Ready to Serve

James Buchanan offers readers six tales of sultry encounters between policemen, firemen and officers of the border patrol along with a few irresistible ne er-do-wells: two guys who secretly lusted after each other in high school wind up face to face, but now one's cop and the other is, well, a bad boy; after losing his teammates in an out of control brushfire, one smoke jumper retreats from the world, but his two roommates force him to face his guilt while affirming the unique bond they share; a pair of crime scene cleaners face hazards in their job and in love; an uptight sergeant pieces together the strange pattern of thefts at the county fair while fighting his attraction to another man.