Page 132 of Flare

Jack nodded, clearly trying to contain his excitement and avoid ruffling the level of cool he had going on. “Sounds good.”

Beck nodded to Kip, his expression serious. But when he turned back to me, he was all smiles and we stared at each other, my knees wobbling at the pride blazing in his eyes.

“God, I love you.” Emotion caught in his words and his eyes glistened.

I knew he was holding back from just grabbing me, so I flung myself into his arms.Fuck it. If my body wanted to screw with me now, it could. I wasn’t missing this moment for anything.

Beck startled but quickly grabbed my arse in his hands and buried his face into my neck. “I am so fucking proud of you. That was... I don’t even know what that was. Amazing, beautiful, breath-taking, all of it.”

I pulled back and stared into those bright hazel eyes. “I love you so much.”

His mouth tugged up at the corners. “I love you too.” He eased me down gently and I tugged him aside.

“Now, tell me what’s up.” I waved off a man trying to grab my attention. “What was that look between you and Kip?”

He sighed. “Check your phone.”

I frowned and pulled it from my pocket, noting three missed calls from Preston in the last fifteen minutes.Fuck.I shot a worried glance to Beck.

“Check your messages,” was all he said.

So, I did and then listened in utter disbelief to the detective’s words. Shocked, I pocketed the phone and spun around to check the room. “They think the fire was down to Shayne?” I could barely get the words out.

“He’s not here,” Beck reassured me.

“Are you sure? He walked in Barnaby’s show earlier.”

“But he’s gone now. The police have done a sweep already, apparently.”

“They called you too?”

Beck nodded, putting his hands on my shoulders. “Just after the show finished. Preston was only telling us in case we ran into him before they made the arrest. If we see Shayne, we’re to keep well clear and let Preston know. And there’s apparently a police car watching the house as well, just in case.”

“What?” And then it hit me. “But surely they don’t think he’d do anything to your house.” My eyes widened. “Or us?”

Beck shrugged. “They’re just being careful.”

I gaped. “But Shayne? What the fuck, Beck? I mean the guy’s an arsehole but still.” I swallowed a surge of bile up the back of my throat.

Beck put a reassuring arm around me. “They found Shayne’s name on Gloria’s company documents. He apparently invested in her label last year, probably looking to transition from modelling. And we know Mennz was in financial problems, right?”

I nodded.

“Well… Shaynewas Gloria’s alibi the night of the fire, so once the police found Shayne’s name on the company documents, and added in his relationship to you, they searched security cameras in the vicinity of Shayne’s apartment building and found footage of him returning the night of the fire. Right timing, right clothes, but with the hood back so his face was visible. He also had a similar watch on his wrist. It was enough to get a search warrant.”

“They alibied each other?” I blinked hard and tried to follow what Beck was saying. Shayne investing in Mennz made sense; he and Gloria had always gotten on well. I could even see him doing the legwork for Gloria on the design snooping, but arson? “Are you saying they were in it together? The fire? The designs? All of it?”

“We don’t know,” Preston’s voice startled us both and we spun in unison. The detective shot me an apologetic look. “Sorry to put a damper on your night, but I wanted you to be aware, just in case you happened to run into him first.”

“So, it’s definitely Shayne?” I found Beck’s hand and squeezed tight.

Preston nodded. “We’re pretty confident. As well as the footage, we discovered clothing similar to what was worn that night, plus the watch, and we’ll be testing those in addition to a common accelerant we found in his kitchen.” Preston hesitated. “And there was something else.” He glanced between us and my stomach churned.

“He had a folder on his computer, Rhys. It was full of images of you, and a few of both of you. It looked like he’d been following you for a while. The arson could easily have been as much about you and your relationship with Beck as it was about protecting his investment in Mennz.”

“Me?” My mouth ran dry, and Beck’s arm slid around my waist as I quickly scouted the room again. “So, are we in danger?”

Preston’s answer was smooth and even. “We’re simply being cautious until we arrest him, that’s all. Stay and enjoy your evening. There are a lot of people around and Shayne was seen leaving here over an hour ago, so you should be just fine. We have a couple of men stationed throughout the event centre, and there’s one outside each of the two entrances to this room, plus a car outside your house. They’ll follow you to your car when you leave. We don’t expect it to take long to track him down and I’ll call you as soon as we do.”

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