Excerpt of Playing With Fire by Molly Kate Gray

Chapter One

"Delia?" The barista stood, steaming cup in hand, as he looked out over the Saturday morning crowd at the coffee shop. As was typical during First Monday Trade Days, the room was packed with a mixture of red–hatted women bused in from assisted living centers in neighboring towns alongside young women pushing strollers seeking relief from the surprisingly oppressive October heat. Fall may have arrived in the rest of the country, but no one seemed to have alerted Texas to the news.

No locals could be found among the crowd. They were smart enough to leave Pineville before the tourists descended each month. "Delia?" The high schooler called out louder over the din of the crowd.

"Close enough." Special Agent Della Chambers walked to the counter and reached for the cardboard cup.

"Extra large mocha with a double shot of espresso?" The young man's pierced eyebrow shot up in question.

Della's fingers wrapped around the cup. "That'd be me." Taking her drink, she smoothed her coral camisole down over the waistband of her black Capri pants, very much aware that her rumpled business attire made her stand out in the crowd of bargain hunters. As she walked to the table filled with sugar packets and three flavors of creamers, she made one last, futile attempt to find a seat in the filled–to–capacity shop. She definitely should have driven thirty more minutes until she'd reached the next town. Of course, it had been a very long time since she'd been in the area; she'd forgotten the insanity that accompanied Trade Days.

After searching for a non–sticky spot on the table, she set down her drink and reached for the sugar packets. As a tendril of hair fell loose from the bun on the nape of her neck, she quickly spun it back into place as she fought back a yawn. Normally she'd spread a trip from Jacksonville to north Texas over two days, but Philip had told her time was of the essence. When she'd hung up the phone from her conversation with her boss, she had only allowed herself a half hour to prepare for the trip. As the reports Philip sent her printed, Della hurried through her apartment, tossing only absolute necessities into the bag for what she hoped would be a very short trip.

Now she was paying the price for her haste. She should have allowed herself a night's rest in Louisiana, but now, with just four hours left on her trip, she couldn't justify taking a break, especially not after her boss had called her with the latest news. Her guy had struck again while she was on the road.