Silent Scream by Karen Rose Page B

captain.”
    “And Carrie and Gabe,” Jeff added from behind them, then shrugged when Olivia turned a mild glare on him. “I didn’t know,
     and Dave’s catch was too good not to tell.”
    “Carrie and Gabe are on our team,” David told her when she turned the mild glare from Jeff to him. “They can keep a secret.”
    “So can I,” Jeff said, aggrieved. “When I know I have to.”
    “Can we talk to Carrie and Gabe?” Kane asked. “We need to keep it under wraps.”
    “Certainly,” Casey said. “They’re walking line. I’ll call them back to the truck.”
    “I’ll talk to the other firefighters,” Kane told Olivia, “while you go up. Have fun.”
    The glare she flashed Kane was a lot less mild, David thought. She was clearly annoyed and once again seemed none too happy
     to see him. That did not bode well.
    David climbed to where the platform rested on the front end of the truck and lowered the bucket until it wastwo feet from the ground where she waited. There was no expression on her face, but her foot tapped impatiently. He extended
     his hand and after the briefest hesitation she grabbed it, not looking at him.
    He hauled her up and held on until she’d steadied herself. “You have to belt in,” he said. Silently she raised her arms and
     he looped the ladder belt around her slim waist, trying hard not to fumble the hooks. Or lift his eyes to stare at her breasts
     which were throwing a shadow on his hands. He tugged to test the connection, then rose, keeping his eyes to himself, very
     aware of Jeff’s smirk and Kane’s watchful gaze. “You’re good.”
    “Okay,” she said, her voice slightly breathless. “Take me up.”
    Oh, I will
, he thought. He wasn’t sure when it would be or how he would manage it, but those recollections of his were just clear enough
     that he knew he had to have her again. “Are you bothered by heights?”
    “No.” Her attention was on the condo wall as he toggled switches, lifting them in the air. After rising ten feet, she looked
     up at him, surprised. “I thought it would be jumpy.”
    “No, it’s pretty smooth.” They were alone now, the two of them rising in a three-by-four space. He briefly fantasized standing
     behind her, grabbing the rails on either side of her, caging her in. Pressing against her. Feeling her against him. But of
     course he couldn’t do that, so he stood at her side, contenting himself with breathing honeysuckle.
    There were so many things he wanted to ask.
What’s between you and Barlow? Is there someone else?
And the million-dollar question—
why did you leave my bed?
    But this wasn’t the time for any of that, so he asked theone question in his mind that wasn’t personal. “What’s the significance of the ball I found?”
    For a moment he thought she wouldn’t answer. Then she sighed. “You’ll probably just Google it when you get home.”
    “Before I get home,” he said. “Left my laptop back at the firehouse.”
    “You can’t speak of this, not even to your partner.”
    “Zell?” David found his lips curving. “He’s a good guy, but he does have trouble keeping a secret. I won’t tell him. Cross
     my heart.” And he did.
    Her eyes had dropped to his bare hand and lingered a beat too long before lifting again to his face. Her cheeks were a shade
     pinker than they had been. “Environmental arson,” she said, throwing cold water on his thoughts. “It’s a glass globe. A radical
     activist group left similar etched glass globes at their fires more than ten years ago.”
    “Shit,” he breathed quietly. “But they shot that guard. Right in the heart. Those groups don’t normally target people.”
    “Not normally, although this group had an accidental death, twelve years ago.”
    He thought of the girl, her waxen face. Her fight to escape. “Like last night.”
    “Maybe. The girl held the ball. For now we have to include her with the suspects.”
    He shook his head. “She wasn’t dressed for