Shaking her head to clear it, Lana was aware of the pitfalls of getting involved with Sean and she’d decided he was worth the risk. But daydreaming, her father had told her, would only make her lose focus. He’d told her countless times that she had to be strong to make it in a man’s profession. Letting emotion get in her way was dangerous.
Arriving ten minutes late for her class, she took her seat quickly. She tried to push Sean out of her mind, but he wouldn’t go. The best she could do was to keep him at bay.
* * *
Sean approached the back door. Inside he could hear his mother talking to his aunt Maggie.
“Megan, you have that son of yours constantly running around like a crazy person. I can pick up Mom’s present.”
“Sean’s a good boy. He doesn’t mind,” his mother said, absolute conviction in her voice.
“Don’t you think he might like to have his days off free to do something fun?” his aunt said in exasperation. “If he’s not doing something for Riley or you, he’s doing something for his dad.”
“I told you. Sean doesn’t mind,” his mother replied calmly.
Sean opened the back door, making enough noise so that his mother and aunt could hear him. “Hi, Mom,” he bussed his mother’s cheek and turned to his aunt and gave her a kiss, too. “And you, Aunt Maggie.”
“Sean, dear. I saved you some breakfast. It’s on the stove. Thank you for fixing the lawn mower. We really appreciate it. You know how hard it is to get your father to do anything.”
“Thanks, Mom.” He walked over to the pan and lifted the lid. Eggs, hash browns and bacon were all nestled nicely together in the skillet and heated just enough to eat without getting burned. Although he’d stopped on the way and eaten, he pulled down a plate.
“Sean,” his mother said, glancing at his aunt, “While you’re downtown getting a new blade, could you pick up a gift for your grandmother’s birthday?”
Sean doesn’t mind. Those were his mother’s words and the sentiment behind them was true. He didn’t mind doing things for his family, but had Lana been right when she said they were taking advantage of him?
“I can do it, Mom.”
His mother gave his aunt a grin, and Sean forked up his food and continued eating.
* * *
It took two hours and three hardware stores before Sean finally gave up and bought his parents a new lawn mower.
He loaded the purchase in the car and spied a vintage record store one building over. He knew his grandmother loved old albums and it would be a good place to get a gift for her.
He locked his car and walked toward the store but stopped in front of an outdoor shop sandwiched between the hardware and record stores.
In the window was a mock climbing wall along with climbing gear. Sean stood in front of the glass for a long time staring at the equipment, wondering if he could finally overcome his fear of heights. He looked at the wall and spied the notice for climbing classes. Then looked at the wall again. He really was busy taking care of his family’s needs. Maybe later.
With a last look at the gear, he went into the record store.
* * *
When her class was over, Lana retrieved Kate’s report. She felt no satisfaction that she’d been right. It only meant that Bryant was going on wrong assumptions and poorly gathered data.
Lana felt a chill slide down her neck. This kind of deliberate act most likely would escalate. So far, the SDFD had been able to save all the lives involved in the two blazes. But fire was a deadly and clever foe and eventually it could claim a life.
She couldn’t let that happen. Dropping the report on the seat, she started the car. She knew where she had to go.
Parking on Tremont Street, the site of the first fire, Lana looked up at the structure. It was nothing but a burned-out husk of a building, looking gray and eerie in the setting sun.
Lana grabbed up another plastic bag from her glove compartment, a stash Kate had given her. She exited her car and walked toward the burned-out building. There were strips of yellow tape everywhere, warning of danger. But Lana knew what she was doing.
She made her way inside, looking up at what had once housed many, many people. She’d read in the paper that a ritzy condo builder had bought the land. He was going to put in expensive condos.
A rustling sound caught her attention, and she spun in the fading light. She moved closer, catching a glimpse of something dark. When she got to the area where she thought she’d seen the outline of a man, she stopped. There was no one in sight.
Spooked, she quickly made her way to the place where she thought the basement would be. She shined her flashlight around the area and gasped. Kneeling down, she ran her hand over what had once been the concrete floor of the building’s basement. Spalling. Her gut clenched. How could Bryant have missed this twice? She set down the flashlight, pulling the plastic evidence bag out of her pocket. She reached toward the earth and scooped up some dirt. Bringing the bag back toward her, she went to seal it.