"And after we solve it?"
"After we solve it, we figure out what comes next. Together."
Erin finally smiled, the first real smile Lena had seen from her since the fight. "I can live with that."
She leaned forward and kissed Lena gently, carefully avoiding her injuries. Lena closed her eyes and sank into the kiss, feeling Erin’s pillowy-soft lips press against hers.
When they broke apart, Erin settled back but didn't let go of Lena's hand. "Get some rest. You're going to need it for the paperwork on this case."
"Our case," Lena corrected.
"Our case," Erin agreed, and for the first time in days, Lena felt like she could breathe again.
12
"Cross keeps saying the instructions were 'specific.'" Erin traced her finger down the typed transcript of Martin Cross's interrogation, rereading the section for the third time. "But he won't elaborate on what that means."
It had been eight days since the hospital. Eight days of mornings at Lena's kitchen table, case files spread between them, working through evidence with the kind of focus that came easier here than at the station. Eight days of proving they meant what they'd promised each other.
Lena shifted in the chair across from her, careful with the movement. The bruising had faded to a yellowish-green across her ribs, but Erin caught the wince Lena tried to hide when she reached for another page from the stack between them. Cleared for desk duty didn't mean her injuries were fully healed, despite what Lena's stubbornness suggested.
"He elaborated plenty about Morrison." Lena pulled Danny Morrison's statement closer, her brow furrowed in concentration. "Threw him under the bus in about thirty seconds once he realized we had evidence."
Erin had read Morrison's testimony twice already. The man worked in building safety, had drinks with Cross once or twice a month, and thought they were just catching up as former colleagues. He'd mentioned inspection schedules, talked about which buildings were getting reviewed, and complained about departmental changes. Normal work gossip that he'd had no idea was being sold to an arsonist.
"Morrison didn't know," Erin said. She believed that much. The guilt in his statement came through even in typed form—the horror of realizing his casual conversations had enabled six fires and two deaths. "But Cross knew exactly what he was doing."
"And who he was doing it for." Lena's voice carried certainty. "He claims the buyer was anonymous, but I don't believe it."
Erin looked up from the transcript to find Lena watching her, eyes sharp with the same intensity she brought to interrogations. They'd spent every morning this week like this: Lena's kitchen table covered in case files, coffee pot working overtime, evidence spread out in organized chaos.
"The payment system was sophisticated," Erin said, returning to Cross's description of the dead drops. "Different locations every time, anonymous texts with instructions, never the same pattern twice."
"Someone with operational security knowledge." Lena made a note in the margin of her copy. "Or someone paranoid about being traced."
"Or both." Erin set down Morrison's statement and picked up the page that had been nagging at her since she'd first read it. "But look at this part. Cross says the instructions he received weren't just about where and when. They included"—she found the exact quote—"'detailed technical specifications for accelerant application and ignition timing.'"
Lena stopped writing mid-word.
"Technical specifications," Lena repeated slowly.
"Not just 'use this accelerant here.' Actual fire science." Erin felt electricity run through her as the implication hit. "Application techniques, ventilation patterns, structural vulnerabilities. The kind of details you only know if you understand fire behavior."
"Webb's reports documented vulnerabilities," Lena said, but her tone suggested she was already seeing the gap in that logic.
"Webb documented what was wrong with the buildings. Things like outdated electrical systems, insufficient fire suppression, blocked utility access." Erin had studied those reports until she'd memorized them. "But someone still had to know how to exploit those weaknesses. How to use them to maximize damage while controlling the burn pattern."
The coffee pot gurgled, finishing another cycle. Erin's cup had gone cold an hour ago.
"Morrison gave Cross current information," Lena said. "Schedules, inspection updates, and departmental changes."
"But the buyer already knew the fire science." Erin pushed Cross's transcript across the table. "That's not something you learn from building inspection reports. That comes from research and professional expertise."
Lena picked up the transcript, reading the section Erin had marked. She turned to a fresh page in her notebook and started writing, the kind of focused note-taking that meant she was organizing thoughts into evidence.
"So we're looking for someone with fire safety knowledge," Lena mused aloud.
"And building department knowledge." Erin reached for the timeline they'd constructed, the one that tracked every fire against city records and personnel changes. "Someone who understood both systems well enough to orchestrate this."
