Flames Of Deceit (3 page)

“That’s one of the questions I need answers to.”

Mia pushed away from the wall’s sturdy support. “Someone shoved me in a closet and blocked the door.”

Jake Stone’s green eyes bored into hers as if trying to see deep in her brain. “Are you trying to gain sympathy so I’ll let you go?”

Crossed her arms over her chest, Mia lifted her chin. “You tell me, Mr. Fireman. No, answer this. Do you think I stayed in all that thick smoke by choice?”

“You’re saying someone locked you in?”

Lips clinched to stop their trembling, and managed one jerk of her head as she stared in eyes probing hers for secrets. Finally, she managed a whisper. “Someone wants me dead.”

***

“Come with me.” Jake turned toward the crowd and tugged on her arm with more strength than before. People mingled in the smoke heavy dimness. Thick smoke and spotlights from news teams created an eerie half day, half night, glow.

Jake pushed through the crowd, heading toward his black F-150 Ford pick-up parked on a side street in the next block. Why had he listened to Mia Clark’s plea for help back there in the courthouse?
Why protect her?

“Where are we going?”

Her voice stabbed his heart and gave him the answer. Something about Mia Clark melted the ice around his emotions.

Noticing the heat of her arm where his hand rested above her elbow, Jake realized he was in big trouble. For the first time since his wife died, his heart was taking charge of his brain. He was under the influence of an unknown female, and he didn’t know why. Worse, he wasn’t fighting against this strange reaction. Even his love for Sara hadn’t left him feeling like this…

“To my truck.” He stopped beside the tall black pick-up and opened the door behind the driver’s seat. Half- lifting Mia into the back seat, he pushed her head down below the headrest and kept his tone aloof. “Stay out of sight unless you want to go to jail.”

“I can’t stay here,” Her protest ended in a coughing fit. “I want to go home.”

“Not without me, you don’t.” Jake cursed the urge to listen to her story. Mia Clark could be an arsonist. By listening to her plea for help, he put his reputation and his career on the line. The yes-men on the town board would cheer his actions. He hadn’t intended to give them knives to stab in his back.

His brain shouted for him to turn her over to authorities, but stronger emotions made him listen to her claims. He wanted to know why? Why now? Why this woman, after six years?

With a snort of disgust, he admitted he knew why. Mia Clark’s voice sang along his nerves. Her blue eyes offered a path to heaven. And heaven help him, but he couldn’t turn away.

Living by his own rules was one thing, but responding to this stranger made him question all he believed was right. Teeth grinding, he ignored the warnings in his head.

“You have two options. You can stay in this truck or you can turn yourself in to police. Your choice. There are dozens of people around here who want to rip the person responsible for this fire to shreds. Take your chances.”

“Please, believe me.” Mia wiped her watering eyes with her sleeve. “I didn’t start that fire.” She stared at him with a fear-filled gaze. “Someone tried to kill me.”

“Who are you, Mia Clark? What were you doing in the courthouse?” Jake held on to the doorframe and shucked off his turnout gear. So far, this day had been a disaster. Now he was making things worse by rescuing his prime suspect in an arson case. What was happening to him?

Stepping out of the fire gear, he reached for the change of clothing he always kept in the truck, and pulled on a jacket and shoes.

Mia sat there, silently staring at him. His brow arched. “You either talk to me or the police.”

Trying to ignore his strong chin and broad chest, Mia inhaled a deep shuddering breath. The smoke tinged air filling the truck made her cough, allowing her to stall. Hiding her identity seemed best, but Jake Stone’s stern glare warned that she didn’t have a lot of wiggle room.

If she wanted to stay out of jail, she needed to cooperate with him. Drawing in another deep breath, she faced him with all the defiance she could manage. He didn’t have to know about her brother. Just surface details. “I’m a reporter.”

Jake rolled his eyes and stood there, staring at her. His wide shoulders filled the door of the truck. One dark brow arched to matching hair. Lips shaped perfect for kissing, lifted at one corner. A sneer? A grin? In the leather jacket his ‘my way or the high-way’ expression, reminded her of James Dean photos. Awareness almost sliced her in half. Even streaked with soot, Jake’s straight nose and firm chin added strength to a face that made her pulse race.

Despite her body’s traitorous reaction, she focused on his startling green eyes and accepted the fact that he was serious. He would turn her over to police. Sucking in a deep breath, she considered the options based on his reactions. Deciding to attack on a professional level, and keep her personal life private if she could, she tilted her chin and stared back.

“Don’t say it. I get the message. People don’t think much of reporters. Your reaction proves you are in agreement, but I’m telling the truth.” She inhaled, and then wheezed from the smoke filled air. “My name is Mia Clark. I work for the Raleigh Reporter.” Covering her mouth with her wrist, she coughed.

“I see,” his lips barely moved, adding to his stony expression.

Faced with failure after one glance at him, she inhaled deeply and blurted the truth. “I’m trying to find evidence to clear my brother.”

“In the courthouse? You aren’t an officer of the court. You had no right to go through court records.” Hands gripping the doorframe, he stared heavenward as if praying for patience.

Mia heard the doubt in his tone. Saw his brows arch, guessed his thoughts. Something like. What have I done?

If she didn’t talk fast, she might have to call her mother for bail money.

“I wasn’t looking at court records.” The doubt flaring in his eyes made her pause. Sighing loud as a sizzling blaze, she met his stare. “I attended the hearing last Friday. When I read the article in the newspaper, my first thought was that Leigh Anne might have hidden something during that court session.”

Jake’s gaze flickered, reminding her, he was a judge. He’d heard all the excuses. Even to her ears, her explanation seemed far-fetched, but that old saying, truth is stranger than fiction, was repeated so often for good reason.

For long seconds, he stared at her, doubt filling his gorgeous eyes. And they were yummy. Dark lashes outlined his eyes, making the color more brilliant.

“Why should I believe you, Mia Clark?”

His words echoed inside the truck with the cold warning of a man in control of his life. Jake Stone was all the things she wasn’t, or she wouldn’t be his captive.  But she didn’t have time to admire the man she had tripped on the stairs. She needed help. And Jake Stone impressed her. He had listened when she begged him not to call police. Still, she had to make sure. “How do I know I can trust you?”

“Likewise, Ms. Clark,” he slurred her name as if doubting it was real, and waited for her reaction.

***

Jake didn’t have any reason to trust her, but one look in her eyes showed him a woman in need, a woman searching for answers. The past gnawed at his conscience. If he had listened six years ago, when the woman closest to his heart had asked questions, things might be different.

He shook off memory of Sara asking him to stay home that weekend instead of going for a firefighter’s training session. That was past. Mia Clark was his current problem. Being a reporter meant she was trouble. From the few minutes of talking to her, he would definitely stick with that opinion.
Big trouble.

But something about Mia Clark jerked his bruised heart back to life after he’d hidden his emotions for so long. Despite the obvious questions racing around his head, he wanted to know why Mia made him feel things he had ignored all that time.

Why now?

He should be concentrating on damage from the fire instead of wondering how Mia Clark had slipped past the barriers shielding his heart. Everything about her indicated her guilt. Timing made her actions seem suspicious. Her clothing proved her desire to escape detection, but from what?

He could believe she was reporter dressed in black for investigative work on a story. By making that concession, he was giving her the benefit of doubt. She could still be an arsonist. But...

The fact was he found it hard to believe she had risked breaking the law to clear her brother. More likely, she was on the trail of her next big headline and didn’t want to give clues away. But one question wouldn’t leave his mind. Why had he listened to the pleas of a woman he had never met before now?

The courthouse behind him was burning. If Mia Clark hadn’t set that fire, she might know who had. He’d heard the panic in her voice. Until he questioned her further, he wouldn’t know if he had used good judgment or fallen under the spell of her stubborn chin and sapphire eyes.

Listening to her could put the only thing that had kept him sane for the past six years on the line, his career. As a sitting judge, he needed to make the right decisions, but he kept asking the same question. Why had he listened Mia Clark’s plea for help?

Mia sighed as Jake slammed the rear door of the truck and closed her in the backseat. Struggling to shake the numbness from her sluggish limbs, she leaned forward as he climbed behind the wheel. “Where are we going?”

Jake glanced over his shoulder. “Stay down out of sight.”

“You’re leaving before the fire is out?” Mia didn’t dare analyze her reaction to his deep voice. This wasn’t the time for personal issues. Her efforts to clear Phil’s name had backfired. All she’d done so far was make things worse.

Jake Stone was a judge, for crying out-loud. The man spent his life enforcing the law and to make matters worse, he had rescued her. Would he understand why she had to find the truth about the ex-model’s claims? Did he believe her? Could his influence as a judge have any affect Phil’s chances at re-election?

She couldn’t let things get that far. She had to convince Jake she was telling the truth. Goading him about leaving the scene of the fire wasn’t the way. Sibling rivalry aside, normally she was nice to people she met. Why this instant need to protect her deepest thoughts from Jake?

“Local units with ladder trucks took over the scene.” Jake turned on the ignition. “There are still hot spots where the clock tower collapsed, but the building isn’t a total loss.”

“What about the courtroom on the second floor?” Regretting the words the second they left her mouth, she held her breath and waited. Had she revealed what had drawn her to the building? Jake Stone was smart. He already suspected she was up to something by her presence in the courthouse. Now, he could guess…

“With all that wood paneling and benches, I doubt there’s much left to save if the fire got that far.”

She hit the back of his seat with a bunched fist. “I need a lift to my car.”

Meeting her glare in the rearview mirror, he said. “You aren’t going anywhere without me until I get answers.”

“You can’t hold me. You aren’t a police officer. I want to go home.” She shoved against the back of his seat with pent up frustration. “My bladder is about to explode. I didn’t expect my errand to take this long.”

“I could drop you by the police station.” Jake checked for on-coming traffic, and made a left turn. “Or you can go with me and answer questions.”

“Could we stop for food? I’m starved.”

“Fine, but don’t try to get away,”

Mia rolled her eyes. “It’s a little late for threats? I’m in your truck.”

“Why were you really in the courthouse?”

Chewing on the inside of her lip, Mia looked out the side window and watched lights flash past. “I told you, I was trying to find evidence to clear my brother.”

Jake met her glance in the rearview mirror.

Her face burned with heat. Did she have to explain everything? Why couldn’t he just accept her word? “I already told you.”

“You must really love your brother.”

Was she crazy to trust this man? A firefighter and a local, he was probably a fan of the ex-model’s? Maybe they had gone to school together. “It would help a lot if you’d let me pick up my car.”

Silence except for the whining of truck tires on the asphalt surface.

Okay, she was in this too deep to expect to escape without complications, but how much should she tell him? He had connections with the police. Was that why he wasn’t worried about turning her in? Could she be in the clutches of a mad man? Maybe he thought no one would miss her. “Where are we going? How do I know I can trust you?”

He glanced at her in the mirror. “Trust is running a little thin right now, wouldn’t you say, Ms. Clark?”

Before she could act on the urge to jump out the door of the moving vehicle, he pulled the truck into a parking lot and stopped in front of an all night restaurant.

“We’re here.”

She scrambled out the rear door, unsure whether to dash for the restroom or freedom. Her stomach growled, making the decision. So she followed Jake to the door.

Their steps echoed in the empty restaurant as they walked toward the restrooms. Two employees leaned against the front counter, watching them. Jake nodded to the women, and urged Mia forward with his hand to her waist.

His firm touch on her lower back burned her skin and made her aware of his every move. Chills skated down her spine in contrast to the warmth of his touch. Heat pooled in her cheeks. In another time, another place, she would enjoy her reaction to his masterful touch. If only…

Jake stopped in front of the door marked Women. “Are you going to be here when I come out?”

Had he sensed her urge to run? Or did he think she was guilty and running was what guilty suspects did? Eyes glaring, she tossed her hair over her shoulder and forced steel into her voice. “Don’t you think I would have run by now if I’d planned to?”

“You tried that already, firebird.” The muscle along his jaw bulged as he turned away. “I’m going to wash up.”

Her insides withering with reaction to Jake’s implications, his strength and her need to trust him, she groaned when she saw her face in the bathroom mirror. No wonder the employees stared when she and Jake walked in. Her attempts to wash off the soot with the cup of water and napkin had made things worse.

Several minutes later, after soaping and re-soaping her face and hands, she walked out of the restroom to face the man who had saved her life. Jake Stone had rescued her twice. First, when he’d gotten her out of that burning building, and again, when he hadn’t turned her over to police. She owed him for her life and her self-respect.

Her mother and Phil would have a fit if she were arrested. Worse, if her escapades had made the news, she would lose her job. She could hear her boss repeat his favorite phrase, “
News is what we report, not what we do”.

Sighing, she forced her attention to Jake Stone as she crossed the room. He had chosen a corner table, away from the front counter. With his face washed, his hair slicked back, he looked different. The black t-shirt hugging impressive muscles made him look younger than she’d thought. Stronger. More appealing.

She gulped back a wave of emotion. It wasn’t just his voice that sent shivers racing through her limbs. Every nerve in her body vibrated at the sight of him, forcing her to fight to keep from becoming a fan. How could she help? With his appearance, Jake Stone should have his own firefighter of the year calendar.

Hands clenched at her sides, she covered the last few steps to the table. Jake glanced up as she approached. Her heart lurched. Lashes, dark as his hair, framed eyes glowing with green sparks.
Wow, he washed up good
.

Dropping into the chair opposite him, she picked up the menu.

“The eggs are good,” His voice rumbled in the echoing silence of the empty restaurant.

“I’ll just have something to drink.” She slapped the menu on the table, refusing to look at the mouthwatering photos or admit to the gnawing in her stomach.

“You’re hungry. I heard your stomach growl.”

Chin angled high, she glared at him. “I left my purse in the car, okay.”

Jake swore under his breath. “Order food, damn it. I’m starved and I don’t like eating alone.”

“Fine, I’ll have pancakes since you asked so nicely.” She turned her snarl into a smile as the waitress appeared at the table. “Oh, good, you brought coffee.”

Filling their coffee cups, the woman took their orders and left.

Mia lifted her glance to meet Jake’s and forced a word past clenched teeth. “Thanks.”

“Forget it. You’re a cheap date.”

Date
!

Her heart thumped. Jake Stone looked like a man she would date in normal circumstances. From the second she laid eyes on him, she hadn’t found a thing wrong with him. Except he was a judge, and that made him off- limits. She had crossed the line when she slipped past security to enter the courthouse. She needed to keep away from Jake.

“Now you want to tell me what’s going on? And don’t say your mother made you do it.”

Okay, she had found a flaw.

His annoying habit of jumping on a subject with both feet and not letting go, and using that courtroom tone made him less than perfect, too. “I don’t—”

“No more lies. Tell me what you were doing in that building or—”

“Lower your voice,” she snapped through clenched teeth and glanced over her shoulder. Satisfied that no one had overheard, she leaned toward him. “This isn’t about me, okay? Not one word of this can get back to reporters.”

“You’re a reporter. Or was that another lie?” Brow arched to his slicked back hair, the deep green of his eyes bored into her. Finally, a noisy sigh escaped his lips, conceding defeat of their battling stares. “Sorry, go on.”

She blinked, her mind filled with thoughts of those perfect lips. She wanted to...

Leaning as far back as her chair allowed, she forced back the images playing in her head and struggled with the tension blocking her words. Should she tell him the truth, or try to conceal facts to protect Phil?

A glance at the rigid set of Jake’s firm jaw told her she was out of choices. No more delays. If she wanted to avoid going to jail, it was time to tell the truth. “A former model claims my brother paid her to terminate her pregnancy.”

“Senator Phil Clark is your brother?”

Mia nodded. “He wants to stop the rumors. Protect his wife and children. ”

Jake lifted a shoulder. “Nothing new about that situation, it’s in the paper. That doesn’t explain why you were in the courthouse.”

“Here you go.” The waitress put loaded plates in front of them. “You’ve been fighting the fire at the courthouse, haven’t you?”

Brow arched, Jake searched Mia’s face before he turned to the woman and gave a nod.

Mia clenched her hands in her lap and stared at her plate.

“That’s what I told Doris.” She walked a few steps away, and turned back. “Eat all you want. It’s on the house. We need more heroes like you.”

Mia peeped through her lashes. With Jake’s broad shoulders and good looks, he looked like a hero, but she didn’t deserve the honor. “How long have you been a firefighter?”

He paused with the cup halfway to his lips. “Eat. Talk later.”

In hungry firefighter’s terms, later turned out to be ten minutes later. Jake put his fork down on the empty plate and watched as she chewed the last bite of the pancakes.

“Stop looking at me like that. I’m telling the truth. Phil met Leigh Anne Saddler through a business contact. And he refuted all her claims at the hearing last Friday.”

“She lied in my courtroom?”

“Yes.” Mia wondered about that my. What did he mean? He hadn’t been the presiding judge.

“You’re talking about the case causing all the media hoop-la last week?”

Mia nodded and swallowed back the lump of pancakes bouncing in her throat. “Phil is running for re-election. Leigh Anne Saddler is the ex-model trying to ruin him.”

“What business did a former model and a senator-elect have in common? How did they meet?”

Mia heard the doubt in his voice and forced back a scream. “It’s not what you’re thinking, but my brother’s telling the truth. Leigh Anne Saddler works at one of the big drug companies in Research Triangle Park. They met when Phil was invited to speak at a banquet for Stern-McHamlin employees.”

Jake’s reaction was all Mia had hoped when she named one of the state’s largest employers. Stern-McHamlin Pharmaceuticals produced drugs for a worldwide market. She couldn’t turn on the TV to watch any program without seeing several of their commercials. Holding her breath, she waited for him to speak.

Muscles bunched along the square line of Jake’s jaw. For a second, she thought he turned pale, but his voice seemed normal when he finally spoke. “What evidence does this model have?”

“That’s just it, I don’t know. But she claims to have proof Phil tried to pay her off.” Mia met his probing stare as she repeated the ex-model’s words.

“What does that have to do with the courthouse? She couldn’t hide files in there without being seen.”

“The judge ordered her to turn over all evidence, but Friday, Leigh Anne claimed she’d misplaced some files.”

“You don’t believe her?”

Mia returned his stare. “Leigh Anne was quoted, saying she has evidence to prove her claim against Phil.”

“What does that have to do with you sneaking past security to get into the courthouse?”

Mia’s cheeks warmed. “I think Leigh Anne hid a disc in the courtroom to keep from turning files over to the judge.”

“Why the courtroom? Why not a place she has easy access to in case she needs to retrieve the information?”

Mia blinked at the cold reason of his tone. For half a second she stared at the muscles in the arm he rested on the table. But she jerked her gaze away, forcing her mind away from how appealing he looked in a t-shirt and back to convincing him to believe her.

“I think she had the disc at the hearing, but when the judge ordered her to turn all files over to the court she changed her mind and hid the disc. If the judge ordered a search of her home, she wouldn’t have the evidence and risk being held in contempt of court.”