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She ignored that. “And Calla? You really did beat her up, didn’t you?”
“No. I wish I had, but no. She said that so I’d have to stay away from her.” He frowned. “Now that won’t be a problem.”
“Where does she fit in? Was she after the Merricks, too?”
“No. She wanted to bring the Guides here.” He pointed at her with the knife. “Mission accomplished, huh?”
“Why?”
He punched the ground with his fist. “I don’t know why! She kept threatening to keep starting fires if I couldn’t bring more Guides here. I never expected her to blow up the whole carnival.” His voice almost broke. “You think I wanted all those kids to die? I should have stopped her, Kate. I should have stopped her two weeks ago. I should have—”
He dropped her knife and pressed his fists into his eyes.
She could stab him right now and he wouldn’t move a muscle to stop her.
Her hands fell on his shoulders, light and gentle and completely unexpected.
He dropped his fists to look at her, and her face was close. She knelt in the leaves in front of him, her green eyes soft and close.
“You’re a mess,” she said.
eded answers.
We need to talk about last night.
That statement could be about so many things.
Some were pleasant.
Some were not.
And there was only one way to find out which ones she wanted to talk about.
CHAPTER 17
Kate was waiting for him.
Hunter didn’t spot her at first: she wore tight gray jeans and a slim-fitting olive-green tank that blended with the tree line at the edge of the carnival grounds. The sky still hung heavy with clouds, but the rain had stopped, leaving the field nothing but a soggy, charred mess. None of the carnival equipment had been removed. All the bodies sure had.
Almost everything was roped off with yellow crime scene tape.
Thank god his jeep had four-wheel drive—even so, he parked before it got too bad. He had to step through muddy tire ruts to get to her.
The place was deserted, but it felt haunted, as if the carnage from last night had left an impact in the very air.
Casper loped along beside him, happy for the adventure.
She wasn’t armed, unless she had something at the small of her back, but it took everything he had not to let his eyes linger on her form. Her eyes were fierce, her shoulders thrown back, her mouth sexy as hell.
He glanced around. “What’s with the cryptic meeting place?”
She ignored him. “What are you doing with the Merricks?”
Wow. As if that wasn’t a loaded question.
But he could play this game, too. “You know what happened with my grandfather. They’re letting me crash there for a while.” He paused. “Why?”
“Don’t play stupid.”
