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. It must be Drake!
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?”
Gulp. “Uh… may I ask who’s calling?”
“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.”
Yikes. “Okay.”
“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 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.” Crap, I owe her so much and I don’t dare say no just because the show’s producers are coming Tuesday.
“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.