Deadly Obsession by Katie Reus

fire she needed to stay away from.

Chapter 5
    Braden held out his hand as Lilly passed the signed statement to him. “Let me file this and we’ll get out of here.”
    “I still can’t believe this is happening here of all places.” She leaned back in the leather seat and crossed her legs.
    He grabbed a pen from the mesh holder on his desk and signed off on the statement. “We’ve managed to keep things quiet, but after what happened to you today, I think people might talk.”
    A small smile played on her pretty lips and his entire body heated up. “They’re going to be talking anyway. I got a few double takes when we were driving through town today.”
    “Can you blame them? You’ve been gone a long time.” Too damn long. Sometimes he wondered if he’d let her go too easily. He cleared his throat and veered his thoughts in another direction. She’d made a choice and that’s just the way it was. He couldn’t start second guessing himself now. “Tell me about the tattoo on your hip.”
    She shrugged and shifted against the seat. “There’s not much to tell. About two years ago I was in Japan on assignment. One night a couple of the other women and I were out drinking and three of us got tattoos.”
    It didn’t sound like her, but he didn’t comment.
    As if she read his mind, she continued. “It’s not something I’d normally do, but we’d been there nearly six months working our assess off with no down time. I guess I just went crazy that night. I think it’s cute, though.” She said the last part defensively, as if she thought he was judging her.
    “It’s…” Cute wasn’t the word that sprang to mind. Hot, sexy, yes. Cute? No. “What about the people who were with you that night?”
    “Two women who used to be agents, but are now analysts since getting married. I’m in touch with both of them and as far as I know, they’re both still on assignment. One’s in Wyoming, the other is in Germany. My team was a lot bigger than that, but no one else was with us that night.”
    “Has anyone else seen your tattoo?” Somehow he managed to squeeze the question out. His voice even sounded normal. Unfortunately he didn’t want to hear the answer. If someone had seen the tattoo, chances were they’d seen her naked. It might help in narrowing down the suspect list, but it left a foul taste in his mouth.
    “What do you mean?” Her brow furrowed.
    “A boyfriend, one-night stand, whoever. Who’s seen you naked in the past couple years? Any ex-boyfriends who didn’t want to break up?”
    To his surprise, a bright shade of pink spread across her cheekbones. “No one.”
    His disbelieving bark of laughter earned him a nasty glare, but he still pressed her. “There’s been nobody in two years?”
    She glanced down at her hands. “I travel a lot. And it’s been more like three years if you want to get technical. Thanks for reminding me,” she muttered.
    When she met his gaze, he could see the truth in her eyes. And it relieved the hell out of him. The overwhelming sense of relief was unnerving. “Okay, so no ex-boyfriends with a grudge. What about co-workers? Anyone who might hate you enough to do this?”
    As she shook her head, her dark hair swished seductively around her shoulders and he inwardly groaned that he even noticed. “It’s not likely. I work with a lot of the same people, but every six months I’m on a new team in a new location. Everyone I work with has undergone intensive psychological evaluations. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it is improbable.”
    Braden rubbed a hand over his face. “I know it is. I just wanted to cover all our bases. It’s got to be someone we both know anyway. And after what happened to your therapist…this is getting too personal,” he muttered.
    A sharp knock on the glass door interrupted them.
    Detective Isaacs stepped in. She nodded once at Lilly then focused on him. “I just got a call from Laura King that Mallory Spinoza hasn’t opened