Page 51 of Inferno

She jerked so hard the phone hit her coffee cup and some of the liquid sloshed out onto the table. She winced. So much for keeping her attention to herself. But if this was an email from the arsonist?

She braced and looked at the screen.

“What is it?” Julio asked.

Thankfully, not another manifesto in her email. Samantha was actually glad she hadn’t been the one to open the email. Deerdan hadn’t beat around the bush. She’d explained it in a way that allowed Samantha to absorb the blow with no one else around. As far as Deerdan was concerned, a threat directed at one officer in the department meant it was directed at every single officer who served.

She might be the target, but that kind of all-for-one thinking did help.

“It’s the girlfriend of Mitchell Sylvana,” Samantha replied. “She said he’s awake enough we can go talk to him. Apparently, he has something to tell us.”

Julio pushed back his chair. “Let’s go.”

As if she wasn’t going to take Romeo with her and conduct a police interview. No, Julio had decided that the two of them were going to team up. She nearly smiled.

Samantha wished she had a good reason to tell him it was a terrible idea. But the problem was, given the way he’d been with her the last few days, she didn’t have any reasons left to push him away.

She had a whole lot of reasons to hold on tight.

Captain Tennet cleared his throat.

Before he could start, Special Agent Franklin said, “This morning I spoke with the commissioners over both the fire department and the police department. I will be taking command of this taskforce until such time as the arsonist is arrested.”

Everyone in the room shifted and glanced at her. Tennet stiffened in his seat, a pinched look on his face. Samantha didn’t know what was going on, but it did seem like this taskforceneeded more focus. Better leadership. If that came from an FBI expert in profiling, she was all for it.

Julio seemed to think it was a good idea as well, given the expression on his face. Something else they were on the same page about. Which only got her thinking about him kissing her goodbye two nights ago. How had his shift been that he’d worked between then and now? He didn’t look tired, but then again he never seemed to feel the effects of tough work.

Addie said, “All reports will be sent directly to me. Tasks will be assigned by me, and no one is to give out any information without my express permission.” She looked around the room. “Is that understood by everyone?”

Samantha said, “Understood.”

Several of the others agreed, but Captain Tennet just sat stoically in his seat.

Addie said, “Captain Tennet, you and I will go over all of the fire scenes.”

Julio lifted a finger. “I have some photos from this morning I’ll send over.”

“Very good,” Addie said. “Captain Espinoza-Vasquez and Detective Jesse, go speak with Mitchell Sylvana. Find out what he has to say. Detective Alvarez, where are you at?”

“Two more interviews of warehouse staff to go. But they aren’t giving me very much. Apparently, the parent company told them not to reveal anything about the class action suit. At least not until we can prove it’s relevant.”

“Stick with it. Report to me when you’re done.” She gave out a couple of other assignments to personnel in the room and then said, “You are all dismissed.”

Samantha met up with Julio in the hallway, and they walked together to the elevator. Inside, he said, “Do I need to ask how you’re doing with all this?”

“Let’s just work the case and keep moving forward.”

“As long as we keep our eyes open as well.”

She glanced over at him.

“You know I have your back, right?”

“I know.” She squeezed his arm.

Julio drove to the hospital, while Samantha scrolled through emails and chatted with Bristol over texts. But distracting herself would only serve a purpose for so long. Eventually, she had to actually pay attention to what was going on around her, mostly so she didn’t get blindsided again like she had with that man. Was he out there, watching her?

Waiting to attack her again?

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