“I need some space to think about this, Lena. About whether we want the same things.”
She'd meant it as a wake-up call, not an ultimatum. It was a chance for Lena to understand that love meant trust, that you couldn't protect someone by treating them like they couldn't handle their own job. But the careful, professional texts that followed…maybe it meant that Lena had drawn her own conclusions.
Maybe she'd decided to solve the problem in a different way.
Erin's phone sat silent in the cup holder, no new messages. Part of her had hoped Lena would reach out over the weekendand say something real instead of hiding behind case updates and meeting schedules. The silence felt like an answer in itself.
She grabbed her keys and headed for the administrative offices, her footsteps echoing in the empty bay.
The fire station felt hollow on Sunday morning. Too quiet, too still, missing the usual rhythm of emergency calls and equipment checks. Captain Hallie's office door stood open, fluorescent light spilling into the dim hallway.
Erin knocked on the frame. "Captain?"
"Come in. Close the door, would you?"
That sealed it. Whatever this conversation was about, it required privacy.
Erin settled into the familiar chair across from Hallie's desk, the same spot where she'd received her promotion to fire marshal three years ago, where they'd debriefed after difficult calls, and where Hallie had become more mentor than superior. Now the distance between them felt formal again.
"Is everything all right?" Erin asked, though she knew it wasn't.
Hallie leaned back in her chair, studying her with the careful attention of someone choosing their words. "That's what I'm trying to figure out. Detective Soto called, then came to see me Friday afternoon."
The words made her throat close up, each syllable confirming what she'd been dreading. Erin kept her expression steady, but her hands clenched in her lap. "Oh?"
"She expressed some concerns about the escalating danger of the fires." Hallie's tone stayed carefully neutral, but her eyes watched Erin's reaction. "Specifically about the last fire with the chemical accelerants, structural risks, and complexity of the scene."
The clinical language and professional courtesy couldn't hide what this really was. Erin waited, knowing the real blow was coming.
"She seemed particularly concerned aboutyourexposure to these conditions as a fire marshal."
The sting of betrayal settled deeper in her bones as she chewed over the information and the implications. Lena had gone behind her back to express concerns about Erin’s ability to do her job safely.
"I see." Erin's voice came out steady, though her heart was hammering. "What kind of concerns?"
Hallie's expression softened slightly. "Erin, is everything okay between you two? Professionally, I mean. Is the working relationship functioning properly?"
Heat crawled up Erin's neck. Her personal life—whatever had existed between her and Lena—was affecting her professional reputation. Her superior was asking, diplomatically, if she could do her job without bias.
The betrayal cut deeper than she'd expected. Not just that Lena had gone behind her back, but that she'd made it about Erin's competence. Everything Erin had spent years fighting against, every assumption about her age and experience that she'd worked to overcome—Lena had handed those concerns and insecurities to her superior like evidence in a case file.
"Yes, ma'am. Absolutely." The words felt hollow. "Detective Soto and I have different approaches to the investigation, but we're both committed to solving these cases."
"Different approaches." Hallie nodded slowly. "She mentioned that the fire marshal might be taking unnecessary risks given the...thorough investigative style required for these scenes."
Unnecessary risks. Thorough investigative style.
Translation:too young, too eager, too willing to put herself in danger. All the fears Erin had carried since becoming the youngest fire marshal in Phoenix Ridge's history, gift-wrapped and delivered to her boss by the person who was supposed to be on her side.
"Captain, I've been doing this job for six years. I know the risks, and I know my limits." Erin's voice stayed level, but fury burned beneath the surface. "The scenes we've been working on are dangerous, yes, but they're within the parameters of what we're trained to handle."
"I know that." Hallie leaned forward, elbows on her desk. "And I told her that. You're one of the most capable fire marshals I've worked with, Erin. Your safety record is exemplary, your judgment is sound, and your technical expertise is exactly why we need you on these scenes."
The words should have been reassuring, but the fact that they needed to be said at all made Erin's chest fill with humiliation.
"But I wanted you to be aware of the conversation," Hallie continued. "Whatever's going on between you two personally, don't let it compromise the investigation. Or your career."
The subtext was clear:Watch your back. Your reputation is at stake.
