Reese laughed, turned to look at him, and laughed again. "You know the guy was roughed up pretty bad. Broken nose, black eyes, even a damned broken finger."

Logan just waited.

"I had to turn him over to Peterson.

She's in there now, jawing at him, stepping in where she doesn't belong."

Doesn't belong? "She's the lieutenant."

"And it's your case. But from the get- go, she's been in it up to her stubborn chin. Micro-managing, snooping-"

Snooping? "What the hell is wrong with you? Peterson wants to clean up the corruption, that's all. You know she's always been a hands-on lieutenant." Her determination to stay involved and on the street hadn't won her any favors in the force, but she didn't seem to care.

"No, Logan, it's more than that."

"You know that...how?"

"Detectives," said a new, more feminine but no less strident voice.

They both turned to see Lieutenant Peterson bearing down on them. Logan nodded at her.

"How propitious to have you both here together."

Logan checked his watch. "Only ten minutes early."

Reese crossed his arms over his chest and dropped back negligently against the wall. All signs of his agitation were now under wraps, the cagey bastard.

Peterson looked between the two of them. "I got a description of the man who worked over our prisoner. He sounds remarkably like Rowdy Yates."

"Really?" Reese smirked. "Tall, blond and muscular could describe a lot of men."

Since that also included Reese, Logan had nothing to add.

The lieutenant waited, then said flatly, "Morton isn't dead."

"No?" Logan didn't even bother trying to look surprised. "Did that come from the perp or through the coroner's report?"

"Both, actually."

Shit. Reese didn't change expressions or posture, so Logan asked, "Do we know the deets on the corpse?"

"One of his lackeys." She waved that off. "No doubt Morton hired him because he had the same body type and hair color."

"Bleached blond?" Reese asked.

She shrugged. "It's possible Morton had him bleach his hair. At this point, we don't know, and it doesn't matter anyway."

To carry on his part, Logan asked, "Did you get any good info from the guy Reese brought in?" The sooner he could get out of the office, the better. He needed Andrews removed as a threat.

He needed- "Actually, yes." She rubbed her face tiredly, then dropped her hands. "The apartment building burned to the ground."

Plots and plans stalled as Logan assimilated what she'd said. It wasn't at all what he'd been expecting. "What apartment building? When?"

The lieutenant slanted a guarded look at Reese, but since he didn't budge and continued to look neutral, she turned back to Logan. "The apartment building where you stayed while cozying up to Pepper Yates."

The slow burn of red-hot rage coursed through him. If he hadn't gotten Pepper out of there...

"The apartment building," Peterson stressed, "where we assumed we'd find a lead. The apartment building that, according to you, gave us nothing viable to work with."

"When?" Reese demanded.

At the same time, Logan said, "Was anyone hurt?"

"I got the call while I was in interrogation. Likely arson. The place was torched pretty good. Gutted. A total loss."

It was difficult for Logan to get around the idea that Pepper had lived there, and whoever set the place ablaze apparently wanted her dead. He tried to think of who else might have been in the four-unit building.

"We didn't find any bodies inside."

Before his relief could sink in, Peterson said, "Have you located Rowdy and Pepper?"

Logan shook his head, but to help cover that lie, he said, "Given the fire, I'll make it a priority."

"You do that. Both of you."

Reese went very still beside him, his expression enigmatic.

"You think one of them set the fire?"

Logan hadn't even considered that. He knew Pepper hadn't left the cabin, but Rowdy...damn, he just didn't know.

"Why would they?"

"Perhaps to destroy evidence." She gave him a sideways look. "You hadn't yet cleared out your belongings?"

"No." He'd been too busy hustling Pepper's sweet behind out of the line of fire. "I didn't have that much there. A few clothes, bedding...enough stuff to make it look like I lived there."

"Were you still seeing Ms. Yates?"

She sounded merely curious, so Logan replied with equal nonchalance. "I haven't been back to the apartment at all." His thoughts jumped ahead. He needed to get hold of Rowdy first thing, then check with Dash to ensure nothing had happened at the lake.

"So you didn't lose anything valuable?" the lieutenant asked.

"Not really, no." What had Pepper left behind? She was too smart to get tripped up by loose ends-but not everyone would know that. Had the fire been an attempt to hurt her, or to remove a trail?

"First a bomb at the club, a dead body double, now a fire and a task force that's turned up nothing at all." The lieutenant shook her head. "Explaining this and the department's involvement is getting more and more complicated by the minute. The very least we can do is get the Yates siblings back in here."

"I'll get right on it," Logan promised.

"Understand, Logan, I want them in here before the end of the day. No more delays. Even if they know nothing about the fire, they could be in danger. We'll offer them protection. Keep them safe."

She glanced at Reese. "From everyone."

Reese took an aggressive stance-but Logan put up a hand, stalling any arguments from him.

Complacent, the lieutenant said, "I don't care how you accomplish it, but I want them here, where I can talk to them.

Understood?"

"Loud and clear," Reese said.

The second Peterson walked away, Reese dropped back against the wall.

"What now?"

Logan struggled with himself, undecided.

"I don't entirely trust her, you know that," Reese said. "But Peterson is right.

The cabin would be secure unless anyone digs into your family history- but that's something another cop can do.

Then it's easy enough to find out about your brother, and a property search will -"

"Disclose the cabin." Logan tensed even more. "The fact that her building burned down means someone knows she was living there."

"Could be a fluke, a coincidence,"

Reese said, "but neither of us is going to buy that. They're onto you, or Rowdy and Pepper..." He shrugged. "Possibly both. I know you weren't followed-"

"Even the best cop can trip up, so, no, we don't know that for a fact." Awful possibilities chewed on Logan's already churning discontent. "Andrews is sick enough on his own, but this just jumped to a whole new level. With organized traffickers involved now, too, I think we're better to trust our luck here, at the station, than someplace remote."

Reese gave a nod of agreement.

"Sucks, but there it is. What can I do to help?"

"I'm going to get Pepper myself." No way in hell would he trust that to anyone else.

Reese caught his arm. "Understand something, Logan. I'm here, I have your back."

But Logan knew that Reese was still hiding something. "Meaning what?"

Reese narrowed his eyes. "You can trust me, damn it."

Logan gave a tight smile. "I know."

"Then no more surprises. If you have Rowdy digging around, tell me."

"Rowdy is his own man, checking things his own way."

"That's not smart."

Logan disagreed. With so many unknowns, he liked having Rowdy on the outside. But for Reese's benefit, he conceded the point. "Maybe not, though I'm not sure it matters much at this point.

I'm bringing Pepper in, and if I can, I'll round up Rowdy, as well. In the meantime, see if you can get anything useful out of our prisoner."

Relenting, Reese nodded. "I'll let you know."

PEPPER REMAINED SILENT on the drive in.

Logan didn't like it, but he knew she was worried with the sudden change of plans. Until she reached her brother, he didn't expect her to relax much. Rowdy had promised to meet him at Dash's home so they could all go to the station together, but Pepper didn't know about his detour.

Dash followed behind as a precaution. No, he wasn't a cop, but he was a cop's brother and loyal enough to do whatever had to be done.

It made Logan edgy, having Dash and Pepper in potential danger.

And Rowdy...he'd agreed to come in, but Logan knew him well enough now to pick up on his suspicion. He had a distinct feeling that Rowdy would make his own detours before meeting with them at Dash's.

"Pepper?"

Keeping her gaze out the window, she said, "Hmm?"

He tightened his hands on the steering wheel. "I wanted to give you more time, but unfortunately, time's a commodity I just don't have now."

She turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"

"You're going to have to trust me."

Silence fell. The only sounds inside the truck were of the passing traffic and the air conditioner blowing. Logan didn't break the quiet; at this point, what could he say?

He felt the scrutiny of her light brown eyes as she studied him. Tension escalated until he thought he might snap.

"It's not easy," she finally said.

Not easy-but not impossible. Logan saw promise in her words. "I know."

She half turned in the seat toward him.

"You made me feel like a stupid fool."