Fanning The Fire Marshal's Flame

Escaping Memories

In her mind she was back in the opulently decorated ballroom and smiling with more bravado than she had felt inside. Her father, the battalion chief had looked good in his uniform and with his hand protectively over hers in his elbow was taking her around and introducing her to his superiors and a few of the men on his team, though he had avoided a group of them. She had felt proud to be there with him.

When he’d introduced her to his boss the deputy chief and the assistant chief who had at one time been in her father’s position. They had commandeered her father and the assistant chief had waved at his son to dance with the young girl tucked tightly to her father’s side.

Her dad had been hesitant to let her go but eighteen-year-old Lita had decided maybe Diarmid would find out and be jealous she had danced with the man on his father’s squad. Instead of dancing though, Reardon had brought her to his friends all standing around a table talking.

They had flirted and made her blush and teased her about how innocent she was, and Reardon had winked at her and had kept his fingers intertwined with his and told the boys to lay off and not make his new girl leave the party early with all their teasing. Then they had insisted she had a glass of wine.

One drink to her unaccustomed palate laced with drugs provided by one of the brats and she’d found herself in a room in the hotel where the ballroom was located with a twenty-five-year-old man. He took what wasn’t his to take after smacking her around a bit and made certain he took his c****m with him when he left. When the drugs had worn somewhat, she’d eventually crawled into the hall of the hotel and some people passing by found her and her father had been called.

She’d been taken to the hospital. A r**e kit had been run. Police had found video surveillance of Reardon leaving the room an hour before she had crawled out. He swore up and down it was consensual. Video of her laughing and flirting with the five boys before being swept out of the room on his arm had been played as evidence in the internal investigation.

The five men swore under oath at a Commissioner’s private hearing she had commented to Reardon she’d give up her virginity if he would talk to his father about getting her dad a promotion. The four other men had backed up his story with such fervor she hadn’t stood a chance. They all said she had insisted she liked it rough and would do whatever it took for her father. Reardon admitted he’d been rough on her but said she had enjoyed everything they did together and had even kissed him when he’d left the room. It was one against five and not even the video of her nearly passed out in the hall and him dragging her into the hotel room, her feet not moving made any difference to the board doing the investigation.

In the end, her father was offered early retirement at forty-seven with full package and the boys carried on with their careers like nothing else happened.

She had eventually found herself at the women’s shelter looking for help. Clara had introduced her to Artemis. Artemis had known her deepest darkest secrets and Lolita didn’t dare ask how. All she knew was the woman was going to help her exploit them in a brutal act of revenge and with a team the woman had assembled from all over the globe, they had orchestrated the perfect retribution to Reardon’s attack on her.

She hadn’t looked back. She’d been working with Bellona ever since. In the first year she’d passed all the training to be a field agent but had delayed her foray from the office. Now she was living her best life in and out of the offices. Her life was on track. The last thing she needed was the pitying glances of her father’s old friend.

As if aware she was lost in thoughts, her father cleared his voice and called her name. She waved at him, “sorry, thinking of all the stuff I want to get done today.”

She slipped her father’s plate in front of him and then held up her coffee cup to Diarmid, “refill?”

“That’d be great.” He nodded as he watched her move effortlessly around the kitchen.

“Still black?”

“Yes,” he chuckled, “how did you remember?”

“Dad had two friends who routinely came for coffee, Diarmid, and they both took their coffee black. It’s not rocket science,” she was smart.

“Shoot,” Conor looked up suddenly, “I forgot to take my pills.”

“Dad, you’re acting like an eighty-year-old man. Get your s**t together. Go, get your pills.”

“I’ll look for the old photo too while I’m up there,” he nodded to Diarmid.

“Your breakfast will get cold.” Lita made a face at him as she started putting things away.

“Sweetheart,” he kissed her cheek, “it could have ice crystals on it and because you cooked it for me, I’d eat every last bite of it.”

She rolled her eyes and heard the doorbell. “Let Corry in on your way by, would you?”

“Cory? Boyfriend?” Diarmid asked with a wink.

“Corry is a girl.” She heard Corry’s voice, “b***h I’m in here. Just cleaning up dad’s breakfast dishes and we can go.”

Corry stepped into the room and eyeballed Diarmid, “ooh, did you have a sleepover, Lolita O’Malley?”

“In my father’s house?” she cast her friend serious side-eye. “That’s a giant hell no. Besides, look at him, he’s closer to dad’s age than mine.” Diarmid lifted an eyebrow in her direction, and she shrugged. “I’m not wrong.”

Corry whistled lowly, “I didn’t know Conor had it in him. Way to go Pops. We should bring him to Pride week and let him walk the parade n***d in only a flag.”

She gave Corry a shove laughing, “quit it. Dad’s not in need of a flag. You just want to see my old man naked.”

“Just once,” Corry whispered wickedly and took Lita’s coffee cup and took a swig. “I have an itch and I’d like him to scratch it.”

“I’ll remind you I am his child and while I agree he’s lonely and needs to get laid, I do not want any details. Ever. Not ever.” She gave an exaggerated shudder. “I would like to be out of the country when it happens, and I never want to know about it.”

“He’s a good-looking man,” Corry sniveled a piece of ham off his plate and chewed it. She winked at Diarmid. “You’re a good-looking man too. Not gay?”

Diarmid gave an alarmed chuckle, “not gay but not looking either. Thanks.”

“Got a girlfriend, wife, baby mama?”

“Nope. Married to my work.”

“Corry, seriously.” Lita giggled from where she had her arms elbow deep in soapy water. “Corry Knight, this is my dad’s friend Diarmid Clooney. Diarmid, this is my friend Corry.”

Corry straddled a chair backwards and eyeballed him. “How come I’ve never heard of him before? I’ve been here plenty of times and nobody’s mentioned him. Is he your dad’s dirty secret?”

“Nobody is my dirty secret,” Conor grimaced as he stepped past Corry into the kitchen and looked at his plate and back to her. “Did you steal my ham?”

“It’s as close to your meat as you’ll let me get.”

“Lita, leave the dishes, I’ll do them myself,” Conor grumbled as his ears turned red. “You can go.”

“No, I’m almost done,” she was enjoying his discomfort.

“What are you girls doing today?” Diarmid asked curiously, also enjoying watching his mentor get teased.

“Women, not girls,” Corry corrected him with a haughty smirk, “and we are going to the shelter for a few hours this morning and then we’re going to go blow off steam.”

Lita turned around at her words, “oh, tell me you got them out of storage.”

“I got them out of storage. I have them on the back of the truck outside.”

“No!” Connor pushed back from the table and pointed at Lita, “absolutely not.”

“I’m twenty-six dad. You don’t get to tell me what I can or can’t do,” she watched his lips tighten in a straight line.

“They are death machines!”

“They’re dirt bikes.” Corry tossed in. “It’s a sport.”

“Motocross is a great sport.” Lita seconded her friend’s words.

“You ride dirt bikes?” Diarmid’s eyebrows went to his forehead. “Weren’t you the kid who couldn’t ride her bicycle until she was thirteen because you were terrified you might fall?”

She flipped him off and watched as his eyebrows went even higher. “I realized there are worse things than dying.”

“While I appreciate the sentiment, I don’t remember you being able to balance on two wheels,” he teased her.

“I’m a goddamn classically trained ballerina. If I couldn’t balance on two wheels, it was because I had too many people in life unwilling to let go of the bike.” She made a pointed glance at her father who looked away sheepishly.

She looked to her father, “I probably won’t be home tonight either so don’t wait up.”

“Where are you going? Another impromptu girls’ weekend away on a fancy private jet.”

Corry whistled at the little jab, “Mr. O’Malley I invited you to come along as my plus one and you declined. Don’t be all jelly now. You would have had a lot of fun at the adults only resort. I know your daughter did.”

Lita watched her father shove his seat back under the table and tuck into his food furiously and fought her laughter. Corry nettled the old man better than anyone she had ever met. She wasn’t sure if her friend really wanted to sleep with her father or just liked messing with him. She didn’t care either way. They were both grown consenting adults. Her dad had been lonely far too long considering her mom had died when she was only five and she’d never seen him with another woman since.

“Diarmid, why haven’t I seen you around before?” Corry returned to her line of questioning.

“I’ve been in Boston the last eight years. I’ve been reassigned here to New York.”

“What do you do?”

“Fire Marshal. I was working in Boston but there’s a case which is crossing states and it’s better to pool our resources from this end.”

“Sounds very sexy.” Corry c****d her head, “you two should do a fireman calendar. I’d buy it.” She leaned sideways and looked under the table, “you have long legs. How tall are you?”

“Six-three.”

“I bet a fire inspector has to be pretty fit, huh.”

“I work out,” he narrowed his eyes wondering where the questions were going.

“Lolita, my girl, have you ever considered whether you have daddy issues? You could kill two birds with one stone to find out. He’s nearly as tall as the guy you were flirting with on the resort and about the same age.”

“The guy I was flirting with on the resort had a suite all to himself and I was sharing a room with three other girls. It wasn’t daddy issues; it was the need for a nap.”

“Did you go back to some guy’s room, Lita?” her father choked on his eggs.

“Dad, I repeat, twenty-six years old.” She dried her hands off on a tea towel and folded it over the oven door. “Order food in tonight and don’t cook. If you decide to cook, put your phone in another room until it’s done and you’re eating. If you have a girl over, leave a sock on the doorknob just in case I do decide to come home instead of staying out.”

She saw Diarmid hiding a laugh and she frowned at him, “I don’t know how long you’re in town for but the pub up the street is still open.”

“Are you asking me out, Little Lita?” he c****d an eyebrow and looked to Corry in alarm as if worried the girl had put thoughts into Lita’s head.

“Not a snowballs’ chance in hell,” she shut him, along with the tingling in her pelvis, down hard trying to forget Corry’s comment about his long legs. “It’s walking distance. Don’t drink and drive. If you and pops decide to get your drink on, stick to the pub up the street and crash on the sofa otherwise take an Uber.” She shrugged into her leather jacket.

She looked to Corry who was getting off the chair and eyeballing her dad who was still avoiding her gaze. “Corry, stop harassing my father. Let’s go.”

Corry patted his shoulder with a loud sigh, “last chance Conor. She let you know she wasn’t coming home tonight leaving it open for you to ask me out. You never know what could happen.”

“f**k Corry,” Lita finally snapped, “enough. I’ll personally pay your tab tonight at the club if you promise to hook up with a guy and scratch your itch. I’m even uncomfortable now and I once walked in on Draxton and her husband doing it in her office. He uses her like a damn ragdoll.”

“She is tiny,” Corry said dropping her arm over Lita’s shoulders and following her to the door pausing to wink at the two men at the table. “Nice to meet you Diarmid. Nice seeing you again Connor.”

“Likewise,” Diarmid gave a laugh. “Nice to see you again, Lita.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Lita gave a wave and an annoyed grimace as they walked out of the house. She almost skipped to Corry’s truck and slid into the passenger seat, excited to see the two bikes tethered in the bed.

“What’s the deal with your hatred for Diarmid?” Corry asked as she started her vehicle.

“Don’t hate him.”

“Could have fooled me. The temperature was icy in there when I came in.”

“I have zero feelings for the guy. He’s my dad’s friend, not mine. I was a kid when he was around. Then he wasn’t around.”

“He seemed to know you well. Called you Little Lita.” Corry teased.

“He and my dad worked together a lot. Dad was his mentor. He was a fireman for many years and then moved into the inspector’s office. They were close. He often said dad was like a big brother to him so if anything, he was an uncle until he left.”

“You didn’t try to catch his eye?”

“He moved to Boston when I got r***d,” she turned her head away. “The last time I saw him, was when he stopped into the house after I’d been released from the hospital to pat me on the head and to say he was sorry he hadn’t been there to protect me at the ball. I haven’t seen nor heard from him since. Seeing him in my dad’s kitchen today was a surprise. I know they talk all the time but it’s the first time I’ve laid eyes on him since I was eighteen. If you were feeling animosity when you came in it was because seeing him instantly put me back on the sofa, feeling vulnerable, weak, and suicidal while he patted my head like a dog.”

Corry was quiet for a few seconds and then whispered, “I’m sorry Lolita. I didn’t know.”

“It’s fine. I do really need to blow off steam though. Let’s go to the center and get this day started.”

As Corry drove through the traffic towards the center, Lita considered the white lie she had just told Corry. Yes, she was remembering feeling vulnerable on the couch the last time she’d seen him but for a long time she had blamed him for what happened to her, and she wasn’t sure she hadn’t stopped. She’d gone looking for trouble because he hadn’t been there to claim his dance. She’d found it in spades, and it forever changed her life and her perception of him. No man other than her dad could be trusted. Their words and promises meant s**t.