Detonated by Seduction (Highland County Heroes Book 4) Read online

  Detonated by Passion

  Lily LaVae

  Contents

  Back Cover

  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

  Also by Lily LaVae

  About the Author

  Back Cover

  A bombing at the Santinas High School brings Alex Hernandez back into Livy Milan's life.

  He forced his way into her heart by being a commanding presence when she needed him, but now that he's back, can she keep from falling deeper for the man she can't have? His first priority should be her school, but he's such a temptation and when they are together, their sparks start a chain reaction.

  Alex needs to find the bomber to protect the woman he loves.

  He can do nothing else for her. She wants stability for the first time in her life, but with a job that could relocate him at any time, Alex worries he’ll never be able to give it to her. He can't tempt fate and get too close or he may do something they both will regret.

  When Livy is faced with taming her demons in order to be with Alex, will she choose the stability she needs or the man she craves?

  Get this smoking hot fourth installment of the Highland County Heroes series. In Highland County, we take our heroes seriously.

  Chapter One

  “Miss Milan, the school is under an immediate bomb threat,” Mrs. Keller from the front office said in an urgent tone. Livy turned up the volume on her cell phone, not sure she’d heard the secretary correctly. “Calmly and carefully direct your students to the designated safety areas. This is not a drill.”

  There had been a buzzing, an energy Livy couldn’t contain in her class of twenty-some ninth graders all hour. Whispering, ignoring her. Something was going on and the students always seemed to know before she did.

  While the school did its best to keep communication to a minimum, they did text or call teachers when there was going to be a fire drill, or when a student was about to be called to the office. She slid the phone to her ear. “Yes, Miss Milan speaking?”

  Outside her room, she could hear the faint, but building, noise of other students in the hall. She glanced over the room and felt the smallest quake of tension start at the top of her head and ripple down her body. Twenty students. They had to be her first concern.

  It was school policy to keep the nature of the alert a secret until the students had reached the safety zone. Even a bad weather drill was supposed to be kept quiet, but they weren’t stupid. They would see the sky was clear blue. The only things this evacuation could be weren’t nearly as predicable as weather. The administration felt they would avoid any issue with students trying to be heroes or ignoring the problem altogether if the teachers kept it quiet. It also meant she had to calmly get them to go, without telling them why. All while managing to keep her cool. A bomb threat? Who would do such a thing in their tiny school?

  “Class. Leave your computers at your desks. You are free to bring your phones, but nothing else. Please form a line and quietly follow me. I will not tolerate falling behind or playing around.”

  One of her younger students, Persephone, a girl who had been homeschooled until that year and was frequently the target of harassment, inched up next to her. Her bright blue eyes were already glassy and wide. “Is everything okay? I’ve never done a drill like this before.”

  Boyd, one of the oldest boys in her class shoved Persephone forward. “Just keep walking. It isn’t like it takes a huge part of your brain to walk.”

  Livy stopped him as the others passed, furious with the bullying behavior and feeling just as helpless to do anything about it as she did when she had been a target back in her own school days. “Just because you’ve done this before doesn’t give you the right to say anything. Back of the line for shoving.” She pointed to where he should go, though she doubted he would actually do as she said. So many students didn’t respect their teachers anymore. He pulled off to the side and glanced around the area, then cut away at a run for another group of ninth graders as they made their way down the hall.

  She would have to mark him as leaving class early, not that it would do any good. Any students marked tardy because they spent too much time in the bathroom between classes would just have a parent call in and complain. It wasn’t like anything ever changed.

  A loud cracking boom echoed through the school hallway followed by a sharp shudder, then dust rained down on them from the ceiling as everyone screamed and ran for the doors. Livy grabbed for the students nearest her and rushed them toward the door. She had no way of knowing if there would be more blasts or where the first one had gone off, but she couldn’t help remembering last year, during the same season, when homes had been bombed then burned to the ground. Would there be a fire, and would her school be destroyed?

  The doorway ahead was bright in the lingering dust after the blast and she urged her students to go faster. Though running could cause a stampede effect, she also wanted all of them out in case another bomb went off. None of her students were going to get injured because of her unwillingness to get them moving.

  For the millionth time in a year, Livy wished she could call Alex Hernandez. He would know what to do. He was ATF; bombs were his specialty. He’d talked to her about his job the one night he’d stayed with her. They had talked all night. He’d been so different from every other man she’d ever met that she couldn’t forget him. But after a year of silence, a distant call for help would be useless. He could do nothing from three hours away when the situation was right on top of her.

  She couldn’t handle this, hated all the new training the administration had for school shootings, severe weather, and now bombings. Couldn’t school just be school?

  She counted her students as she escaped the building and came up two short. Both Boyd and the former homeschool student were missing.

  “Persephone?” She stood on her tiptoes and searched the line of sallow-faced students as they stared in awe at the building. Her missing girl had to be among them, she had to have missed her. Boyd would be with the other group and probably just fine, she hoped, but Persephone had been in line. She was quiet; she listened. It was completely out of character for her to go missing.

  “Miss Milan?” Even after two years at the school, she had trouble getting used to all the students calling her by her formal name. Even with “Miss”, it made her name sound old to her ears, but the school did not allow her to tell her students to use her first name.

  “Yes?” She tried to give her attention to the student, while still looking for her missing one.

  “Persephone ran for the bathroom when I heard the blast. I was walking with my friends and tried to call to her, but she was scared.”

  Shit. Livy turned all her focus on the girl talking to her. “You’re sure?”

  The girl nodded, a tear running down her face. “She’s going to be okay? Right?”

  Livy didn’t answer, couldn’t lie. She grabbed her security badge from her pocket so she could go right back in then ran back to the school as fast as her heels would allow. She swiped the card across the reader and when the light flashed green, she yanked open the door.

&n
bsp; “Persephone!” The air was full of smoke and dust and she coughed, waving the air in front of her to see better. The halls were full of a thick hazy dust. Her heart tripped over itself and her skin prickled to life as she waited for another blast. The school was still standing, at least she could be thankful for that, but for how much longer? She took a few tentative steps down the hall.

  It was stupid to run back into a building, with no protection, when there had been a bomb blast. But what if the next one was in the bathroom where her student was? She would never be able to sleep again if she knew she didn’t at least try to find her.

  “Persephone!” The desperation in her own voice scared her and she coughed hard as she inhaled the thick dust. She wanted out, but she wanted to find her student more.

  There were no doors on either of the bathrooms and Livy slid into the women’s to look. There, on the floor, with her head covered, was Persephone.

  “Come, you can’t stay here. This is about the worst place you could be.” She rushed over and tugged the girl up.

  Persephone crushed her around the waist as they both ran for the door. A cheer went up as they stumbled out and Livy allowed herself a deep breath of air. But she wasn’t really done. Now, she had to find Boyd. He’d probably be even harder. He was probably hiding somewhere with his friends, vaping.

  She turned to do a quick scan of the groups around her and caught sight of the west side of the school. The entire corner of the gym lay in ruins.

  The office didn’t normally buzz him directly. They usually just called his phone, so Alex Hernandez stared at his desk phone for a moment until he remembered that was the sound it was supposed to make. He’d been so intent on his own caseload that he rarely sat at his desk to take calls. “Agent Hernandez.”

  The front desk receptionist’s bored voice droned at him. “Call on line three from Gage Lewison of the Santinas Fire Department.” There was a loud click in his ear and he pressed the button to take his call.

  “Hey, you heard what’s going on up here? We need you, man. You ready to come back to Santinas?” Gage’s voice was like a literal blast from the past. They didn’t talk often, only when he found some few-and-far-between leads on an old case they’d worked together.

  “Only for work. That’s one hell of a drive.” Not to mention there was a woman there who he absolutely could not see, because he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Even a year later. Women were an absolute no. His life and stress-level couldn’t handle one.

  “You didn’t hear? Try turning on the television. It’s all over the news and we need you down here. There was a bombing at the high school today. Don’t know if Ax is back, but Chief wanted me to call you and ask you to come down right away. You know the case and the area, so it makes sense.”

  “The school? The High School?” Shit, that was where Olivia worked, at least she had then. His throat tightened. “Everyone okay?”

  “Yeah, students and parents were pretty shaken up, of course. Luckily, it was during a period when no one was in the gym. Scary as hell. Melody has been working there as a paraprofessional since she quit the paper. I haven’t been that scared when a call came through in a long time. Not only Melody, but all the kids…”

  Alex yanked open his drawer and moved the slotted tray that kept everything in his desk tidy until he found his antacids. He worked for the ATF for two reasons: he still got to deal with fires once in a while, and usually he didn’t have to see hurt kids. Especially since his particular specialty was bombs. He had too much concern when it came to kids. They clouded his judgement, made him do rash things. So, bombs were best. Kids didn’t usually set them and they weren’t usually the victims.

  Usually.

  “I’ll be there as fast as I can. Is the scene contained?” He popped about four of the tablets in his mouth and chewed, the chalky taste made him grimace, but grounded him.

  “Yes. And Alex? Plan to stay for a while. This guy left a note and we aren’t anywhere near done.”

  He hung up the phone and quickly scanned his desk. Since he kept everything orderly, packing what he would need to take with him would be easy. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to only work the Santinas case, he would have to bring other work with him.

  His boss sat in a plexiglass walled office within sight. Telling the Special Agent in Charge what had happened would be easy, explaining how it might be connected to an old investigation wouldn’t be. The case was old, hadn’t had life in months. It would take time and presence. He hated the idea of being away from his own place, staying in a hotel, but the bureau would pay for it. If it wasn’t clean enough for his own taste, he might be able to save the bureau some money and convince Gage to let him stay with him. At least then he could be comfortable.

  He grabbed the old DemaCrane/Ax file from the year before. It was thick and heavy with information, yet an arrest had never been made. James Ax was still at-large after fire-bombing four residences. He’d worked for DemaCrane and the company stood the most to gain from half of the bombings, but it was never conclusively connected to the construction firm that wanted to build a huge lake resort in Santinas.

  “Hernandez?” SAC Spenser glanced up from his paperwork, his salt and pepper dark hair slicked back to cover a bald spot on the top of his head. He motioned for Alex to sit.

  “Sir, I just got a call from the Santinas fire department. They’ve had a bombing at the high school.”

  “Yes, I know. Even the TV station here in Albuquerque has been on it. That was an hour ago. Have you been under a rock?”

  He’d been working on cases, not wasting time. Though, now that he thought about it, the team had seemed distracted today by television. It was good he hadn’t known, the moment he’d heard it had happened at the Santinas High School, he’d become somewhat useless. His mind wouldn’t stop rushing to long, dark hair, soft bronze skin, and legs for miles…

  “I was working, sir.”

  “Well, if you got the call to go to Santinas, then you’d best go. I was going to send Martin, but he has other cases and he’s not up to speed. Make sure to fill out your reports before you do and keep in contact with me. Santinas has seen enough bombs, it’s time to put this to rest.”

  “I’ve been asked to stay there. Is there a stipend?” He almost wished there wasn’t. Hotels were never clean enough for him and the one in Santinas, known as The Inn, was probably twice as old as he was and had never been renovated. While it was probably clean, the older something was, the dirtier it felt.

  “Do what you need to do. Keep good records. If you need more men down there…tough, make do with what you have. Our resources here are too small after the budget cuts. The Phoenix office won’t approve anything. You can probably use Dr. Joseph if you have to, but keep everything to a minimum.”

  He nodded his understanding, stood and made his way back to his desk. Budget cuts were a catch-all excuse used by the department to keep anyone from asking for higher ranking positions and for assistance in investigations. Yet asking where the specific cuts were could land him in a position he didn’t want to be in.

  He grabbed his cell and slipped it into his shirt pocket, then filled his briefcase with all his files and his laptop. It wouldn’t take long to go home and gather a few changes of clothes, then he could be on the road. It would take three hours to get to Santinas. Three hours until he got to see Olivia again. Because he needed to check on her. He couldn’t even start his investigation until he eased that part of his mind. That wasn’t even a question.

  Chapter Two

  Santinas was just as Alex remembered it. Sleepy. Small. Hidden off the interstate. Even with the excitement of a school bombing, only a few hours later the streets were mostly empty. Many would be home, spending time with their families. Others would be huddled in front of the news station out of Albuquerque waiting for more information than they had yet.

  His chest ached and he grabbed another couple antacids. His family used to do the same thing, sitting in front of
the news. Just thinking about that built an ache inside. A family of his own was a distant dream. Five years ago, he’d thought he’d be married by now, with kids. That had been the plan. Until plans fell through. Until his fiancée had cheated. He drove past Olivia’s apartment, but didn’t stop like he’d wanted to. Memories of Gretchen reminded him exactly why he’d stayed away from Santinas. He pulled over and picked up his phone, pressed Gage’s number, then speaker.

  “Alex, you in town? Want me to meet you at the school?” Gage’s no-nonsense voice filled the cab.

  “Yeah, in a few. I was wondering if you’d heard from Olivia? I just wanted to make sure she was fine. I don’t have her number.” He swallowed hard, hating the feeling of his heart on his sleeve. He did have Olivia’s number, but had refused to use it. If he talked to her, he’d want her. Giving someone his heart had gotten him hurt the first time. He’d had to take a course because of his career, and his ex had chosen to cheat on him the moment he turned his back.

  “Livy? Yeah, she’s here. Want to say hi?” Gage laughed.

  Of course he’d laugh. Probably thought it was hilarious. Everyone thought he wasn’t capable of caring about anyone, since he kept people at a distance. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, he simply preferred to keep to himself whenever possible. “No, I just wanted to make sure she was okay. I’ll meet you at the school in a half hour.”

  Gage ended the call and Alex drove down to the school to see the area for himself. Now that he knew Olivia was with friends, he could focus on work, on protecting what was left of her school. The term had just started a few weeks before. This would disrupt classes, so he would have to move quickly. Hopefully, the bomber had been sloppy and they would find out who did it quickly.