Her pulse jumped when Huck shook the man’s hand and headed back to the SUV. Olivia hit the unlock button and mentally crossed her fingers.

  Huck climbed in and shifted into Reverse. “It isn’t much, but it’s something. Rogers gave him an address to surveil. He was to let Rogers know if anyone went in or out of the house.”

  “Did he see anyone at the location?”

  As he pulled out onto the street, Huck shook his head. “He did not. Maybe we’ll have better luck.”

  Vine Street, 6:30 p.m.

  HALF AN HOUR with no activity had elapsed since Huck parked across the street from the address Rogers’s source had provided. A real-estate sign was in the yard listing the house for sale.

  The house on the right of the property appeared to be empty. A for-rent sign stood in the yard. On the left, an older lady sat on the porch in a rocking chair, rocking and fanning herself with one of those old-fashioned hand fans once given out by churches. Huck’s grandmother had been so proud of hers. She’d told him repeatedly that it was a blessing not to have to sweat so in church on Sunday mornings.

  “Should we peek in the windows? Sneak in the back?”

  Olivia was running out of patience. Huck understood. “I think we’ll start with the for-rent property and peek in windows there. Then when we’re around back, I’ll cross that little picket fence and have a look through some back windows of our target house. That way if no one’s home and the back door is unlocked, I can have a look around without the lady in the rocking chair noticing.”

  “You mean we, right?”

  He made a face. “If there’s any breaking and entering, you should leave that to me.”

  She rolled her eyes and climbed out of the vehicle.

  Somehow he’d known that wasn’t going to work.

  He waved at the lady on the porch as they crossed the street. She paused in her fanning but didn’t wave back.

  Huck snapped a pic of the for-rent sign with its contact info for the rocking lady’s benefit. They climbed the steps and peeked in the front door and windows. Then they chatted about the size of the yard and the closeness to the street as they strolled around back. Huck made the first move toward the other property. He stepped across the short picket fence and walked quickly to the back door. Olivia followed close behind him.

  Through the window in the door, the kitchen and part of the living room beyond it were visible. No furniture that he could see. He used his shirttail to grasp the knob and give it a turn, and the lock released with little effort. He opened the door.

  He hesitated, turned to Olivia. “Don’t touch anything. No need to leave incriminating evidence.”

  She nodded.

  The kitchen cabinets were mostly bare. A few canned goods and a box of crackers. The dining room was part of the kitchen, but there was no table. A wide cased opening led into the living room of the small bungalow. The only furniture was a portable chair like the ones people used for camping or ball games. No papers, letters or personal items lying around.

  The rest of the house was the same. No furniture. There was a sleeping bag in one of the two bedrooms. Soap in the shower stall. Someone had been staying here under the radar.

  Huck checked the sleeping bag. Empty.

  A few minutes more of searching and they still found nothing.

  “We should go,” he said, “before the lady next door gets suspicious.”

  Olivia exhaled a big breath and nodded her agreement. They followed the same path back to the other house and pretended to discuss the property’s options as they made their way back to his SUV. Olivia stared out the window as they drove away.

  “I’m beginning to think we’re never going to find any answers,” she said, her voice distant.

  Huck reached for her hand, gave it a squeeze. “We’re just cutting through the weeds right now,” he assured her. “We’ll get to the flowers soon.”

  His instincts warned they were far closer than either of them understood.

  Firefly Lane, 9:00 p.m.

  OLIVIA WAS GLAD to be home. She was emotionally exhausted, and she just wanted some quiet time.

  No. She needed quiet time. No thinking or talking about the possibilities in this case. Just turn it off and relax.

  She climbed out of the shower and dried her body, grateful for those long minutes under the hot spray of water and away from the rest of the world.

  Once her hair was dry and she’d dressed in one of her grandmother’s nightshirts, she opened the door. The scent of bacon frying had her mouth watering. She wandered into the kitchen, where Huck had just set two plates filled with scrambled eggs and bacon on the table.

  “It’s not exactly a gourmet dinner,” he warned, “but it’s edible.”

  “Smells great.”

  Olivia dug in. She didn’t slow down or chat until she was finished. Then she felt stuffed. “I should not have eaten all that.” She put her hand to her stomach. “But it was wonderful.”

  Huck finished off his. “Good. Hopefully that makes up for my last disappointing attempt at cooking.”

  She laughed and together they cleaned up the mess he’d made. Strangely, she felt more relaxed than she had in ages. Maybe it was about having hit bottom emotionally. There was nowhere to go but up.

  Huck tossed the towel he’d used to dry dishes onto the counter. “It’s my turn for that hot shower.”

  “Go on. I think I might see what’s happening in the news. I feel like I’ve been off the grid for forever.”

  Sometimes getting away from the news and social media was beneficial. Willy had insisted that social media was just another way to distract ourselves from real life. Olivia was pretty sure he was right.

  She turned on the television and scanned the channels for five or ten minutes, but her mind wasn’t on the screen or the talking heads whose voices filled the air. She couldn’t keep her thoughts from drifting down the hall to the man in that shower. How had she pretended he didn’t exist all this time?

  He’d done the same to her, she supposed.

  Didn’t matter. Not anymore. It was time they put that behind them and defined how they would do this going forward.

  Friends. They could be friends. They had both agreed.

  But the feelings churning inside her right now were not exactly the sort she would feel for a friend. The need was overwhelming...fierce. She needed more than just friendship. She needed to feel his arms around her and his mouth on hers.

  Olivia closed her eyes and fought the building urgency.

  She needed to calm down. To pull back and to...think this through better.

  The sound of the door opening and his bare feet in the hall was the last straw. She stood. Threw down the remote and rushed around the sofa and toward him. He stood just outside the bathroom door with only jeans hugging his body.

  Her heart beat so hard breathing was impossible. She walked straight up to him. He stared at her now, the towel he’d used slipping to the floor. She put her arms around his neck and tiptoed to reach his mouth with her own.

  She kissed him hard with the urgency driving her. He held back, slowed her down, which only made her more frantic.

  “Liv,” he whispered against her lips, “we need to slow this down.”

  She plowed her fingers into his damp hair and pulled his mouth back to hers.

  A blast drowned out the heavy sound of their breathing and the voices still humming from the television.

  Huck drew back, his eyes going from dazed to focused in a single heartbeat. He set her aside, went back into the bathroom and returned with his gun.

  “Stay put,” he warned, and then he was gone.

  The haze of need vanished in that instant, and Olivia whirled around.

  He’d already disappeared into the kitchen or to the front door.

  She rushed after him.

  Another whoosh and then something like an explosion made her jump.

  Huck stood staring out the window over the sink, his phone to his ear. Part of her felt frozen in some crazy dream as she heard him give the address and tell whoever he’d called to hurry.

  Another sound outside had her moving forward, her gaze zeroing in on that window.

  Flames.

  Flames flickered high in the darkness.

  Something was on fire.

  Olivia shook herself and rushed closer.

  The shed.

  The shed was on fire.

  Chapter Eleven

  Firefly Lane

  Saturday, June 10, 2:00 a.m.

  Olivia stood at the back steps and stared at the dying embers of Willy’s beloved shed. All those beautiful photographs and the film...all Gran’s paintings. Not to mention the equipment and the things the two of them had cherished. Every little thing from the paint brushes to the camera lenses.

  Gone. All gone.

  Firefighters had wet down the barn, the nearest trees and shrubbery as well as the cabin in hopes of preventing sparks from igniting a second fire. Olivia leaned against the wall of the cabin and watched the final steps of rolling up hoses and preparing to leave now that the fire was out. Spotlights showcased their work like dancers on a stage.

  Huck and Sheriff Decker stood in the middle of the fray.

  Olivia had wept like a child, but sometime after midnight resignation had set in and kicked all the other emotions aside. It was done. There was nothing she could do to bring any of it back.

  Willy was gone. The biggest part of him that had remained was gone.

  This place would never be the same. Never.

  She closed her eyes and wished the smell of destruction would diminish. Wished the damned bugs fluttering around the porch light would go away.

  “Hey.”

  Olivia opened her eyes. Huck stared down at her, traces of soot smudged on his face. The worry in his eyes made her wish they could go back inside and lose themselves in more of those kisses they had shared before...this. She glanced at the ongoing efforts of the firefighters. They would be leaving soon, and she deeply appreciated all that they had done, but it was a total loss. Not their fault. It just was.

  “We found a couple gasoline cans. Decker will take them in for processing.”

  Beyond Huck, she saw the sheriff walking away from the shed carrying the two red cans. Plastic ones. Not one of the metal ones Willy had for his lawn mower.

  The fire hadn’t been an accident.

  The resignation collapsed into something more desolate.

  “You should go inside,” Huck said. “Try to get some sleep. I’ll be in when this is finished.”

  She wanted to say it was already finished, but she couldn’t find her voice. Instead, she nodded and did as he suggested.

  Rather than collapse on the sofa as was her first thought, she trudged to the bathroom, peeled off her smoky clothes and climbed into the shower to wash away the smoke and soot. Her hands did the work with the soap and shampoo from memory because her brain had officially shut down. She wasn’t sure how long she stood beneath the spray of water, but it had turned cold when a knock on the door jarred her from the trance.

  “You okay in there, Liv?”

  Shivering now, she shut off the water. “Fine. I’ll be out in a minute.”

  She found a towel and dried her skin and hair. The idea of blowing it dry was more than she could manage putting into action. She grabbed the nightshirt hanging on the back of the bathroom door. The soft cotton felt good against her skin. She stared at her reflection and couldn’t help playing the words the woman from the corner market had said. He had a picture of you...’cause you’re dangerous.

  Why would that PI, Louis Rogers, have had a picture of Olivia?

  And why on earth would he say she was dangerous? She had never met the man. She hadn’t been in Hamilton County since Christmas.

  It made no sense.

  She still had no idea why Willy would have hidden her contact information. If he had hired the PI, why would he give him a photo of Olivia and have him look for her?

  She was too tired to think about this anymore. She opened the door and stepped into the hall.

  “You okay?”

  Huck stood in the hall, hands on his hips. He looked so worried.

  “I’m okay. Give the water heater a minute to catch up.”

  She walked into the main room without a glance beyond the windows. The firefighters and their equipment would be gone by now, but she couldn’t bear to see the devastation, even lit by nothing more than the moon.

  Her emotions needed a reprieve.

  She went to her room, ignored the spray-painted words on the wall, tore away the old poster and then threw back the covers. She climbed into her bed. If sleep would pull her under quickly, she might just survive this night.

  Instead, she lay there, eyes wide open. She heard every drop of water fall in the shower. Imagined it sliding over Huck’s skin. She squeezed her eyes shut and banished the thought. Eventually the bathroom door opened, and the scent of soap and his skin drifted through the air. Her entire being longed to have him hold her.

  She listened to him move through the house, checking doors and windows. When he wandered back into the hall, she held her breath, bit her lips together to prevent calling out to him.

  He paused at her door. “Liv, you asleep?”

  Don’t answer. Don’t answer.

  “No.” Fool.

  “Everything is locked up. I’ll be on the couch if you need me.”

  She told herself to say goodnight or okay...or to just keep quiet and let him walk away.

  Impossible.

  “Huck?”

  “Yeah?”

  She opened her eyes. He stood in the doorway, backlit by the dim light in the hall. Maybe if he’d been wearing a shirt...maybe if she hadn’t been so weak...

  “I need you here with me.”

  For a single endless moment he stayed right where he was.

  Her heart twisted with disappointment. He was smarter than her.

  Then he moved into the room. “You sure about that?”

  Heart racing now, she nodded. “Yes.”

  She drew the covers back as he approached the bed. “I need you, Huck.”

  Rather than take off his jeans, he climbed into the bed, pulled the covers over himself. “I’ll stay right here until you wake up.”

  She snuggled closer. “Hold me, please.”

  He tucked one arm around her and pulled her into him. “For as long as you want.”

  One word echoed through her, but she didn’t dare say it out loud. She told herself it was the pain talking. The uncertainty. The loss. Whatever it was, that word just kept echoing.

  Always.

  8:00 a.m.

  RINGING WOKE HER.

  Olivia’s eyes opened. The sound came again. A cell. Not hers. Wrong ringtone.

  She threw back the cover and sat up. Her head ached. Eyes felt raw. Throat too. All the smoke, she decided. She found a pair of jeans and a shirt in her closet. The jeans were ragged, as was the style back in high school. A tee with a Life Is Good logo was the best choice. Her favorite pair of leather sandals caught her attention, and she tugged those on. Still fit. Worn comfortable. A look in the mirror over the dresser had her gasping. Her hair was a wreck. Happened when she went to bed with it wet. A thorough brushing and a ponytail holder took care of that problem. Nothing she could do about the red-rimmed eyes.

  The smell of coffee had her making her way to the kitchen. Huck stood at the sink, staring out the window. At the rubble, she surmised. A stab of pain sliced through her. She walked to the counter and poured herself a cup of coffee.

  He smiled at her. “Good morning.”

  How did he look so damned rested...so unmarred by last night’s events? Staring at him, dozens of memories from spending all those hours snuggled up with him in bed flashed one after the other in her head. The feel of his bare chest...his muscled arms. A powerful thigh nestled between hers. The smell of his skin.

  She blinked. “Morning.” A sip of coffee made her wince. Too hot. She should have paid better attention. “Who called?”

  “That was the PI’s assistant. She found something she thought might help.”

  Olivia’s mood lifted instantly.

  “She spoke with one of the sources we weren’t able to reach. He said Rogers had asked a lot of questions about a private mental-health clinic on Pineville Road. Right off Moccasin Bend Road. Since it’s unrelated to any of his other cases, she thought it might be part of the Ballard case.”

  “Isn’t Moccasin Bend like a state hospital?” Her mind raced to make some sort of connection to Willy or to herself. Or perhaps to her parents.

  “It is, but this isn’t that one. It’s a private facility that just happens to be in that same area. I helped a deputy escort a patient there once. Rich guy from over in Emerald Valley.”

  “We should check it out.”

  “Drink your coffee,” he suggested. “I’ll have a look around outside, and then I’ll be ready.”

  Olivia turned her back to the counter and the window over the sink. She wasn’t sure she could bear to look just yet.

  When she’d finished her coffee, she went back to her room and looked for a slightly less casual shirt. She would hate to be denied entrance to the posh clinic because she looked like a vagrant. A pink wrap top. Dressed up the jeans. Good enough.

  She grabbed her bag and locked up. Huck waited for her on the porch.

  “You ready?” His gaze lingered on the blouse.

  She wondered if he remembered it. It was that old. “I’m ready if you are.”

  Olivia waited until they were headed down the mountain to ask, “Any ideas on how this clinic might be connected to my family?”