“Does that mean if I don’t choose your path, I shouldn’t bother to come see you at all?”
“Make the right decision, Lana.”
* * *
Her breath heaved in her lungs, her thighs burned, and her heart pumped frantically as she took the bleachers as if her life depended on it.
Had she been so blind that she couldn’t see that becoming captain had never been her dream? Or was she confused? Even in college when she’d wanted to change her major to forensics, her father had talked her out of it. Had she let him or was it what she really wanted?
He’d always been there to steer her back to becoming what he couldn’t. Had his dream been riding her for years, and as a result had she pushed away her dissatisfaction, denied her feelings, and acquiesced?
She did know that the thought of using chemical tools and observation to bring arsonists to justice thrilled her. She couldn’t deny that anymore.
“When are you going to stop?” Sean asked when she got to the bottom of the bleachers.
Irritation slammed through her. When she’d called him and told him that she needed to let off steam and that she’d call him back tomorrow, she didn’t expect that he would show up here.
“When I’m ready.”
He grabbed her arm. “Lana, you look exhausted. Talk to me.”
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
“What happened with your father?”
Anger burst full force inside her, and she paced away from him. “I don’t want to talk about that with you. I’m still trying to pick up the pieces of my life right now.”
“Right. I get it.” He turned and walked away, and Lana’s heart lurched. She couldn’t tell him about this. It was too private, too painful to share with him right now. Why couldn’t he understand that?
“Sean,” she called and caught up with him. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
“You’ve been doing that quite a bit lately. Is it because now we’re lovers and our friendship isn’t quite asdefinedas you want it to be?”
“No. It doesn’t have anything to do with that.”
“You’ve always been able to talk to me before. Why is it different now?”
“I don’t know. It just is and I can’t explain it any better than that.”
She watched his retreating back, feeling as if something was slipping through her fingers, something precious and unique, but she couldn’t holler for him to come back. She just stood in the cool night and watched the fog roll in off the ocean, feeling as if the murkiness was clouding a lot more than her vision.
CHAPTER13
“We put an APB out on John Fisher,” Sienna said as she walked into Lana’s kitchen.
“So, you were able to get a warrant for his arrest?”
“Based on the pictures you supplied, yes. We searched his house and discovered accelerants. We also discovered firefighting gear. Lots of it. Kate is analyzing the accelerant and the containers now.”
“Have you told Bryant any of this information?”
“Yes, stopped there first.”
“Did he give you the negative?”
“What negative?”
Lana pulled the picture out of her bag. “See here. Right at the edge of the photo, someone’s been cropped off. I thought it might be useful to find out who he was talking to.”