Page 73 of Killer Kiss

“You have the keys.”

“Oh!” I rummaged through my purse to find them. “Should I drive? You—”

“I’m fine. I’ll drive.”

I tossed him the keys and got in beside him when he unlocked my door for me. He drove out of the parking lot I’d haphazardly stopped in earlier when my heart had been pounding with worry over him and Luna.

God, what a difference a few hours made.

Augie drove us back to his place in a weary silence, neither of us attempting to make small talk. But when we pulled onto his street, he sucked in an audible breath, and I knew instantly why.

The street was chaos. There were people everywhere, and not just the swarm of police officers and firefighters. Onlookers crowded around on the pavement across the road, held back by police tape, but that didn’t stop them gawking at the burned-out shell of a home that had once been Willa’s.

“Fucking rubberneckers,” Augie muttered, slowing the car right down to avoid the people who walked in front of us with their phones up, snapping photos.

I ducked in my seat, worried I might accidentally end up on a video that could be posted online.

Sitting in this car right now, with the man I was tasked to murder, was so incredibly stupid. When Augie disappeared, I would be questioned. Willa knew I was at his house. Lacey, Banjo, Colt, and Rafe had all seen me with him at the hospital.

This was exactly the situation you were supposed to avoid when it was your job to end a life.

And yet when Augie steered into his driveway and asked if I was coming in for a shower, all I wanted to do was say yes.

Not because I wanted to be clean, though that was definitely appealing, too.

But because my pussy throbbed at the memory of everything we’d done together the night before, and I wanted a replay.

Fucking horny bitch. I’d had one mind-blowing orgasm from a man and now I wanted it all the time.

“I should go,” I told Augie, getting out of the car and closing the door behind me.

He did the same on the other side. “Why? Do you have somewhere to be?”

But I didn’t answer because our attention was caught by a fire crew traipsing out of the charred skeleton of the house next door. Their voices floated across the yard, easy for us to hear.

“No doubt in my mind, Chief. That fire was deliberately lit. Some sort of accelerant was thrown through the bedroom window, and these old houses are tinder boxes. So brittle and dry. They should have been ripped down a long time ago if you ask me.”

Augie stiffened and took a few steps toward the fence line so he could hear better. “Excuse me,” he called to the firefighter. “I’m the man who pulled the little girl from the building last night. But only her and her grandmother were home at the time.”

The man glanced over at us, and his eyes flickered over Augie’s soot-covered clothes and skin. “I heard the woman and child are both going to make it. You did good, son.”

Augie shook his head, ignoring the man’s praises. “There’s no reason anyone would want to hurt either of them. Willa lives there alone since her son and daughter moved out. She’s a nurse. She’s practically a saint who walks on Earth. No one would want to hurt her.”

The fire chief gave Augie a tight smile. “That’s not our job to determine. The police are here and will commence investigations once we give them our findings. It could just be random. But sometimes the people around us have secrets even those of us close to them don’t know about. We don’t know what your neighbor was up to.”

Augie shook his head emphatically. “Not Willa. I’ve known her for forever.”

“Like I said. Could be random.” The chief rubbed a hand across the back of his neck as he pondered the situation. “But, son, right now, if I were you, I’d go get yourself cleaned up and get some rest. The police are very likely going to want to talk to you, and you’ll want to have a fresh head for that.”

Augie glanced over at the cops milling on the street. Two of them were watching us with interest, one writing something down on a notepad.

Augie swore low under his breath and turned away.

“What?” I asked him.

“Story of my life. I can already see them setting me up to take the fall for this.”

I shook my head in confusion. “What? How? I’ll tell them you were asleep next to me…” Shit. I already knew I couldn’t do that. What if Riddick had insiders in the police force? If he found out I’d spent the night in Augie’s bed…

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