Somewhere Only We Know (29 page)

It bothered her a little that she felt she needed a man to tell her what to do and to protect her, but that wasn't the real truth. She just needed Burke. She was falling in love with him.

She smiled at that thought. She'd been falling for him since high school. She should have landed by now. Actually, she had landed, right in the middle of Burke's bed, and it had been the most amazing night of her life. She wanted another night and then one after that, and maybe every night for a long time. She didn't want to jinx it by saying forever, but in her heart she knew that's what she wanted.

She told herself to focus. Today they had other problems to deal with. Whatever was happening with them on a personal level would have to wait.

The sound of the door opening jolted her heart. She froze until she heard Burke's voice. Then she ran out of the kitchen.

He rushed over to her, worry and fear in his eyes.

"Are you all right?" he asked, cupping her face with his hands as his gaze raked over her face and down her body.

"I'm okay."

"Thank God." He pulled her in for a hard, hot kiss that they both really needed, and then said, "I'm sorry I didn't answer my phone. I had it on silent."

"It's fine. You're here now."

"Where are the flowers?"

She tipped her head to the kitchen table. "I wanted to throw them away, but Kate said I should make sure whoever needed to see them saw them."

"Kate was here?"

"She brought Joel over to taste some of my meatballs. They were leaving when I saw the flowers."

"Well, I'm glad you weren't alone."

"The flowers have to be connected to Paul, to the loan shark, don't you think? They're sending me a message that if I don't help Paul, I'm going to end up like those flowers."

His lips tightened. "I don't know. Maybe the Vegas police are still setting up their sting and they haven't been able to shut down the bookie's operation yet. You called Emma, so hopefully Max will be able to tell us what's happening in Vegas." He paused, his expression turning grim. "But those flowers might not have anything to do with Paul."

"Then who?"

"Mitch."

"Why would he send a warning to me? I'm not the one he hates."

"Because you're close to me. He knows me well enough to know that the best way to hurt me would be to hurt someone I care about. You've been staying here. You were at Brady's with me. You came to the firehouse. I'm sure he could have heard about that from his investigator or a buddy in the firehouse."

"He did warn me that day he came here that I should get away from you before I ended up like Leanne."

"This is going to end today, Maddie. I'm going to find him, confront him and talk it all out."

That had been her original suggestion, but now she didn't like it so much. "If he's crazy enough to find dead flowers and drop them off at your door, I don't think you should talk to him alone. I'll come with you."

"No possible way. You're not getting involved."

"I'm already involved."

"I can't take you with me, Maddie, and I'm not just trying to protect you. I think your presence would make things worse."

"Oh. Because he doesn't want to see you with another woman."

He nodded in agreement. "It might set him off. Let me drop you off with Nicole or Emma."

"And put them in danger? I don't think so. If you don't want to take me to Mitch's house, then you need to grab someone else for backup—one of your brothers or cousins."

"I don't want to put them in danger, either. And I can handle Mitch."

"I don't know that you can. He's not in his right mind."

She wanted to see indecision in Burke's dark blue eyes, but all she saw was determination.

"This is between me and Mitch. It always has been. I'll be back soon. I promise."

"I'm going to hold you to that." She pulled his head down for a kiss. "Be safe."

Chapter Twenty

As Burke headed across town, he felt torn. While he needed to talk to Mitch, he hated leaving Maddie alone in the apartment. Despite her brave front, he knew the flowers had shaken her up. But the sooner he confronted Mitch, the sooner this would all be over.

His phone rang and he answered, playing the call through his car speakers. "Hey, Shelby."

"Hi Burke. I need to talk to you. Can we meet?"

"Uh, I can't right now. I'm going to see Mitch."

"Why? What's happened?"

"I have to talk to him."

"We should speak first. I was going through my closets, and I found the file I'd started with Leanne to plan your wedding. She used to send me notes when she saw something in a magazine or online that she thought she might want for her wedding. She'd jot down ideas wherever she was so she wouldn't forget. Anyway, she jotted something down on the back of a note she got from Kelly Hamilton. I don't know if you remember her."

"I do. What did it say?"

"You need to read it for yourself. Leanne wasn't the only one who was involved with Mitch."

"What? Explain that."

"I really can't do it over the phone. When you're done with Mitch, why don't you meet me at Brady's? I'll bring the letter."

He didn't want to wait that long, but he was almost to Mitch's house. "All right. I'll call you when I'm leaving his house."

As he hung up, he wondered about what Shelby had said. Had Kelly lied to him earlier? Had she known more about Leanne and Mitch than she'd let on?

It was time to stop dancing around the source of all of his problems, and that was Mitch.

Mitch owned a small house near Lake Merced on the southern edge of San Francisco. The last time Burke had been to Mitch's home had been for a New Year's Eve party fourteen months before Leanne died. He'd never imagined then that the three of them would become entwined in a mystery and a tragedy such a short time later.

He walked up to the front door and rang the bell, following up the sharp peal with a pounding knock. It felt good to hit something, and while the door was no substitute for Mitch's face, at the moment it took a little of the edge off.

He hit the door again, then yelled, "Open up, Mitch."

No answer.

On impulse, he tried the door, surprised to find it unlocked. He pushed it open and stuck his head into the living room. "Mitch?"

Walking inside, he shut the door behind him. That's when he smelled smoke and saw the filmy whispers dancing through the air. He ran down the hall and through the half-open door to the kitchen.

Mitch was kneeling on the floor, struggling to get up as fire burned around him.

Burke didn't understand why Mitch was having trouble standing up or why he was clutching his throat, giving him a panicked look.

He grabbed Mitch's arm and tried to get him on his feet, but Mitch's weight pulled them both back down to the floor.

"What the hell is wrong with you? We've got to get out of here," he said sharply.

Mitch's eyes were rolling around in his head. "Poison." The word came out like a desperate, pleading whisper.

He didn't know what was going on, but the fire was getting worse. He managed to get his shoulder under Mitch's chest, so he could lift him up and get him out of the kitchen. When he got to the front yard, he put him down and called 9-1-1.

"Help is on the way," he told Mitch.

Mitch was struggling to speak. Finally, he put together two words. "Leanne. Murdered."

Burke swallowed hard. "I didn't kill her. I swear I didn't."

"Not you." Mitch's eyes fluttered closed.

"Stay with me. Dammit, don't you die on me, Mitch!"

Mitch's chest heaved, then stopped moving altogether. Burke immediately began CPR. He heard sirens in the distance. He prayed they would be in time.

Finally, Mitch started breathing again, and his pulse was faint but still present.

The paramedics arrived and took over. He told them that Mitch had said he was poisoned, but he didn't know with what.

Then he moved to the sidewalk to speak to the battalion chief, Ron Carlos, as firefighters raced into the house.

He once again reported what little he knew. He had no idea about the cause of fire, but it appeared that it had been deliberately set. The chief called for a fire investigator, and Burke pulled out his phone to call Max. There were two cops already on the scene, but he wanted Max involved. His brother-in-law told him he was on his way and to stay put.

Burke drew in a long breath as he watched the paramedics load Mitch into the ambulance.

Mitch's words ran through his head:
Leanne. Murdered. Not you
.

He'd thought Mitch was the bad guy, the one threatening his life, but now it appeared that there was someone else involved.

Leanne. Murdered. Not You.

The words ran around in his head again.

His stomach turned over. Had someone really killed Leanne?

Why? Who would do that? And how had Mitch figured it out?

It had to be someone who knew Leanne, who knew Mitch, who would have some personal stake in their deaths.

Kelly
?

Shelby had implied that Kelly and Mitch had been involved in some way.

Was it possible that Kelly had heard about Leanne and Mitch hooking up three years ago and flown into a rage? Had she rammed her car into Leanne's in anger? She'd certainly expressed some negative thoughts about Leanne in their earlier conversation. Kelly had obviously been a little jealous of Leanne. Had she finally gone too far?

But even if Kelly had been responsible for what happened to Leanne, she couldn't have poisoned Mitch and set his house on fire. There hadn't been time—had there?

Several hours had passed since he'd been at her house. But Kelly was pregnant. She was happily married. It didn't make sense, unless she was trying to protect her marriage? Was she afraid that Mitch could spill some terrible secret from her past?

He ran a hand through his hair in confusion and frustration.

Pulling out his phone, he called Maddie. He needed to hear her voice. He needed to talk things out with her. She could help him figure this out.

Her phone rang once then went to voicemail. She had to be on the line. As her voicemail came on, he left a quick message. "Call me back as soon as you get this."

He slipped the phone back into his pocket and paced restlessly around the sidewalk. He knew he should wait for Max. He should find out how the fire started, what kind of poison Mitch had ingested and how. But he couldn't focus on any one task. His stomach was churning, his pulse pounding. If Mitch wasn't the bad guy, then who was?

Should he go back to Kelly's house? Should he go to the hospital and wait for Mitch to wake up? Should he just go home and talk to Maddie?

* * *

"I'm sorry, what?" Maddie asked, her hand tightening around the phone. She couldn't possibly have heard the words correctly. "Burke is hurt? St. Mark's Hospital? Yes, I'll come right now. How bad is it?" The nurse couldn't tell her. She just said to hurry.

Mitch must have gone after Burke again. She should never have let him go to Mitch's place on his own. She should have insisted on going with him.

Grabbing her bag and the keys to the apartment, she ran to the door and opened it. As she stepped into the hall and turned toward the elevator, she heard a heavy footstep behind her.

She hesitated for a split second, started to turn, then something hard and painful came down on her head.

Pain ripped through her skull.

She fell to her knees, her breath caught in her throat from the shock of the attack, her vision blurring. Whoever had hit her was now dragging her into the apartment. She tried to see who it was, but her mind was slipping away.

She'd made a big mistake by leaving the apartment.

She hoped it wouldn't be her last.

* * *

Maddie fought her way back to consciousness. Waves of pain were exploding in her head with every breath. She didn't know what was coming next, but she knew it was going to be bad. She heard the crackle of paper, a muttered swear, but it was the smell of smoke that brought her more fully awake.

She blinked, seeing a yellow-orange flame licking up the curtains by the dining room windows.

Fire
!

She had to get out of the apartment. She tried to move, but her limbs felt weighed down. She finally rolled over onto her side. She tried to reach the edge of the coffee table. If she could push off that, she might be able to get up.

Her blurry vision made her head spin, and she had to take it way too slow. She heard someone coming down the hall…

She needed to get out.

She had made it onto her knees when her assailant came back into the living room.

The woman stared at her with hatred burning through her eyes.

Shelby!

"Why?" she asked in shock, unable to understand how Burke's friend, his coworker, could be setting fire to his apartment.

"He's mine. He always has been. I've been waiting forever for him to realize that. He was almost to that point, and then you came along and ruined everything. I'm not going to stand by and watch the two of you get together like I did before when he fell for Leanne. No, not again. I have worked too long and too hard." She pulled a syringe out of her pocket. "You're going to go to sleep now. Trust me, you won't feel a thing."

"No," she gasped as Shelby started towards her. She kicked out her feet and somehow managed to unbalance Shelby.

It was a momentary victory. Shelby jumped back up, murderous intent in her eyes, a deadly syringe in her hand.

Maddie struggled against the pain, the paralysis. She had to find a way to push past it.

Shelby grabbed her arm and at the same time she brought a heavy booted foot down on Maddie's leg, holding her in place.

"Don't make this hard," Shelby bit out. "It's just going to be more painful for you."

The smoke in the apartment was getting thicker. "Fire," she got out. "You're going to die, too."

Shelby shifted slightly to see how the fire was progressing and Maddie tried to slip out from under her, but Shelby immediately pushed her back down. As she lifted her arm to inject Maddie with the needle, the door flew open.