Jarod's Heart (King Brothers Stories #2) (25 page)

LAUREN DROVE THE
car down Main Street toward the sheriff’s office, trying to shake off the last remnants of frustration that the department of motor vehicles had bestowed upon her.

She’d been dealing with bureaucratic red tape for the past two days. Who knew you had to jump through so many hoops when you got married?

Getting her legal name changed was only part of what was causing her uncertainty. Since Monday, both James and Camille had been calling Lauren “Mommy” whenever Jessica was around, trying to get the little girl comfortable with their changed circumstances. Lauren knew they meant well, but she hoped it wasn’t pushing Jessica too much. Jessica had refused to call Jarod “Daddy” for the past month, and now she was being pressed into calling Lauren “Mommy” overnight, even though Jessica’s initial reaction to them getting married had been positive.

Lauren took deep breaths, something she’d practiced in yoga, to calm down the racing thoughts and panic that could overwhelm her if she let them. She had to keep it cool if she wanted to be a good wife and mother.

Her erratic thoughts were still racing when flashing lights filled her rear-view mirror. A fire truck that was four cars back had everyone pulling over to the right to make room for it.

As she maneuvered her car to the shoulder to let it pass, she realized there were more emergency vehicles behind the pumper truck—an ambulance and Jarod in his cruiser.

What on earth?

Curiosity piqued, she followed Jarod to the scene a few blocks down and three over from Main Street. There was already a crowd gathered in the parking lot of the one-story Restful Night Motel.

Smoke was coming from one of the rooms, billowing through the broken picture window of the unit. Firemen were already there, hosing the blaze. It didn’t look like it had been burning for long.

She parked next to Jarod, who was talking on his radio. Eli was already there, canvassing the crowd, taking statements. Josie, the motel manager, was wringing her hands and shaking her head.

As Lauren approached him, Jarod looked up at her in surprise while he finished his radio call.

“Just get here when you’ve finished up, Brad. I don’t know what exactly we’re dealing with yet, but I need your eyes here at the scene.” He put the mic down and stood up, drawing her in for a quick hug and a peck on the cheek.

“Hey,” he said smiling. His blue eyes were covered with his mirrored sunglasses, but she knew that they were smoldering with memories of their wedding night. She could hear the heat in his voice and feel it in the way he rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip.

“Hey back,” she answered, a bit breathlessly. “I followed you from Main. I just got my new driver’s license. I’m all legal now.”

“Yeah? Did you think you weren’t legal before?” He teased her ear with his whispered question, which made her giggle.

“You’re in a good mood, considering that there’s a burning motel room just a few yards away. Anyone inside?”

His dimple showed before he switched to cop mode. “The fire department was first on the scene. No one saw the renter leave this morning, so we think…”

“One dead, Sheriff. Looks like someone left a burner on in a makeshift kitchen.” The fire chief had approached them without Lauren seeing him.

Jarod turned all of his attention to the fire chief now. “Show me.”

“Not safe yet. Give us some time to secure the structure, and then you can have at it.” With that, the chief walked back to the smoldering room.

Just as Jarod turned back toward Lauren, Eli made his way to them from the crowd that had gathered. His expression was grim, and Jarod seemed to tense up before schooling his features.

“What do you have for me, Eli?”

“Inconsistencies, shadowy figures, and a possible round of gunfire.” Eli shook his head and slapped his notebook on his thigh. Lauren had never seen him so frustrated.

Jarod nodded once in understanding before turning his attention on her.

“You can’t be here, Lauren.”

That stung.

“I know,” she assured him with a nod of her head. “Is there anything you need before I head back out to the estate?”

He seemed to struggle with something before he crowded into her space. “You mean before you go
home
?” he clarified.

She took a deep breath. Licking her lips, she confirmed, “Yes, before I go home.”

“Just this.”

Before she knew what he was about, he jerked her to him and gave her a kiss that would have her dreaming about him all day long.

JAROD FOLLOWED LAUREN
with his eyes until she was safely in her vehicle. She smiled and gave him a small wave before she backed out of the parking lot and pulled out onto the road to head home.

Home.

He was just starting to imagine her waiting for him when Eli cleared his throat.

Jarod shook off the spell that woman cast upon him every time she was around and gave his attention back to his deputy. Scrutinizing Eli’s demeanor, especially over the past few days, Jarod realized he was looking at a man with something on his mind. Eli was a rookie, but he had proven his investigative skills over the past few months, collaring criminals that hadn’t been on Jarod’s radar.

“What’s your gut feeling? And don’t hold back.”

Eli hesitated, unsure about something. Was it mistrust Jarod saw in the man’s eyes? He was just about to give him another nudge when Eli finally spoke.

“All right. My gut tells me that the body inside is Avery Decatur and that his death isn’t accidental.”

“I agree. What else?”

Jarod watched the surprise in Eli’s eyes before he regained his composure. “I also think that this incident is related to crimes involving our current meth problem,” Eli said, clearing his throat. “But I have nothing to back that up.”

Jarod looked him in the eye and said, “My gut tells me the same thing, Eli.”

Eli’s phone rang before either of them could get down to the nitty gritty. He checked the screen and answered quickly.

“Hey, baby. Everything okay?” Caroline Wallace’s voice could be heard on the other end. A smile formed on Jarod’s face as Eli began to break out in a sweat.

“What? Are you sure? Okay, I’m on my way right now.” He stuffed his phone in his pocket and took off toward his cruiser.

“Eli?” Jarod yelled.

He stopped in his tracks and ran back to Jarod. “She’s in labor… I…I need to go.” Eli was already out of breath.

Jarod patted his shoulder. “Get out of here. Drive safe, and I want an update every hour. Got it?”

“Copy that, boss.” Eli turned back to his vehicle and screeched out of the parking lot with lights flashing, scattering the growing crowd of onlookers who were curious about the fire.

Jarod allowed himself a chuckle before he made his way to the motel room to have a peek inside.

It didn’t take a DEA agent to figure out that the “makeshift kitchen” had been hastily put together to represent a meth lab. Jarod was no fire expert, but the equipment didn’t look like it had ever been used. It looked too clean, even after being in a fire. There was debris and smoke damage all over, along with water from the sprinkler system and fire truck. Most of the damage seemed to be centered around the bed, where the charred body lay.

The stench turned his stomach.

“Is that gasoline?” Jarod wondered aloud to no one in particular.

“Yes, some sort of accelerant was used, Sheriff. My nose says gas, but we’ll have to wait for testing to be sure,” the fire chief said. “Thanks to the recently overhauled sprinkler system, the fire didn’t spread and it was put out quickly.”

“Josie had work done recently?”

“Yeah, she didn’t make code on her last inspection, so she had it updated about a month ago.” He looked around the room before continuing. “I’m no forensic doctor, but that body hasn’t been dead for too long.”

“No, he hasn’t, has he?” Jarod murmured, taking a closer look at the body on the bed. What he found there was disturbing.

“Got here as quick as I could, Jarod.” Brad said as he sauntered into the room. “Good lord, that stinks.”

Jarod looked up at him and asked, “What do you make of this?”

Brad walked over to the body and studied it. “Fool lit a cigarette around combustible drug paraphernalia.”

“You find the butt?”

Brad raised his eyebrow at Jarod, then looked around the bed and nightstand. Both had considerable damage. “No, but there’s a melted ashtray here.” He reached for a box of latex gloves and slipped some over his hands. He picked up the ashtray gingerly and studied it.

Jarod scrutinized his friend for a moment before continuing his perusal of the room.

It was clear to him that accelerant had been poured over the body and bed. There was a blackened pathway burned into the cheap motel carpet leading from the bed to the fake lab equipment. It was obvious that someone had staged the scene, due to the bullet hole in the victim’s skull.

He’d seen crime scene photos of two other burned bodies with bullet holes in their skulls recently. They had belonged to his ex-wife and Michael Trapp.

Jarod now had two problems: a serial killer who was executing his victims before burning their bodies, and an unsolved drug ring running amuck in Timbisha County. The victimology suggested that they were connected, but Jarod was damned if he knew how. Had Trapp been Avery’s backer, and had the deal gone sour? But that didn’t make sense, since they’d both been killed in the same way. The two criminals had been murdered by the same unidentified suspect, that was for certain.

Jarod and Brad worked the room in silence while the firefighters and the medical examiner did their thing. The sun was setting when the body was finally removed from the room and hauled away to the morgue, where an autopsy would be performed. Hopefully, a bullet would be recovered, since none had been found in the room.

They still hadn’t found anything to ID the victim, but Jarod knew that Eli was right. The fire hadn’t burned the corpse entirely because of the new and improved sprinkler system. When the body had been lifted from the bed and moved to the gurney, the underside of the corpse had been briefly revealed, showing minimal fire damage.

Avery had had a large dragon tattoo on his upper back and neck. As the body was being moved to the bag laid out on the gurney, Jarod could just make out one of the talons on the back of the victim’s neck, behind one ear.

He notice Brad messing around behind one of the nightstands.

“Find anything interesting back there?”

“No. I thought I saw something, but it was just this old Book of Mormon.” Brad lifted the warped and soggy tome and placed it on the nightstand.

Jarod nodded. There wasn’t much left for them to do. The forensic team was still collecting evidence and taking pictures. Jarod and Brad were just in their way at this point.

“Fine. I’m heading back to the station to finish up my reports, and then I’m calling it a night. You coming?” Jarod asked.

“Yeah, I’ll follow you back.”

The hairs on Jarod’s neck stood up. For years, he had trusted Brad Anderson with his life. Throughout his training, Jarod had relied on Brad. He had respected his mentor. But, for whatever reason, the thought of having Brad at his back now sounded off all kinds of warning bells.