Sean.”
She reached out to take the card from him, her fingers sliding along the back of his. Her touch was feather-soft, and yet, he swore he felt tingles move up his arm.
“I assure you I can drive, and I’ll make it to the lab first. I’ll turn in everything and then just call my boss and take the rest of the afternoon off. If I feel like I can’t make it home, I've got a friend I can call.”
He stepped away from her door, allowing her to get in. She started the car with no problem, but he watched her wince when she attempted to use her left hand on the steering wheel. She managed a three-point turn behind his vehicle and then pulled away. He stood until he could no longer see her. Dropping his chin to his chest, he gave his head a little shake. Feeling someone come up next to him, he looked as the patrol officer approached.
“Detective? Was she not supposed to have access?”
Glancing at the name on the man’s uniform, he replied, “You did the right thing, Officer Jenkins. Her credentials were correct, and she was here for the insurance company, checking on the cause of the fire.”
With a final chin lift, he climbed into his SUV. Thoughts of Harper filled his mind. Hell, I’ll probably never see her again. It had been a long time since he had dated anyone seriously, but maybe, just maybe, a woman like Harper would understand the demands of his job. He had no desire for what had fired his blood as a younger man. Drunken one-night stands were a thing of the past. So were friends with benefits, which he found did nothing but give mixed signals and end the friendship. And yet, the idea of asking her for a date slammed into him. Like that’ll happen. After today, I’m the last person she’d want to spend time with.
Jonas sent a message asking to meet in the lab, so he headed there first. By the time he parked and walked in, he could feel his head pound and his footsteps drag, ready for the day to end, hoping for a full night’s sleep. Stepping into the lab, he looked toward the back where Shamika was at her station with Jonas. “What have you got?”
“Okay, this one was easy. The accelerant used in the warehouse was definitely gasoline. We already know that the arsonist is using carbon disulfide, so unless he’s changing his pattern, it would appear that the warehouse fire was set by someone other than our arsonist.”
Jonas and Sean nodded, then Shamika leaned closer, lowering her voice. “Rumor has it that the body was Samuel Treyson. The brass has already been on the lab supervisor’s case to put it first ahead of all other cases. You know the media will have a heyday with this.”
He nodded. “That’s why we wanted a rush on your testing. I know it’s not conclusive as far as who set the fire, but at least we can let homicide know that the probability is very good that their killer is the one who set the fire... or at least it wasn’t our arsonist.”
Shamika shook her head, “Damn... Samuel Treyson, the Golden Boy. I don’t envy the homicide detectives having to deal with that mess.”
Not admitting anything, he thought of Brock. By now, Brock would be knee-deep in the investigation and wondered how the conversation with his dad had gone. Even with Chauncey King as the Police Commissioner, he knew Brock and his dad had little to do with each other professionally on a day-to-day basis. But with the murder of one of Hope City’s prominent citizens, he knew Chauncey would be keeping tabs on everything that was going on.
Walking back to headquarters, he felt Jonas’ stare boring into the side of his head. He glanced to the side, seeing Jonas’ lips twitching. “What?”
“I just wondered about the woman whose arm you broke.”
“I didn’t fuckin’ break anybody’s arm. I startled her, that’s all.”
“Then why were you sneaking up on her?”
“Jesus, when did you get so nosy?” When Jonas made no reply, Sean finally said, “There were some press still hanging around. When I first saw her, it didn’t dawn on me that she might be from the insurance company. I admit I yelled at her, but then she tripped when she tried to stand and fell backward with her weight on her wrist.”
“Well, at least you were a gentleman and took her to