America's Bravest (23 page)

“Yes, Lieutenant,” Eve said, “go ahead. We’re
done collecting evidence.”

Ed Snyder gave Eve a sour look.

The two women walked out of the building.
“What’s the burr up his ass?” Eve asked.

“Women firefighters make him cranky. He left
our firehouse when Casey Malvaso came on board. Women as
officers
in the fire department, which includes us, must
drive him nuts.”

“Ah, and here we are running the fire scene.”
She chuckled and held up a hand to high five Felicia. “Girls
rock!”

Felicia slapped her palm. “Yeah girls
rock!”

Brody smiled cheerfully as Ryan waited on him
hand and foot. Emma had gone out to get food and he was in charge
of his twin’s needs.

“You look like shit,” Brody said,
half-joking.

“I was up all night.”

His brother grinned. “I remember those
days.”

“Not what you think. I know you were
interviewed at the hospital about what you saw at the fire, but I
was called in to work on the case with Eve Callahan.”

“You’re handling the police side?”

“Actually, Felicia White and I are working
together.”

“That’s right. She had all that training then
decided against going into investigative work.” Brody sighed. “How
you getting along?”

“Like oil and water. I don’t know why she
dislikes me so much, being that I’m so charming and
everything.”

“It’s
because
you’re so charming and
everything. I like Licia a lot, but she’s a private person. When I
was having trouble with Emma she said she almost got engaged once,
but they split because she was so removed.”

“Yeah, I hate cold women.”

“I didn’t say she was cold. I’ve seen passion
in her plenty of times, but not for a guy. I guess she’s
immune.”

Ryan thought about that a minute, then
dismissed the notion. No woman was immune to the right guy.

His brother’s face lit. “And, speaking of
passion, here’s my woman.”

Emma came through the bedroom door carrying
daffodils and looking like one herself in yellow and green. “These
are to bring spring into your room.” Leaning over she kissed his
cheek. He grabbed her for a bigger, fuller one.

“I’d tell you two to get a room, but I’m in
it.” Ryan stood and glanced at his watch. “I’m going next door to
shower and catch an hour’s worth of sleep.”

“I’m making lunch. I’ll bring you some.”

“Let yourself in and if I’m still sleeping,
wake me up. I have a meeting at noon.”

“She isn’t going anywhere near your
bedroom.”

Ryan didn’t take offense. “I like to nap on
the couch in the porch.” He kissed Emma’s cheek. “Make him
relax.”

Brody linked his hands behind his head and
grinned. “I’m relaxing. I got my girl for a whole day unexpectedly,
the headache’s gone and balmy air is drifting in from outside. What
more could I want?”

Ryan left the two lovebirds and let himself
out. Once again, he was struck by feelings of envy. Hell, what was
happening to him? Maybe he was tired. He entered his house and made
his way upstairs feeling a funk descending upon him.

oOo

Late March turned warm so Felicia eschewed a
coat and settled for jeans and a summer sweater made of peacock
blue with a teddy beneath it. She’d washed and curled her hair, put
on some blush and lipstick, like she always did on her days off,
and drove early to the duplex Ryan O’Malley shared with his
brother; she hoped to get a chance to say hi to Brody. When she
pulled up to the front of their home, she was surprised to see the
place wasn’t what she expected. Sided in sage green with black
shutters, the two storey was located on a family oriented side
street. The structure had a two bay garage—with cars in it,
presumably Brody’s jeep and a cute little Mazda that she knew from
last night belonged to Ryan. Colorful crocuses and daffodils
bloomed beneath the mailbox, around the lamppost and between two
flowering crab apple trees. Jeez, who would have thought?

She parked in the driveway next to Emma’s
Civic and headed to the front of the house as one of the doors
opened. Emma exited, carrying paper bags. She looked about twelve
in jeans and simple white blouse. “Hi, there, Licia.”

She’d picked up the nickname from Brody. “Hi,
Emma. Need some help?”

“Um, yeah, maybe. I’m made lunch for
Ryan.”

“Oh.”

“I have enough for three because he said he
was having a meeting here.” Her freckled face frowned. “Arson. I
can’t believe somebody hurt Brody intentionally.”

“I know.” She took one bag from Emma, while
Emma produced a key. “Rye said to wake him if he wasn’t up. But,
um, I thought your meeting was at twelve.”

“It is. I wanted to say hi to Brody.”

“Ah, maybe later. He’s asleep.”

“What, do they sleep on the same schedule
too?”

“You know, I think they might.” She shook her
head. “They’re spooky sometimes.”

“Brody told me when Ryan was hurt, he got a
bad pain in his spine before he discovered his brother on the
ground behind the building.”

Emma smiled. “Same thing happened to Rye when
the bookcases fell on Brody.”

Instead of ringing the bell, Emma let herself
into the other half of house. The entryway was big, with wooden
moldings and trim, a table, some kind of stand in matching wood.
She followed Emma back to the kitchen but stopped to admire the
living room off the left, paneled in oak wood, broken up by built
in bookshelves, classic art prints, and lamps and tables. Emma
stopped, too, and smiled at Felicia. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? The
whole house is done in antiques.”

“Who would have thought Ryan would go for
old?”

“He’s got a depth to him most people don’t
see.”

Felicia certainly didn’t but she let a snide
comment die in her throat.

The kitchen had been modernized but was
accented in beautiful old pieces, too. A dining room sprawled out
to the left, and French doors opened to another spacious area.

“What’s that?” Felicia asked.

“The guys have a glassed-in porch in common.
They built it themselves.” Emma went to the open doorway, then
whispered, “Ryan’s asleep on the couch. I’ll wake him.”

“No, don’t. Eve isn’t coming for an hour.
I’ll entertain myself. I have a laptop in the car.”

“Yeah?” Her brows arched mischievously. “So
you can work on the blog? I love it, btw.”

Felicia allowed herself a half-smile as they
walked back to the foyer. “I can’t believe how the thing caught
on.”

“You know I knew Parker Allen in college. I
can’t fathom why she has this vendetta.”

They talked more about the blog and then Emma
left.

Felicia retrieved her laptop but before she
settled at the dining room table, she crossed to the French doors.
The sunroom was beautiful, all cedar wood, a cathedral ceiling, a
swirling antique brass fan that stirred the March air and large
comfortable furniture made of various shades of brown
microfiber.

And on one couch was a sleeping Ryan.

Despite telling herself not to, she stared at
the man before her. He wore loose fitting jeans that looked
comfortable. Bare feet. A navy blue long sleeved T-shirt that
outlined muscles she’d never noticed he had. His hair was tousled
and damp, and his arm was raised over his head. She took a step
closer, noticing the sculpted chin, the nice lips and thick dark
eye lashes.

And for a moment, Felicia reacted. Jesus, her
stomach clutched and her breasts felt tight. Just from freaking
looking at the guy! Immediately, she turned on her heel and snuck
out of the porch. She meant to go right to work, but curiosity got
the better of her. She’d take a peek upstairs, that was all.

The railing was again made of oak wood and
was obviously hand crafted. At the end of the hallway at the top,
there was an open space which housed a chair next to a window
looking out the front of the house. Off to the right was a bath and
next to it another room with its door closed. The door was open to
the final room so she approached that one.

Ah, here was the playboy’s lair—a large space
with high ceilings made of wood and windows fanning out behind a
lake-size bed. All the accents were oak—a headboard, a huge
wardrobe, a wall unit with stereo, TV and books facing the bed. She
could see a large bathroom open up to the left.

Crossing to the bed, she stared down at the
pattered quilt which covered it in masculine hues of brown and
gold. Then she sniffed, and inhaled a male scent that brought back
her reaction on the porch. It was so strong she dropped to the
mattress for a minute. Then, she heard a chuckle. Her head snapped
up and she saw Ryan lounged in the doorway, arm raised against the
jamb, a sleepy, sexy expression on his face. “Well, darlin’, I have
to admit, I never thought I’d get you in my bed.”

oOo

“I didn’t expect lunch, but this is too good
to pass up.” Eve Callahan grinned down at the Panini sandwiches of
Italian meat Emma had fixed, along with spicy pasta salad.

“Hmm,” Felicia managed, keeping her gaze
averted to the food.

Ryan bit back a grin. Felicia White had been
so embarrassed by being caught snooping, she sputtered something
about looking for the bathroom and fled downstairs just as the
doorbell rang. He hadn’t had time to razz her about it. Instead, he
ate with gusto and kept trying to catch her gaze; she studiously
avoided his.

After lunch, they got down to business. Eve
laid out the information gathered. They reviewed the evidence
they’d gathered. Then they examined the photos taken by the
assistant of the parking lot and bystanders.

“We ran the plates and nothing popped.” Eve
was frowning.

Ryan scowled. “That would have been too
easy.”

“A few firefighters heard on their scanners
that the Rescue Squad fell victim to a torch and it got around that
Brody was hurt. Later, we needed a specialty team for salvage and
overhaul.”

“Hmm.” Ryan sighed. “Arson by disgruntled
firefighters happens.”

Next to him, he felt Felicia bristle. “I
can’t believe one of our people would do this.”

“Didn’t know you were so naïve,
Lieutenant.”

His comment didn’t fluster her. “Yeah, well,
I’m older and wiser than you, Sergeant, so I know what I’m talking
about.”

She was older? Man she didn’t look it. Today
especially, with her hair down and those denims revealing long,
luscious legs. The vee of her sweater with the lacy thing
underneath was enticing.

Eve nodded knowingly. “We do have to consider
all the angles, Felicia. And believe me, I know what it’s like to
have to implicate a colleague.”

Knowing her history, Ryan totally didn’t
understand how Eve could fall so in love with a guy that she’d risk
her reputation and transfer up here. Leave a job for romance?
Never.

“We need to study the crime scene photos
carefully. Then we’ll comb the statements of the firefighters at
the scene. Why don’t we split it up--” Eve’s phone buzzed and she
fished it out of her pocket. “I’m sorry, I have to take this. My
brother and his wife are watching Sabby as Noah’s out of town at a
conference.”

She left the room and Ryan grinned. “So,
which do you want to start with?”

Felicia flushed probably because now would be
the first opportunity he’d have to rub her face in her snooping. He
was about to tease her, but she seemed really embarrassed. Reaching
over he touched her hand. “Look, Felicia, if it’s any comfort, I
would have checked out your bedroom, too. No big deal.”

Her eyes widened. They were more amber today
in the sunlight streaming through the windows. “I…why are you being
nice about this?”

“For professional reasons. Can’t have us
distracted.” Which was sort of true. But not wholly. The other
reasons he didn’t want to examine.

In moments, Eve returned with a worried
expression on her face. “I’m sorry. I have to leave. Sabby’s
running a fever and Ian thinks we should take her to the doctor.
I’m meeting them at the pediatrician’s office.”

Ryan nodded. “Sorry about your kid.”

“Listen, do you think you can keep working on
this? I’ll come back after I’m done.”

“Why don’t we wait--” Felicia began.

But Ryan interrupted her. “You bet. Felicia
and I are gonna make a great team.” He winked at the lieutenant
then glanced back to Eve. “Go take care of your kid.”

Felicia had gathered her composure by the
time Eve left. And they did have serious business. So for a few
hours, they made lists, checked them against witness statements,
parking lot data and personnel--fire, police and lay people.

At about four, Eve phoned and said Sabby had
an ear infection but screamed when Eve tried to leave her. She
apologized and said she’d be back in touch.

“Let’s take a break,” Ryan suggested. “I’m
gonna have a beer. Want one?”

“We’re working.”

“Hey, live a little.”

“No thanks. I’ll take a soda though.”

She followed him to the kitchen, went out
onto the porch then outside. He brought their drinks to the yard.
“Nice backyard,” she said from where she was staring into their
woods.

“Yeah, we like it.”

“Don’t you get…I don’t know, hemmed in by
living so close to your brother?”

“Not at all. Maybe because we’re twins.” He
shrugged a shoulder and leaned against a stone wall he and Brody
had put in. “I like having him close.” He sipped his beer. “Do you
have siblings?”

“A brother in Colorado.”

“It must be hard having him so far away.”

“We’re not close now. We used to be.” Her
face softened. “Then we drifted apart.”

“I can’t imagine that. Even being separated
from my other brothers would be hard.”

She focused on him then. Her eyes held a kind
of longing he’d seen in his own mirror. “Yeah, I watched all your
brothers with each other when you got hurt.”