Chapter 1 The night stormed. The dark got darker. Safely snug and dry in his study, Dan tossed a grin at the tempest. The rain spilled long silvery ribbons across his windows in wild gleeful answer. New York City sparkled beyond glass, a watercolor painting of lights and dazzle and color, blurred and gleaming and lovely as a whole kaleidoscope of stories. He’d always loved storms; he got breathless at the crackle of lightning through the air, electric and vibrant. Thunder snagged his pulse and tantalized his heartbeat. He’d fallen in love with this apartment in part for the windows. They stretched upward in glorious towering panes; they offered up the world for his gazing. At home, cozy in faded jeans and an ancient long-sleeved NYC Writers Workshop shirt that’d never be allowed near ce