Playing With Fire (18 page)

“C’mon, half pint. You know the only firefighter in this
house who is tougher than me is you.”

Erin became aware that Nate was studying her. Glancing
around the table she saw that all of the men were watching her. Anxiety flooded
her overwrought nerves.

“What… what is it? Why are you looking at me like that?” She
tried to keep her voice from rising, but her fear overtook her. She appealed to
Connor.

“What does this have to do with me, Connor?”

Connor put his hand over hers; his serious expression
frightened her more.

“That’s what we are trying to figure out, half pint. In the
rush this morning, Dave picked up your rig by mistake.”

“My rig?”

“Yeah. Your gear is right next to Dave’s. Joe and George
sent your SCBA rig over to the police lab to see if we can pick up finger
prints.”

At first Erin couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. His
meaning struck her with the force of a knife in her gut. She made herself ask
the obvious question.

“You think something was wrong with my rig? That someone….”

Connor sighed and held her hand tighter.

“Yeah, half pint. We think someone jimmied with your gear.”

Erin was stunned, unable to grasp the enormity of what
Connor was saying. She clung to his hand like a drowning man.

“S… somebody wanted to hurt me? They thought it would be
me?”

She hesitated, not knowing which answer was worse, but she
had to ask.

“Somebody at the house… or…?”

Connor sighed. “We don’t know, Erin. Both Stu and I agree.
It was a sloppy job, unlikely the work of a firefighter. It was too obvious.
But you could have missed it if you weren’t looking for it.”

Erin didn’t know where she got the strength, but she rose to
her feet. She thanked some unknown god and asked that he, she, or it get her
out of this room. She had to leave, now! Or her sense of doom would swallow her
whole.

She looked from the Chief, then to Connor.

“I have to leave. Now.”

Connor looked as though he would argue but something in her
face must have stopped him.

“Half pint, we’re gonna figure this out. Find out what
happened.” He added, “Do you have your car? No? I’ll have someone drive you
home.”

Her voice was firm.

“No. I don’t want a ride. I need to run.”

She was halfway to the door when Nate broke in.

“Sorry, Erin. You can’t leave yet. We’re not done here. I
have some questions for you.”

Nothing could have put the steel in her spine the way his
presumptuous tone did. She turned slowly and seared him with a glare worthy of
one of his.

“That’s too bad, Detective, because I’m not answering any of
your questions. Unless you intend to hold me for, what, attempted suicide
perhaps?”

Nate cocked a brow.

“Tell you what. You can answer my questions here — in
privacy of the Chief’s office — or I can arrest you, and take you down to the
station, and you can answer them there.”

Erin chin went up several notches. She managed to keep her
voice as controlled as his.

“I guess you are going to have to arrest me then. But you
goddamn better come with a warrant when you do, Detective.”

Nate shrugged. “You only need a warrant to search someone’s
property, Erin. Not to question them.”

Infuriated by his cocky know-it-all grin, Erin snapped.

“Fuck you.”

She looked to the Chief who was staring at her wide-eyed.

“Sorry, Chief, Connor.”

She sauntered to the door and slammed it behind her.

“She doesn’t have to answer your questions if she doesn’t
want to, Nate. You can’t force her. This isn’t Abu Ghraib.”

“I am aware of that, Connor.”

Nate chose to ignore the anger in Connor’s voice. Thinking
about Erin’s face when she swore at him, he muttered under his breath,
“Stubborn little brat.” At Connor’s fierce rejoinder, Nate sighed. He should
have kept his annoyance to himself.

“Yeah, Nate. She is a stubborn little brat. Thank God for
that. Erin just learned that somebody might have been trying to kill her… and
it upset her. Imagine that! Maybe she should have crumpled in a heap on the
floor. Would that have been better, Nate? Less stubborn? That’s what most
people would have done if they thought someone was out to kill them, and that
someone else may have died because of her. I dunno, Cuz. I think that kind of
news would be hard for anyone to take. Except you, of course.”

Nate drew in a deep breath. He saw Chief Halloran and Dan
Coulter settle back in their chairs, clearing the path between him and Connor.
Nate didn’t blame them. Connor’s face was a thundercloud. Good thing Nate
hadn’t inherited Mama D’s temper, or there’d be blood on the floor within
minutes. No, his anger just roiled through his gut and came out in cutting
sarcasm.

He kept his tone mild.

“You’re acting like you think this is my fault, Connor.”

“No, I’m acting like I am mad as hell — because I am.”

He continued, his angry words an uncontrollable whitewater
rapids.

“Someone’s trying to hurt Erin, and the only thing you can
do is try to pin a murder on her. A murder that you know damn good and well she
didn’t commit.”

Connor had shucked off any semblance of control. He faced
Nate head on, his hands clenched in tight fists at his sides. His face was
flushed a furious crimson.

“That woman is no more capable of murder that you or me,
Nate. In fact, she’s a lot less capable.”

He held up his fingers ticking them off one at a time.
“Let’s add ‘em up, Nate. We know now that someone sugared her gas tank. That’s
kind of weird. Doesn’t happen every day. Yeah, it could be kids. Let’s see.
Then someone vandalized her house. Again, easy to write off. She lives in a
crappy neighborhood, right? But then someone sends her a private message
telling her that it was her husband’s body that burned up in a fire two blocks
from her house.”

Nate glared at him.

“Would that be when she found out the identities of the
bodies three days before we did — and she didn’t bother to come and talk to
either one of us? That the note you’re talkin’ about, Connor?”

“Yeah, Nate, that’s the note I’m
talkin’
about!”

Connor stalked across the room then whirled on Nate.

“Now we find out that… that someone tinkered with her oxygen
mask and almost killed another firefighter by mistake. Oh yeah, I almost
forgot. One of her buddies two thousand miles from here, ends up with a bullet
in his skull. A guy who just happened to be her best alibi.”

Connor stopped pacing and leaned against the Chief’s desk as
though he couldn’t trust his legs to hold him up, his anger was so intense. His
voice sunk to a harsh undertone.

“I guess your instincts aren’t as good as I thought they
were, Cuz. You taught me it was three strikes and you’re out. That’s all it
ever took you to get your man. But I’m counting five now against Erin. What’s
it gonna take, man? Somebody gonna have to chop ’er up in pieces and put her in
a box, with a bow on the top and mail her to us? That’s what it’s going to
take, Nate?”

Nate took a half step toward his cousin. It took every ounce
of restraint he had to stop. When he finally spoke, Nate’s voice would have
scared the shit out of anyone else. Connor barely flinched.

“Do you think for a moment, Connor, that I am not aware of
each and every one of these incidents? But maybe because I
am
a hell of
a good cop, I’m not blind to the possibility that she just might be one more
gold-digging little witch out to ‘off’ her rich husband? Did that occur to you?
Did it? Connor? Do you really think that I’m not aware that Erin could be in
serious danger? Is that what you think of me, Connor?”

Connor’s gray eyes were stormy black, flashing. He ran his
hands through his hair and shook his head.

“I don’t know what to think any more, Nate. I’ve never seen
you like this. It’s like I told you yesterday, I don’t recognize you. I don’t
know where my cousin’s gone.”

He closed his eyes then looked over to the Chief.

“Sorry, Chief, Dan. I gotta leave. Please excuse me.”

He followed Erin’s lead and left the room, slamming the door
behind him.

~~~

Nate drove from one entrance to the park to another, until
finally he saw her coming out of the Lowell Street tunnel. He pulled the squad
up alongside her and slammed on the brakes. He lowered the window and leaned
across the console.

“Get in, Erin.”

She startled at the sight of him then tossed her head and
took off in the opposite direction, her pace increasing with every step. He
started after her on foot, but changed his mind. Dammit, in minutes she’d be
back in the park. Checking to make sure there were no other runners in sight,
he jumped back in the squad. With one foot hanging out the door and the other
on the accelerator he slammed the car in gear and roared up the narrow trail.
When he came abreast of her he wrenched the wheel to the right, the tires
squealing in protest and pulled in front of her, blocking her path. He was
beside her before she could take off again.

She was breathing hard and staring at him in shock.

“What the
hell
are you doing, Nate? Now you’ve
stooped to running down your prey? Not content just to set traps for them?”

He shrugged, “I told you to get in.”

“That’s it? You gave me an order and I didn’t obey? Now,
what are you going to do, Detective? Haul me off to jail and book me for
resisting arrest?”

“Jesus, Erin, get in the car. Stop being dramatic.”

“I’m being dramatic?! Talk about the pot calling the
kettle!”

When she reared up, he reached inside the squad and pulled
out a set of handcuffs. His lips quirked up at the corner as he spoke.

“If it’s a scene you want, I can always turn on the siren,
crank up the gumball machine, and cuff you to the grate in the back seat.”

When her face paled then flushed a dangerous rosy red, he
stepped back and yanked open the passenger door.

“Or you can get in the car like I asked you to.”

She stared at the handcuffs swinging by his side and huffed
out an angry breath. She marched to the car and climbed in. He closed the door
behind her, ambled over to the driver’s side, and eased in. She was plastered
against her side of the car practically stuck to the door. He reached across
her for the seatbelt, inserting the end with a sharp click.

“Safety first, sweetheart.”

He jerked the car into motion, pulling it off the path,
ignoring the two startled runners who’d turned the corner.

Peeling back onto the street, he made a sharp turn heading
toward town.

“Where are you going, Nate?”

“I’m taking you home, Erin. It’ll be dark soon. You
shouldn’t run in the park by yourself. I’ve told you that before.”

She slammed her hand against the dashboard with a sharp
crack.

“Stop the car, Nate!”

He glanced in the rearview mirror and not seeing any cars
behind him, he slid the cruiser over to the side of the road and pulled to a
stop. When she started to open the door, he hauled out the handcuffs.

“These work as well in the front seat as they do in the
back, Erin.”

Her eyes were dark blue-green storm clouds. Bright spots of
red highlighted her cheeks. There was a slight sheen of moisture on her top
lip, and a delectable drip of moisture between her breasts. Nate ground his
back teeth together to keep from reaching out and licking it off. Remembering
why he had picked her up, he turned in the seat to face her.

“Look Erin, I owe you an apology. For some of the things I
said in the interview yesterday. I’m sorry.”

Her eyes widened and she spit out a gasp of surprise when he
continued.

“I was out of line. Richards was right. At least about
that,” he quickly qualified.

She glared at him, her eyes flashing.

“The interview? Is that what it is called? I thought it was
an inquisition. I assumed at any minute you’d put me on the rack or fire up the
coals beneath the stake in the ground.”

Nate’s gut clenched. He reminded himself that, if he were
capable of shame, yesterday’s ‘interview’ would be a good place to start.
Instead he turned on the ignition and eased the car into traffic. Deciding on a
light-hearted approach, he chuckled.

“Nah, we’re not burning witches at the stake any longer.
Mayor sponsored a resolution. Damn council supported it. Now tying you to a
rack, that’s something I wouldn’t necessarily outlaw.”

Erin gasped, her eyes widening in shock.

“Nate, are you insane? Yesterday in front of five people,
you called me a prostitute, and accused me of murdering two people. Now you are
so fucking cocky you haul me into your
police
car and make sexual
innuendos? Blake is right. You are so far out of line you wouldn’t recognize it
if you tripped over it and fell flat on your face.”

Taking several deep breaths, she stared at him for a long
moment then she pressed her lips in a hard line.

“Please take me home, Nate. I don’t want to be with you or
talk to you. I don’t trust you. Blake is right. You are a master manipulator.
You insult me one minute then apologize to me the next. Blake’s advised me not
to talk to you and he is right. I don’t have to and I don’t want to. Even if
you arrest me, I don’t have to talk to you.”

“No one is arresting you Erin. And you better start talking.
This case is not looking good.”

Her lip curled in scorn.

“For you or for me? My understanding is that your case is
going swimmingly. Every new piece of evidence seems to fit beautifully into
your carefully manufactured theory. Apparently that’s what happens when Nate
Stryker is involved. I understand that you always get your man, or woman, as
the case may be.”