She was too drawn to Sean, too aware, too interested in him for her own good. The best thing she could do—the smartest thing—was to retreat. But how could she? Their relationship would never be brought back to what it once was.
Sean was more than her friend now.
But what that meant, she still wasn’t sure.
CHAPTER8
The minute that Lana walked into the station, she heard her captain call her name.
She poked her head into his office, “Cap?”
For the first time since she’d worked for him, he looked at her sternly. “Sit down.”
She took the chair even though she would much rather stand. It was hard to ignore the pictures that covered the walls. Her great-grandfather, grandfather, and father were all members of this station. Her father was the only one who hadn’t made captain. She felt the weight of that tradition more so than ever. Perhaps it was the looming test that would take her up to the next level or the secret investigation that was no secret. There was a real possibility she could get a written reprimand.
“Are you stepping all over Dane Bryant’s toes?” Captain Troy demanded.
“Yes,” she said firmly, “but…”
“I don’t want to hear any buts,” he snapped. “It’s not like you to step out of bounds, Dempsey.”
“I collected soil samples and one of the samples has come back positive for accelerant. I think the second one will, too.”
His face settled in grim lines. “You do?”
“Yes, sir.”
Her captain grimaced. “So what were you trying to prove? That Dane was wrong?”
“No, sir,” she said calmly. “I was trying to prove that those two fires were deliberate arson and that we have a serial arsonist on our hands.”
He sat back and steepled his fingers. “Sounds like you are trying to prove Bryant wrong. You can’t go freelancing. Take what you’ve discovered over to him and leave the investigation to the people who get paid to do it.”
Lana schooled her face into a mask of indifference. “Yes, sir.”
“Because of your family’s long tradition with the fire department, I’m going to cut you some slack. Next time, this goes into your jacket.”
She gave him a quick, jerky nod. “Yes, sir.”
“Dempsey, has he threatened you?”
“Bryant?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“No.”
His face hardened. “I’ve heard differently.”
“It’s not anything I can’t handle, sir.”
“There’s nothing I’d like more than squeeze Bryant’s balls in a vise.”
She couldn’t completely stop the smile itching to spread across her face, but it wouldn’t be prudent to smile. “Yes, sir, but I can handle it.”
“Get going,” he said gruffly. “I don’t want to be short-staffed. Take a man with you, so that you can avoid any unpleasantness.”
Lana walked out of the captain’s office and almost ran into Sean.