Jared’s mouth curved grimly. “I’m liking this.”
“It pulls more of the threads together.”
Impressed, he asked, “How long have you been thinking along these lines?”
She stepped deeper into the building. “Since the tip came in. How do you have a torch igniting a fire in one town and a tipster in another? Two people. Occam’s razor.”
“But you waited until the third fire to shout out for help?”
“It wasn’t my call.” Darcy opened a door that led outside, flooding the interior with dappled sunlight. “Then I made it my call.”
He followed. “I’m hung up on something.”
“You, too?”
“Those sophisticated time bombs you talked about—they’re better than they were back in the day. If it is Merkerson, he’s upped his game over the years. He’s been honing his weapons of destruction, modernizing them, which means he’s been somewhere he could acquire the tools and substances he needed.”
“Not jail, then.” She paused at the end of a walkway that emptied into a small patio surrounded by the kennels. Her eyes took on that faraway look again.
Drawing to a halt beside her, he asked quietly, “What are you seeing?”
“Memories.” She pointed to a kennel and her breath left her in a rush. “Dani locked me in there once—for an hour—because I ripped the knee on her favorite pair of jeans when I borrowed them…without her permission.”
He set his hand at the small of her back, offering what support he could. “I knew you were a troublemaker.”
Darcy leaned into his touch. “I always thought it was stupid that so many fugitives stick around familiar locations. If they value their freedom, I’d think they’d want to get out of the country. Maybe that’s what Merkerson did. Canada, maybe? Or Mexico?”
“We can share his photo and see if anything shakes loose.” Jared took another look around. “But this location is remote. He would’ve had to hear about it from someone familiar with it, or he would’ve had to come here himself and find it on his own. Wouldn’t be something he’d accomplish in a day.”
“He might’ve stayed here awhile? Is that what you’re thinking?” She turned toward him. “A snake in the grass, how creepy.”
Cupping her face, he took her mouth. The kiss was slow and simmering, a gentle stroking of tongues and brushing of lips. He continued until his breathing was fast and she was pressed against him. Pulling back, he studied her eyes and found them dazed and hot with desire, which was a damn sight better than seeing them filled with shadows. “That’s better. Now we can go.”
DARCY’S LIPS WERE still tingling when they pulled up to the curb in front of the Sweet Spot. More profound—and infinitely scarier—was the warmth he’d pushed through her with his kiss, thawing the knot of ice that had settled in her stomach.
Jared got to her. Far too deeply and easily, and she didn’t know how to deal with it. It was outside the scope of her experience.
She loved men. She was fascinated by them and enjoyed the hell out of them, but they were accessories. There was too much going on in her life, too many things that took up her time. Dani called her a heartbreaker. Darcy hadn’t ever set out to hurt anyone, but it had been known to happen.
Looking at Jared over the hood of her work truck, Darcy wondered why he had to be the one to get under her skin. What was it about him? He was testy and brusque when he was in a good mood, and an ass when he was in a bad one.
One of his brows arched over the top of his sunglasses, a gesture that said, What are you staring at?
You. You’re affecting me. Stop it. Instead she said, “You can’t blame me for ogling. You’re the hottest man I’ve ever seen.”
“Keep thinking that way. Are you coming?”
“Not unless you need me. I don’t have anything to add to my report.” She couldn’t face the ruins of another place she loved. The shelter had been bad enough. Visiting the site again had hit her harder than she would have expected. Because of Jared. He’d opened her up, found a way inside her through the hairline fractures he had created, and left her vulnerable to the reality of her losses in a way she hadn’t been before.
With a curt nod, he ducked under the crime scene tape and stepped through the frame of what used to be a large front display window. It had exploded outward during the fire, showering the sidewalk with glass.
The proprietress of the adjacent jewelry store waved at Darcy through her matching window, then stepped outside. She was a statuesque brunette with cornflower blue eyes and bone structure to make a plastic surgeon weep in awe. With her waist-length black hair swaying around her shoulders, Nadine Bender glided over and joined Darcy in leaning into the truck. “Is that the Fed?”
“Deputy U.S. Marshal,” Darcy qualified, her eyes riveted to Jared as he examined what was left of the shop. He got a particular look on his face when he was focused on work. It was laser bright, sharp as a blade, and sexy as hell.
Nadine whistled. “He’s a looker.”
“Absolutely.”