FLAME AND A FIREMAN

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  FLAME AND A FIREMAN

  by

  C. S. CHATTERLY

  Amber Quill Press, LLC

  http://www.amberquill.com

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  Flame And A Fireman

  An Amber Quill Press Book

  This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of the author's imagination, or have been used fictitiously.

  Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.

  Amber Quill Press, LLC

  http://www.amberquill.com

  All rights reserved.

  No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

  Copyright © 2004 by Candace Sams

  ISBN 1-59279-217-0

  Cover Art © 2004 Trace Edward Zaber

  Layout and Formatting

  Provided by: ElementalAlchemy.com

  Published in the United States of America

  Also by C. S. Chatterly

  Cop And A Kilt

  Crumbs in The Keyboard

  The Gazing Globe

  Gryphon's Quest

  The Mountie And The Rockhound

  Wyrd Wravings: "Don't Look Up"

  Dedication

  As always, I'd like to thank my husband,

  Lee, for his extraordinary support.

  And I'd like to dedicate this story

  to all the firefighters out there.

  This one's for you.

  Chapter 1

  * * *

  Lisa Portelli amiably waved at the last guest to leave the apartment, shut her door and walked back to the dining room. Remains of a birthday dinner and colorful giftwrap lay strewn over the expensive, antique cherry dining table that had once belonged to her grandmother.

  Turning twenty-nine isn't the worst thing that could happen to a woman.

  Since there was only one other alternative, aging didn't bother her that much at all. She had a life most women would envy. She had a bank account augmented by not only her work as a New York City Police Department vice detective, but her grandmother's money and an old family name. Anyone would envy her, except most people didn't seem to understand a fat bankroll didn't necessarily solve problems. One of the few people to understand that was currently walking into the room carrying two cups of hot coffee.

  "Come on, Lisa. Let the mess go until later. We gotta talk," Cathy Sullivan firmly declared.

  "Uh-oh."

  Cathy raised one eyebrow as she stood beside the table and waited for Lisa to scoot enough party debris aside so she could safely put the coffee cups down. "What's that supposed to mean?"

  Lisa sat in the chair next to Cathy, pulled her coffee mug closer, and took a sip before answering. "Whenever you say that, in that particular tone of voice, I've done something you think I need to be counseled about."

  "What tone of voice?" Cathy asked innocently.

  "You know--the Lisa's-been-a-bad-girl tone of voice. It's the same one my supervisor uses when he wants to rag on me."

  Cathy laughed. "You've been working vice too long. You're paranoid."

  "No, I'm not." Lisa adamantly shook her head. "You want to make a point, so make it."

  "All right, Miss Portelli. If you want me to get straight to the point, I will." Cathy took a deep breath before continuing, "You know you and I have been friends since we graduated from the academy."

  "And?" Lisa prompted.

  "You've blown me off when I've asked this before, but I'll ask again." She sighed heavily. "Why is it I never see you with the same man more than twice? And why the stuffed shirts lately?"

  Lisa pretended to wince at the insult. "What's wrong? You didn't like Bradley Winthrop-Silsby the Fourth?"

  Cathy simply stared at her.

  Lisa couldn't help smiling. "Okay, so you think Brad is a loser." She stopped for a moment. "You're right. He is."

  Cathy frowned and leaned toward her friend. "All the guys you've been dating for the last year are losers. I know that's not what you want to hear, and it's not even the nicest thing in the world a best friend can say, but it's true. You know it."

  Lisa nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Some of the suits my parents try to hook me up with are dull as dirt. If I have to listen to one more guy explain stock options or brag about his Jaguar, I'll puke."

  "You used to date guys from your division. And I don't think any of them could be remotely described as boring or narcissistic," Cathy reminded her.

  "Yeah, but that wasn't serious. I was just messing around and they knew it. Nobody took any of that to heart, you know."

  Cathy tapped her finger on the tabletop and continued staring at her friend.

  "What's your point, Cathy? I know when I invited Brad to my party tonight that he wasn't the most scintillating company in the world. But my parents asked me to extend the invitation."

  "They want you settled with someone who has money, don't they?"

  Lisa shrugged. "They want me settled. Period."

  "And that's not for you?"

  Lisa shook her head. "I'm beginning to think it isn't. Why people think a woman has to have a man in her life perplexes me no end. Truth is, men are beginning to bore the hell out of me. The ones my folks introduce me to have a lot of money. And all those men want is to marry someone who has more dough or stock options than they do. They don't give a rat's butt about the woman they go after, so long as she's rolling in cash.

  "As to the guys at work, nobody there takes anybody else seriously when we date. We can't and do our jobs. It's strictly fun and games among the single set, and that's probably the way it should be. Police work and long-term romance with colleagues doesn't mix."

  "I don't think you and long-term romance mix," Cathy observed.

  Lisa grinned. "Maybe not. Maybe I'll end up as one of those elderly, moneyed spinsters who goes around adopting lots of cats and gets away with acting eccentric." She laughed. "Maybe you'll find me living to a hundred and still single."

  Cathy frowned. "You can do better than that. You can find a great guy."

  "So says the lady who met her dream man. It's easy for you to judge when you've got a champ like Ian in your life."

  "I wouldn't have him in my life if it weren't for you," Cathy quickly returned. "If you hadn't set us up on that date at the bordello, we'd still be two lonely people drifting around, waiting for the right person."

  Lisa leaned forward and patted her friend's arm. "You two really do love each other, don't you?"

  "Damn straight," Cathy attested. "If he could've gotten off duty for the party, he'd have told you himself. And we'd both tell you again, for the hundredth time, how thankful we are to you for playing that practical joke to set us up. Who'd have thought a blind date at a bordello would work?"

  "Hey, do I know how to match-make or what?" Lisa leaned back in her chair and shot a superior smirk at Cathy. "I knew you two were made for each other. You just needed to be pushed in the right direction. Setting you up to meet the bordello was ingenious, if I do say so myself."

  "So...if you're so good at match-making for others, why can't you find someone for yourself? Why date protozoa like Brad?"

  Lisa tried hard to suppress a laugh.

  Undaunted, Cathy continued, "Honest to God, Lisa, he kept looking at himself in the foyer mirror like he couldn't get enough of his own reflection. And all he did was talk about himself and his assets all evening."

  "His assets, if gossip is correct, aren't all that big. And I'm not talking just his monetary assets either.
"

  Cathy smiled. "I get you. So why date him? Why even invite him to your birthday party?"

  Lisa sighed heavily and sipped her coffee again. "Like I said, my folks wanted me to. Brad is the son of one my old man's business partners."

  "You need a decent, hardworking man, Lisa. Somebody who'll rattle your world. Not some damned corporate pencil pusher. That might be all right for some Park Avenue debutante, but not you."

  "You got the last eligible, worthy man," she teased. "Besides, I am one of those Park Avenue debutantes, remember?"

  Cathy rolled her eyes in frustration. "You know what I mean. You're not like that. You party hard, but the guys in vice all say you're one of the best damn cops they've ever worked with. I've known since academy that you would be. And I also know you're deeper than the Brads of this world. You can do better."

  Lisa slowly shook her head. "Okay, honey. You find a hero who isn't already taken or who isn't working in vice right alongside me and I'll try him on for size. Deal?"

  Cathy pursed her lips. "You've been working too hard and settle for Brads because you've got no real contact with better men. I think you need a dose of your own medicine."

  "What do you mean by a 'dose of my own medicine'?"

  "Why don't you pay a visit to the bordello? It's been a while since you took some time off. You used to like visiting that place."

  "Seen that. Done that, been there. Besides, the men there are working guys. There's nothing there I'd want to actually bring home to meet the folks. Even if such a thing were possible, and it isn't. The rules don't allow that."

  Cathy snorted. "I didn't mean for you to go there looking for Mr. Right, you idiot. I just meant you could use the time to download. Maybe you could just go for a night, play around like you used to, and come back with a fresh perspective. Afterward, the men you meet and life in general might not be so stale."

  "That you, of all people, would suggest such at thing is quite ironic. Folks used to think of you as Madame Prude, Cathy."

  "Okay, so I've re-evaluated the merits of others going to the bordello. Especially after that night you set me up to meet Ian." Cathy blew out a long breath. "Like I said, maybe going to the bordello for the night would do you some good. It seems like you're finding life tedious."

  Lisa considered her comment for a moment before answering. "Tedious is a good word to describe my life right now. Outside of work, there's not one single thing I'd call interesting except you, my friend. Not men, not movies, not shopping. Nothing. As to the suggestion I visit the bordello...it's dull, too. At least it is now. I've sampled its wares and there's nothing there I'd remotely call enticing anymore. The men are simpering, little fools who know the women patrons have money, and they kiss their asses to get it. Very much like Brad and all the other men I've been around lately."

  "Damn!"

  "What?" Lisa asked.

  "You are in a rut," Cathy returned. "There was a time when I can remember life being nothing but one big party for you."

  "The parties are old. The men are carbon copies of each other and I'm tired of playing around with most of them. They use me, I use them...life just doesn't get much better," Lisa complained sarcastically, then stared down into her empty coffee cup.

  "Is there anything I can do?" Cathy quietly asked. "You know I'm only talking to you about all this because I care. You're not as shallow as you'd like people to think, Lisa.

  Determined not to let her friend sink into the doldrums with her, Lisa smiled and shook her head. "Don't worry about me, honey. I'll get over it. Besides, this is my birthday. We're supposed to be celebrating, right?"

  "Right," Cathy agreed.

  "So, let's go to that late movie like we planned, and buy the most fattening cheesecake we can find afterward."

  Cathy laughed. "You're on."

  * * * *

  Returning from the washroom, Lisa straightened the day's paperwork and reached for her lamp switch to turn it off. That's when she saw the large, flame-red envelope lying on the corner of her desk. Her name was engraved on it in flowing gold script. Glancing around the detective's desk room, she knew she was the last to leave. There was no one left to tell her how the envelope got on her desk. Its presence was a minor mystery since she'd only been in the washroom for ten minutes.

  She sat in her desk chair, picked up the envelope and turned it over. On the back, the words "For Your Eyes Only" were also engraved in the same, beautiful gold lettering. "Expensive stationary," she murmured to herself.

  Ignoring her instincts to open the envelope there, she quickly grabbed up her coat and stuffed the note into the pocket. Then, she picked up her belongings and headed for home. More important than satisfying her instincts about what looked like an invitation to another dreary gala or art exhibit, her body and brain craved the soothing relaxation of her large, free-standing whirlpool tub and the treat of an old movie before going to bed.

  Knowing her co-workers would assume she was out partying like she used to, no one would call her Park Avenue apartment and bother her. And this message was probably just like one of a dozen she'd already received and ignored this month. She was used to receiving expensively engraved missives at both her apartment and at the police department because her parents were well connected with her supervisors. They could easily wangle dropping an invitation into the police department's mail system, and often did so when she purposely ignored phone messages left at her apartment or on her cell phone.

  For some reason, her interest in playing with the many men who tried to haunt her life, whether at her parents' request or not, wasn't on her agenda any longer. In fact, the entire New York social scene and some of its pretentious subscribers bored her like everything else lately.

  When she finally got to her apartment, settled into the tub and had time to relax, she contemplated her current mood more thoroughly. She couldn't fathom why, all of a sudden, her social life had become one dull interlude after another. The men, the parties, the drinks and expensive clothes were no longer making her happy. She began to wonder if anything would.

  After drying and slipping into her burgundy terrycloth robe, Lisa stood in front of her bathroom mirror and considered her reflection quite seriously. Her green-eyed gaze slid over her long, dark auburn hair and slender body.

  "What the hell is wrong with you, Portelli? Thousands of people would die to be where you are. Lots of money, great apartment, rich family, clothes, car, exciting job...the works." She pulled her hair up into a high ponytail, secured it with a scrunchie, and shot herself the finger. "Get over yourself. Poor, little rich bitch!"

  Having chastised herself for her mood, she walked out of the bathroom, made herself some hot chocolate and turned on the television. During a commercial, she got up to retrieve her coat from a chintz-covered chair where she'd thrown it and hang the expensive garment in the hall closet. The red envelope fell from the pocket and onto the floor. Intent on throwing the offensive invitation into the kitchen trash, she quickly grabbed it up. But something stopped her.

  It was strange that the envelope was red. No socially conscious New York society mogul would ever send an invitation to any serious function using that shade of fiery red. Protocol was everything to the elite of her world.

  "What the hell?" she muttered as she turned the invitation over and tore open the gummed seal. Inside was a matching card that immediately caught her attention. She slowly pulled the card from the envelope and held it in front of her. In elaborate gold cursive, the words on the card read like a mesmerizing spell...

  Lisa, I invite you to a night in my humble abode where your every wish will be my command. I offer you the full hospitality of my Underworld domain and my virile presence. If your life of late has been less than fulfilling, then the company you keep isn't meeting your needs. Your time would be better spent pursuing your heart's desire than wasted on those who seek your fortune above your sweet company.

  Come to me. It has been said that "it's better to reign in hell t
han to serve in heaven." Though my domain could never be described hellish, let me prove how right John Milton was when he wrote those words. I can make the worst hell a heaven if it pleases you.

  Ever your humble servant,

  Pluto, Ruler of the Underworld

  "Holy crap!" Lisa laughingly muttered and turned the engraved card over several times in an attempt find out who would send such a message. Digging into the envelope in which the card had been sent, she found a red appointment card with tomorrow's date on it. The time for the appointment was set at 6 p.m. and the location was the Women's Pleasure Incorporated facility.

  Having been immediately drawn into the message and beguiled by its content, Lisa sighed in frustration when she realized the invitation had been sent from the bordello she used to frequent. Since the place was legal within the state and city of New York and she could afford such a luxury, no one had ever questioned her frequenting that establishment. Nor would the business have any qualms in sending her what now appeared to be an advertisement to draw her into visiting again.

  She stood there fuming. To be fooled by the obvious ad made her angry, until she realized the contents of the message were very personal. Also, the message had been sent through the P.D. mail system. She re-read it and pondered who the sender might be. Who, at Women's Pleasure, Incorporated, could possibly know about her current emotional predicament? The invitation could only have been sent by someone she knew intimately. Someone, besides her parents, who had access to the police department's office mail.

  She began to suspect her closest friend, Cathy Sullivan. Cathy was currently assigned to the mayor's task force on gang activity. It would be easy for Cathy to get a message like this into the vice-squad's mail pouch. And Cathy also knew the next two days were Lisa's regular days off. The invitation and its arrival were just too convenient.