Chapter Ten
FORTUNATELY, BESIDES A broken left leg and a multitude of cuts and bruises, Debra Wallace was going to be fine. Though she had some pain in the chest, a look at her electrocardiogram told Lexi she didn’t have any heart issues. The pain was almost certainly due to taking an airbag and a crushed steering wheel to the chest. Debra thanked Lexi so many times for saving her, she started to get embarrassed.
Right after that, the police showed up to talk to Lexi and Trent so another rescue truck transported Debra to the hospital. Lexi expected uniformed officers to take their statements and was surprised when a detective named Logan Maxwell introduced himself. Tall with dark hair and brown eyes, he was interested in anything they could tell him about the street racers.
“Honestly, I didn’t get a good look at them,” Lexi admitted. “All I saw was a flash of color speed by us.”
Detective Maxwell looked at Trent. “What about you?”
Trent thought a moment. “I think one was a Mustang and I’m pretty sure I saw a tricked out Nissan. I didn’t get any license plates, though.”
The detective nodded. “Okay, thanks.” He handed her and Trent his business card. “If you think of anything else, give me a call.”
After Detective Maxwell left, Lexi looked around for Dane to see if he was still there, but he was nowhere in sight.
“You ready to head back to the station?” Trent asked.
She nodded. Besides wanting to see Dane, she needed to change into dry clothes. Even though the rain had stopped, they were still soaked.
After sitting in those wet clothes all the way back to the station, Lexi immediately headed upstairs to the women’s locker room to change before she went in search of Dane. She’d reached the locker room when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned to see Dane striding toward her.
She opened her mouth to thank him for getting to that overpass at exactly the right time, but then she caught the look on his face and realized something was off. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was angry.
“What the hell did you think you were doing out there?” he demanded.
“What are you talking about?”
Dane scowled. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. That insane stunt you pulled on the overpass. Were you trying to get yourself killed?”
She blinked. Crap. Hewasangry. And now, so was she. “What kind of question is that? I was trying to save a woman’s life. You, more than anyone, should recognize that.”
“I never would have done anything that reckless,” he snapped.
Lexi felt like he’d slapped her. Telling her she was reckless was the same as saying she wasn’t good at her job. “It might have been risky, but it wasn’t reckless, and it was the only choice we had. That car was about to go over the edge. What was I supposed to do? Let her die?”
“What you should have done was let Trent get her out.”
She gaped at Dane. Thinking he’d been questioning her skill at her job had been bad enough. Questioning how she did that job because she was a woman instead of a man was even worse.
Lexi folded her arms and glared at him. “I see. So Trent gets to risk his life to save people because he’s a man, but I can’t because I’m a woman?”
“That’s not what I said,” he insisted.
“Really?” she countered. “Then what is going on here? You run into burning buildings nearly every day to save people, and I never call you on it. Yet, the first time you see me do something dangerous to save someone’s life, you say I’m reckless. Tell me how I’m supposed to take that?”
Dane opened his mouth to say something—heaven help her, if it was one more stupid thing, she was not going to be responsible for what happened—but a deep voice interrupted him.
“What the hell is going on up here?”
Lexi and Dane both turned to see Captain Stewart standing there regarding them with a scowl on his face.
“Nothing, Captain,” Dane said. “Lexi and I disagree on something is all.”
Captain Stewart snorted. “Sound more like a lovers’ spat. If you two make me regret looking the other way while you have a relationship, I promise that I’m going to make both of you regret it more.” When Dane looked like he wanted to argue, their boss jabbed a finger in his direction. “Don’t test me, Dane, or I’ll have you transferred to a new station by tomorrow.”
Dane clenched his jaw. He stared at the captain for a long time as if wondering whether the man was bluffing. After a moment, Dane shook his head and walked out. A few seconds later, she heard him stomping down the steps.
Stewart looked at Lexi, his expression hard. “That goes for you, too. I’m not putting up with this crap. Understood?”
