Ashes, Ashes, They All Fall Dead (22 page)

“Single-car accident, rural, two-lane highway.” Tessa picked out relevant details from the write-up. “Only two people were in the car, two girls approximately sixteen and seven years old, believed to be sisters, based on the similarity of features, including red hair. The younger one wore a pink bracelet with the name Tessa on it.”

She gave Matt a wide-eyed look. “This has to be the accident I remembered.”

He nodded in agreement and read over her shoulder.

Suddenly, Tessa’s body tensed, and Matt realized she must have seen the same thing he’d just noticed.

That one line in the police report made everything click. It explained why Tessa’s memory of the sequence of events had bothered him. She’d said there was a loud noise and
then
the car swerved into the ditch. He would have expected the loud noise to happen at the time of the crash, the loud noise being the car slamming into the embankment.

But now, after reading the report, Matt had the explanation for the loud noise, and he knew Tessa’s memory was correct. The loud noise she’d heard wasn’t the car crashing.

It was a gunshot.

“S
OMEONE SHOT MY
sister.” Tessa couldn’t quite get past that horrifying fact. “Why would someone shoot a sixteen-year-old girl driving down the highway?”

Matt put his arm around her shoulders. Tessa knew she shouldn’t take advantage of him. She shouldn’t rely on him, look to him for support, not when they were supposed to be peers working an investigation. But she could no longer deny the fact that they were, somehow, more than that now. She gratefully took what he offered, leaning against him, absorbing his quiet strength when she needed it most.

“Who would do such a thing? Why?” she asked.

“Hopkins County isn’t that far from here. We can jump on the road and be there tonight, stay in a hotel, talk to the police there tomorrow.”

She nodded, grateful for a direction and for the downtime too. She wanted to do everything she could to help find the man who’d abducted Tonya Garrett, but at the same time she knew her limitations. She was barely holding herself together right now. Flashes of memories were bombarding her, had been since the moment she’d stood in front of the burned-out girls’ home earlier today. Memories she needed to share with Matt. Because if they were real, her past was even more horrifying than either of them could have possibly known.

Stephens opened the door to his office just as they reached it. He frowned. “You’re leaving?”

“Yes,” Matt said. “We’re going to follow Susan’s lead on the accident. It looks promising.”

“Thank you so much for your help, Detective.” Tessa sounded much more polite and less accusing this time. “Is one of those folders our copy of the file?”

His mouth thinned. He handed her one of the folders and pitched the other one on a nearby desk. “I’ll walk you out.”

Tessa shot Matt a bemused glance and followed Stephens down the hallway.

The last of the sunlight had faded long ago. The overhead lights from the parking lot cast a yellow haze over the entrance as the three of them stepped outside.

“Hold up a minute,” Stephens said. “If you’re serious about looking into that car accident, I can make a call to the Hopkins County sheriff in Madisonville and set up a meeting for you.”

“Thank you. We’d appreciate that,” Tessa said.

“You have my cell phone number,” Matt added.

Stephens nodded. “I’ll call as soon as I set it up.”

Chapter Eleven

T
ESSA WAS TOO
emotionally drained to allow herself to think about the sister she’d only just realized she’d had. If she dwelled on that right now, and how brutally her sister was taken away from her, she’d be unable to function. And she needed to be able to function, to think, to focus on the case. She didn’t have the luxury of giving in to her emotions right now. Later, when Tonya Garrett was—God willing—safely found, and the Ashes Killer was behind bars, then she’d take out the foggy memories only just now beginning to form in her mind. And she’d weep for the sister she instinctively knew had loved her and protected her the only way she could.

Matt seemed to realize how raw her emotions were right now, because he didn’t talk about the accident or her sister after leaving the police station. Instead, as he drove them to a hotel for the night, he regaled her with funny stories about growing up in a house full of brothers. She hadn’t thought it possible, but by the time they pulled into the parking lot in front of their hotel, he’d managed to lift her mood and make her laugh, and to lock the door on her darker emotions.

At least for now.

“Checking in?” The young girl behind the counter smiled brightly when Tessa and Matt walked into the hotel lobby.

Tessa couldn’t help but notice the girl’s smile was mostly directed at Matt.

“We don’t have a reservation. We’re only staying for one night.” Tessa placed her credit card and ID on the counter.

“Will that be one room or two?”

Matt put his arm around her shoulders. “One room is fine by me, sweetheart,” he whispered in her ear.

Tessa ducked away from him. “Why don’t you get our luggage,
dear
, while I register for our
rooms
?”

He sighed dramatically and headed toward the exit.

What was it about him that made her go hot all over when he said such outrageous things? She should have been angry; instead she was tempted to get only one room to see his reaction. She shook her head and turned back toward the counter, just in time to catch the clerk ogling Matt’s tight, sexy backside as he walked outside.

The
child
looked like she was ready to faint, or jump over the counter and attack him.

Tessa cleared her throat. Loudly.

The clerk flushed a light red and whipped her attention back to her computer screen. “Two rooms then. What name should I put on the second room, Miss James?”

The hopeful look on the girl’s face had Tessa curling her fingers against the countertop. She could well imagine this
adolescent
knocking on Matt’s door after her shift was over, supposedly to check on him and make sure the room was to his liking.

But that wasn’t why Tessa decided to get just
one
room, not at all.

One room would make it easier for them to brainstorm and discuss the case. It just made sense. Perfectly logical.

“You misunderstood me.” Tessa gave the girl a catty smile. “We’re
together
. One room.”

The clerk’s smile dimmed. She glanced pointedly at Tessa’s left hand, which did not have a ring on it. “Of course,
Mrs.
James. I apologize for the mistake.”

Tessa narrowed her eyes. She was about to correct the little upstart’s sarcastic use of the married title, but since Matt had just walked back inside, carrying his duffel and rolling her suitcase, she decided to let it go in the hope that he hadn’t heard the exchange.

“Will you two prefer a king-size bed or two doubles, Mrs. James?” The young girl blinked innocently, but Tessa knew she was baiting her on purpose.

Matt gaze Tessa a quizzical look, which turned into a grin when she didn’t correct the married title the clerk had given her.

“Two,” she managed to say between gritted teeth.

The clerk’s smug look had Tessa wanting to reach across the counter and yank her bleached-blonde hair out by the roots.

Oh good grief. She was catfighting with some college-age kid over Matt when she didn’t even want him. Okay, that was a lie. A great, big, fat lie. She
shouldn’t
want him. And she certainly wasn’t going to
do
anything with him. But she
definitely
wanted him.

“There you go. Room two-forty-one. Take the elevator to the second floor, turn right, and your room is at the end of the hall on the left. Have a nice stay. Checkout is at eleven.”

Tessa stared at the key cards on the counter. What was she doing? There was no way she could survive the night in a hotel room with Matt Buchanan. He was hard enough to resist with his clothes on. How was she supposed to get any sleep knowing he was lying in the other bed, just a few feet away? This was madness, and she had to admit defeat here and now or risk disaster.

She cleared her throat. “Actually, I’m afraid there’s been a mis—”

Matt swiped the keys off the countertop and grabbed her hand. Before Tessa could do much more than sputter a weak protest, he whisked her into the elevator.

M
ATT WHISTLED AS
they headed down the long hallway toward their room. Tessa fidgeted with her purse strap, her discomfort increasing with every step. Why was Matt acting so damn happy? Did he actually think she was going to sleep with him? What had she done?

He paused at the door. “Did I mention Stephens called while I was getting our luggage? He set up a meeting for us in the morning with Sheriff Latham.”

“Who’s Sheriff Latham?”

“He was the lead detective in Hopkins County back when you and Sissie had the accident. He investigated the case.” He unlocked the door and held it open. “Here you go,
honey
. Our room awaits.” He swept out his hand and gave her one of his lethal grins. Then winked.

She hurried inside. “Um, Matt, about the room. I want you to know that I—”

“Ah, there’s the bedroom.” He strode away from her through the nearest doorway.

She fisted her hands and hurried after him.

He leaned down and pressed the mattress on the first bed. “Hmm. This might be too soft.” He dropped his duffel on the bed and set Tessa’s suitcase beside it. He tested the second mattress. “Yep, this is the one. I think we’ll sleep much better on this bed.”

She tried to gather her scattered thoughts as he walked toward her, his eyes at half-mast, like a sleepy lover’s.

“Matt, I really think I gave you the wrong impression. The reason I, um, the reason I got one room was because I—” She backed up as he continued to crowd her, until her heels hit the wall and she had nowhere else to go. “Wait, you don’t understand why—”

“Why you got only one room?” He pressed the flats of his palms against the wall and leaned down, trapping her just like he had back at the FBI office.

Tessa reminded herself
that
hadn’t ended well. She’d ended up apologizing to him and had to practically beg him to continue the case with her. She didn’t want to blow it again. Was this a test? If so, she was failing miserably. Because her brain cells were rapidly drowning in the flood of hormones that being this close to Matt was causing.

He was waiting for her answer.

She couldn’t remember the question.

“Yes,” she said, not even sure what she was agreeing to.

“Yes, what?” he asked, his voice sounding husky.

She realized she was staring at his lips. She jerked her gaze up to meet his. “Yes, I was, um, talking about what happened downstairs. I think. Yes, I mean, I was—”

He gently ran his thumb across her bottom lip.

She sucked in a breath. Her belly clenched as she caught the light, clean scent of his aftershave. Good grief, the man smelled good enough to eat. She groaned, and he let out a little laugh.

“I know exactly why you got one room,” he whispered. He slid his fingers down the side of her neck, making her shiver.

He pressed his lips against her collarbone.

She shivered again and drew a shaky breath. “You have to . . . you have to stop.” She hated how breathy her voice sounded. She cleared her throat. “I got this room because that young kid was irritating me, okay? I was jealous. There, I admit it.”

He drew back, the hint of a smile curving his lips. “Really? I thought you got one room so we could review the case without having to worry about the logistics of separate rooms.” He ran his finger across her neck to her shoulder. “But, hey, if you were jealous, I’d be happy to . . . do
whatever
you want . . . to convince you there’s no reason to be jealous. I mean it. Whatever you want.” He pressed a whisper-soft kiss against her lips but pulled back before she could begin to kiss him back.

Her hands seemed to reach up on their own and wrapped around his neck.

He gently disengaged himself from her and glanced at his watch. “I promised Austin I’d give him a call in three minutes.” He arched a brow. “And, trust me, I’d need a hell of a lot more than three minutes to do what I want to do to you.”

He walked out of the bedroom.

Tessa stood in shock. What had just happened? Every inch of her was on fire. She’d been ready to beg him to take her to bed when he’d turned away. She wanted to scream for him to get back in here. Why had he turned her on and walked out? She didn’t believe for one second it was because he had to make a phone call in three minutes.

Wait.
Three minutes?

She groaned and sagged against the wall. He was punishing her for that flippant remark she’d made when he’d asked her out all those years ago, when she’d told him she’d been with a younger man once and it was the
best three minutes of her life
.

If he’d wanted to frustrate her, he’d certainly accomplished his goal. She didn’t know whether to curse or laugh, because instead of being angry, all she could think about was how incredible it would be to spend three minutes in Matt’s arms. Damn him.

And damn her. Here she was wasting all this energy and time lusting after a man when a killer was out there, holding a frightened young girl as his prisoner—assuming Tonya Garrett was still alive.

Focusing on the case was what was important right now. Dealing with her increasingly growing fascination with Matt would have to wait. She grabbed the folder Detective Stephens had given her, along with her pen and notebook, and headed into the main part of the suite.

Matt was speaking quietly into his phone by the window. Tiny lines bracketed his eyes, and any signs of amusement from his earlier teasing had been completely erased by the somber look on his face.

Something had happened.

Something was wrong.

M
ATT ENDED HIS
call and sat beside Tessa on the lone couch in the suite.