Page 54 of Hotter than Wildfire

“That’s not much help,” Harry said sourly. “Only narrows the area to about a hundred square miles. Maybe more.”

“Yeah.” Mike checked a pad where he’d taken notes. “This isn’t for public consumption yet, but the way they’re figuring it, the guy was buried then disinterred. By the state of decomposition of the body, they’re figuring he was killed seven days ago, maybe more. That’s about all they’ve got. No leads, no clues. We might suspect who did it, but so far there’s no evidence linking anyone, let alone Gerald Montez, to the murder.” He closed his note pad. “But I’m going to send my pal an email telling him to look into Gerald Montez’s whereabouts, and why.”

Ellen looked up, her face miserable. “Local law enforcement around Prineville is in Gerald’s pocket. He cultivates officers. Offers them free shooting time, gives generously to police charities, hires some guys from the police department from time to time. He pays them very well. I don’t think you’ll get any help from them. Gerald could be standing over a dead body with a smoking gun in his hand and they’d look the other way.”

“Well, you can be sure Seattle PD isn’t in Montez’s pocket,” Mike said grimly. “And my guy there is a good guy. No one’s going to buy him off. Ex Marine.” He said it as if it cinched his argument. Mike was incredibly proud of having been a Marine and he kept in contact with former Marines all over the country. Marines were good guys. Semper fraternis. The second half of the motto. Always brothers

Harry was former Delta. Delta operators were sneaky and calculating. It was the nature of their job, a lot of which was undercover. It wasn’t impossible to imagine a former operator sliding over to the dark side. Not a Marine, though.

Ellen looked like she was having trouble taking it all in.

He sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders, feeling the deep shudders going through her. She leaned into him gratefully, huddling against him as if for warmth.

His natural impulse was to pace the floor, a way of shaking the rage that pulsed through him. But Ellen needed his warmth and strength so he had to tuck the rage away and concentrate on her.

And, of course, the fucker after her. The one who’d massacred her agent.

It was all over the news now. Partly because Roddy Fisher was a really big name on the Seattle music scene and partly because of the way he’d died. Tortured, shot in the head, then his long-dead naked body handcuffed to a railing in Kerry Park.

The park’s security cameras had been blanked at a quarter to four in the morning when the body had been displayed. At 3:45 the cameras had blanked, at 4:20 am Fisher’s body had appeared.

It was really hard for Harry to even think with Ellen so terrified and distraught next to him. It had taken the three men and Nicole half an hour to convince her that she wasn’t responsible for Fisher’s death.

That would be the fucker Montez.

“Here, sweetie, drink up.” Nicole placed a cup of tea in Ellen’s hand. It shook as it emerged from the blanket. Harry cupped his hand around hers so she wouldn’t spill boiling tea all over herself and he nearly winced at how icy cold her hand felt. She was in shock.

He’d told Nicole to put a ton of honey and a finger of whiskey in the tea and she’d nodded.

“Go ahead, honey. Drink,” he said quietly, lifting his hand toward her mouth. She shuddered again and sipped.

“Thanks, Nicole.” Ellen looked up, tried to smile for Sam’s wife and Harry’s heart nearly broke. Her world had been shattered once again. Sam and Mike were standing, tense and angry, spoiling for a fight.

Harry was really really glad they were on his side because right now he was a wreck. He’d lost all his analytical powers and was tuned exclusively to the shivering, lost, beautiful woman by his side.

“I’m so sorry, Nicole.” Ellen whispered for the hundredth time. She looked at Harry, Sam and Mike. “I’m so sorry to have involved you in all of this. I need to go, to⁠—“

“Bullshit!” Harry exploded. He felt like his head was going to blow apart.

“Dude, can it.” Mike’s deep bass was steady. “You’re not helping.” He crouched down in front of Ellen and took her free hand, enclosing it his two huge hands.

“This is not your fault. None of this is even remotely your fault, Ellen. Montez is a bad guy and he has to be stopped. We’ll do it because that’s what we do. You don’t worry about us.”

Ellen swallowed convulsively, her long white throat working. Her mouth was trembling, tears at the corner of her eyes. “What if something happens to you? To Harry or Sam or you or…or Nicole? Because of me? I couldn’t stand it. I’d rather be dead. This is my fight, I can’t drag you guys into it.”

“We’re already in.” Sam said grimly. “No turning back. So you need to go over everything again for us. Tell us everything you know. The more intel we have the better we can find this fu—asshole and take care of him.”

Ellen breathed shakily, in and out. Harry held her even more tightly against him. Another shudder ran through her.

She’d been on the run for a year. She’d been shot. They should get off her case. “It’s okay, honey,” he said gently. “Maybe some other time⁠—“

“No!” Ellen threw her head back, eyes closed, clearly gathering her strength. When her eyes opened again, the shivering was gone. Hands and gaze steady. She stayed like that for a minute, two. Harry could actually see her resolve shaping. “I can do this. If you guys are taking him on, you need all the ammunition I can give you. I can’t let you down.”

Harry saw Mike and Sam exchange glances. Good girl. The words were in the room, though they didn’t say them aloud. At that moment, Harry admired Ellen more than anyone he knew.

He and Sam and Mike had made sure that they were well equipped to deal with the monsters in the world. They were all super proficient with weapons of every shape and size and Mike—well. Mike was probably one of the best sharpshooters in the world. They were all big, strong men, trained in martial arts. They’d all been in firefights and had prevailed. They had all the tools in hand to track down and destroy someone like Montez.

But Ellen…shit, Ellen had nothing in her to fight him with. She was alive because she was smart and thought fast on her feet and because luck had been on her side. She was brave, but bravery without skills to back it up was really just another way to get yourself killed.