Page 23 of Fighting Fire

Someone shoved her from behind. She sprawled forward, her hands scraped against the ground as she braced her fall.

A voice lashed out at her.

“Mind your own business, bitch!”

CHAPTER5

Lana lay still for a moment, trying to regain her equilibrium. She started when a voice boomed out of the darkness.

“What the hell are you doing, Dempsey?”

That was Bryant’s voice. A light glowed over her and she turned her head. Her eyes protested the brightness, and she shielded her eyes.

“Could you get that light out of my eyes, Bryant?”

Forgetting about her hand, she rose, pushing herself off the ground. “You pushed me.”

He reared back, his face looking twisted in the eerie dimness.

“You’re crazy. I didn’t push you.”

“You’re a liar.” Too late, she remembered that he outranked her, and she added a defiant, “Sir.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Looking for clues to prove my point.”

His mouth twisted into an ugly grin. “I have had enough of you undermining me and my authority. I’m talking to your captain.”

“Go ahead. But I would suggest that you never lay your hands on me again.”

He got right in her face, but Lana never gave an inch.

“I didn’t push you.”

“Right,” she said, her voice dripping with disbelief.

“I would suggest you go home, Dempsey,” he said as he stalked away.

Undaunted, Lana bent down and retrieved her flashlight and the plastic bag. She wasn’t leaving without her sample.

When she got to her car, she stopped in her tracks. The tires facing the curb were slashed. When she walked around to the driver’s side, she saw they were slashed, too.

She unlocked the door and settled into the driver’s seat. Her hands tingled from the scrapes. Turning the overhead light on in the car, she inspected the abrasions. Not too bad and they’d only bled a little. She snapped off the light.

Cursing Bryant for his pettiness, she picked up her cell phone and was just about to dial information to call AAA when it rang.

“Hello.”

“Hi, Lana.”

“Sean, I need you.”

There was a pause at the other end of the line. She heard his intake of breath, and she could imagine the heat of him, remember the way he’d touched her last night. Filled her to overflowing.

His voice lowered and he said with a teasing note, “Tell me when and where, sweetheart, and I’ll be there.”

The sound of his voice sent a thrill along her nerve endings.