Tested by Fire. Kathryn Springer

almost smiled. Seamus saw it.

      “You think turning one of my steadiest officers into a raving lunatic is going to get you a promotion, lad?” Seamus’s voice rose and several officers within hearing range suddenly melted into the woodwork.

      “At least that proves he’s still alive,” John had retorted. “Sometimes I have to nudge him just to be sure.”

      He couldn’t believe he’d said that. Here came his walking papers for sure.

      “So who does the particular John Gabriel want for his training officer?” Seamus asked sarcastically.

      “You.” John said the first name that came to mind and realized it was the truth.

      There was absolute silence. John waited for the bomb to drop. Then, Seamus Kelly started to laugh. It was more frightening than a downpour of Gaelic.

      “Lad, you remind me of me,” Seamus sputtered. “You just got yourself a new training officer.”

      In an unprecedented move, the chief had ridden with him for four weeks and John had discovered during that time that the man’s heart beat for two reasons—his family and law enforcement. Even after John’s training was complete, Seamus still rode with him on occasion, bragging about his children and grandchildren. John always listened politely but unemotionally. Family ties were something he had never experienced, although he’d finally taken a tentative step toward that mysterious phenomenon when he’d asked Kristen to marry him. When she’d said yes, he had experienced, for the first time, an inkling of what some would call hope. Once they said their vows, his life was going to change. Was going to be better…

      “Swing by Sixty-Fourth,” Seamus instructed now. “The owner of the Meritz Company called me yesterday and said some kids have been hanging around the warehouse.”

      So that was it. If Seamus told someone that something would get done, it would. He personally made sure of it. John turned the car around and it cruised stealthily down the street.

      “I suppose they’re throwing me a big retirement party,” Seamus groused.

      “No.” John slid him a sideways glance. “We’re throwing the party after you retire.”

      Seamus slapped his thigh and laughed. John allowed a smile to surface.

      “Slow down.” Seamus leaned forward suddenly. “I saw someone by the Dumpster.”

      John frowned. He hadn’t seen anything. Still, he had witnessed enough in the past months to convince him of Seamus’s instincts as a cop. He pulled over and Seamus was already opening the door.

      “I’ll check it out, Chief.”

      Seamus flashed him an impatient look. “I’m retiring, Gabriel, but I don’t need a baby-sitter yet.”

      They approached the back of the warehouse on foot and John made sure he was ahead of his chief as they neared the building.

      “Window’s out.” John made a slow turn with the beam of the flashlight. “I’ll call for backup.”

      Suddenly, bodies erupted from the gaping hole in the glass, smoke trailing behind them. Three teenage boys were captured in the light, their eyes wide and full of panic.

      “Our b-buddy—he’s still in there,” one of them stammered.

      Seamus was disappearing through the hole before John could react. He called Dispatch, requesting both backup and the fire department, then turned toward the boys. They scattered in three different directions. John decided Seamus was more important. He broke the rest of the glass out with his flashlight and climbed through.

      “Get out of here, Gabriel!” Seamus was a dim shadow in the smoke-filled interior of the warehouse. “It’s not just a fire. Clear out!”

      “He said there was someone else in here,” John muttered, and then realized with sudden clarity that the only ones trapped in the building were he and Seamus.

      There was an ominous popping sound and John instinctively threw himself at the older man. He felt his body connect with the chief’s before heat enveloped him and his vision blurred. Something thudded into his arm, pushing him to the floor.

      Sirens screamed in the distance. John pulled Seamus toward the window and saw hands reaching for them. Pain radiated through his body now and there was a gray haze around everything that was getting thicker.

      I guess we’ll both be retiring, John thought bleakly, before the heat totally consumed his thoughts.

      Chapter One

      Ten Years Later

      The door opened at ten o’clock. A shaft of light escaped, stretching across the well-kept lawn and briefly illuminating a crescent-shaped flower bed, a pot of geraniums and a garden hose that hadn’t been put away.

      The dog appeared first, a German shepherd that practically exploded from the confines of the house. It turned a few circles and then attacked the hose. Seconds later, a person emerged. Blue jeans. White T-shirt. A glint of auburn hair.

      “Come on, Colin.”

      The husky words were clearly audible from where he stood in the shadows.

      He was going to strangle the chief. Finn Kelly was a woman. When John had gotten an urgent message from Seamus the day before about a family emergency, he had pressed into service an acquaintance who had two things—a private plane and an old girlfriend he wanted to look up—which had taken John from a hotel in Denver to Seamus’s house in Miranda Station, Wisconsin. He’d assumed that Finn was one of the chief’s many grandsons, and for some reason—which John didn’t want to examine too closely—Seamus had failed to mention the family emergency was female. Only the tenuous thread of their past friendship had prevented John from leaving Miranda Station the minute he’d spotted Finn Kelly. When Seamus answered the door the next morning, John said the first words that summed up his feelings.

      “Are you crazy?”

      “Hello, John. It’s good to see you again, too.” Seamus smiled.

      “Absolutely not.”

      “You saw Finn. I should have known you’d do your homework. When did you get into town?”

      “You conveniently forgot to tell me that your family emergency was a woman. You just wasted your time.”

      “Fiona is my granddaughter, not just a woman. Would you like a glass of iced tea? Or maybe some coffee?”

      “No, thank you,” John growled. “I can’t take time off from work to baby-sit some rookie cop.”

      “I talked to your boss yesterday,” Seamus said. “He mentioned you haven’t taken time off in about five years. I’d say you deserve a vacation.”

      John glared at him. “No.”

      Seamus lost some of his calm. “You are the only one I trust, John. Something is going on at the department. Maybe it has something to do with the fact she’s the first female patrol officer. She won’t talk about what’s happening…she’s distracted. I’m worried about her.”

      “Maybe she’s one Kelly who isn’t cut out for a career in law enforcement,” John said. “It could be she’s bringing this on herself—”

      “You meet her and decide,” Seamus interrupted. “But I know my granddaughter.”

      “Just out of curiosity, how are you going to explain why I’m here?”

      Seamus’s eyes brightened. “You’re an old friend, why wouldn’t you come for a visit? And I happened to talk to Chief Larson at the P.D. He jumped at the chance to have you give his men some training on the latest techniques for handling Internet crimes.”

      John shoved his hand into the pocket of his jacket. “I’m not saying yes,” he warned.

      “Just