Explosive Attraction - By Lena Diaz Page 0,3

the warehouse. Although he was only twenty feet away, it would take him a good half a minute to maneuver through the minefield of debris to reach them.

Rafe peeled off his gloves and set his supplies on the jacket he’d already discarded because of the heat. Without bothering to respond to his boss’s teasing about his appearance, Rafe stood to greet him. Buresh knew exactly why Rafe was dressed the way he was, and why he was sorely in need of a haircut and a shave.

Blending in with the local criminal element in some of the rougher areas of town was crucial when trying to establish new contacts—future informants—which had been Rafe’s assignment for the past month. If he hadn’t been sidetracked by Darby’s call, he’d be home right now enjoying a long, hot shower. Or he might have already gotten his hair cut short again, which would have made it much easier to bear the Florida summer heat, especially in this warehouse that captured heat like an oven. He ran the back of his hand across his forehead, wiping off the sweat.

“Bring me up to speed,” Buresh said, stopping in front of him.

“The coroner took the vic, or what’s left of him, out the back a few minutes ago.”

“Was the vic the assistant D.A. you mentioned on the phone?”

“Can’t be certain yet, but that would be my bet. There was a wallet in the corner, sheltered from the blast, with Victor Grant’s driver’s license and credit cards inside.”

“Whoever did this wanted us to know the vic’s identity.”

“Looks that way.”

Jake paused with tweezers in hand. “If you’re not going to help, get out of my way.” His voice carried more irritation than warranted. Jake didn’t have much use for Rafe, not since Rafe had survived a brutal home invasion a year ago and his wife hadn’t.

Shelby Morgan had been Jake’s sister. With the killer still at large, and no one else around to target his anger, Jake blamed Rafe. Rafe wished he had the same patience and empathy for Jake that Darby had shown when talking about her clients blaming her. A year of Jake’s insults and snide remarks had frayed Rafe’s nerves and temper to the breaking point. The only thing holding him back now was that he knew how much his wife had loved her only sibling.

He pushed those dark thoughts to the back of his mind to focus on the present. Bombings were rare in this small tourist town. And premeditated as this one obviously was, Rafe seriously doubted the bomber was going to stop at just one victim.

The bomber was toying with the police, and Darby, by sending the picture and timer. He’d probably assumed Darby would open her mail early this morning, and that the police would have spent all day futilely trying to find and save the victim. Since she hadn’t opened her mail until late in the day, unfortunately the police had never had a chance to search for the victim.

And the bomber hadn’t gotten his anticipated thrill out of watching the chase.

That had Rafe worried the bomber might feel cheated, and he might pick another victim sooner than he otherwise would have. Would the bomber send Darby another envelope? Had he fixated on her as his audience, or was she the next intended victim? Rafe stepped away from Jake and led Buresh to the open doorway.

“Did you send someone to Dr. Steele’s office to keep an eye on her?”

Buresh nodded. “Daniels is there now. He’ll watch the building, make sure no one goes in or out.”

A small crowd had gathered at the edge of the warehouse’s parking lot. Rafe swore when he recognized a familiar figure behind the police line—Darby Steele. “Too late. What was she thinking coming over here? I specifically told her not to.”

Across the street, Officer Daniels sat in his police car outside Darby’s one-story office building. She must have left right after Rafe had, before Daniels arrived. The woman needed to learn what the term stay put meant.

“She shouldn’t be out in the open, not until we know why the bomber sent her that envelope,” Rafe said.

His boss held his hand in the air, waving for Daniels to join them. “I’ll have Daniels take her back to her office. You think she’s a target?”

“Possibly, or she’s someone the bomber knows and he wants to brag about his accomplishments. Either way, she’s central to this case. We’ll interview her, see if she knows something she doesn’t even realize she