sister?” he teased, as he walked away. “I am currently available and always up for food.”

Suddenly, there was a snort from Curtis as he ran the data not far away. “Newsflash, Mace. If one shows up, I have dibs on her first.”

Then he realized what he said.

That was something the old Curtis would say. It was like he’d forgotten what had happened a few days ago.

He glanced up, looking horrified.

“I didn't mean. I shouldn’t have said that. It was totally inappropriate.”

Emma pulled off her gloves and crouched down beside him so she could be eye to eye with him. “Welcome back, Curtis. You’re fighting your way back to us. This is part of healing. Don’t fight it. Go with your gut.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

Emma was absolutely right. This was a huge weight off his shoulders for the time being. He was definitely healing, and that was a good thing.

“What did you find, Curtis?” Greyson asked, waiting for anything to point them in the right direction.

“Well, I’m not sure if you’ll like this or not…”

“What?” they said together.

“She works for you.”

“Doing what?” Emma asked. “Last I heard, we have about a thousand employees.”

“Shit! That’s crazy,” he stated.

“Yeah, we know. You’re preaching to the choir on this one,” Emma stated.

He turned the tablet around to show them. On the screen was the woman’s face, and she was more than just an employee.

She was a headliner.

Recognition dawned for both of them. Yes, they’d seen her before.

“Carrie Corwell stared as Aphrodite in one of your musicals. She was the sexy centerpiece to your show
‘Sexcapades’.
She was stripping down six nights a week. Last night, the show was off. They have scheduled a double the next two days for the weekend tourists.”

Emma didn't like this.

It was too close to home.

Well, at least they could get her information, and easily.

“Contact Dante, since he’s likely awake,” Greyson stated. “He’ll get her personnel file shipped over to you.”

“Where are you two going now?” he asked. Curtis hoped that the killer wasn’t going to drag the two people he loved into this mess on a personal level.

They already had enough on their plates.

Greyson glanced down at his watch. It was too early to head to the gym, so they had some time to burn. “We’re going to swing by Captain Ford’s to update him, and then we’re heading out in the field. We have that commissioner’s charity thing tonight. We need to wrap this up as fast as possible.”

“I wish we could bail on it,” Emma stated. “I want to work on this case. We still have to interview Liam Eckerly, the yoga instructor, who was dating Kelly Granger. I feel like we’re falling behind.”

Yeah, so did he, but that wasn’t an option. He had to stay in the public eye, and so did Emma. This was the trouble with being ‘famous’ in Vegas.

“Maybe he’ll be at work.”

She wasn’t sure. If anything happened to Greyson, she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to head back to work for a while. That would have to be the indicator at how attached he was to the woman he was dating.

Then she thought about their mini-Croft.

Yeah, he was moving on.

“Curtis, escort the doctor in and get to work,” Greyson stated. Pulling some cash from his pocket, he handed it to the man. “We’ll have to grab food in the field. Order breakfast for you four and Steele, okay?”

He took it. “Sure thing. Grey?” he called after him.

When he turned, the man was staring at him. “What, son?”

“Watch your backs. I know you’re sending us all inside where it’s safe, so be careful. I can’t lose you guys too.”

He totally understood. “We’ll be fine. We promise. Dimitri is sneaking around somewhere. I can feel it.”

Curtis watched them walk away, and he hoped they were right.

His gut was stirred up, and he didn't know why. Something was coming, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

       
                          
* * *
  Croft & Croft  * * *

It was barely five in the morning when they knocked on his door. Cops were accustomed to early morning wake up calls, so this should be nothing of a surprise to him.

When the man finally answered, he wasn’t in the uniform of a higher ranking captain, but that of a man protecting his place. Ford was scruffy, his jeans were barely on, and he had gun in his hand.

The second he saw it was them, he zipped up and tucked his gun into the back of his pants. There was even a faint blush to his skin.

Honestly, Emma couldn’t help but grin. She never thought he’d be embarrassed about coming to the door half-naked. It didn't seem like something that would rile the captain up.

He was too tough to get embarrassed.

It looked like she found a new way to bust his ass. Since he loved doing it to her, she was building her arsenal of comebacks.

“Come on in,” he said.

They followed him through the door as he began the mad hunt for a shirt to pull on.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, glancing down at his watch. “I know you two aren’t coming over for coffee at this time of the morning.”

They followed him into the living room--or what was supposed to be one.

“We had another victim,” Greyson stated.

Chris took a seat on in a chair and pointed toward the couch. It was apparent that he’d been sleeping in there. It made Emma wonder why.

“Interesting place you have here,” she said. “Are you going to be a bachelor for the rest of your life?”

“Yep. I did the marriage thing. It didn't work out. Now, I know you’re not coming by to see if I’m sleeping with someone, so what do you really want? You could have texted me that we had another victim.”

“True,” Greyson stated. “I need a favor.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Well then, it must not require money. If it does, you’re sadly misinformed.”

He laughed. “Yeah, not quite. We haven’t burned through the rest yet.”

“Good, because you own this building, and I don’t really think I should have to give you money twice.”

Emma laughed. “We own this too? Christ, I hate this. What the hell don’t we own?”

No one seemed to be able to answer her. In fact, Greyson looked just as horrified.

“The favor?” Chris urged.

“It’s related to Brynn’s murder. We know that the commissioner has some pull.”

“Uh huh.”

“We need to use that.”

“What, and how bad is it going to hurt when I bend over to take one for the team?”

“Not too bad, I hope,” Greyson stated. “He’s in with the big wigs in town.”

“Yeah, he’s golfing with all of them but you, my friend. He’s trying to figure out how to get the billionaire Crofts on his socializing list. He’s asked me a few times if we ‘hung out’.”

“And you said?” Emma asked.

“No.”

“That’s a lie,” she stated.

“I’m well aware that it is.”

Immediately, Emma assumed the worst. “Are you ashamed to have your name tied to two dirty cops?” It hurt that she had to even ask that of him. They’d been through a lot. She’d had him at her back when she’d gone through doors. Emma believed they were past this.

He stared at her like she was crazy. “Did you hit your damn head, Detective? I didn't tell him yes because you’re my friends. I don’t want him using me to get to you. As far as he knows, we’re work associates and that’s it. I value my personal life, since it’s the only normal thing I have left.”

Emma apologized. “I’m sorry, Chris. It’s been a long couple of days. I didn't mean to pin that to you. I’m running on no sleep.”

He understood. “It’s okay, Emma. I know you two are burning the candle at both ends. Now what do you specifically need, Greyson?”

“We have a reporter who has a source. That’s the only tie to who killed Brynn. Is there any way you can help me get him to use his influence to get it out of the newspaper staff?”

He thought about it.

“Yeah, I can do that. Tonight, I’ll introduce you. You can play it up.”

Greyson went to say thank you, but the man stopped him.

“You don’t owe me anything. Just have my landlord fix the lights outside this building. Someone’s going to get jumped one day, and I’m not that hard up for action.”

“Why the hell are you living here?” she asked.

He laughed. “Uh, I don’t make that much more than you do, Emma. I’m only a captain. I took a big pay cut to come back to our department. I think you’ve forgotten how expensive Vegas is, and how poorly the public servants are paid.”

Yeah, she had.

They needed to do something about that.

“Can you head over to our place tonight?” Greyson asked. “We’ll take the limo from there. Bring a change of clothes. We can work out of our house tomorrow morning. We have a wedding to attend.”

“Who’s getting hitched?” he asked.

“My profiler and my agent are. We promised to be their best man and matron of honor at the courthouse.”

“All this love in the air--I hope it’s not contagious,” he teased.

Emma didn't buy it for a second. She could see it in his eyes. “Well, then we’ll see you at our place at six. We like to make an entrance.”

“Are you going to be carrying?” Chris asked Emma’s husband.

He simply laughed.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Why?”

“Because guns aren’t allowed, and I was trying to figure out a way to slip you and a firearm close to the commissioner.”

“I’m sure you’ll manage.”

“Yeah, I’m good at figuring out impossible things. That’s why they pay me the big money,” he teased.

“Well, my problem is just as big.”

“What?” he asked.

“I’m going to try and figure out how to get Emma in body armor.”

She stared at him. “Greyson, it’s a strapless dress. We discussed this. I can’t wear Kevlar!”

Yeah, he’d heard her the first time, but that didn't mean he wasn’t going to try. “It’ll make a lovely wrap.”

She was horrified.

Saying goodbye, Greyson pulled her outside. It pleased him that their vehicle was still there and intact.

“I need money--and a shitload of it too,” she stated.

He glanced over at her. “First, why are you asking me? Take out whatever you need. Secondly, why do you need aforementioned shitload of greenbacks?”

“I want to buy a condo.”

“We have one that we’re giving away. Why do we need another?”

“We need to move the captain out of the slum and into a place where he won’t get car jacked walking to his truck.”

He was well aware. “He’s not going to just do this because we want him to, Emma. Men have egos. Chris is pretty hardcore when it comes to being masculine. He had neon beer signs in his living room. I’m afraid redneck might win in this tug-o-war.”