to her, then went back to their conversation. Meanwhile, Drake strolled over to her.
“Hey, Bliss. I thought this was your day off.”
“It is. I was just on my way to the bank and thought I’d stop in and see Claudia. It’s a good thing I ran into you, though. The chief called and wants you back at work.”
Drake grimaced. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I’ve had two beers.”
“You’re not drunk, are you?”
He chuckled. “A couple beers just take the edge off. I’m not as bad as if I were under the influence of a couple Percocet.”
She sighed. “I don’t suppose I’ll ever live that down, will I?”
“Sure you will, babe.” He clasped her around the waist in a side squeeze and kissed her temple. “I’ll never mention it again.”
“Maybe you could call the chief and ask if he’d mind that you just had a little beer. It sounds like they really need you.”
Concern crossed Drake’s face. “Christ. What did he say?”
“Something about it being really busy. What does that mean? Is there a big fire somewhere? Or a lot of little ones?”
“It could be either. Even a bunch of false alarms take the guys away from the station. You’re right. I’d better call and find out what’s going on.”
Drake reached for his belt where he kept his cell phone, but it wasn’t there. “Crap. I forgot I lost the damn thing during the… incident on the sidewalk. I’ll have to use the bar’s phone.”
“Here.” Bliss fished her cell phone from her tote bag. “Use mine. I’ll be in the office talking to Claudia.”
“Thanks.”
She threaded her way through customers and over to the closed office door to say hello to her friend and give Drake some privacy.
The door was ajar, so she knocked and peeked around it at the same time.
“Bliss,” Claudia called out with a smile. “Come in. I was just making the schedule. Can you work this weekend?”
“Uh, sure. I guess so.”
“It’s going to be busy. The Boston Marathon is Monday, and a lot of extra visitors show up early.”
“Great. More tips.”
“Yeah, you’ll make a mint. How’s the greeting card biz, by the way?”
“I’m getting almost completely back on line… well, not exactly online. More on disk. I might be able to finish my presentation by the deadline after all.” She reached in her pocket, and withdrew and waved the CD with all her latest designs on it.
“Careful,” Drake said, as he came up behind her and plucked it out of her hand. “You don’t want anyone to steal those.”
“Hey! Give that back.”
“Only if you kiss me good-bye before I go in to work.”
She gave him a quick, closed-mouth kiss, then said, “Okay.
He chuckled and said, “Wow. Don’t mess with the lady’s work,” then did as she asked.
“I’m on my way to the bank to open a safe deposit box. I think I found a way to keep from losing my whole portfolio if anything ever happens again.”
“Still don’t trust the Internet, eh?”
“No. I really don’t.”
He smiled. “Well, I’m glad you found a way to protect your interests, even if it’s old school.”
“Whatever works. So I guess your chief needs you badly enough to take you, beer-buzzed brain and all?”
“Yeah, I just can’t drive the truck.”
“That makes sense. How would it look if a firefighter wrapped the ladder truck around a tree, then flunked the Breathalyzer test?”
He gave her a look that said, “Really?”
She kissed him again but this time used her tongue. She tasted a little beer and detected some salt, probably from the pretzels, but he didn’t reek. “You’ll pass.”
“Thanks.” He handed her back her phone. “I’ll call you when I can. It all depends on what’s going on.”
“The chief didn’t tell you why they need you?”
“Looks like there’ve been a lot of small fires and some false alarms. I have a bad feeling it’s only a matter of time before we see a big one.”
A shudder rippled through Bliss. “Be careful.”
He gave her a cocky grin. “Always.”
It didn’t help her shake the worry. How he did what he did amazed her. She still had panicky dreams of fire and choking on smoke.
Chapter 9
Zina muttered to herself as she studied a map of Boston. “Stupid human. When I get rid of her, Drake and I can save the species.” She glanced at the bed in her hotel room. “Hell, if it weren’t for her, we’d be making baby dragons right now.”
The western dragons were given only a month-long mating window every five years, and it was already two weeks into the month. Maybe
The more she obsessed over how unfair it all was, the angrier she got. Scoping out the city had kept her busy for a little while, but now she was anxious to set her plan in motion. Over the past forty-eight hours, Zina had penciled in X’s on the best targets in the area, then erased each and filled in the space with a red marker after she’d set a fire there.
Her goal was to stretch the fire department’s resources so thin that they wouldn’t be able to respond when she eventually went after her final target. The bar where the stupid human worked. She’d watched her for the last two days and determined the bitch lived in one of the apartments over the bar.
Zina knew when the bar closed and planned to break in from the back at midnight. Then she’d open all the bottles of alcohol and pour them over anything and everything flammable. The fact that she breathed fire was the perfect cover for arson. She didn’t leave any evidence behind—not so much as a matchstick for investigators to find.
“Drake will never know it was me who killed his girlfriend,” she congratulated herself in the mirror. “And I know exactly what to do after the bitch is dead. I’ll swoop in and comfort him in his hour of need. I’ll show him I understand him the way only another dragon can. If that doesn’t work, I’ll use voodoo.”
She whirled away from the mirror and ran her fingers down her long, bumpy dreadlocks. “Go ahead, girlie. Enjoy him while you can. It’s just a matter of time before he understands and forgives my jealous outburst and comes back to me forever.”
This plan had to be orchestrated very carefully. Nothing could be left to chance, so Zina went back to poring over her maps and choosing her timing precisely.
Drake dragged his tired body off to shower and prayed nothing else took him away from his bed for the rest of the night. His pillow beckoned him, and he wanted to lay down his head and kiss it. He hadn’t called Bliss yet,
