Crash & Burn
Savannah Kade
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents are either a product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Contents
Join Savannah
Also by Savannah Kade
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Afterword
About the Author
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Novels by Savannah Kade:
The WILDER Books:
Our Song
Heartstrings
Love Notes
Music & Lyrics
The Wilder Complete Book Set
That Night in Nashville
Georgia Grace
The TOUCH OF MAGICK Series:
WishCraft
DreamWalker
LoveSpelled
SoulFire
ShadowKiss
The Touch of Magick Series: Complete Set
The AGAINST ALL ODDS Series:
Steal My Heart
Call Me Yours
Ask Me to Stay
Promise Me Always
Against All Odds Complete Set
The BREATHLESS Series:
Gifted
Perfect
Ruined
Rebel
Lucky
Charmed
Saved
Dreamer
The DARK FALLS Series
Dark Falls - Lori Ryan
Dark Secrets - Savannah Kade
Dark Legacy - Trish McCallan
Dark Nightmares - Becca Jameson
Dark Terror - Sandra Owens
Dark Burning - Lori Ryan
Dark Echoes - Savannah Kade
Dark Memories - Sandra Owens
Dark Rage - Becca Jameson
Dark Tidings - Trish McCallan
Dark Obsession - Lisa-Marie Cabrelli
Dark Passion - Lori Ryan
Chapter One
Maggie Willis bolted upright in her bed, the sounds of the old springs squeaking obscured whatever might have woken her.
Her heart raced from a bad dream … or that’s what she told herself as she pressed her palm flat to her chest and strained to hear over the pounding of her own blood.
It’s just the old house. Old houses creaked.
She was in a new place—new town, new job, new life—and that’s all it was. All the new combined with the old—old bed, old house, old fears—was making her jumpy.
She strained again to listen for more strange noises but now, of course, everything was quiet except the wind. And no one could blame the wind for blowing.
I should have gotten a cat, Maggie told herself as she punched at the pillow again. Then any odd sounds could have easily been written off. Because, seriously? Who would even bother with this old place? It had cabbage rose wallpaper and hand cut wood floors that would have been beautiful had they not been gouged and scratched by her great aunt Abbie’s tenants over the years. The place needed enough repair that, if anyone did break in, Maggie should threaten them with a hammer and put them to work.
Aunt Abbie’s house had often felt sinister to Maggie. As a kid, when she’d first come to visit, the creaks had sounded like the house was attempting to talk. Though the house seemed large and borderline-haunted, Aunt Abbie herself had always been warm, giving, and loving. And Maggie, the oldest of her sister’s grandchildren, had been Abbie’s favorite. Thus, the old place was hers now.
The reading of Aunt Abbie’s will, had made hope bloom in her chest. This old house and Abbie’s legacy had seemed like the perfect escape from all the sides closing in on her in Los Angeles. Now, not so much.
Laying her head back down, exhausted and knowing that she would wake up again at the slightest sound, Maggie tried to ignore the noises. But once her ear hit the pillow, everything was magnified.
She heard a door creaking open downstairs, and she sat up again, stunned.
Was someone really in the house?
Aunt Abbie had always told her that her pillow would magnify small sounds into something they weren’t. But …
Her chest heaved with cold fear as she debated heading down to search—what weapon did she even have?—Maggie listened again.
Nothing.
But as her ear hit the pillow she couldn’t tell if what she heard was footsteps or just the amplified rush of her own pulse.
Chapter Two
Pushing the stroller, Maggie wheeled Hannah into the fire station and hoped the guys weren’t out on a call. Everything was going wrong today so it would just figure if she walked all the way down here and they weren’t even in. If there was a fire, they could be gone for hours.
At least she and Hannah had a good walk, and she consoled herself that she’d be done babysitting soon. Still, hanging out her shingle and trying to start up a solo legal practice in a small town was turning out to be no easy feat. She didn’t have time to wait around.
As she peered in through the bay doors, she didn’t see anyone. That wasn’t a good sign. Still she rolled the stroller past the shiny red engine.
As she reached for the door that led into the station offices, it swung wide and Hannah squealed.
“HannahBean!” Sebastian grinned at Rex’s toddler daughter as he leaned down to pick her up, his blond surfer hair trying t
o flop into his eyes. “How’s my favorite redhead?”
The little girl’s arms went up and the tall, broad-shouldered firefighter handily unclicked her from the seat and scooped her up, eliciting another squeal. Maggie sighed. Though he seemed to stiffen just a little as she settled in his arm, Maggie thought Sebastian was much better with Hannah than her own father was. Then again, she cut Rex a break, Sebastian didn’t have the toddler full time and out of the blue.
Without thinking, Maggie flipped her own auburn hair over her shoulder with a cheeky grin. “She’s your favorite redhead, huh?”
He grinned, and shrugged, hard to do with the toddler in his arms. “I’m open to suggestions.”
Her heart skipped a thump. She shouldn’t have fished, but she couldn’t deny the zing that shot through her.
Just before a truly awkward silence could settle in, he gave her a wide smile but asked a little more formally, “What can we do for you?”
“I have something to show Rex.” Her chest clenched just thinking about it. The box she’d found gave her very bad vibes—enough that she wanted to get some other eyes on it and … Well, there was nothing she could put her finger on, but what Maggie really wanted was someone to tell her that she was right or that she was being ridiculous.
“Rex is in a training class … we all are.”
“I’m already Search and Rescue trained.” He shrugged as though it was no big deal and she wondered how many other certifications he casually held. “It’s probably another twenty minutes before they finish. Do you want to wait?”
That was always the question with a firefighter. She could wait and he’d be done in twenty minutes. Or she could wait and he’d come out and the bell would ring just as she started to ask her question. Off he would run, and she couldn’t even be mad about it.
She thought for a moment. “Do you have to go back in?”
Sebastian shook his head, the motion calling out that his hair was just a little long for the firehouse rules. Apparently, no one had called him on it yet. “What do you need?”
Maggie wheeled the stroller toward the open family room where the firefighters hung out if they weren’t sleeping, training, or at a fire. Right now, it was empty though she could hear the soft murmur of class just beyond the wall. Sebastian followed, setting Hannah down to let her play.
“It’s this.” Maggie pulled the gift bag from the back pocket of the stroller and set it on the table.
“An early Christmas present?”
“Ha. No. This was the only bag I had.” Sighing, she reached in and pulled out the carved wooden box. It looked Haitian or Caribbean to her, but what did she know?
Sebastian looked at it but didn’t seem put off by it. Maybe he would tell her she was being an idiot and shouldn’t worry about it. So she plowed ahead.
“See the scratches? That’s because I pulled it up from where it was wedged under a floorboard. The board squeaked, I went to fix it, I found this.” She motioned harshly with her hand.
“Okay? That’s weird, but it’s yours now. You own the house, right?”
Maggie nodded. Practically everyone in town knew by now that she’d inherited Abbie’s home. “I don’t think this belonged to my aunt.”
“I thought she was your grandmother,” Sebastian sidetracked then shrugged. “If it was in the house, then it’s yours.”
She sighed. “It’s not the box itself that concerns me. Look what’s in it.” Then she watched as he lifted the lid and saw the tangled mess of jewelry.
“I’m confused.”
“Who does this?” she asked, trying to pinpoint why the mass of gold and silver made her so uneasy. “Look at it … the one bracelet is turning green, so it’s probably ten carat gold.” He was still frowning at her, and she kept chattering, hoping to make some kind of sense. “That necklace? I think that’s a real diamond … probably half to three quarters of a carat, so it’s worth some money.”
He reached for it, but she gently shoved his hand away, still not sure why she didn’t want to touch it, but she didn’t.
“What’s this long bracelet here?” Sebastian had caught on and only pushed the other jewelry aside with his pinky … as though he was preserving evidence.
“That’s an ankle bracelet.” She watched as he turned just a little pink. It was cute that he seemed embarrassed about the error. “And it looks like real sapphires to me … also valuable.”
“You can sell it if you don’t want it.” He clearly still didn’t understand.
“That—” she pointed to another piece, hearing the sounds of the training meeting behind them breaking up, “—looks like a gumball machine prize.”
The necklace was half of a ‘best friends’ heart, the gold tone rubbing off.
“So, you think it’s not all one person’s jewelry?” he asked as, behind him, the other firefighters poured out of the training room. They turned on the TV, swung Hannah around, or came over to the table to see what she had.
“Hey babe!” Rex offered her a workplace-appropriate peck on the cheek. “Did you bring your jewelry in?”
Maggie had tried to tell him about the box for two days … but he simply hadn’t had time to listen. He was up to his eyeballs with his job and his daughter. A month ago, Hannah’s mother had announced that she needed rehab and dropped the girl off. Rex hadn’t heard from her since and it was appearing the change in custody was permanent.
Though it wasn’t Rex’s fault, Maggie was frustrated. Hannah needed her dad, but Maggie found herself doing a lot of the parenting and she barely had a boyfriend. She forced a smile and an explanation.
“I found it under a floorboard in one of the old tenant rooms.” She still hadn’t told him she thought she’d heard something in the house the other night.
Now a good number of the firefighters were crowded around. Though several reached out, Sebastian motioned for them to not touch.
“It is weird,” Kalan commented from over her shoulder, and Maggie turned to smile at the tall, black man. She was glad someone else thought so.
She repeated her words from earlier. “This jewelry probably doesn’t all belong to one person.” Finally, she managed to state what bothered her. “Who collects and hides jewelry that doesn’t belong to them?”
Though he was laughing, thinking he made a joke, Kalan’s words froze her blood.
“Serial killers. That’s who.”
Chapter Three
Maggie wheeled Hannah’s stroller into the open bay of the fire station for the second time in twenty-four hours. This time the place buzzed with a shift change. Men were already cleaning the engines while others were throwing their bags over their shoulder and heading out the door.
She looked for Rex in the crowd as A-shift left and B-shift came on.
“Hey, Maggie!” Sebastian headed toward her.
She smiled back at him until he asked, “Are you okay? You look tired.”
“Jesus, man!” Rex butted in. “Never tell a woman she looks tired!”
Maggie wanted to laugh, but she couldn't. Rex offered a quick kiss and a quicker thanks. “Thank you for taking Hannah, babe.”
“Of course,” she told him, resenting the words even as they rolled off her lips. He’d told her he was going to find a sitter, but it was a small town, and he hadn't found anyone yet—not for the twenty-four hour shifts he worked.
She’d been up several times during the night with Hannah and she now had eight hours of volunteer work at the station. She was exhausted but she’d readily signed up for the position before Hannah had come into the picture.
Rex took the stroller from her and commented, “I don’t know how I’m going to keep up with her after wor
king a shift.”
Maggie’s irritation flared. “I just had her for a full day and I have a shift to work now, too.”
“But you only have eight hours.” He smiled as though he wasn’t devaluing her extremely generous donation to his family. That’s what it was: she was watching his daughter for free.
Tamping down her feelings, Maggie handed over the diaper bag, and told him what Hannah had eaten and when she'd slept. Then she watched as he wheeled his happy daughter out the door. When she turned back to head into the station house, Sebastian was still standing there waiting. She could tell he was a bit upset.
“I'm sorry I said you looked tired.”
This time she did laugh. She shouldn’t have, he looked sheepish and fully regretful, but she’d seen the mirror this morning. “I'm not offended by the truth, and I’m exhausted. Hannah didn't sleep last night and now I've got an eight-hour shift to work.”
He looked like he wanted to say something else, but Sebastian motioned over his shoulder toward the house and B-team. “I hope they go easy on you … I miss having you on A.” Then he turned away as though the conversation were over and he was starting to leave.