A job that was currently putting her life at risk.
"Detective," Julia's voice cut through her focus. "You need to coordinate with the uniforms on scene perimeter. The media's starting to arrive."
Lena nodded, forcing herself to look away from Erin and focus on the procedural work that needed to be done. Crowd control, witness interviews, evidence preservation—the mechanical tasks of detective work that usually grounded her.
But every few minutes, her attention was pulled back to the figure in the hazmat suit, taking readings and samples while the building burned behind her. Erin moved with professional confidence, but Lena could see the tension in her shoulders, the awareness of how dangerous this analysis was.
Twenty minutes later, Erin retreated to the command post, pulling off her hood and breathing mask. Even from across the scene, Lena could see her flushed face and the intensity in her expression as she briefed the incident commander.
Lena found herself walking toward the command post before she'd consciously decided to move.
"—mixed accelerants including industrial solvents and what appears to be magnesium powder," Erin was saying to Fire Chief Adams. "The combination is creating temperatures over three thousand degrees in localized areas. Standard suppression tactics aren’t going to work."
"Recommendations?" Chief Adams asked.
"Foam containment for the solvents and graphite dust to starve the magnesium. We’ll need hazmat teams for the chemical suppression. And, Chief”—Erin’s eyes darkened—”structural collapse is imminent. The support beams are compromised.”
As if summoned by her words, a grinding sound came from inside the building, followed by the crash of something heavy falling. Everyone on scene stepped back involuntarily.
"That was the second floor," Erin said grimly. "If those two staff members are still inside..."
She didn't finish the sentence. Everyone understood. After twenty-five minutes of a chemical fire at those temperatures, survival was unlikely.
"Marshal Vance," Chief Adams said, "I need you to maintain a safe distance from this point forward. We'll handle suppression and recovery from here."
Erin nodded, but Lena could see the frustration in her face. The professional desire to keep helping was warring against the obvious danger.
"Good work out there," Lena said, approaching as the briefing broke up.
Erin turned, and for a moment her professional mask slipped. Lena saw exhaustion, stress, and something that might have been fear.
"This isn't like the others," Erin said quietly. "Whoever did this wanted to cause maximum damage, possibly death."
"Do you have any thoughts on the accelerant mixture? Could our guy have put this together himself?"
"Not unless he has access to industrial chemicals and knows advanced chemistry. The magnesium powder alone requires specialized handling." Erin pulled off her protective gloves, her hands slightly shaky from adrenaline. "This feels like someone with professional experience."
Or a professional consultation, Lena thought, remembering Martin Cross's smug confidence that morning. Someone was definitely pulling the strings, someone with knowledge and resources that went far beyond a laid-off building inspector.
"Detective Soto?" A uniformed officer approached. "We've got witnesses who want to talk to you, including staff members who were in the building when it started."
Lena nodded, but before turning away, she caught Erin's arm gently. "You did good work today. Dangerous work."
Something passed between them—an acknowledgment of the risk, relief that it was over, and the complicated tension of caring about someone whose job put them in harm's way.
"I’m just doing my job," Erin said, but her eyes held Lena's for a moment longer than necessary and her gaze softened.
As Lena walked toward the witnesses, she couldn't shake the image of Erin in that hazmat suit, kneeling ten feet from that fire. The arsonist was getting more dangerous, and Lena knew they couldn’t afford a next attack.
The fire scene wrapped up three hours later with the building declared a total loss and the missing staff members confirmed dead. Lena had spent the time interviewing witnesses and coordinating evidence collection, but her eyes kept darting to watch Erin's movements across the scene. Even after being ordered to maintain safe distance, Erin consulted on suppression tactics, analyzed debris patterns, and documentedchemical residue, keeping her outside the line of fire but just barely.
By nightfall, the emergency vehicles had cleared out, leaving behind the skeletal remains of what had been Phoenix Ridge's most important community resource. Lena found herself standing beside her car in the parking lot, watching Erin pack equipment into her truck, exhaustion showing in her shoulders.
"Rough day," Lena said, approaching as Erin loaded the last of her detection gear.
Erin looked up, her face streaked with soot despite the protective equipment. Lena could see the barely contained rage in her eyes. "Two people died, Lena. Two people who were just doing their jobs. This bastard escalated to murder today."
"We'll catch him."
