Trial by Fire (Southern Heat Book 4) Read online

  15

  Seth

  “What do you mean, she’s not here?”

  The desk clerk shrugged. “Don’t know what to tell you, Man. There’s no answer in her room and I’m not letting you in there without her say-so.”

  Seth nodded. He wasn’t going to protest. A desk clerk that actually gave a damn was probably the only thing this place had going for it. He could too easily imagine God knows who pulling up in the middle of the night and insisting that the clerk take them to Maya’s room, that her “uncle” needed to see her urgently. Hell, maybe they wouldn’t even bother with that. If what he and Liam had been hypothesizing was possible, they’d probably just follow her and shoulder in the door when no one was looking. Seth smiled politely at the clerk, forcing himself not to react to the thought. Yep, he was moving her out of here as fast as possible. “Any idea where she might be?”

  The dude shrugged again and then turned around, bellowing over his shoulder. “Ruby! Any idea where the chick from North Carolina was going?”

  Okay, so maybe not such a great bet for Maya’s security after all.

  “The library!” A woman yelled out from the back room. Ruby, he presumed. “She asked me directions this morning, after asking for more coffee. We’re all out.”

  Okay, so Maya was in need of a new place to stay and caffeine. He mumbled his thanks and walked back out to his truck. The library was safer than the motel, and he could stop for a cup of coffee for her. And a muffin. Along with his gut feeling about the fire, he’d also bet money that Maya hadn’t stopped to eat anything that morning.

  He swung his truck out onto the highway again, and after a pit stop at the coffee cart outside the building, walked into the library and found Maya, safe and—he was thankful—seated at the casual reading tables at the front where food was allowed. A pile of newspapers surrounded her and she was scribbling notes on a legal pad. As he approached, she huffed out a breath and rubbed a hand over her eyes. Crap. It was obvious that she was still upset when he’d dropped her off the night before, but he had hoped she would have at least been able to get a reasonable night’s sleep. He hadn’t wanted to drop her back at the motel, but she’d insisted, saying that she needed some time to herself. That was understandable, that and the little voice at the back of his mind confirming that of course she wouldn’t want to be around him after he’d dropped such a bombshell. He’d backed off and after waiting until she was safely inside, driven home and tried to get a small measure of sleep himself before his shift started. Seth’s grip on the coffee cup tightened. Last night was the last time that was happening. Maya was spending another night alone at that motel over his dead body. If anyone wanted her, then they’d have to get through him first. He may be the rookie, but he was no pushover.

  Seth forced the thoughts from his mind and focused back on Maya. Her forehead was subtly lined in concentration and her pencil tapped against the legal pad as she roughly turned through the pages of the newspaper in front of her. He glanced downward. Her foot was tapping under the table again, too. Maybe a triple shot coffee wasn’t the best idea.

  She looked up suddenly, the tapping stopping as she caught sight of him. Despite the tiredness around her eyes, the smile that spread across her face when she caught sight of him made his entire day. It was barely eight a.m., but nothing was going to top that smile. Nothing ever would.

  Maya raised her hands, gesturing wildly at him. He frowned, then broke into a chuckle when he realized her intent. She wasn’t madly grabbing at him—though he had to force back something else at the thought—but at the coffee cup in his hand.

  “Gimme gimme,” she said, still grinning.

  Seth pulled out a chair on the other side of the table and presented the lidded cup to her with a flourish, passing her the brown paper bag with the muffin inside. “I come bearing cake. Well, sort of.”

  Maya opened the bag and then almost stuck her entire face inside, inhaling deeply. “Lemon raspberry. My favorite.”

  She took a large sip of the coffee, groaning with appreciation as it hit her tongue, and Seth had to adjust himself in his seat. He waved an arm out over the piles of paper. “So what you got here?”

  Maya made a face, despite another sip of coffee following the first. “This is newspapers for the last year. Apparently, nothing is digitized yet. I wanted to search for any reports about the judge or local FBI involvement in anything for a few months either side.”

  Either side of that night. She didn’t need to say it.

  “Have you found anything?”

  There was that face again, with a lemon raspberry muffin chaser this time. “A lot of noise, but probably nothing useful.” She tapped a newspaper lying open just to the left of the main pile. “You were right about the judge. He was generally accepted as fair and just—among the law-abiding citizens, that is. But he definitely had his detractors.” She shrugged. “Of course, nothing could ever be proven, but there were rumors that some of the cases the judge was assigned to were more connected than the casual observer might realize.”

  He nodded. “The Dixie Mafia.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “And you know about them how?”

  “Judge Turner was from here, lived here for a lot of the year. Even if it wasn’t his permanent residence anymore, didn’t stop the ladies at the grocery store from gossiping. It was his pet project; most people around here knew something about it.”

  Maya’s face relaxed and she reached forward for another pile of papers. Seth picked up her coffee cup and quickly moved it out of the way before her definitely much-needed caffeine became a casualty. She spread them out over the table, jabbing her pencil at the headlines. “They’re not as organized as in the North, but that doesn’t appear to make them any less deadly.”

  Seth scanned the papers. Jersey Murder Case to Grand Jury, Scam Defendant Denies Murder Involvement, Parolee Links to Killing, Officials Say Simpson May be Deeply Involved in Case. Each headline was about a separate case, but if you read between the lines, and spent some time tying together lose ends, it didn’t take much to see a pattern.

  Maya nodded, pulling her laptop over to her and opening the lid. “See, you see it, too. And the FBI were right in the thick of it, have been for years. Ever since the death of another judge and his wife in the 1980’s. Maybe before then. Who knows? At the time, that group of the Dixie Mafia had their hands in anything and everything they could find in Mississippi. Maybe they’ve expanded.”

  Seth stood and moved behind her, one hand resting on the back of her chair as his eyes skimmed the research she had open on the screen. His stomach dropped as he read the details. A sitting state circuit judge and his wife, each shot in the head four times and found dead in their home. No sign of forced entry. It had taken over ten years to finally crack open the case. A leader in the Dixie Mafia had accused the judge—falsely—of stealing money from an extortion scheme and had ordered the hit.

  A judge, killed in his home, as revenge by the Dixie Mafia.

  Seth felt the chill down to his bones.

  Maybe they had expanded. Maybe they were here.

  16

  Maya

  Any good mood that Seth’s arrival with coffee had generated evaporated. She’d half expected Seth to scoff at her theory. Lord knows she’d come up with it on very little sleep. Instead, he’d leaned in, his face moving from frowning to outright concern as he’d read over her shoulder. By the time he moved to sit across from her again, any trace of a smile was completely gone. “The FBI have definitely been involved in cases surrounding them,” he said, scrolling along his phone screen. “They still are.” He handed his phone over, the screen left on an article from last month. They had exposed an entire county sheriff’s office as housing a criminal enterprise, and experts believed the organization was thriving in southern states despite many people never having heard of them. The article’s writer was an expert at covering their own ass, saying they hadn’t been able to find a provable link between law enforcement
and the mafia members, but once again reading between the lines brought up yet more questions. Maya sat back in her chair, looking off into the distance as she racked her brain. Jesse had been incredibly tight-lipped about his work, but maybe there was something—just one little thing—he’d said in passing, or that without context wouldn’t have meant anything, but could help her now. She didn’t even know what type of cases he’d worked on. Could he have been involved in something similar—proving local law enforcement was in league with a criminal organization?

  She looked up at Seth and saw the flash of understanding in his eyes. “No way,” he said. He reached over and pocketed his phone, keeping his gaze on hers. “Maybe a few counties over, maybe even in Atlanta, but the cops here in Monroe are on the straight and narrow. We work with these guys every day, go to department barbecues with them. I’d know if something wasn’t right.”

  Maya said nothing, her mind spinning a million miles an hour. The look on Seth’s face was honest, earnest, and open. He believed what he was saying, that much was definitely true. Her lips narrowed into a thin line. That didn’t mean he was right. Seth, she trusted, and by extension Liam and the rest of the guys in his company. For the rest, she’d keep her eyes—and mind—open.

  Seth leaned back in his chair, mimicking her movement. The action felt like more to Maya, as if he was pulling back from her also. She shook the thought away. She was just being silly, emotional. She was due that after yesterday. She scrubbed a hand over her face. Fuck, if she wanted to take that line of thought, she was due that after the week she’d had, even the month. That didn’t mean she had to give in. She looked over at Seth. He held a newspaper in his hand, but he wasn’t reading it, not really. She lifted her hand, moving to reach out and then dropped back. She was fucking this up entirely. Just two days before, she’d made the decision that she was going to stop making Jesse’s case her entire life. She’d given herself permission to stop letting her anger and grief take over her entire world, to be open to new things, to feeling new things. Seth had shown her that there was still plenty of life available for her and that all she had to do was reach out and take it. He’d given her no reason not to trust him. In fact, he’d taken several big steps for her that could cause him problems, both professionally and personally. So why, when the first suggestion of conflict came along, did she pull back?

  She looked upward, her head shaking slightly and taking a deep breath. In the end, someone on the local force could be corrupt or not. It didn’t matter. If Jesse was innocent—and she had to believe that—then someone had to have done what he was accused of. That someone could be literally anyone—even a member of law enforcement. And they weren’t going to take kindly to her digging around, period. It all came down to whether or not she trusted those around her who were offering help, who were promising to keep her safe. Maya looked his way and her gaze connected with Seth’s. Emotion burned hot in his eyes. She couldn’t deny it any longer. There was something there, a connection she wanted to explore. In the end, she trusted him. That was all that mattered. The rest would come regardless.

  “Seth, I’m sorry.”

  He held up a hand. “No, it’s okay. I can’t expect you to take my word for any of this. Not after what happened to your brother.”

  She reached over, grabbed his hand and pulled it into hers. Seth’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. It wasn’t the first time they’d held hands. There’d been small touches, caresses between them, almost from the beginning. But it had been Seth that had initiated them, Maya realized. He’d been the one to squeeze her shoulder, to take her hand when she was upset. He’d also been the one whose touch had lingered when they said goodbye, who’d held her yesterday in Meg’s office when it felt like her entire world had cracked open. She squeezed his hand and was rewarded by a flash of heat in his eyes. She’d made her decision. Now she was going to jump.

  “Seth, I trust you.”

  His eyes blazed but he said nothing. She frowned, but then he stood, moving swiftly toward her, never dropping the connection of their hands. In one broad step he was standing right in front of her. Seth brought their joined hands to his chest, holding her palm flat against him with his hand resting softly over it. The hard planes of his muscles shifted beneath her fingers as he drew her closer. Maya resisted the urge to slide her hands over his chest, down his abs, and lower. Instead she lifted her head, locking her gaze with his. Seth’s eyes were bright, his pupils dilated. Still he said not a word. His hand reached out, tracing along her cheek, then her chin, before moving to her lips. One finger skated across her lips, tugging on the lower one. Her tongue darted out, moistening them, tracing over where his finger had been, and Seth uttered a low groan. His hand moved to the back of her head, holding it gently in place as his head dropped down and his lips met hers.

  His mouth moved over hers, taking what he wanted. Unlike his earlier touches, he wasn’t gentle. Any question whether the touches between them had been innocent evaporated. Seth’s lips were fiery, passionate, his tongue pushing forward and tangling with hers, plundering. His hand reached around to the small of her back, pulling her tighter against him. Every curve of her body molded to his hard form. Her breath caught in her throat. She knew Seth was in good shape, but now she could feel every hard inch of him pressed against her. She finally let her hand explore: his broad chest, the bumps forming his abs. Seth’s hips thrust forward, moving only inches, and yet it was enough for her to feel just how hard he was, everywhere. Goosebumps skittered across every inch of exposed skin. His mouth was warm, unyielding. His taste was slightly bitter from the coffee, tangy sweet from the piece of muffin she’d shared with him, and entirely male. His hands wound in her hair and she was lost to his mouth.

  Sometime later—seconds, hours, who knew—the sound of sliding doors and papers shuffling broke through her consciousness. Seth’s lips broke away from hers and Maya groaned. Her head dropped forward on his chest as their surroundings came back to her. They were in the damn library! Her cheeks heated. How many people had seen her practically climbing Seth like a tree in the middle of the town? Her shoulders hunched and she buried her face in his shirt. She inhaled deeply, trying to catch her breath, and the masculine scent that invaded her senses made her nearly start exploring him all over again.

  Seth chuckled, tipping her head up. His eyes were still focused on hers, now filled with a warm glow. The fire was still there, but it was different, softer. He bent forward and brushed his lips against hers again, pulling away this time after a single soft caress. “Maya, if we weren’t in public right now.” A small shudder ran through him and she smiled. Good to know she wasn’t the only one affected so deeply. His lips turned down slightly at the corners. “Are you okay? Was that too much?”

  It was her turn to move now, reaching up and placing a finger over his lips. “Shhh. It was perfect.”

  He turned, his hand dropping away from her back. “Still. I shouldn’t have . . . that’s not why.”

  “Seth, stop.” She took a deep breath. Here went nothing. “I’m not blind. I could feel this between us, I just didn’t want to admit it.” She perched on the edge of the table, curling her fingers around the edge and resting against it. “I just didn’t want to give in to it. Doing anything other than proving Jesse’s innocence, taking time for myself, well, it felt like a betrayal to his memory.” Seth’s eyes softened and he reached for her again, pulling her against his chest. His embrace was welcome, even healing. She kept talking, her head resting against his chest. “It was something Meg said, actually. That I shouldn’t let Jesse’s death get in the way of honoring his life. It’s something I’ve been thinking about the last couple of days.” She pulled back, leaving her hands resting on his biceps. “I still need to do this, Seth, but if it’s okay with you, I want you by my side while I do.”

  Seth’s smile could have lit up the entire room. “Darlin’, there’s nothing that would please me more.”

  17

  Seth

  S
eth marveled at the feel of Maya wrapped up in his arms. He’d been imagining it all week, the thought of her body pressed against his, her hands resting against his skin. Sure, they were usually wearing less clothing in his fantasies, but this right here, standing in the library, already blew all his fantasies away. Her skin was soft, half lit by her adorable blush, the other just her natural glow. He’d surprised her, taking her mouth and kissing the living daylights out of her in the middle of the room. She might have been a little embarrassed, but from the twinkle in her eye and the softness of her body as it yielded against his, she’d enjoyed it as much as he had.

  I trust you.

  When she’d said those words, it was as if something had given way inside of him. All his restraint gone in an instant. Her eyes had been open wide and locked with his, nothing but acceptance on her face. He’d asked her to take a leap, trust in him and his ability to keep her safe, even if they were walking down a potentially dangerous path. She’d given that to him, and it made him feel ten feet tall.

  He leaned back, resting next to her on the table’s edge, and wrapped an arm around her waist, tucking her in next to him again. Now that he’d tasted her once, Seth didn’t want to let her go. He grinned to himself. It might make navigating around the world a little difficult, but now that he had permission to touch her, to caress her, to kiss her—he didn’t want to stop.

  Maya shifted so her head was resting on his shoulder as she looked up at him. The stress lining her eyes since last night had finally started to lessen. He’d keep kissing her if he could do that each time. “So what’s the next step?” she asked.