Whispers from the Dead (Serenity's Plain Secrets Book 2) by Karen Ann Hopkins Page A

glance from him set my body on fire. I wanted him—badly—and the feeling completely freaked me out. Before Daniel, the only time that my body had reacted so violently to a man was when I’d dated Denton, and look how that had turned out. Really hot guys were nothing but trouble. I had already learned that lesson and I wasn’t about to go there again, at least not tonight.
    “We are here to solve a case involving multiple arsons and a body. Let’s not get sidetracked,” I said. And to emphasize my seriousness, I slipped off my jacket, and then my holster. I took my time, making a big show of placing the gun on the nightstand beside the bed before I forced my attention back to Daniel.
    He was staring at me with a stubborn tilt to his chin, and the look doused the flames sparking inside of me a little, thankfully.
    “You aren’t going to have to shoot me. I would never do anything to you that you weren’t begging for.”
    The thought of how easy it would be to just walk over to him, climb onto his lap and press my mouth against his lips was fleeting, but poignant. I swallowed and took a steady breath, trying desperately to hide my reaction to his flirting.
    Clearing my throat, I said, “We’ve got a lot more on our plate here than I originally thought.”
    “Don’t we always?” Daniel teased.
    “I’m serious. Listen up. Like you heard tonight, there seems to be a lot of trouble with the Amish kids in this neighborhood. Not only is Rowan worried about it, but his friend, Jotham, also gave me the heads up that something more sinister is going on with the local teens. On top of all that, Jotham was scarred up pretty badly when he was in a house that blew up from a gas leak.” I paused to take a breath, and to make sure that I still had his full attention. “It was Rowan’s house, and Jotham was alone with Rowan’s wife, Hedy, and her infant daughter at the time. Hedy died, but Jotham shielded Cacey with his own body, and she managed to escape relatively unharmed.”
    “What does that have to do with the recent fires?” Daniel interrupted.
    “The explosion happened at night—don’t you think that it’s strange that the two of them were alone together at the time?”
    Daniel shrugged, “Maybe, but I still don’t see how it relates to why we’re here now.”
    “Jotham also wants me to look into a fire that happened in the area in nineteen ninety-seven. There were two deaths in that one and although I haven’t had a chance to do any research on it yet, it appears that that fire might be connected to our recent ones. To me, it signals that the explosion of Rowan’s house can’t be ignored either. The cherry on top of all this is Rowan’s brother, Asher. He has a rap sheet a mile long in Indianapolis, but for some strange reason, his narcotics convictions here in Poplar Springs were expunged two years ago.”
    “Why would a judge do that?”
    Good question.
    “My personal experience is that people who get their records expunged are either selling out someone else’s secrets, or they’re blackmailing or bribing the local authorities.”
    Daniel leaned forward. “Do you think that the law is corrupt in this town?”
    I chuckled at Daniel’s naivety. “Law enforcement, from cops all the way up to judges, have been known to work the system in a lot of small towns around the country. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if that’s happening here in Poplar Springs.”
    Daniel shook his head and held up his hand. “Whoa, if that’s the case, then we need to get the hell out of Dodge.” Daniel ignored my gasp, and added, “This isn’t your jurisdiction. You can’t manipulate the case the way you did back in Blood Rock with Naomi’s murder. We can get in over our heads really quickly up here.”
    Daniel had a point. There was a lot more going on in Poplar Springs than I ever imagined, but after spending a day here I couldn’t just up and leave without at least trying to find out some answers.