Page 55 of Deadly Designs

“No. There is nothing. He had to have been brought inthrough the back door. No video. I’ll have the report soon, but wedon’t know if he was dead first or if he died in the blaze.”

Something Zikes said during their conversation joggedhis memory:“Mom, the guy is an abomination. Isn’t that what youtaught me? You made me sit through sermons spouting the same thingfor years. It’s what Pastor Chet at the Church of the Enlightenedpreaches every week.”

Pastor Chet. They needed to speak to the man who’dfostered the hate bubbling inside Zikes. Maybe Christian should’vementioned it to Detective Herbert, but his money was with hiscoworkers. He wanted to look the man in the eye when questioninghim. Christian was good at reading people.

“Let me know what you find out.”

“I will.”

Christian disconnected and ran a background checkbefore jogging downstairs. As he’d expected, Kayne and Presley werealready up. He gave them a quick rundown of his conversation withthe detective.

“So, the guy you busted for vandalism became a victimhimself?” Kayne shook his head. “I did not see that coming.”

“Yeah, me either.”

“Maybe it was a warning,” Presley theorized. “Hisaccomplice or accomplices were afraid he would talk to the policeand rat them out.”

Christian nodded. “My thoughts too. It’s similar towhat happened to the guy who tried to grab Aja Blue. They get ridof loose ends.”

“I’m thinking we need to pay a visit to Pastor Chet,”Presley decided.

“Lucky for us, he has a group meeting tonight,”Christian told them. “I did a little research. He sounds like aneo-Nazi white supremacist masking as a preacher.”

“And if he cloaks his hatred in religion, gulliblepeople will listen and follow along,” Presley remarked.

“Exactly. Judging by his social media posts, he’salso a misogynist.”

“Figures,” grumbled Presley.

“I’m not trying to exclude you, but Kayne and I willattend the meeting. One, I don’t know if they would even let youin, and two, he would be more open to speaking with us.”

Presley looked unhappy but said, “We’ll needdisguises for you two. Right now, you’re both poster children forauthority figures.”

“It’s a shame we don’t have access to the Prop Shop,”Kayne remarked, referencing the department at the COBRA Securitiescomplex where you could find any necessary disguise, including fakepapers and identification.

“We’ll have to make do.” Presley studied them withnarrowed eyes. “I’m thinking some fake beards, plaid, and maybe amullet will fit you boys right in.”

When Christian heard footsteps, he turned to see AjaBlue descending the stairs. Her gorgeous mahogany hair was pulledback from her face, and the top she wore made her blue eyes glowlike sparkling sapphires against the creamy ivory of her skin.

Oh, damn, he had it bad.

“Hey, everyone. Sorry I slept so long.”

“You didn’t,” Christian insisted. “Hon—” He coughedto cover his stumble. He’d almost called her honey in front ofKayne and Presley. “Aja Blue, we have a positive ID on the victimfound in your office.”

She gasped, and her nails bit into his forearm.“Please don’t tell me it’s Jay.”

“It’s not Jay.”

She exhaled and released her grip. He mourned theloss of contact and then cursed himself. Seriously, what was wrongwith him? He’d been a Marine, damn it. A DEA agent. He was tough asnails. How had one woman sashayed into his life and turned itupside down?

“Who was it?”

Aja Blue had to ask twice since he’d been mentallychastising himself. “Byron Zikes.”

Aja Blue’s jaw dropped open. “Junior? Are you kiddingme?”

He shook his head. “Afraid not.”

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