The relief was so acute that Tory couldn’t breathe. Even seeing her lover more clearly with each step wasn’t enough to banish the terrible ache that had seized her heart. She started to run.

The EMTs reached Reese well before Tory did and relieved her of her burden. Still, she had barely relinquished the frail, elderly man to the care of the rescue team before Tory flung herself into her arms.

“I thought you were dead,” Tory gasped. Her hands were all over Reese, stroking her chest and her back and up and down her arms, searching for injury. “Are you hurt? Are you hurt?”

“Tory, I’m all right.” Reese grabbed Tory’s hands, stilling her frenzied motion, and then gathered her close. Tory’s heart was beating wildly against her chest, and with her lips close to her lover’s ear, Reese said gently, “Tory, listen to me. Stop, love. Stop. I’m all right.”

The sound of Reese’s voice, low and steady and calm, brought instant surcease to Tory’s terror. Suddenly, she regained control and, after taking a long slow breath, was able to separate herself enough from Reese to look into her face. “Where’s Bri?”

“Back in the forest. She’s with an injured officer. Bri wouldn’t leave her, and I had to get this fellow to the EMTs.” Reese framed Tory’s face with both hands and kissed her swiftly. “Tory, I need to go back for Bri.”

With every second, Tory was feeling stronger, more in control. Reese was safe. And there was still much work to be done. Her work. “I’m going back to the ambulances to see if I can help out.”

“You shouldn’t even be here. You sure shouldn’t be working.” Reese grabbed for her hand. “Go home, Tor. Please. It’s crazy out here.”

Finally, Tory smiled. “You’re a fine one to talk, Sheriff. Go do what you have to do and come back as soon as you can.” She rested her palm for an instant against Reese’s cheek. “Please don’t be gone long. I can’t stand it right now.”

Forty-five minutes later, Allie sat with her back against the tire of an EMT van while Bri crouched beside her, holding a cup of coffee.

“Are you sure you’re not cold?” Bri asked worriedly.

Allie shook her head and smiled wanly. “Not really. You don’t have to stay with me, you know.”

“That’s okay.”

“Boy, I’m never going to live this down,” Allie said in disgust. “My first big assignment and I end up falling on my ass.”

“I don’t think anyone is going to put you down for twisting your ankle while jumping from a burning building.” Bri swiped sweat from her face and grimaced as she brushed against the burned spot on her neck. “Besides, it could happen to anybody.”

“Sure.” A second passed, then Allie said, “You haven’t called me. I kind of thought it might be because of that girlfriend you mentioned.”

“Yeah.”

“Because, you know, I thought things were pretty hot between us.”

Flushing, Bri thought about waking up with Allie naked beside her. She remembered it almost as a dream, and the memory was exciting. Her eyes moved slowly over Allie’s face, appreciating how attractive she was. Even scratched and sweat-streaked, she was sexy. “Yeah, it was hot. You’re hot. Totally.”

“But?”

“But I’m in love with someone.”

“It wouldn’t have to be anything real serious, you know.” Allie brushed Bri’s hand with her fingertips. “Just a little fun. I think about you…a lot.”

“I can’t,” Bri said. And it didn’t feel like a sacrifice at all.

“Tory,” a male voice said from behind her.

Tory turned, frowning, and then exclaimed, “Dan! What are you doing here?”

The solidly built, dark-haired man shrugged, grinning a bit shyly. “Reese called me and said that you might need relief about now.”

“Oh, she did, did she?” Tory raised an eyebrow, uncertain whether she was actually angry or not. She was tired, and she had a headache. It must be after five in the morning, and she was working on very little sleep.

Dan Riley frowned as he took in his new employer. She was clearly exhausted and the fingers that brushed absently at the strands of damp hair clinging to her cheeks trembled faintly. “Well,” he said briskly, “let me finish triaging the remaining patients. You should go home.”

Before Tory could respond, another voice interjected, “A very good suggestion, Dr. Riley.”

Reese stepped closer to Tory and kissed her cheek. “Hello, love.”

Smiling despite herself, Tory touched her fingertips to Reese’s chin, brushing at a trickle of dried blood. “You’ve cut yourself, Sheriff.”

“Nothing major.” Reese turned to Dan Riley and murmured something before adding, “As soon as I collect Bri, check in with the chief, and make sure that the rest of my people know what they’re supposed to be doing, we can get out of here.”

As Tory watched Reese hurry off yet again, Dan said, “Let me take your pressure, Tory.”

“What?” Tory asked in surprise.

“Let me check your BP.” His eyes were kind as they met hers. “You’ve been on your feet all night.”

“Did she ask you to do that?”

“I know how she feels,” he said, avoiding the answer. He pulled a blood pressure cuff from inside the truck and wrapped it around Tory’s left upper arm. “When my wife was pregnant the first time, I had morning sickness every day for five months. I felt completely helpless and equal parts ecstatic and terrified. You can’t blame her for worrying.”

A minute later, he took the cuff off and regarded her steadily. “One-forty over ninety-two. Is that unusual?”

Tory drew a shaky breath, and then shook her head. “It hasn’t been consistent, but for the last few days it’s been in that range. Listen, don’t say anything to Reese, all right, Dan?”

“Of course. Like I said, it’s not my business.”

At that moment, Reese and Bri returned.

“Everything okay?” Reese asked, looking from Tory to Dan.

Tory took Reese’s hand. “Everything is fine. Let’s take Allie back to the clinic, and after that, maybe we can all get some breakfast.”

The four of them trudged through the water-soaked, litter-strewn fire site toward the highway where Reese had left her Blazer, Allie supported between Reese and Bri. Halfway there, Reese noticed someone on the outskirts of the crowd and said quickly, “I’ll be right back.”

Tory watched Reese approach a woman and speak to her briefly. “Who is that?”

“That’s Ashley Walker,” Bri said.

“The private investigator?”

“Yes.”

After a minute, Reese and the redhead turned and walked back to where the others were waiting.

“Officer Parker,” Ashley said with a slow smile when she recognized Bri.

“Ms. Walker,” Bri said with a small tilt of her chin.

“Hello,” Allie said, extending her hand to the newcomer. “Allie Tremont.”

“Ashley Walker,” the redhead replied languorously, her throaty tenor slightly raspy from the smoke, her green eyes flickering downward once before returning to Allie’s face. “Are you all right?”

“I will be,” Allie replied, never taking her eyes from Ashley’s.

Tory watched the exchange which, although completely innocent, held a note of intimacy that almost made her feel like a voyeur. “If we’re all done with the introductions,” she interjected dryly, “perhaps we can get back to the clinic so I can decide how Officer Tremont is doing.”

“I’ll follow you in my car,” Ashley said.

“Don’t get lost,” Reese advised.

“I wouldn’t think of it.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

“You can use my office,” Tory said to Reese as the small group proceeded down the central hallway of her clinic toward the X-ray room at the rear. “Just help me get Allie up onto the table so I can get these films.”

Reese, Bri, and Ashley Walker left the small radiology room and crossed the hall diagonally to Tory’s office.

“Sit down, please, Ms. Walker,” Reese instructed while pointing to one of the two chairs in front of Tory’s large wood desk. She leaned her hips against it, but remained standing. Bri stood a few feet away also, off to Ashley’s right. “I want to know exactly what you’re investigating.”

After a moment’s deliberation, Ashley Walker nodded slightly. “I’m looking for a man named Stanley Morris. He was a claims investigator for the company which hired me.”

“The insurance company?”

“Yes,” she said. “Six months ago he was forced into leaving, ostensibly due to downsizing. Shortly thereafter, the first of what would turn out to be a series of fires occurred in buildings that are insured by the company.”

“Some kind of retribution?” Bri asked.

“That’s what we think. Morris’s area of specialty was fire investigation, and the timing seemed right. But the company didn’t have any proof.”

“So they hired you,” Reese surmised.

“I worked Missing Persons when I was a cop in Providence,” Ashley informed them. “But, I haven’t been able to find him, although it seems like I’m always close.”

“Can you place him anywhere around here?” Reese asked.

Ashley shook her head. “No. The last place I can put him is in Falls River six weeks ago. But that doesn’t mean he’s not here on the Cape, paying with cash and lying low.”

“All right. We’ll get an APB out to the other divisions on the Cape today,” Reese said. “Is there anything else we should know about this guy?”

“When he lost his job, his wife left him. He’s angry, and I’m not sure he’s entirely stable. I would consider him violent and recommend caution if he is to be apprehended.” She hesitated. “I’m not sure it’s relevant, but he was an explosives expert in the Army.”

“So noted.” Reese pushed off from the desk and glanced at her watch. “I’ll get this out on the wire as soon as we square Officer Tremont away. Are you going to be staying around for awhile?”

“I’m planning on it.” Ashley stood as well. “Maybe he’s coming undone. I might as well stay here until I can pick up some trace of him.”