Read City of Fire for Free Online

front of the next house. The Red Cross would provide food and drinks to the neighborhood until the street was reopened. And Sanchez would take his time bringing back the coffee. It had been a group decision. No one wanted to crowd Brant. Lena and Novak would make the identification with him on their own. Because of her easy manner, Lena would take the lead. Because of Novak’s trained eye and experience, he would observe.
    “I want to go in,” Brant said to her. “I want to see Nikki. I need to hold her.”
    “We’re sorry for your loss, Mr. Brant. But your house is a crime scene now. People are working. We’re trying to find out what happened.”
    “I want to see her.” Brant’s voice rose from his gut as he lowered his head and stared at the pavement. He clenchedhis fist, then punched the inside door panel and stood up. Lena suddenly realized why the books about business were at eye level and the art books filled out the lower shelves in the study. James Brant was well over six feet tall. His wife was easily a foot shorter and by any standard would have been considered petite. The books had been placed on the shelves as a matter of convenience.
    “She’s all alone. I should be with her. She didn’t deserve this.”
    “No, she didn’t,” Lena said. “And I agree with you that this is total bullshit.”
    Whether it was the tone of her voice or the words she used, Brant turned from the house and looked straight at her. His eyes sharpened and the muscles in his face and neck began to twitch. In spite of his wrinkled suit, Lena could tell that Brant was powerfully built and wired tight as a drum. He had obviously been an athlete in school, probably football or soccer, and still worked out.
    “If you agree,” he said, “then why can’t I see her? I want to know what happened.”
    “We do, too, Mr. Brant. The sooner you realize that, the better off we’ll all be.”
    He thought it over, his eyes losing their focus and turning inward again. “I’ve already told Tito everything I know. I came home and found her … like that.”
    “He told us. It must have been extremely difficult. We appreciate everything you’ve done to help.”
    Sanchez had already filled them in on his conversation with Brant. It had been part of the plan. While everyone else kept their distance from within the confines of the crime scene, Sanchez sat with Brant hoping to become his next best friend. James Brant was twenty-eight years old and worked as the chief bean counter at the Dreggco Corporation, a fledgling biotech company located just south of Venice Beach. Lena had been right. Money was still an issue in their lives. Brant had won the job and title because of his youth and willingness to defer most of his salary in favor of a piece of the action. The Dreggco Corporation was banking on its research. If theirwork panned out, everyone would reap the rewards. If things went south, Brant would leave with enough experience to move on at a higher salary. According to Tito, it sounded as if the company had hit on something and was about to be flooded with cash in a buyout scheme. Brant told Tito that he had been working all-nighters for more than a week. That the deal hinged on the numbers. Although things were good with Nikki—they had only been married for two years—it hadn’t been easy. They lived on her salary, which wasn’t much because she taught at a small art college on the other side of Glendale. The mortgage on their home didn’t leave room for anything but the necessities.
    “I loved her,” he said. “Things were perfect until this.”
    “Perfect?” Lena asked.
    He met her eyes and held them. “Perfect,” he repeated. “Until now.”
    “Mr. Brant, I need to show you something and it isn’t going to be easy.”
    Brant seemed to know what was coming. He reached for the top of the door with his right hand as if grabbing hold of the ropes in a boxing ring. He looked punch-drunk, as if maybe he didn’t have