Up in Flames (27 page)

“Zane will probably call you himself.”

She wasn’t so sure about that. After Zoe’s description of his mood at the arraignment, she wasn’t sure what to expect, but doubted another night in jail had improved things.

She said good-bye to Maggie, then gave yesterday’s clothes a doubtful look. What was the proper attire for a welcome-back-from-jail meeting? She felt stupid even entertaining the thought, as if she was back in high school, worrying about how to impress a boy. A boy who might not feel about her the way she felt about him. But her skirt and knit top looked too businesslike. The last thing she wanted Zane to think of when he saw her was lawyers and legal secretaries. She’d have to borrow a pair of jeans from Zoe.

Zane hadn’t wanted to pig out on Cal’s dime, but couldn’t stop himself once he saw the large workingman’s breakfast on the menu. He plowed through it without coming up for air. A mere day and a half in jail had left him ravenous, particularly after last night’s limp green beans and watery mashed potatoes. He’d refused the greasy, gray meat entirely.

Cal didn’t say more than “Pass the salt” until Zane pushed his plate aside. Then he contemplated Zane with his arms folded across his chest, his cool gaze a reminder that his estimation of the Thorsons was built around the parts of Zane’s life he could never escape—his abusive, murdering father and his rapist younger brother. The opinions of a dozen peace-loving hippies probably held little weight next to all that.

Cal’s stare was making him edgy. “So what do you want to know?” Zane asked.

“I want to know why they changed their minds about you.”

“I don’t know. Why don’t you ask Maggie?”

“I did. She said you tried to convince her and Zoe that you were a worthless piece of shit.”

At least he’d gotten that across. He shrugged. “Can’t help who I am.”

“Maggie said it was only because you wanted them to make sure Sophie stayed away from you.”

“That’s a different issue. I fired her, but she’s been hard to get rid of.”

Cal remained expressionless, and Zane couldn’t tell if he believed him or not. “Why do you want to get rid of her? She’s cute, smart, easy to get along with. Most of the time,” he qualified.

“She’s a pain in the ass.”

“Can be,” Cal agreed. He did more thoughtful watching, and Zane played along, giving him the same emotionless stare. “I heard you two have a history,” Cal said.

Shit. Why was everyone so damned nosy about it?
“Old news. Ten years old.”

“The way I heard it, there’s recent history.”

He may have twitched at that. “That would be none of your business. How I feel about Sophie has nothing to do with whether I’m innocent or guilty.”

Cal lifted an eyebrow. “To me it does. Sophie’s my sister-in-law, and I’m pretty damn fond of her. If I thought she was spending time with a murderer, I’d have to intervene.”

“She’s not. But feel free to intervene. Keep her away from me.”

“You don’t want to talk to her?”

“No need.”

“So I shouldn’t drop you at her place?”

“No. Wait!” A tremor of alarm went through him. “You mean her apartment? What’s she doing there? She’s supposed to be at the commune.”

“Sophie’s a big girl, she can go where she wants.”

Real panic grabbed his chest, squeezing hard. “Only if you don’t care if she gets herself killed!” Hell, how long had she been in town? Had anyone checked on her lately? “What’s with you people? I tell you someone chased after her with a knife, and that she’s talking to the wrong people, and all you care about is whether she’s getting involved with a member of the disreputable Thorson family. If you really care about who she’s with, then get someone to pick her up right now and take her back to the commune!”

“She might not want to go.”

“Then hog-tie her! I don’t care! We’re talking about her life!” He leaned forward, ready to reach across the table if he had to, to snatch the phone Cal had laid next to his plate. “Call her now. Make sure she’s okay.”

“Actually, she’s safe. She’s at Zoe and Jase’s house.”

Sophie was safe. Zane leaned back, letting his blood pressure drop as the fear eased away. He narrowed his eyes at Cal.

He’d been tricked, and he didn’t like it. Especially about this. He’d spent his whole life battling the opinions of strangers, and he’d learned to tolerate it, or at least to live with it. But there was no way he’d allow others to butt into the best thing he’d ever had, his relationship with Sophie, and jerk him around just to see how he reacted. That Cal felt he had a right to pissed him off.

Cal spent several seconds taking his measure as well. “I think I see what Maggie was talking about,” he said.

“What’s that?” he growled, letting his dark mood show. “That I don’t like people interfering in my private life?”

“That you care about Sophie.”

“Fuck that. I thought you wanted to know if your irresponsible relatives should have bailed me out. To see if I might really be innocent. How I feel about Sophie doesn’t have a damn thing to do with it.”

“That you’d put her safety above everything else does. Goes to your character.”

“What is this, some kind of psych profile?”

“Maybe it is. Relax, Thorson, you passed.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means I don’t think they threw their money away on a worthless cause.”

He wanted to snap something insulting back at him, but couldn’t think of anything that wouldn’t sound juvenile and stupid after what sounded like it might be a compliment.

Cal, on the other hand, looked amused. “Not good at letting people into your life, are you?”

“It hasn’t exactly paid off for me in the past.”

“Guess I can understand that. People already have their minds made up about you. I did. It looks like I need to reexamine that.”

He scowled. “Are we going to get all touchy-feely now?”

Cal snorted. “Not me. But you might want to brace yourself, because you just got involved with the most touchy-feely bunch of people you’ll ever meet.”

“I’m not involved with the commune.”

This time Cal laughed outright. “You’re bought and paid for, Thorson. They own you.”

Zane blinked a few times and let it sink in. He liked the eccentric group of hippies who were Sophie’s family, but they did seem rather open with their feelings and seemed to expect the same friendliness in return. Plus, Cal had a point. He owed them.

Cal got to his feet, still grinning over Zane’s growing discomfort. “Come on, let’s get you back to B-Pass. Sophie’s probably anxious to see you.”

Another sobering thought.

He followed Cal out of the restaurant before correcting him. “I wasn’t kidding about keeping Sophie away from me.”

“Right, you’re bad news. I think we’ve moved past that.”

“You haven’t heard the worst of it.”

Cal paused in front of his truck. “Something worse than your bad image and a guy with a knife chasing Sophie?”

“They might be related. You know about my younger brother, Emmett?”

All traces of humor left Cal’s face. “I’ve heard stuff about him. None of it good.”

“He’s in town.”

He could see Cal’s tension ratchet up several degrees as his back stiffened and a muscle twitched in his jaw. “You know that for sure?”

“He paid me a visit. He knows all about Rena Torres, although I’m not sure he had anything to do with her death. He seemed too eager to find out if I did. Not that he wouldn’t do it.”

“What makes him a danger to Sophie?”

“The fact that he hates me. He wants to hurt me by hurting what I care about most.”

Cal’s expression was grim. “Sophie.”

There wasn’t any point in denying it when Cal already knew. “Yeah. So I need to stay away from her.” He grimaced and added the hard part. “Forever.”

Cal hit the key fob to unlock the truck. “Let’s go. I want to hear everything you know about Emmett. Maybe it will help us find him.”

“Won’t do you much good unless you can arrest him.”

Cal answered as they got in, “I happen to know Jefferson County has an outstanding warrant on him. Also Davis County in Utah, and the City of Los Angeles.”

“You
happen to know
that?”

Cal flashed a wicked grin. “I brushed up on the Thorsons. Couldn’t find a damn thing on you, but your brother has a knack for drawing the attention of law enforcement wherever he goes. Pretty serious charges, too—assault, rape, attempted rape. He’s a real sweetheart.”

It wasn’t surprising, although he wasn’t happy to hear Cal had been so diligent about trying to arrest him. “Sorry to disappoint you with my clean record,” he told him.

“Hell, I’m glad I didn’t find anything. If I had been the one arresting you, I can’t imagine the grief I’d be getting right now from my wife and her family. You’re their new cause with a capital
C
. You can expect letters to the editor, calls to the police and prosecutor’s office, and possible picketing.”

“Christ,” he muttered.

“Flower power is some serious shit in the hands of those old hippies.”

Resigning himself to it, Zane sighed. “Maybe the publicity will be good for business.”

“There you go.” Cal pulled onto the highway and sped up toward Barringer’s Pass. “Now tell me everything about Emmett that wasn’t in those police reports.”

Sophie prowled Jase and Zoe’s house like a caged animal. “What’s taking them so long?” she grumbled.

“Maybe they stopped to eat,” Zoe said, looking up from her book. How she could read at a time like this was beyond Sophie.

“We ate. It doesn’t take that long.”

Jase opened a cabinet to expose a collection of DVDs. “Here, pick out a movie. You need a distraction.”

She frowned at the rows of plastic cases without looking at titles. “I can’t concentrate on anything.”

“Then pick something that doesn’t require concentration. Here.” He pulled out three DVDs. “You’ll like these, they feature insects.”

“Documentaries? I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but I think I might already know that stuff.”

“Not even close to documentaries,” Jase said with a grin. “They’re science fiction. Humans-meet-aliens, so bad they’re good. Really,” he assured her when she rolled her eyes. “They’ve got a cult following. Just give it a try.” He thrust one of the slender cases into her hands.

“Honey,” Zoe laughed, “I don’t think she likes that kind of thing.”

Sophie didn’t, but her brother-in-law looked so eager to please that she glanced at the lurid picture of a giant long-legged beetle creature opening slavering jaws over the human in his claws. She choked on a laugh and started to hand it back. Then looked at the picture again. Her smile faded as her fingers tightened on the case.

The beetle stood upright on thin insect legs. Black, heavily barbed legs, typical of many species of giant beetles. Say, an Atlas or Hercules beetle. The head was wrong, though, more like a spider than a beetle. In fact . . . A tiny shiver ran across her shoulders as she took a closer look at the cephalothorax and the long chelicerae clutching the flailing human. They belonged on a camel spider. Two exotic species digitally combined to make a frightening, if improbable, alien.

Eyes wide, she snatched the other two cases from Jase. “Let me see those!”

“Wow,” he said with a laugh. “If I’d known you were that interested I’d have shown them to you a long time ago.”

The second DVD case showed a pretty woman running from a creature that resembled a walking fern with fangs. She tossed it onto the couch impatiently and examined the third one. A creature that looked like a giant mass of eyeballs on hairy stilts crawled over the rooftops of a subdivision while sticking tentacles into open windows. She had no idea what had inspired the eyes, but without a doubt the hairy legs belonged to a tarantula.

Fingers suddenly shaking, she flipped the case over and scanned the credits. She didn’t have to look hard to find it—the name was prominently displayed in bold type for his devoted fans. Excitement sparked along every nerve as she lifted wide eyes to Jase.

“I know who killed Rena Torres!”

18

J
ase didn’t look
overwhelmed by her announcement. In fact, from his doubtful look, she wasn’t sure he trusted her reasoning skills at all. Holding up the hard evidence, she pointed to the name on the back of the case. “It’s Carl Reznick!”

Jase nodded, obviously puzzled. “I know, the man’s practically a legend. Are you saying his movies have something to do with the dead girl?”

“No! I’m saying he was the last one to see Rena Torres alive. The one who killed her. It
has to be
Carl Reznick!”

His brows pulled together. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Zoe dropped her book and joined Jase. “Is this about that spider collector you went to see?”

“No, that was a dead end, and he’d only had one of the species I was looking for, anyway. Reznick has everything!” She held up the DVDs. “Giant beetles, tarantulas, camel spiders—they’re all here!”

Zoe’s mouth fell open in astonishment, but Jase looked confused. “So what?” he said.

Since he hadn’t heard about the bug evidence, she explained as succinctly as she could, then held up the two DVDs for Jase to see. “It’s
these
bugs, Jase. Any one of these species is unusual, and it’s nearly impossible to find someone who has them, but somehow Rena did. And Carl Reznick used
all
of them in his movies! Parts of them, anyway. Don’t you get it? He had access to every single one of the exotic species that I found on Rena’s clothes! It’s too big a coincidence.”

Jase frowned. “I don’t see how that proves he killed her. Who’s to say she didn’t leave his house and run into a killer?”

Maybe a guy wouldn’t get it as easily as a woman. She appealed to her sister. “Zoe, what would you do if you fell onto some insects and squashed them? Live insects. Big spiders and beetles. Mashed them right into your clothes and hair.”

“Eww!” Zoe shivered visibly. “I’d jump up and brush myself off. Then take off my clothes and shake them out.” Her shoulders rose as she clamped her arms close to her sides and trembled again. “God, Sophie, that’s disgusting!”

Sophie looked at Jase. “Any woman would do that. Hell,
I’d
do that. But Rena didn’t. They were all over her. I think that means she was either already dead when it happened, or was killed immediately afterward, before she had a chance to clean herself off.”

“Okay, maybe.” He considered it, then shook his head stubbornly. “But come on, Carl Reznick? Why would he do that?”

“Who knows? Rena was an actress; maybe she wanted a part in one of his movies. Or maybe she
did
have a part.” The more she thought about it, the more sense it made. “She was interested in directing, too, which was why she met with Alan Bernstein. She probably found out Reznick lived in the area, and went to see him.”

“Still doesn’t mean he killed her. How about a cameraman or set director? Other people are involved with those movies, you know.”

Good point. “They probably don’t have anything to do with the insects, but you’re right, someone besides Reznick probably does.” She bit her lip, thinking it over. “They’d have to be there alone, though, after work hours, so no one else knew about it. That’s not easy unless you’re in charge of the production.” She liked it—she was convincing herself all over again.

Jase looked more concerned as he considered it. “It’s just hard to believe Reznick murdered someone.”

“You know any other movie people who live in Barringer’s Pass and just happen to keep those exact same exotic insects?”

“Can’t imagine there are any.”

“Right. I need to tell Cal.” She’d already pulled her phone from her back pocket and started dialing as she spoke. With a wave of thanks at Jase, she stepped onto the front porch and closed the door behind her.

Cal answered right away. She pictured Zane sitting beside him as she asked him to put the phone on speaker.

“Okay, go ahead.” His voice had the slightly hollow sound of someone speaking from a distance.

She skipped saying hello to Zane because she didn’t know what his mood was, and didn’t care to explore that with Cal listening. But Zane should hear this, too. “Cal, do you know who Carl Reznick is?”

“Sure, everyone does. The alien invasion movies. You guys were working at his new place.”

“This isn’t about that. This is about his movies. I’ve never seen them, but Jase has some on DVD and he showed them to me.”

“Does he have
Night Terror
? That’s my favorite.”

“Cal, pay attention. I’m looking at the cover art from two of the movies. The alien creatures they show are digital composites of different insects and spiders. Specifically, a Hercules beetle, a camel spider, and a tarantula.” She paused, making sure it had time to sink in past his fan worship. “Are you with me?”

“I’m with you.” His voice had lost all trace of amusement. “Are you sure?”

“As sure as I was about the pieces I identified from Rena’s clothes. More, because there’s more of them to see in this picture. It’s too much of a coincidence, Cal.”

“You’re right. We’ll have to investigate. Thanks, Sophie.”

She blinked. “That’s it?”

“What did you expect?”

“I expect you to
do something
! Zane knows where Reznick’s studio is. I could meet you both there if you need positive identification of any beetles and spiders. You could have Reznick in custody within the hour!”

“No, I couldn’t, Sophie. A picture on the cover of a DVD isn’t going to get me inside his studio. I’ll talk to him, but unless Reznick volunteers to let us search the place, we won’t get inside today. We’ll need a warrant, and to get that we’ll probably need more proof than a picture from a DVD.”

It was too bad he couldn’t see her nasty glare, but he had to hear the bitterness in her voice. “Really? I don’t remember anyone politely asking Zane if they could search his office or shut down his business. Did I miss that?”

“Sophie,” Cal said with an exaggerated patience that already had her hackles up. “There was a
body
on Zane’s property. If there’s a body planted outside Reznick’s front door, you can be sure we’ll search the whole damn place today. But if I were you, I wouldn’t hope for that because from what I hear, Zane has been working there for weeks. You know who the prosecutor would be looking at.”

“Goddamn it.” She muttered her frustration, plopping onto the glider. “I found the evidence you needed, and everything still comes back to Zane. Doesn’t that strike you as too convenient?”

“Maybe,” Cal said, using his unemotional cop voice that made him sound admirably objective, while she still wanted to kick something.

Maybe she’d just perform a little investigation of her own. Snoop around Reznick’s studio. Or better yet, go see him about that job offer she’d turned down and pretend interest in it and in his movies. See if he’d show her his studio, maybe provide a small introductory course in what her duties would be on a set, while she surreptitiously looked for evidence that he’d been keeping exotic insects on the premises . . .

“Sophie.” It was Zane’s voice.

Her annoyance vanished, as did her schemes to investigate Carl Reznick, replaced by a warm feeling deep inside. If he could do that to her with just one word, she must be pretty far gone. Ridiculously infatuated, at the very least. They hadn’t spoken since he’d left her at the commune, right after that incredible night of lovemaking.

Erotic thoughts filled her mind. “Hi,” she said, soft and low, almost making it two syllables. God, what a dork.

There may have been a small pause. She wanted to think he took time to savor the sound of her voice, but maybe she imagined it.

“Don’t go anywhere, Sophie. Okay?”

Her happy bubble developed a leak. She was torn between being impressed that he’d guessed her train of thought, and irritation that he was back to telling her where she had to be. “Why?”

“We need to talk. I’m going to pick up Will’s truck, then I’ll come see you at Jase’s house.”

She could put off contacting Carl Reznick that long. Besides, she wanted to see him, too. “Okay.”

“Twenty minutes. Bye.”

There hadn’t been a pause that time, she was sure, but it didn’t matter. She was going to see him in twenty minutes.

Zane’s heart sped up at the first sight of her. It might have been more than fondness, but he wouldn’t think about it because of the other emotions pounding in his chest—dread and distaste with what he was about to do.

She must have been waiting on the front porch. She skipped down the slabs of granite he’d installed for Jase’s front entrance, reaching the bottom just as he stepped out of his truck and slammed the door. For a moment he let her light mood distract him. When she hadn’t been in court he’d assumed the worst, but according to Cal she’d been chasing down some lead that might prove his innocence. He was inclined to believe it; she’d been doing that just as long as the police had been doing the opposite. She didn’t hate him. In fact, she looked happy to see him.

It only made the dread worse, knowing he was about to stomp that bright spirit into the dirt.

She hesitated, perhaps sensing his tension. But only for a moment. He could see the decision to act move over her face, and the next instant she threw herself in his arms.

He hadn’t meant to hold her close. But her arms went around his body, and she pressed against him, nestling her head into the hollow of his shoulder. Fitting against him as if she’d been made for it, damn it. She filled a hole in his life he didn’t even know he’d had, and he couldn’t help himself; he gave in to the need, wrapping her in his arms. He laid his cheek against her hair, inhaling the fresh scent of her, absorbing the
rightness
of her body fused to his. Stealing one moment to steady his world and remind himself of why he was about to break her heart.

He should break away, but when she lifted her face to his, he met her halfway without thinking, taking her mouth in a kiss driven by desperation and yearning. He tunneled his fingers into her hair and allowed her passion to sweep over him, easing his concerns for one blissful moment. The heat of her warmed every frozen corner of his soul.

It was a selfish indulgence. Abruptly, he ended it.

He set her back and kept his hands on her shoulders, as much to curb his own desires as to hold her at bay. “I’m sorry,” he told her. “I shouldn’t have let that happen. That’s not why I’m here.”

Amusement sparkled in her eyes; she didn’t believe him. She knew him well, even thought she knew the feelings he kept to himself. But this time she was wrong.

“Nothing’s changed between us, Sophie, just because of one night together. This would be a lot easier it if you didn’t act like it has.”

“What do you mean?” She still wasn’t alarmed, merely puzzled.

He dropped his hands, because keeping her from kissing him was about to become unnecessary. “We had our little interlude, Sophie. We worked out the sexual knots that were driving us both crazy, and it was fun. But the situation has changed. It’s time to move on with our lives.”

Her eyebrows drew together. “Move on how?”

“Go our separate ways. Neither of us can afford a fling right now. I have to focus on defending myself, and you need to go find the career you’ve been postponing, and stop using me to hide from life.”

She narrowed her eyes, finally getting it. He imagined the emotional turmoil brewing behind that cool gaze, and braced himself for the explosion.

She arched an eyebrow—the rumble of thunder before the storm. “You think I’ve been hiding from life?”

He barked out a cynical chuckle, rubbing it in. “Come on, we both know you have. You can’t find a job with your fancy Ph.D.? Right. I didn’t go to college, but I’m not stupid. Maybe there’s no job in Barringer’s Pass, and for sure there’s no job if you don’t look for one. But don’t pretend there aren’t other places outside of this little corner of the world. I know how important that degree is to you. It’s time to network and send out the resumés, babe. I can’t afford to waste time playing with you any longer.”

“Playing with me.”

Still no lashing tirade, just that ominous repetition, as if she was keeping a tally of his mistakes: moving on, hiding out, playing with her. Her anger built with each addition to the list. He imagined it was like standing in a wheat field in Kansas, feeling the air go heavy and still, watching the clouds swirl and darken. Seeing the funnel drop down. Knowing that despite all that empty space around you, it was coming right at you and you couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it. She was going to rip into him good.

“Yes, playing. Not to brag, but I’m pretty sure you enjoyed yourself.”

“Oh, I did.”

Weird response. It must be the wind picking up, gathering strength. And he had one more rainmaker to throw at her. “Don’t forget about Emmett. I’m sorry he thinks you’re that important to me, but maybe he won’t if you’re not around me anymore. You really need to spend a week or two at the commune, just to be safe.”

She nodded slowly. “Because I’m not really that important to you.”

The storm was about to break. “I’m not saying I don’t like you. Just, you know, on an overall scale, you’re temporary.”