Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense March 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 by Dana Mentink (novels to improve english txt) 📗

“Curtains have caught,” Levi shouted.

“Rita,” Beckett yelled over the fizz and crackle of the burning curtains. “Are you in there?”

Laney pushed through the smoke, a handkerchief held over her mouth. “Don’t breathe this stuff in,” he called to her, but she shoved a fire extinguisher at him before Herm put down the chair he’d fetched and guided her away.

Spraying the foam as he went, Beckett pushed into the room, Levi right behind him.

At first his eyes stung with the fumes emitted by the burning curtains. “Rita,” he shouted.

Levi ran past the neatly made bed into the bathroom. “She’s not here.”

Gone? But he could just make out her blue vinyl suitcase in the corner. Wherever she was, at least she had not been injured by the smoke. Levi yanked down the curtains and he continued working the extinguisher until the fire was doused, leaving the charred linen remains. There was a blackened mess on the floor, but fortunately nothing else in the room had caught. Beckett directed Laney to cancel the fire department and she made the call.

Beckett and Levi examined the floor. “Wasn’t an accident, was it?” Levi asked.

Beckett didn’t have to answer. They both knew it wasn’t.

“What in the world happened?” Herm said, standing a few paces away with Laney.

“There.” Levi pointed at a long, slender wooden stick that stuck out from underneath the ruined curtains. “It’s one of those paint-mixing sticks.” The end was charred and blackened. “Someone lit it and shoved it under. Caught the curtains.”

A high-pitched cry sounded behind them. They all whirled to see Rita with her hands to her mouth. She carried a backpack over her shoulder. “I couldn’t sleep. I was reading in the lodge.” The whites of her eyes were wide in the gloom.

“Kenny?” Laney breathed.

Rita didn’t answer, staring into the smoke.

Beckett’s thoughts raced. Kenny had been on hotel grounds? So very close to where Laney slept and he’d chosen to set fire to Rita’s room? The thought both chilled and mystified him.

Rita mouthed something that sounded like, “Pauline was right.” He started to ask when a voice interrupted him.

“Fire’s out?” Beckett turned to see Trent Clouder in civilian clothes, hustling over with an extinguisher.

“Yes,” Beckett said. “Laney canceled the call. Where did you come from?”

He shrugged. “I was on my way home, just finished my shift. I heard over the radio.” He laid a hand on Rita’s forearm. “Are you all right?”

She answered, her gaze still locked on the smoke trickling from her room. “I will be, as soon as I get far away from this town.”

He squeezed gently. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’ve had a shock. I can drive you to the clinic.”

She hitched her backpack higher on her shoulder and stepped away from his touch. “I’m fine. But I can tell you I’m not sleeping in that room. I’ll be sitting in the lodge until I can get my car and then I’m gone.”

Beckett wanted to press her about the supposed evidence she’d collected from Pauline, but he felt uneasy about bringing it up in front of Clouder. His own feelings puzzled him. Maybe he’d just plain forgotten how to trust people.

“Police are on their way,” Herm said.

Rita’s mouth tightened. “You all can talk to them. I have nothing to say.”

Clouder’s tone was soothing, the same Beckett had heard him use on accident victims when they’d been on shift together. “This is upsetting, for sure. Why don’t I walk you to the lodge and sit with you for a while?”

“That’s not necessary,” Rita said.

“It’s no problem,” he insisted cheerfully. “I’m a night owl and I’ve got no one waiting for me at home except a goldfish who can’t tell time. Beckett can wait for the long arm of the law.”

“I’ll put the kettle on and make some tea,” Herm said. “And fetch you a blanket. It can be chilly in the wee hours.”

Rita did not look happy, but she returned to the lodge with Herm and Clouder.

Beckett made sure Laney was far enough away from the stench and settled on a chair before he sent Levi to escort Aunt Kitty back home. “Jude will want to talk. I’ll have him call you. No sense standing around here.”

Levi nodded. He walked away a few paces before he turned. “Beck?”

Beckett waited. If his taciturn cousin had something to say, it was important.

“Something’s not right here.” Levi held his gaze for a long moment before he turned and left.

Not right. And it wasn’t merely a vengeful brother.

Pauline was right, Rita had said. About what?

He looked at Laney, who was staring mournfully at the damaged room. He felt the time ticking by, like a burning fuse making its way toward the dynamite.

Figure it out, Beckett. Now.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Jude arrived some fifteen minutes later and interviewed Rita before joining them. Both men seemed completely content to stand there in the smoky night until Laney convinced them to return to the cabin, where they sat in the tiny living room. She insisted on fixing decaf coffee, and Jude and Beckett politely sipped the brew. She’d been a disastrous cook when she’d returned to Death Valley after her years in college and working in a Las Vegas hotel. Aunt Kitty taught her the basics, and she could just about manage a pot of coffee, though sometimes she lost count of the scoops. She took one sip and realized she’d done just that, which accounted for the full cups in front of the men. She hoped she’d master more cooking skills by the time the baby arrived. Muffin could not survive on oatmeal-raisin cookies and tamale casserole.

Why had Beckett’s nickname for the baby stuck fast? She brought her wandering thoughts back on track. “What did Rita tell you?”

Jude sighed. “I get nothing from her except the cold shoulder. What do you know?”

Beckett and Laney filled him in on their strange conversation with Rita about Pauline’s possible ulterior motives in coming to Death Valley.

Jude mulled it over. “I’ve looked at Pauline’s