Jan Hambright - On Fire

Before the choked notes of Savannah’s scream registered in his brain. He bolted, raced down the hall into the master bedroom. Wisps of steam clouded the air. He stopped short in the bathroom doorway, just as she pulled a towel from the bar and wrapped it around herself. Desire blazed through him like a blowtorch on high.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

Kade followed Savannah’s gesture and focused on the bold letters on the shower door.

Etched on the glass and outlined in moisture was a message:

“BURNING FOR YOU.”

Savannah had become the next target….

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To the men and women who answer the page every day

at great risk to their own safety. Thank you.

To Peggy, Janis and Lynn, the brainstorm babes.

Thank you.

For my mom and Grandma. Wish you were here,

but I know you’re stuck in heaven.

Jan Hambright penned her first novel at seventeen, but claims it was pure rubbish. However, it did open the door on her love for storytelling. Born in Idaho, she resides there with her husband, three of their five children, a three-legged watchdog and a spoiled horse named Texas, who always has time to listen to her next story idea while they gallop along.

A self-described adrenaline junkie, Jan spent ten years as a volunteer EMT in rural Idaho, and jumped out of an airplane at ten thousand feet, attached to a man with a parachute, just to celebrate turning forty. Now she hopes to make your adrenaline level rise along with that of her danger-seeking characters. She would like to hear from her readers and hopes you enjoy the story world she has created for you. Jan can be reached at P.O. Box 2537, McCall, Idaho 83638.

Kade Decker—An ex-fireman turned arson investigator, he barely survived a fire that killed the victim he was trying to rescue. Now back home in Montgomery, Alabama, he’s faced with a revenge arsonist’s rampage.

Savannah Dawson—Being psychic has always felt like a curse. But when a recurring nightmare drives her to one arson fire after another, she becomes Kade Decker’s prime suspect. Can she use her abilities to help him solve the crime?

Nick Brandt—Montgomery Police Department’s lead detective, and Kade’s college buddy.

George Welte—One of psychologist Savannah Dawson’s patients, his obsessive, pyro-personality seems highly suspicious.

Shane Murphy—He likes to watch. Likes to videotape the fires. But is it a crime?

Todd Coleman—Kade’s new next-door neighbor has always wanted to join the fire department.

Incident Commander Fisk—An old friend of Kade’s father, a Montgomery fireman before he died doing what he loved. Fisk is at every fire scene, giving the knock-down orders and keeping an eye on Kade.

Don Watson—A savvy forensic technician, and the man with the answers.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Flames raged at the sky, reaching for the stars above, hazing them in a veil of thick black smoke.

Kade Decker trained his camera lens on the crowd behind a strip of yellow crime-scene tape, and clicked off a couple of shots.

He pulled back from the viewfinder and turned to watch the fire devour the vacant house, consuming the last of its corpse like a hungry animal, out of control.

Fire department practice burns drew pyromaniacs; he just hoped theirs decided to make an appearance tonight. He’d made sure the department publicized the information, hoping to capture an image he could use in his investigation.

Steam billowed into the air as the fire crew opened the valves on their hoses, turning water loose on the flames and ending their fiery feast.

He turned back to the crowd, which had begun to disperse, feeling some of their disappointment as they disappeared into the darkness one by one, their excitement put out along with the fire.

Raising the camera, he stared through the viewfinder and adjusted the focus.

The woman whose image he dialed in stood on the fringe of the scene, dressed in a long white gown.

Kade squeezed off a shot and lowered the camera, intrigued by her presence, dressed like an angel at such a hellish event.

“Hey, Decker.”

“Yeah.” He turned toward the fire chief.

“You get what you needed?”

“Let’s hope. This blaze drew some strange ones. Maybe we caught an image of our guy. We’ll compare these pictures with the police department videos. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

“Hope so.” The chief nodded and walked away.

Kade turned around, determined to speak to the woman. He scanned the remains of the crowd, but she was gone.

Disappointment rattled through him as he let the camera drop and hang from the strap around his neck. Squeezing the handle of his cane, he limped toward his car, anxious to get the pictures down to the station.

The Montgomery arsonist was still out there, burning, and he had to be stopped before someone died.

“BRING HER IN for questioning.” Kade leveled his gaze on Nick Brandt, Montgomery’s lead detective and his old college roommate. Tension wound around his nerves. He needed this job like he needed the air in the room.

“Do you want my expertise?”

“I won’t BS you, we need your help. The department is shorthanded. This heat wave is stretching services thin and the arson fires have everyone on edge.”

Kade refocused on the paused frame of video, studying the woman silhouetted against a wall of flame.

The woman in white…the same woman he’d taken photos of at the practice burn two nights ago. “Who is she?”

“Doctor Savannah Dawson. A local psychologist. The department has used her on some tough cases. She has a knack for finding the truth.”

“She works the mental angle?”

“You could say that.”

He didn’t like the embarrassed grin on Nick’s face or the feeling there was more to the story than he was willing or able to share.

“We did a background check going back ten years. She grew up in Atlanta, moved here five years ago. She’s a model citizen, well respected…”

“Beautiful.” Kade finished the sentence and felt a jolt of irritation rattle his nerves. “She’s a looker, but that’s not a perquisite for exclusion. How do you explain her presence in four pieces of department footage taken at the arson scenes, and again at the practice burn?”

“I can’t.”

“Then let me do my job. If she’s innocent, she’ll walk out of here. Take the first round of interrogation if it makes you feel better. I’ll watch, see what I can pick up.”

His friend straightened and he tapped him on the shoulder. “What’s the problem? You have a hot date with her, and handcuffs don’t go with your dinner jacket?”

Nick smirked. “Nah.”

“Too bad.” He watched his buddy leave the room and turned back to the TV screen. Pulling his tie loose from his shirt collar, he peeled the top button out of its loop, letting some heat out.

July in Montgomery was a scorcher and the heat wave showed no sign of letting up, but neither was the arsonist who’d set three fires in a week. Same MO, same general area.

The woman caught on video hovering nearby at every scene was a break he couldn’t afford to ignore. It was textbook, he could feel it in his bones. Arsonists enjoyed babysitting their creations. Was she any different? He’d have her confession before the day closed, then he could wrap things up. Put a notch in his belt, prove he was capable, again, and not just coasting on his father’s good name.