Page 79 of Through the Fire
“Sure, but let’s go with woman, rather than girl.” She climbed into the passenger seat of his truck and slid over to the middle of the bench seat so Justice could get in.
“My woman.” He was grinning as he got into the driver’s seat. “I can live with that.”
Chapter 23
As they made their slow way down Wes’s road, Kit tried to relax. Nothing you can do until we get there, she reminded herself. She wished she’d taken the few minutes to use Wes’s radio to call in the information she’d just received, but then she caught herself. What could she have said over the radio? It was going to be hard enough to convince the other cops in person that Elena was their murder suspect. There was nothing she could’ve said over an unsecured channel that would’ve helped.
“With this snow, this drive will take longer than usual.” His gaze fell to her right foot, and she realized she was pressing it hard to the floor, as if she had a gas pedal under it.
“I know.” She consciously relaxed her muscles and resisted the urge to bounce her knee up and down in impatience. “Ignore me. I’m not a good passenger.”
Although he kept his eyes on the narrow, snow-covered road, he smiled. “I don’t believe that. You’re good at everything.”
She laughed. “Nope. Remember what I told you about me being the black death when it comes to computers?”
He shrugged, not looking like he cared about her technology-crashing curse, and gave her a sideways look that made her want to tell him to pull over so she could thoroughly kiss him again. Elena’s still free and doing who-knows-what, she reminded herself, instantly sobering. She needed to get this taken care of, and then she could enjoy whatever it was that she and Wes had jumped into last night.
When they turned off onto the highway, it was evident that the plows had made at least one pass, and Wes was able to speed up a little. He shifted in his seat, drawing her attention. She rarely saw him look uncomfortable or anxious, and she wondered what was wrong.
“Would you…” He cleared his throat. “I’d like to go on another date with you, if you would be amenable.”
Despite the worry coiling through her, Kit grinned. “I would be amenable.”
His tension eased, and his smile returned. “Good. I’m hoping that we can avoid any fires or kidnappings this time.”
“I think we should be able to manage that.” She frowned. “Although we might need to leave town for that to happen.”
Pulling out her cell phone, Kit saw that she finally had reception, so she tried calling Theo. When he didn’t answer, she called Hugh.
“Greenie!” he boomed, making her pull the phone away from her ear so he didn’t deafen her. “How was your wild night with our local fire spotter?”
“Ah…” Taken off guard by his accurate description—it had been a pretty wonderful wild night—she hesitated, shooting a sideways glance at Wes. By his pleased smirk, he’d heard Hugh’s question. “Not really relevant. I’m headed to the station now. Are you at the viner?”
“Nope, I’m at Jules’s. The mysterious Mateo Espina will be here soon, and I have a couple more questions for him. Figured I’d catch him before he left town and started ignoring my calls.”
“Is Theo with you?” As they rounded a curve, the rear of the truck slid out toward the shoulder. Without looking bothered, Wes corrected the skid and then slowed slightly. Even though Kit knew it would take even longer to get into town if they slid into a ditch, the creeping pace was driving her up a wall.
“Yeah, he’s around here somewhere. Why?” He must’ve picked up on her tension, since his joking tone had changed to a serious one.
“I talked to one of Wes’s neighbors. He saw someone coming out of the house right before the fire started.”
“Which neighbor?” Hugh sounded intrigued, but wary, too.
“Murphy. Do you know him?”
“I know of him. What was he doing in the woods?”
She couldn’t tell what that implied. “Checking his leg-hold traps. From what he said—”
“He told you he was in the woods, setting illegal traps?” Hugh interrupted, and Kit resisted the urge to thump her head against the dash.
“No. Wes warned me about the leg-hold traps. Murphy just mentioned the trapping part.”
“There’s no way Murphy talked to a cop.”
Now Kit wanted to thump Hugh on the head. What did any of this matter when she’d found an actual witness who’d put Elena at the scene of the crime? “He didn’t know until he saw the back of my coat. Then he ran.”
