“Has he asked you out?”
“Not exactly. I mean, I think he would if I encouraged him, but…”
“Is it because he’s black?”
Angie looked horrified. “No! Of course not.” Then her shoulders slumped. “I mean, he’s a great guy. Little things like that don’t matter to me one way or the other, but you wouldn’t believe how prejudiced my dad and grandparents are. They’d have heart attacks and die, and then I’d feel guilty because I’d know I killed them.”
“Um, you’re being a little dramatic, don’t you think?”
“You don’t know my family.”
“True. Are you very close to them?”
“Hey, I spent twenty years with them, even my grandparents, under the same roof. You wouldn’t believe how the multigenerational influence can mix you up. Sometimes you listen to passe values, and they almost make sense.”
Bliss didn’t want to be nosy, but she wished she could help. Angie seemed like such a nice girl. She deserved happiness without worrying about what others would think.
“…so you see,” Angie was saying, “I’d be leading him on, and I try not to do that to guys.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. That’s not right. You don’t want to be a tease.”
Angie scrutinized her. “You did hear the part where my family wouldn’t care about the color of his skin, right?”
“Huh? I thought you said they were prejudiced.”
“They are. Or would be if they knew he’s from New York. Bliss, he’s a
Bliss’s jaw dropped. “Is that what…” She gazed at the floor and shook her head. “Unbelievable.”
“You seem distracted. Is everything all right?”
“Yeah.” She straightened. “Everything’s fine.”
“Did Drake ever tell you who that woman was last night and why she hurt him?”
“I’d prefer not go into it.” That was something Bliss would have to try
Angie shrugged. “I get it. Well, just know if you want to talk about it, or anything else for that matter, I’m here. I’m a very good listener, and I know how to keep my mouth shut too.”
“That’s probably what makes you such a good bartender.”
“Yup. You’d be surprised how much gossip I hear.”
“And you don’t repeat any of it?”
A sly smile crossed Angie’s face. “Only the really juicy stuff.”
Drake found the firehouse deserted but waited around until the guys returned. They were covered with soot and sweat, which meant they’d had a hell of a job.
The chief eased out of the ladder truck first and strolled over to him. “I thought you were sick.”
“Injured. But I’m okay now. Just some bruised ribs.”
“Glad to hear you’re okay. We could have used you back there. It was a two bagger in a three decker in Charlestown.”
“Shit. Those things go up like kindling.”
“No kidding. The second alarm was mostly to protect the neighborhood. The building itself was a total loss.”
“Anything suspicious?”
“Talk to the other guys. I have to go fill out the paperwork.” The chief strode off toward the stairs.
Benjamin shed his turnout gear and waved Drake over as he hung up his jacket. “Drake, what’s up? We heard you’d be out a few days.”
“Nah. I’m tougher than I look.”
“I’ve always said so. What happened?”
“Stupid mugging. I thought I had a broken rib, but they taped me up, doped me up, and I was fine as soon as I sobered up.”
Benjamin laughed. “Well, you’re lucky you weren’t in on this sumbitch. It got out of control real quick.”
“Think it was a torch?” Drake knew better than to use the word “arsonist” out loud, so he went with the firefighter slang.
“Maybe. Or maybe a spark.”
Drake hated to consider that. It meant one of their own had crossed over to the dark side. Even a firefighter wannabe could be bad news if the appeal was a fascination with fire.
“The neighbors said there was a guy all dressed in black leather wearing a biker helmet, poking around outside the back door. I saw someone like that hanging around when we got there. Then he took off. When the cops talked to the residents, no one was expecting any visitors and said they didn’t know anyone matching the description.”
Bliss had spent her day not only redesigning many of her cards, but also thinking about how to prevent herself from ever losing them again. She hadn’t liked Drake’s idea of simply backing them up on one of the Internet storage sites. He didn’t understand the cutthroat competition for this grand prize—and she wanted it as much as the other two finalists.
It was too much to simply trust his word that no one would be able to gain access to those sites. Hackers were able to do all kinds of things they shouldn’t be able to do. No, she had to think of something else.
Suddenly it came to her. A safe deposit box! She could store her designs on a disk and put the soft copy in a safe hiding place. She slapped herself up the side of the head with a loud, “Duh!”
At that moment, the phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and noticed it said District 3.
She picked up the phone and said in a breathy voice, “Hello, big, strong, handsome fireman…”
She was met with silence for a moment. At last, a voice she barely recognized answered, “Um, hello, dear lady. Is Drake there?”
“Chief Tate. I told him to take the rest of the day off and come back for his shift tomorrow, but we’re busier than expected and I could really use his help today.”
“Oh,” she squeaked. “I thought he went to work this morning.”
“He did, but I sent him home, stupidly thinking he could use a little more time to heal. He said he might go to your place and left your number. That’ll teach me to be a nice guy.”
From what Bliss remembered of the chief, “nice guy” wasn’t a description she would have used.
“Well, he’s not here, but if I see him, I’ll tell him to call.”
“Never mind the call, just tell him to get his ass down here.”
“Oh, and honey? Thanks for the compliment,” he added with a chuckle.
Bliss didn’t know what to say to that, so she just mumbled, “Okay. Bye,” and hung up.
She thumped her forehead on the table a few times and muttered, “Damn, damn, damn.”
As Bliss headed for the bank with her disk, she thought she’d pop into the bar and say hello to Claudia.
She didn’t expect to see Drake there having a beer with two of the regulars. He was at the back booth but spotted her immediately. He said something to his companions and rose. Tory and Kurt turned around and waved
