Kissed by Smoke Read Online Free PDF Page B

meet me over the phone.”
    He shook his head. “There’s something really
strange going on. I don’t know who I can trust and who I can’t.
Face-to-face was the safest way.” He gave me a knowing look. “And
you can’t talk back to a text.”
    He knew me far too well.
    “I need your help Morgan. Please. I need to
know the truth. I owe Daniel that much.”
    Six months ago I hadn’t even known Trevor
Daly existed. Now he was begging me for favors that could get me
thrown down a deep dark hole of nasty. But he was my brother. I
couldn’t say no.
    I sighed. I had no idea what I was about to
get myself involved in, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t anything
good. Freaking fantastic. “Show me the crime scene.”

Chapter Five
    Madras was a short drive up the canyon from
Warm Springs. It was the closest major town near the Reservation.
And by “major” I mean about six thousand people, give or take. I
loved that this tiny little down in the middle of nowhere had been
named after the exotic Indian city. Who knew they were so
cosmopolitan back in 1903?
    I loved the early twentieth-century
buildings that lined the main street downtown. It gave the town
atmosphere. Still, the fact was, it was a nowhere town. What on
earth had Daniel Vega been doing here?
    It wasn’t like Madras was a hot bed of
supernatural activity. I’d have known if it was.
    We followed Trevor’s car to a small run-down
motel on the other side of town. He pulled into the gravel parking
lot and stopped in front of the door marked with a rusted number
five.
    “You’d think they’d pay their agents
better,” Inigo said with a nod toward the peeling paint and dirty
windows. “There’s not much to choose from in this town, but there
are better hotels, all of them cheap. Why choose the crummiest
motel? This is barely a step above a pay-by-hour.”
    “No idea, but I’m probably going to get
cooties just from looking at it.” I shuddered.
    That made him laugh. His eyes crinkled a
little at the corners and a dimple flashed in his cheek. I loved
when he laughed. It was so ridiculously sexy.
    He leaned over and brushed his lips over
mine.
    “What was that for?” Not that I was
complaining, mind you.
    He smiled. “You had that look.”
    “What look?”
    “That gooey look that says you adore me.” He
winked.
    I rolled my eyes. “Arrogant prat.”
    There was a rap on the window. “Are you two
coming? Or are you just going to sit in there and make out?” Trevor
was obviously getting antsy.
    “We’re coming. We’re coming. Sheez. Hold
your horses.”
    The inside of Daniel Vega’s hotel room
wasn’t any better than the outside. The carpet was worn down to the
nub and I really didn’t want to think about the stains on the
bedspread.
    “Where did they find him?” Inigo asked.
    “In the bathroom. They said he’d slit his
wrists.”
    I peered into the tiny bathroom. Odd place
to slit your wrists. There was no tub, just a rather dirty shower
stall. There wasn’t even enough room on the floor to lie down.
    “Why would he slit his wrists in here? Why
not on the bed?” I frowned and glanced back at the bed. Not that it
was a better place to die. “Why slit his wrists at all? Was there a
note?”
    “No note.” Trevor shook his head. “And
they’d cleaned up before I got here. I did see the crime photos and
they didn’t look quite right.”
    I glanced at him. “What do you mean?”
    “I don’t know how to explain it.” He tucked
his hands into his pockets. “I’ve seen a few crime scene photos in
my time and it just … it looked staged.”
    “And he hadn’t been depressed? Acting
funny?”
    “Of course he was acting funny. He took off
for Nowhereville without a word. But depressed? Definitely not.”
Trevor ran a hand over his closely cropped curls. “In fact, he
seemed really excited. He wouldn’t tell me anything, but it was
like he was on the scent of something big.”
    I knew that feeling well. I got the same way
when I was