Fahrenheit Read online

  Despite the craziness of what happened while she was living in his guesthouse, as a partner in the field Mitch was the best person to have on her side. He was forty-three years old, wise beyond his years, they all said. He had been in the field of reporting pretty much since he was a child. A local newspaper man of a small press took him under his wings at the age of eight and taught him how to get a story. When he got a little older they allowed him to learn the process of putting out the editions. And then in high school he was not only on the school paper, but he kept working with his mentor at the local paper. She didn’t think there was a time when Mitch ever expected to be anything other than a reporter.

  He was phenomenal. He didn’t go to college. Instead, straight out of high school he landed a job at a major New York paper. He traveled the world, handled tough stories, and made a success out of his goals. He had bylines before he hit high school, but the ones he received after were prize winning pieces. How he landed in small town Ormond Beach at the paper was a bit of a mystery to her. She knew he still dabbled for the Times and CNN on occasion, but he seemed to be making this paper his home. She had asked him why once and he had hunched up his big shoulders, smiled at her, his stark white teeth contrasting beautifully with his ebony skin, and he said, “become a reporter and figure it out.” That was his way of telling her she would have to dig for the story if she really wanted it. He seemed to always be trying to get her to become a reporter. She figured he wanted her to do more than just take the pictures, to make sure she was marketable on every level, but she had no interest in reporting with words. She was a photographer, and that’s what she wanted to do—tell the story with pictures, show people what the world around them looked like—good, bad and indifferent, she wanted to capture it all. Mitch wrote, she shot pictures—that was enough for her.

  It took seven days to get her brothers away from her, away from Florida, and back to their own homes—she didn’t care if they went home just so long as they left Florida. Both men were seriously cramping her space. Drake had already gone back to the Keys, but Thomas and Gavin had stuck around. She smiled just thinking about her brothers. Gavin insisted she eat while Thomas insisted she wear a sweater. It wasn’t cold outside, but it had been in each of the restaurants they had taken her to. “My brothers, protect and love,” she smiled. No matter how overprotective they seemed, she knew they loved her, would always love her, and would move heaven and hell to keep her safe. She found it comforting, but she wouldn’t tell them that. If she told them she even marginally approved of their protective spirit they would both take that as a sign of permission to be even more suffocatingly protective.

  She smoothed her hands down her burgundy dress. She had a date tonight—a first date, with a very nice man who just happened to have saved her life. Fortunately, Gavin and Thomas hadn’t scared him off; even though it was because of them that she had to keep putting off the first date. She was glad Adam hadn’t run away; that her brother’s hadn’t scared him away from her. If they had then she would know the relationship wasn’t worth pursing because any man who planned to date her needed to have a backbone when it came to surviving her brothers.

  She looked in the mirror at the sleek ponytail she sported, at the burgundy dress with stylish gold buttons, at the subtle hint of lip gloss that graced her lips, and she smiled. “Perfect for a first date.”

  The police had allowed some of the people back inside their apartments to gather personal things, although they were very specific on how long a person could stay inside the buildings that were still standing. The ones that were standing, but unstable had yet to be cleared. She figured they had received some pressure from the mayor—it was an election year after all and no politician would want to aggravate their constituents. Whatever the reason behind being allowed in to retrieve some personal things, she wouldn’t complain about it. She had gone in with her brothers and packed a bag with some clothes for work, and for a date since she was anticipating having a first date with Adam. She had picked up a few extra necessities including her family photos that she loved, and she managed to get her enlarger and a few other darkroom supplies before the officer in charge told her that her time was up and she needed to leave. There were so many other things that she needed to get, to take with her, but she couldn’t. The important things, most of them anyway, she had managed to grab.

  One of the first things Thomas and Gavin had done before leaving was to make sure she had a steady place to stay—but she couldn’t move in for another week. She had assured her brothers that she was booked into the hotel for the month, and they had assured her that she needed something safer, more steady, and most of all, some place with less people coming and going at all times of night and day. She couldn’t argue with them there. Every time she started to doze off she heard the sound of pattering feet from whomever it was who decided to run up and down the hall all night, going in and out of their room slamming the door in the process. She remembered the hotel being much quieter the last time she stayed there. Then again, it housed mostly people who were in town on business at that time. Besides needing a quieter place, the sooner she checked out, the sooner her sister’s tab could be cut in half. She didn’t have to pay for the nights unused. And since Thomas and Gavin had pooled their resources to get her into a cute little place in the Z section, she couldn’t really complain. She wanted to pay them back, and of course, they both said no. Agreeing to their terms was the only way to get them to go home.

  The only thing left to do was to wait for complete clearance to get the rest of her things out of the apartment. Since her lease was voided the moment her apartment made the “condemned” list, she didn’t have to worry about paying to get out of it.

  The knock on her door pulled her away from thoughts about future living arrangements and back to the present concern—date night. She grabbed her clutch off the counter, checked the peephole to be sure it was indeed Adam standing at her door, and after assuring herself that it was him, she opened the door. He looked great. Dark suit, with a gorgeous powder blue tie, and his shoes were well polished. She smiled just thinking about it. Some of the older women she spent time with said it was very important for a man to keep his shoes nice—something about if he didn’t then a woman should not go out with him. She didn’t fully understand the reasoning then, not even now, but the “old wives” tale stuck in her mental bank anyway.

  “You look great,” they said in unison before laughing.

  “Are your brothers—?”

  “Gone home. Thank God. I love them, but sometimes I love to love them from afar.” He laughed at her. “So, where are we going?”

  “Jacksonville,” he took her hand in his. “The rest of it is a surprise.”

  She didn’t get to Jacksonville often. The trek from Palm Coast to the Jacksonville city limit generally took over an hour to navigate, toss in traffic and it could take much longer.

  She had just closed the room door when Adam’s phone rang. “I’m on reserve tonight,” he shrugged. “Maybe it’s nothing.”

  She knew he was on reserve because he told her when he asked her out that he might have to cancel beforehand if they needed him, but when he called and told her they were still on for the night she assumed he had the all clear. Judging from his phone conversation, he did not have the all clear.

  “I understand. I’ll be there shortly.” He sighed as he hung up the phone. “Dylan’s wife just went into labor and he called in to take off, so they need me tonight. I’m sorry, Eve. I am really sorry.”

  She patted his arm. “It’s okay. I understand; really I do. Maybe next time.”

  “I get off early tomorrow, can we do dinner?”

  “Sure,” she pulled him in for a hug. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She tucked herself back inside the room after he left. “Well, it wasn’t a complete waste,” she looked at her reflection in the mirror. “At least he had a chance to see you looking glam,” she mumbled. She slapped her hand to her forehead. “Eve,�
�� she scolded herself. “You have to work tomorrow.” She let out a frustrated, muffled yell. Maybe she could pull out early too, or at least meet him for dinner before heading back to the office. Mitch had said he wanted her to get some more shots of the Espanola fire that, after three months, was still burning. Fortunately the fire was about ninety-five percent contained and if they did actually get hit by the coming hurricane it should take care of the fire issue—maybe, maybe not. Once she took the photos Mitch wanted her to get them to him ASAP so that he could make sure the pictures and his article meshed well together. In other words, he didn’t want her to go back to the hotel to shower the stench of forest fire off of her first.

  She would work it out. There was no way she was going to miss yet another date with Adam. At least she hoped she wasn’t going to.

  Chapter Three

  He didn’t like this; he didn’t like it at all. His fires were important, but instead of talking about his fires they were talking about some stupid bomb at a residential complex. Worse, they thought he would stoop to something as inartistic as bomb making. His fires were art, and if they couldn’t see that then he would just have to create more art to prove it to them. They should have appreciated him when they had the chance, now he was going to make sure they paid for it.

  The media cared more about the story when homes were damaged; well then he’d start some more fires. Maybe some of those half million dollar condos should go up in flames. Wouldn’t that be pretty? Watching the buildings burn by the inter-costal water channel—he could see it now, pretty orange flames leaping up to heaven. Yes, it would be a site. “But I won’t abandon you,” he looked at the picture she had taken of the Espanola fire. She understood his work. One artist to another, she could see the beauty—he knew that because she had captured it in her photographs. He would start another fire for her to capture, to photograph and preserve forever. They thought they had Espanola under control; he would have to show them differently.

  He didn’t care what happened to the firefighters. In fact, he wanted them dead—all of them, but he couldn’t lose her. “You’re doing too good of a job sharing my soul with the world,” he grinned. “I can’t lose you. You understand me.” He traced his index finger over a picture of the burning trees. She hadn’t put the firefighters in the image. That was good because they didn’t deserve to be there. He didn’t want them there. He was so much better than them, and he was going to prove it to them.

  “Eve,” he whispered. “I’ll paint you a pretty picture; one that will burn bright. No fireman will put it out, now wouldn’t that be nice—” He laughed loud and long. His final gift to the bastard firemen would be one magnificent site, and she, Eve McGregor, would show the world.

  “Watch it burn,” he said. “Watch it all burn.”

  Chapter Four

  Eve had just changed into her night clothes when her room phone rang. It was either Mitch or one of her siblings because nobody else knew where she was staying—except Adam and she was sure he wasn’t calling her. He had just left.

  “Little sister,” Alyssa’s sweet voice came softly through the phone lines. “How’s it going?”

  “Okay,” she sighed.

  “You don’t sound okay.” The sweet tone in her voice changed to concern as she went into big sister protective mode.

  “It’s nothing really. It’s just…nothing.”

  “What’s going on, sis? You had a date last night didn’t you? Did it totally suck?”

  “No. I had a date tonight, but he was on call and he had to go in to work. So here I am, another night inside—not that being inside is the problem.

  “Talk to me, sis.”

  “Alyssa, we can’t seem to have an actual date. I mean the first time it was the brothers McGregor who showed up and ruined things. Then we were supposed to get together the next night, but Thomas and Gavin were still here and they refused to let me out of their sight. I couldn’t go on a date with my brothers attached to my hips like the Secret Service. This time, we were almost out the door when he got a call that they needed him at work.” She tossed her hand up in the air, not that her sister could see her. “Maybe it’s a sign.”

  “Eve, you don’t believe in signs.”

  No, she didn’t believe in them, but she was starting to.

  “Fourth time’s the charm.”

  She snorted. “Sure. Fourth time, which is tomorrow night, but I just remembered my work day. I might have to cancel. This is crazy. Maybe I should just forget about it.”

  “You like him. I can tell that you do, so don’t stress it Sweat Pea, just let it happen naturally.”

  She sat down on the bed with a heavy thud. Maybe what was bothering her most was the conversation she and Adam needed to have. How could she even bring it up? But then again, how could she not? He deserved to know. And it would be easier on her heart if he decided to walk away now than it would be if he decided to walk away later. “Do you think the fact that I want to wait will bother him?”

  She heard the sigh in her sister’s voice. “I don’t know, Eve. But you won’t know until you talk with him. And quite frankly if he’s not willing to get to know you just because you won’t be having sex with him, well then he doesn’t deserve to know you.”

  “I do like him,” she agreed. “I’d really love to see where this goes, but I’m scared it won’t work out. I mean look at mom and dad—”

  “Not all men are like dad, Eve. And you can’t let fear keep you out of the game. If you like this guy, then talk to him, see what happens, and go from there. Don’t count yourself out before you even try.”

  She wasn’t the type to run from dangerous, fear provoking situations. If anything, she had a tendency to run to them. She covered riots, liberations, protests, fires and other things in places most sane people were trying to run away from. But this, this thing with relationships she wasn’t so sure she was ready to run to that situation—no matter how much she was starting to like Adam. “Why are you so wise?”

  “Big sister rule number ten—have good advice on hand for little sister at all times.” She laughed. “It’s in the rule book.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know there was one.”

  “Of course, but it’s a book that’s only given out to big sisters.” They both laughed. “Seriously, he sounds nice. Don’t throw the chance away.”

  “Does he sound nice from the limited information I gave you, or have you been talking with our brothers?”

  “Both, but the fact that Thomas didn’t pull rank and tell him to stay away from you told me more than either of you put into words.”

  Eve nodded. A small part of her was actually glad that Thomas had met Adam. She trusted her big brother. She trusted that he was a good judge of character and if he had picked up on anything that made dating Adam seem perilous to her health then he would have said so before Adam even left the room. Plus, she was sure Thomas had done a full background check on Adam Carrigan the moment he stepped off the plane in Boston. The fact that he was a PI made it far too easy for him to get information. She had seen him pull the same thing on Alyssa when she was dating Robert, a.k.a. Rob. His investigation had saved Alyssa a lot of pain seeing as though Rob was married, but claiming to be single. He had a wife in Utah while his business was in Arizona. His wife’s business was in Utah and so they commuted, or more like he commuted, back to see her every week. Eve figured he commuted just enough to make any suspicions his wife might have stay at bay, and to keep her from making an impromptu trip to see him in Scottsdale. Yeah, having the wife show up while he was out on a date would have really ruined his fun. Unfortunately, his lies ruined Alyssa’s fun. She had basically sworn off dating ever again because of one man. Eve had a feeling if the right man came around then Alyssa might start singing a different tune, but for now, she was single and happy—or more like, single and busy. The business was taking off for her, slowly, but surely.

  “Okay,” she yawned. “I have to work tomorrow. I’m due at the Espanola fire
for more pictures. I’m going to get there early so I can get the pictures to Mitch and then get back here, get a hot shower and finally have a real date with Adam. So, my beautiful big sister, good night.”

  Alyssa laughed. “Yeah sure, get rid of me that easily,” she chuckled. “I’ll call you tomorrow night. I want to hear all about your date.”

  Eve disconnected the call. Provided everything went okay, and she actually had a date with Adam, she was sure she would want to tell Alyssa all about it too. As she pulled the covers over her body she stared up at the ceiling pondering tomorrow night’s clothing attire. Should she dress up or down—or something in between? Maybe she should wear a nice pants suit—that seemed like a safe bet for almost any situation.

  She would love to cook him dinner. Maybe she should suggest it. She shook her head. “Right, cook with what, Eve?” Her room didn’t even have a microwave and refrigerator, let alone a stove. Cooking for Adam would have to wait until she had a kitchen to cook in. She was always the best cook in her family. Her mom had taught them all, but she was the one who took to it as easily as breathing. She didn’t have much time now for all the baking and cooking she used to do, but she still knew how to serve up a delicious five course meal.

  For the first time, in a long time, she hadn’t fallen asleep the minute her head hit the pillow. She tossed and turned trying to get to sleep when all she could do was think about Adam, how good he looked, how good he smelled, and how worried she was about the conversation she needed to have with him. She needed to get some sleep. Just because she would only be taking pictures of the fire didn’t mean she could afford to have a lack of focus. Fires shifted and changed directions all the time. She needed to be alert in case it started shifting in her direction. She wouldn’t be alone. She would be following a team of firefighters—that had been a requirement for her being able to shoot up close, right in the heart of the action. She didn’t complain. Her pictures accompanied great stories, and the fact that they were the only paper allowed the inside look actually made for better news coverage. The News Journal didn’t even have access to what they had.