Roswell Fanatics

Begonia 9508 It my pleasure to write something that you enjoy. I hope when the story is through readers have a little idea of what police life was back in the time this took place.

Yes Liz was moved to the country. Remember the country she was sent to had stretches for miles where there wasn’t anyone at all. Cattle ranches are still large and vastly empty spaces. Yes you are right. The little communities were hot beds of gossip. A policewoman would have to watch her step especially since it was very suspect for women to be in police work anyway.

Eventually Max will explain as best as he can. You will see that Max had some issues about his feelings toward Liz also.

Mezz thank you so much and thankyou for the PM it helped both Carole and me. Mezz so sorry about the words on the card I forgot that in your part of the world the days will be getting shorter.

Martine It was said several times that Liz was raised a cowgirl. That was a good thing as I am not sure how a city girl would take this area. Watch the next posting after this and see a city girl who has trouble with this.

My experience with the public, in this state, was most of the truckers and cowboys would always support the policeman. Of course it was as Max said over and over “Police work is people work.” The policeman had to make their own peace with the citizens. That was what Max was doing. Martine think of talking to 5 Hispanic farmers in a row on a lonely road, each offering a cup of coffee and then driving real fast to one of the bathrooms Max was talking about. If you pulled off the road to go in the bushes you are sure for a school bus to come by and stop.

In small towns in the 70s the state policeman was like the teacher and the priest. They were invited to Sunday dinners and school affairs. They, if they did their part were part of the community.

I can only promise that the M/L moment when it comes I think is really worth it. Liz has to learn more about herself first.


Chapter10

One of the neighboring officers was female, that gave me a chance to talk to another woman who would understand what my life was like.

Gail Swanson had been in her Department of Public Safety job for two years longer than I. Other states had been more progressive than mine. “It is a pleasure to finally meet the great Officer Parker,” she said.

I had to laugh at that, “I don’t know so much about that ‘great’ part. I am still the smallest person in this district.”

Gail also laughed, “That is not what I mean. You brought down the corruption scandal in the Central City department. Our academies are still debating your actions. You are some sort of mile stone for women in police.”

“Well, that cost me a bundle. I am now transferred to a six-man district where the most action is a bar fight on Saturday night. I have already licked most of the toughest cowboys so they, now, just turn around and put their hands behind their back when they see me coming.” Of course, that wasn’t quite true, but lying at coffee meetings between agencies was allowed.

We talked a lot while the guys were also bragging about how tough they were and how their state had the meanest, the most contrary the… They would finally run out of adjectives. Gail and I talked about some of my programs that I had started. I was surprised that recognition for these had managed to surface in another state. I, Elizabeth Parker, the smallest of small town girls, was getting a reputation and it was not all for screwing up.

After the coffee group broke up and I was back in state on patrol, I was thinking. Gail had told me many things that I knew, but just hadn’t given belief to. Yes, I had done many things and many of them were good. I had been hiding in this corner of the state long enough. I needed to get out and see more people again.

Does my guardian angel sit on my shoulder and listen in on my thoughts or do my father’s prayers count for something? When I got back after my patrol, there was a note to call Senator Jacobs when I got in.

“Hey, Liz, how is your retirement?” his jovial voice asked.

“Is that what this has been?” I said with some rancor.

“Well, we had to get you away from the Central City force for a while. By the way, they have rid themselves of many of the officers who were just biding their time and not doing much.” This brought to mind that businessman so many years ago at Maria’s party. Yes, there were many officers who gave the rest of us a bad name.

The senator went on, “We need you to go on another recruitment drive. We arranged a replacement for your district during your absence. Report to the Central City state police office next Monday. Wear a nice dress. We want to show you off!” With that he hung up.

I packed my uniforms and many of my clothes. This was only temporary so I wasn’t moving. I would only be on an out of district assignment. This did mean per diem pay. That was a real perk, per diem pay. The state always gave you meal per diem and uniform per diem. When you were called out of your district, you got room pay. The US treasury had fits. They had tried and tried to tax us on per diem saying it was part of our salary, but the state had supplied lawyers who, so far, had successfully argued that per diem was just that, it was untaxable pay to cover added expenses and the US treasury had no right to any of it.

Well, those fights were for the Brass or officers. True, it would be the patrol officers who would suffer if the fights were lost, but there was little we could do. With my things, packed I headed for home. I had two days off.

To say mom and dad were happy to see me was insufficient. They had grieved at my exile, but dad had been proud that I stood firm in my principles. He never knew what this firmness cost me.

One of my boyfriends called, “Are you up for dancing tonight?”

Was I ever and for anything that might happen afterward. Being single, for me, wasn’t that much fun. I was almost 30. My clock was ticking. I needed to see what I wanted to do with my life. I knew that, even more so than the men, I couldn’t stay on patrol forever. I was raised a cowgirl. I knew that “there was never a horse that couldn’t be rode and never a cowboy who couldn’t be throwed.” I couldn’t continue breaking up bar fights forever. If I kept this up, I eventually would get seriously hurt.

Did I want a family? How could I handle that as a police officer? Was the state police the end of my career? I knew that there were many opportunities out there. I just had to discover them and explore them.

Richard was a cowboy through and through. We had dated some when in high school and he always indicated that he wished to have something more Permanente. He was nice, rich and so tender at making love that it was difficult to see why I didn’t agree with him about the permanence of our relationship. Tonight we had so much fun dancing and joking with so many of our old classmates that the desire to resign and join this life was very near the surface.

After a wild and wonderful night of sex, Richard and I were lying in bed just talking. “Liz, give up this life as a policewoman. I can offer you everything, including children, that you have stated you want someday. Come be a rancher’s wife.”

As I said, Richard was promising me everything I could ever want except for that feeling I had when Gail from the neighboring state called me, “The great Officer Parker.” Five years on patrol was coming up. I had to make some decisions.

I leaned over and kissed him. “Richard, I have to be in Central City Monday morning. I am going on a speaking tour. What you offer is tempting, and of course, you are always tempting. But, I need to think about giving everything up. All the bruises and cuts can’t be forgotten that easily. Let me think and I will be back when I finish the speaking tour.”

After that, I couldn’t spend the rest of the night with him, because I had no idea of what I would do. I didn’t want to make love with him any more tonight under false pretenses. I had to take a lot of stock of my life.

I returned home late and I know my parents heard me. I was so confused and I had no one to talk to. As much as I loved my dad, you just can’t go up to your father and say “Richard and I had a talk after screwing last night. I needed someone who I could say this to. Maybe Maria. If I left this afternoon, I could get my motel room from the Central City state police station and see Maria tonight.

I kissed mom and dad and was in the city by three o’clock that afternoon. I had left my personal little car back at my apartment and was told to drive the cruiser on this speaking tour.

I called Maria, “Maria, dear, I am in town for two weeks on speaking tour. Can we get together tonight?”

Oh, Chica I would be so glad to see you.” Maria had a Hispanic relative about three or four generations back. The endearment “chica” was about the only thing left of this heritage. She stubbornly held on to it. “Of course, we can get together. Michael is off to a political meeting, so I am here alone. Come by about seven o’clock.”

I was never so happy to see Maria. She was about the only one I could comfortably let my self down before, without pretence. Well, there had been one other, but he is just so long gone. I wondered where Max was tonight.

“Oh, Maria, I was proposed to the other night,” I opened with.

Maria screamed, “Oh, I am so happy for you!”

Before she could get any further, I added, “But, I do not know if I want to accept.”

Maria stood back and looked at me, “What do you want, Chica? Do you even know what you are seeking?”

I shook my head. How did I explain it? Richard was a wonderful man. He had everything I would ever want, except he would never understand what it was like to be a cop. He would never know where that excitement came from when I would walk into a room of adversaries and know that I was, “The toughest mother in the valley.”

I shook my head. “I have no idea. It wouldn’t be fair to a nice man like Richard to not be truthful to him, but I wondered if I would ever truly love him?” I had to also be truthful to my self. That was the hardest part.

Maria sat down, and with her hands holding mine, she pulled me down also. “Have you ever been in love, Chica?”

I shook my head, then I slightly nodded, “Well, maybe, but he is long gone.”

“Who was it? Tell me. We never kept secrets from each other,” Maria stated.

Yes, we never kept secrets from each other, but what if the secret was so secret that I didn’t even know it? Now that really sounds crazy. I just shook my head. I was, again, close to tears.

“I know who it was, Chica. It was that policeman who was your partner for so long, wasn’t it?” Maria was so wise.

How could she know? I hadn’t even know before this morning when I was trying to figure out why I hadn’t jumped at the chance to become Richard’s wife. “He is so out of my life, Maria. All I ever did was get him in trouble. Besides, he is still in love with his wife. You can’t compete against a dead woman. That wouldn’t be fair to either of us.”

I spent most of the evening talking to Maria. She did have some news. It seems that Kyle had been going, more or less, steady with Tess. Kyle, who couldn’t keep his pants zipped, was turning the lock on the zipper over to little Tess. I wondered which to congratulate or should I offer condolences to both?

Bright and early, I was at the office. Well, it was bright and early for people who weren’t on patrol. Normally, I would have already been up for several hours getting my ‘dailies’ ready to turn in and checking last night’s log to see what had happened.

The captain seemed to be very happy to see me, really.

In his office, “Parker how have you been? I see you haven’t had your ass busted by any one yet. I see that you haven’t made any big waves to upset the district lately. Or was that only reserved for me?”

See what I mean? Was he really happy or was he being sarcastic? He gave me my schedule. I had the morning to kill, so I went to the wardroom. Kyle and several new officers were there.

“Hey, Parker, long time no see. Hey guys, here is the only state officer who dared to arrest a city officer while he still had his weapon.” Kyle praised me, I think. He introduced me to the several other officers around the table. They looked so young.

“I just came by to see about that wild weekend we never had,” I replied, more to see what he would say than for any other reason. I had no intention of sleeping with Kyle, but it was fun to talk about it. I had no wish to be one of his many women.

“Aw, Parker, you are just too late. I am not like that any more. In fact. I am thinking of getting married sometime soon,” he corrected.

I just slapped him on the shoulder and wished him luck. He looked up, “Hey, let’s go have coffee for old times sake.” We walked across the street to the coffee shop. I was in a dress and the others were all in uniform. When we walked in, I wished I had refused the whole thing. Sitting at a table, were six city officers and one of them was John Troy.

John looked at me and glared. That was Okay with me. I no longer had any nice memories about him. As we sat down and had ordered coffee, one of the city officers stood up. It was a female officer. She started over to our table. “Hey, Garcia, stay away from her! She is nothing, but trouble.” John warned.

“Oh, fuck yourself, John! Officer Parker did the whole city a service and you are too much of an ass to realize it!” The officer, I assumed now, was Garcia, came over to my table. “Officer Parker, assholes like John don’t represent the Central City force. Most of us were glad to see those men get fired. They gave us all a bad name. You just had the guts to stand by your decision. I am sorry about John’s outburst.”

I smiled at her. “Don’t let it worry you. John and I have history and it isn’t good. I am glad to hear what you said about the rest of you because I have been worried that I caused a lot of trouble between departments.” I noticed that John had crammed on his hat and left while the rest the city officers seem to be laughing at him.

Now, I am glad I had gone with Kyle. He did give me a wild weekend. It was the wildest feeling that the city was not angry with me or felt that I had hurt their agency. Yes, that was truly the wildest of feelings.

I delivered my talk that afternoon. A lot of the fire, of the early 70s, seemed to have died down. The students didn’t see anything surprising about women in the police, or women doing anything they pleased, for that matter. I wasn’t leading any march or defending any action either. I was telling a group of students about what it was like in the academy. Both boys and girls were asking me questions. When I left, I felt that I had won that war. It was a war, which no one was even aware that I had been fighting.

At the end of the two weeks, I was called to Capital City. I drove, but I made sure I was in uniform. Senator Jacobs met me at the headquarters. “Officer Parker, I hoped I would see you.” I wondered why he always pretended that our meetings were accidents. He had an office near by and I was sure he had a police scanner which told him what the officers were doing. Do you have a few minutes?” I shrugged. No one had told me what time I had to report here. “You will complete five years soon. Have you any thoughts about what your next career move will be?”

“No,” I lied. Hell, I could be a rancher’s wife by the end of the year and have no further ties with the state.

“Well, I want to talk to you about somrthing you might consider,” he stated, “Have you ever considered teaching at the academy? I know, we usually like for our instructors to have more time at patrol before they start telling others how to do it. You have more time being a policewoman in the eyes of the world and the police department than anyone else. You could make some powerful changes in the structure of the academy.”

“Yeah,” I said before thinking, just like I usually did way too often. “You change it and you buy more body bags.”

“And why is that Officer Parker? I would have thought you would have jumped at the chance to make the academy more female friendl,” he said with a smile.

“Look, senator! If you can guarantee that we will have a better class of felon to deal with, then I will embrace change. But, since the assholes and sleezeballs will still be there, the girls need to know that they can lick any problem that the sergeant throws at them. Then when they are closing a bar, it will just be a piece of cake.” Oh, my god! Where had I head that statement before? Just a piece of cake, since I had taken everything they could throw at me.

“Well, what about taking the sergeant’s exam?” Jacobs suggested.

“I have thought of it. When I became a state policeman, I was told to learn from the best and I did. I was also told to avoid every thing he did wrong and I did that also. But I seemed to have found things of my own that should be avoided in others. Would I make a good sergeant for both men and women?” I was exasperated as to whether I could lead other cops or not.

Jacobs just laughed. He did that a lot at whatever I said, “Liz, a good sergeant knows what officers shouldn’t do, because he has done it himself and gotten his face smeared in it. I good leader just tries to help their men to survive. You know a lot about survival.

That last weekend, I headed back to my district. I stopped off at home first. I drove out to Richard’s ranch. I tried to explain that I liked being a police officer and I had decided to take the sergeant’s exam. If that didn’t work out, I was going to work at the academy. I just wasn’t willing to give up the force. I cried after I left. Had I just given up my only chance for a family?

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I offer you a christmas story of bitter sweet feeling. The Christmas Gift

Begonia9508 A cross roads is always difficult. There was once a country western song by a man I think named Glen Campbell about taking the other road. In his song we kept asking himself what would have happened if he had made different choices, I am right now working on a story about a couple emailing each other about their choices and the results there by. Liz had a reason for refusing what on the surface looked like a life made in heaven. Maria is the one who suddenly learns why Liz refused Richard.

Martine it is for later for Liz to understand why Max has stayed away from her. officer Garcia represents the new officers in the Central City department. She is very much an individual as are the men sitting with her. Poor John had lost all creditability. The other officers even made fun of him at his attitude toward Liz.

Wanting a family is always hard for a police officer. That is the one place nature doesn’t allow equality in occupation. The active and dangerous life makes having kids difficult.

Later it will be seen that having a family is important if done with the right man. When he comes around then what she has to do, she no longer minds doing it.

Kyle is a comic fill in but it is important that he did give Liz her wild feeling by taking her to a place where she had to face the Central City department.

Mezz It is always a pleasure when I know you are around.

Natalie happiness and good holidays to you also.


Chapter 11

I returned to my district, took the sergeant’s exam and passed. I was to be the only female sergeant on the force. I understand that some of the officers were disgruntled, complaining that I had received special treatment getting through the exam. This was not true because I made one of the highest scores that had been made in a long time.

Yes, the department wanted a female sergeant as soon as possible, but if I made it, I was sure it was because I was best qualified and not to fill in someone’s program. There was still a delay of almost six months before they decided on a position for me. In that time, they gave me a rookie.

“Captain, I am still trying to find out what I can do. It is too early for me to undertake the training of another officer,” I pleaded.

“Parker, we have our orders. You have a good performance record. It would be best if you taught your rookie to not do the things, which earn you so many bitch letters. Try to tone things down. Remember, we are trying to expand the department’s number of female members.” The Captain had spoken. I, at the time, didn’t remember the similar things that Max had said about me several years ago.

I met my rookie in the parking lot. Her name was Serena Ortiz. She had a degree in sociology and had made excellent scores in the academy. It seemed that my mind was on automatic. “Let me see your revolver, Rookie,” I ordered, somewhat more forcefully than I had intended.

She handed over her piece and I gave her the lecture about who had the right to inspect her weapon and, also, the correct way to pass it to another. Serena had been issued a colt trooper revolver. It was a good revolver, but many people feel it wasn’t as good as my Smith & Wesson. “You are carrying 38 specials, Rookie,” I commented.

She frowned the entire time. She looked at me, “I do not intend to use my revolver that much and the 38 specials are easier to shoot.” Her attitude bothered me. It was sometime before I understood why. She had all the answers and she wasn’t interested in learning something new. I thought back to when I was with Max. I was told to learn all I could from him, both what he did wrong and what he did right. Serena had all the academy training, but she didn’t seem open to learning what was happening in the real world.

“Who was your training sergeant, Rookie?” I asked.

Sergeant Anderson, he was fresh from the FBI training academy. He taught us all the latest methods. He wasn’t like that old Dinosaur Lucero.” Serena stated proudly, “and I would prefer that you refer to me as officer or Ms. Ortiz and not rookie.”

I could feel my eyebrows go up. Going back in my mind, I thought was I ever like that with Max? With her things in the trunk, we were off on the freeway. I looked over at Serena. She was buckled up. It seemed that during the five years since I had been in her position, there had been many things changed. I drove the squad car up to about three miles per hour over the speed limit.

“At the academy, we were told that we could never exceed the speed limit unless we had red lights and siren on and we had notified the radio room that we were going 10-33, emergency traffic,” Serena told me.

I dropped the speed down to about 50 miles per hour. We drove this way for several minutes. “Serena look behind us and tell me what you see,” I requested. She turned in the seat and, looking back, cars were strung out for as far as you could see. So many drivers were afraid to pass us even though we were driving under the speed limit. “Driving the speed limit or just under it has now caused a traffic jam that could be responsible for all sorts of accidents,” I concluded.

She frowned as I kicked the speed back up to about five miles per hour over the speed limit. “I have been looking at the front end of that red Toyota for several miles and that is all I could see. Now, I can pass other cars doing the limit and I have a better idea of the traffic situation.” Looking in my mirror, I could tell she didn’t like what I was saying, but this time she was quiet. I had been keeping my eye on a pickup truck up ahead of us. It was distancing us as I watched it. I turned on my red light. This, also, made my horn ring work the siren. I goosed the car up to 90 miles per hour or so. Cars moved out of the way. Shortly I was behind the offending pickup. I turned on the electronic siren and he quickly pulled over.

I turned to Serena, “Now, this is your first traffic stop. You stand behind the door and if I get knocked down on my ass, you can radio, ‘officer down, 10-33 emergency.’ That is your main function.” She was still frowning. I hoped she would do as I told her, but I remembered Max saying, “Never trust any one.”

The pickup driver was a big old farm boy. He tried to argue about the ticket, but when I told him that his alternative was to go to jail he reluctantly agreed to sign. As he returned to his car, I looked back to see that Serena was only a few feet behind me. That really pissed me off. We got back in the squad car without me saying anything. I drove a few miles up and then pulled off on a dirt road a little way from the interstate.

I turned to Serena, “What the hell were you doing back there?” I asked.

She glared at me, “I wanted to see what you were doing. I couldn’t very well see back behind the door. Besides, according to sergeant Anderson you should have called for backup when you saw that the subject was that big and that belligerent.”

“Why the fuck would I need backup? If I wasn’t sure I could whip his ass, I would have no business out on patrol.” Serena frowned at this. I don’t know if was what I said or the way I said it. Next time, I would speak plainly and not clean up my language. “Next time, I expect you to stay where I tell you. If not, I will wash you out of training with me.”

“Is training with you that big of a privilege?” she asked. “You have as many complaints as you do commendations. What is so special about training with you?”

I didn’t have any real answers for this. I had asked to not have a rookie, but the Brass decided that I would be the one that this broad was to train with. I wanted to tell her that I was to teach her how to live and not be sent back in a box to her family. We continued the patrol, with me angry and her sullen. This was not going to be a team made in heaven.

It was just past midnight. We had about two more hours on the night shift, if things were quiet, before we could go in. Serena had done what I told her, but she had been mad the whole time. “Car 270, what is your 10-20?” This was a request for our location.

“Fifteen miles south on the old highway. What do you have?” I asked.

“There is a fight at the Mule’s Head Bar. It is about five miles closer to town. The county is coming but they are 25 miles north of there. Venus, be careful.” The radio room sighed off.

There was no traffic on the old highway. I stopped, threw the car into reverse and pulled a bootlegger’s turn on the highway. I do not know how fast I was going, but in the corner of my eye I could see Serena, her face was quite a study. We pulled into the parking lot. Like most bars in this area, it was a sea of pickups. “10-97, we at the scene.” I pulled near the front door of the bar and looked at Serena. “We don’t know what we have here. Remember the rule that if it strikes at us, it goes to the hospital and then to jail.” I hoped that her training from that Anderson whatever was good enough to see her through the evening.

I entered the door and lost all count of what was around me. I took out the first fighter with a kidney punch with position two of my baton. Somehow after riding with Serena, it went back to being a baton. When he went down, I struck the man he was fighting with in the gut. I was working my way through the crowd when I heard a war hoop and I was sure the county boys had just arrived. Again, fights like these only last a few minutes. I was looking for my hat and joking with the deputies when I remembered Serena.

There, standing behind the bar, was a totally angry state policewomen. I was starting over to her when Marcus caught me by the arm. “Who’s the new chick?” he asked.

“That is my rookie. I am supposed to teach her how to be safe. I guess she has already learned one lesson. Best way to be safe is to not engage. I took Serena by the arm and started out to the squad car. When we were in and back 10-8 in service, I turned to her. “You sort of stood off on this one, eh.”

She gave me a glance that could freeze a horse. “I didn’t join the state police to get into bar fights. Those men were just despicable and you weren’t much better. I was watching you. You were enjoying yourself back there.”

“Serena, that was a bar fight! They are going to happen whenever you get men together who work hard and, thus, they play hard. They are all normally good, decent people. It was the job of the police to stop the fight before it got too far. They all know that when we get there, the fight is almost over. There wasn’t a man in the place who I hadn’t arrested sometime or the other and, many of them, after I had taken them down. We will see each other on the street next week and probably joke about tonight,” Liz mused.

Serena wasn’t going to let this go. “You drove here as fast as you could. You could have gone slower to let others in first. You wanted to be the first one at the fight,” she stated.

“No, Serena, fights like this are mostly harmless, but if you let them go very long, then someone pulls a weapon. Then, you really need more backup. The minute I entered, the men knew that everything would be quieted down. They knew that for this evening, they had saved their honor.”

I pulled into the parking lot of the Holiday Inn on the west side. “I need to go to the restroom and clean up a little. The guys will be in the restaurant.”

When I returned, Serena was sitting a little away from the group. Her eyes were still flashing fire. I ignored her for the moment. Just like Max said long ago, I needed to calm myself down and the best way was to sit and joke about tonight’s activity. “Damn it, Parker beat us there again,” Marcus, the deputy sheriff, complained.

This elicited comments about me having to have a handicap next time. We all joked, but we all knew that the sooner you stopped something like this free-for-all the less chance there was for someone to pull out a weapon. Because of Serena, I cut our time short and we were soon 10-8, back in service.

“Parker, do you try to beat the men at everything,” she asked.

“No, but I try to at least equal them. I was one of the first female officers in the state police. I always wanted the men to not consider my gender. I wanted them to not regret that I was a woman assigned to their patrol. I wanted them to accept me as an equal officer.” We rode in silence the rest of the night. I made a speeding stop. Again, I ordered Serena to stay back behind the door. She didn’t like me telling her things, but this time she did obey. This got me thinking. I always felt Max didn’t trust me to back him up, but now, the need of someone to call for help was better understood.

“Ortiz, do you know that more officers are killed in double patrol cars than are killed in single units.” She looked at me incredulously. “It is a fact,” I continued. “More men are killed in double units because they are more careless. When patrolling alone, I have to rely on my self completely. When I do have a partner, I want her or him to be near the radio so help can be called. If I can’t handle something alone, what makes you think two of us could do any better?” That was not true, either, if my partner had been Max we could have taken on anything.

Anderson, our training sergeant, said we shouldn’t go into a situation un less we had established backup somehow.” Serena tried to explain.

I frowned, “Serena, if we are at the far end of our district, it can take up to an hour, sometimes, to get back up. What do you propose we do in that time?”

Serena still stubbornly clung to the teaching of Anderson.

I tried to explain in another way, “Suppose you are assigned to a district where getting back up entails calling another officer out during their off time. How are you going to handle this? If it happens too much of the time, you can be assured that the officer on call won’t think or speak highly of you or your training.”

Serena was still clinging to the words of Anderson. Well, I clung to what I had learned with Sergeant Lucero, the old training sergeant. Trouble was that Lucero had many years of experience and Anderson was an outsider as far as the state police could say.

It was late one night. Serena would start driving soon. I was worried about what she would do. I had stopped a car for speeding. To all appearances, it was a simple speeding violation. I approached with the mythical Max sitting on my shoulder. As I passed the rear door of the car, I flashed my lights into the rear compartment. There were two men there. There was one in the front. I stood back from the car so if the rear door opened, I would be clear of it.

I kept looking at the driver and he seemed very nervous. The two men in the back just looked mean and sullen. “Let me see your driver’s license, registration and proof of insurance.” The driver fumbled and when I was about to take the papers from his hand, he deliberately dropped them. I guess he was expecting me to come forward and pick them up.

I took another step backward. “Please get out of the car, pick up the papers and hand them to me,” I ordered. I was, now, getting real bad vibes about this stop. I had neither drawn my baton or my revolver. It hadn’t got that far yet, but I could feel that it was close. The driver mumbled something, but he complied. At the same time, I was trying to watch those guys in the back seat. I was seeing that I had allowed things to become more dangerous because I now had subjects in the car and one outside the car. This would be more difficult to handle.

As the driver handed me the papers, he made a lunge for my arm. I pulled my baton and without the numbers, swinging it like a baseball player, I broke his arm. He went on the ground and, now, I had trouble. Max always told me to trust only on my gut and brain, both of which had let me down tonight.

The other men, one exiting on my side of the car and the other coming around, were now ready for fight. If I pulled my side arm, I would have to kill both of them. There was no way I could use my side arm to control men from two directions. I waded in on the closest man. He tried to fend me off, but I was now back to numbers and doing a “teeth and groin” on him.

I saw Serena coming up to the other man and she had her baton at ready. It was a side handle baton and, though I had taken the mandatory training with this, it just wasn’t in my comfort zone. I heard a commotion behind me, but I couldn’t take time to accesses that, because I had more before me than I could handle.

Guess I felt, rather than heard, someone behind me. I turned and there was a big, and I mean big, African American holding the man with the broken arm. I stepped in and knocked the man I had been fighting cold. Then, I returned to see what was behind me.

“Black Bird at your service ma’am. You want I should just ring his neck like a southern chicken,” the trucker said. I recognized the handle. We had chatted several times on the CB when I was on patrol.

I, now, saw that there were several other truckers coming to our aid. Someone driving by had called in that Venus Smiles needed help. The Calvary had arrived.

I looked over at Serena and she was pale. I went over to check and, sure enough, she had laid her subject out. I checked his pulse. He would make it. Serena had risen to the cause and she was dealing with it.

Soon, we heard sirens in the distance. I nodded to Black Bird and he and the other truckers got back in their rigs. There was no need to get them involved. I really appreciated their help. I also said a prayer to the Max who always sat on my shoulder. Police work was people work. This had proved it.

We managed to handcuff our prisoners. The one with the broken arm, we handcuffed to the door handle of his car. He couldn’t go anywhere. Our sergeant soon arrived. He arranged for the prisoners to be taken to jail and said he would talk to us in the morning. I wanted a debriefing with Serena.

When we got to the coffee shop, I asked the waitress if we could use the meeting room in back. I ordered coffee and we took turns going to the single toilet lady’s room to wash up. “Girl, you did good. You called for help and then jumped right in.” Serena was still shaking.

“You are always so cool when these things happen. How can you even drive? How did you even drive to make it here?” she was very upset.

“Serena, I fought a trained instructor while he was calling me names. After doing that in the academy, how could I let a little thing like what we had tonight upset me.” I was upset, also, but I didn’t allow it to show, like someone else in my past told me. I was, also, wondering about the training the academy was giving now. It wasn’t as good as the training I had gotten.

After coming back from my days off, I was informed that Officer Serena Ortiz had taken a lateral transfer to a Central City job. Her reasoning was that she didn’t feel comfortable in being a state police officer.

I was asked to give her an evaluation and I deliberated this for some time. When everything came down, she was there. She ultimately did her job. I do not think she would ever be comfortable alone on the interstate any more than she did. I praised her for what she did, but I agreed with her transfer to the more teamwork-orientated, city police job.
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Stories by Ken

Coming soon: What would you do if you were a homicide detective? Your have the murder of a beautiful woman who everyone said was a saint. Your only clue, was held by the very confused ghost of the victim.

Begonia 9508 Serena was the product of almost a generation from Liz. Serena probably wasn’t that much younger but thinking had changed so much in that time. The FBI during the Civil Rights confrontations developed a distrust of local law, and at that time it was justified. They still have that attitude and it makes it very difficult to work with them. Teaching at the academy the FBI instructor just didn’t understand the difficulties. Sgt. Lucero knew that the state was short handed and for the most part his students must be self sufficient. Sgt Lucero also knew that his students would be alone and making their own decisions with out direct help. That is seldom done in a large department like the FBI.

Natalie I hope you continue to enjoy this story

Martine yes Serena was a spoiled little girl. The system spoiled her. Liz was also a student with high marks in the academy but no one told her how great she was. We found many youth when they became officers in both the city and the state didn’t really have a notion as to what police life is like. Liz crawling through the wrecked car early in her career was a lot of police work. Our uniforms got torn and had to be fixed. We got bloody and greasy. We had victims cry and many officers had victims stiffen in their arms as they drew that last breath. Police work is people work in every form.

Liz having a rookie was good because, as you will see she now is a sergeant with the responsibility of several officers on her shoulders.

Liz is obsessed with Max at two levels. First she asked herself each time she does something, what would Max do. This is just asking what or how her training would guide her. She is also obsessed with Max like fans are with celebrities. Max isn’t available, but he does direct her actions in what she does with her love life. She at this time doesn’t realize how much she is in love with him.

Lizza Liz has to grow a lot. Max said she was now his equal but she needs to learn enough to really believe that before she can accept his love on an equal level.

Zanity

"In theory, there is no difference between what happens in theory and in practice. In practice, there is."

This is the basis of most of the story and for that matter many stories. The extreme difference between theory and practice. Theory is so important but as it is applied change must be made when theory brakes down.

The best education I ever got was a class not in how to do things but rather a class in how to learn what you should do. I count my self fortunate to have taken this class.

Letting programs run agendas is what is wrong with so much of the world whether it is in education or in service. We do need to change things but as Liz said until you promise a better class of scum bags you can’t let up on education. This goes for this program. Liz made sergeant because she had very high marks on her tests not just to satisfy a program.

Liz was accepted because she tried to the best of her ability to handle the problems the same as a man would. She didn’t try to surpass them but to try not to make them sorry she was with them.

Serena at the last proved she wasn’t a coward but she wasn’t comfortable with what Liz was doing.


Chapter 12

I was assigned to a medium sized district. There was a lieutenant and another sergeant, Johnson was his name. The district had about 16 patrol officers. Lieutenant Rodriguez was a tall man, easy to get along with but a bit of a stickler for procedure. “Sergeant Parker, you are the first female sergeant in the state police. I don’t really know what to do with you. Do you have any suggestions?” he stated.

Using my best academy voice without the shouting I answered. “Give me my men. Let me lead and call me in when I do something wrong, Sir”

He just sighed. I know I sounded just like someone right out of the academy, but if he thought that, maybe, he wouldn’t look too closely at my record. I think I was giving Evans a run for his money in complaints, arrests and, even, excessive force reports. That last one never got passed the front desk. In sober retrospect, no one wanted to accuse me to my face of excessive force. Their manhood just couldn’t take pointing to a five foot three woman and saying she beat the shit out of them.

We had two shifts, as did most of the state districts. They had only had one man, Sergeant Johnson, for sometime. It was driving him ragged coming out to complaints during either shift. On his days off, he left town completely. Now, he would work with his men and I would work with mine. The problem was earning the respect of my men by letting them know that they hadn’t gotten the royal shaft with respect to me. I met my eight men in my office. I had brought eight chairs into the office and I was seated at my desk as they entered. Looking at all their faces I could see their disappointment.

“You know your district, I don’t. So, for the moment, as long as it is legal and correct procedure, you just continue. As we go, I will make suggestions and we can go from there. If you have any trouble, call me. It is better to get me in trouble than yourself. Don’t do anything wrong and I will back you up.” As I stood, they all jumped to attention. I could see in their faces, again disappointment at who they had drawn for their sergeant. One boy, who I could tell was right off the farm, made the worst face.

I asked his name. He reminded me so much of Max. Maybe Max when he first started. “Edwards, sir.” Then he stuttered, “Er.. Ma’am.”

“Let’s just try sergeant for starters. Okay Edwards, why wouldn’t you call me if you needed help?”

He looked at me kind of funny. I had seen that look before like a deer in headlights. “You can speak freely, Edwards.”

Well Ma’am or sergeant, if I couldn’t handle the situation, how could you help? Could you even handle me if we were in a fight?”

I looked at him. “How old are you Edwards?”

He sort of mumbled, “21, sergeant.”

“Well, Edwards, if I came up against you, I would probably turn away. A good looking man like you has way too many women left to satisfy, for me to kick him in the nuts. I would probably turn to some older fart and beat the shit out of him as a lesson.” The group laughed including Edwards, “Just give me a chance and watch yourselves.” They all left for patrol and, after I finished some paper work, I went 10-8 in service also.

I needed to see the district. I monitored the radio. My unit had two receivers in it. I could monitor car to station calls and, also, car to car calls. It seemed that most of the officers were doing as expected. There were one or two who stayed longer than I thought necessary for coffee, but it was too early to lay into them.

There was a 10-45, accident with injuries, so I headed out to see how they were doing. Edwards was handling things pretty well. There was one old rancher who was bleeding profusely. The standard procedure at the time was to use Tampex as a compress. The napkin would be taped or tied on the wound and it would absorb the blood as it gave the wound a chance to stop bleeding. When that old rancher saw the box marked feminine sanitary napkins he went wild.

“You ain’t putting them things on me,” he screamed.

It took all Edwards could do with the help of the county officers to hold him down and tape them on. Even then he had to threaten to handcuff the rancher if he tried to remove the bandage.

Edwards was trying to get flares set at the same time watching the victim, so I just stuck out my hand and I do not think he even knew that his sergeant had taken some flares to place down the road. Edwards was having some trouble with one of the wrecker drivers who didn’t want to clean up the area to Edwards satisfaction. I walked up quietly behind him. “What is the trouble, Edwards?”

Edwards replied, “Nothing, ma’am. He is going to finish cleaning up like I told him.”

The wrecker driver wasn’t that smart, “What’s it to you, lady? This is between me and the kid.”

“No, this is between you and the state. You clean up to this officer’s satisfaction. You address him as Officer and you address me as either officer or sergeant. If you don’t, I will pull your tow rotation for two weeks. Is that understood?” Oh how he did want to slap me! And worst still, how did I want him to try it. My stick was already at one and two would have broken every tooth in his false dental plate. This was definitely not Daddy’s little girl talking. I was back to wanting that body count.

He took his broom and worked very carefully to do what Edwards asked. These little wrecker companies depended on police tow orders. There was very little business for them other than this. The accident broke up and Edwards asked if I would like to go for coffee.

It seemed strange when I walked into the coffee shop. Little me, with Edwards towering behind me. We sat down with two county units. Edwards made introductions and then said, “Sergeant just got crosswise with Toby the Wrecker driver back there. He didn’t want to clean up the highway, but the Sarge set him straight.”

One of the county officers started laughing, “Can old Toby still walk? Last time I saw officer Parker, she tried to cram a night stick up some poor drunk’s butt when he wouldn’t stop fighting.”

Of course, the table broke into laughs and I blushed. Sergeants don’t blush, but young ladies don’t try to take out drunks with the end of a night stick either. From then on, the four of us exchanged stories and comments.

I got up. I had to set an example for my men. “We have to be back on patrol, guys. See you on the flip side.”

After a few weeks, I was being accepted by the officers. I think I was even starting to earn their respect. The truckers were telling tales about the Smokey, “Venus Smiles.” “She’s an angel to look at boys, but don’t get her mad. If you do, you will piss blood for a week. She can be a mean mama.”

There was a problem. I went 10-8 in one direction. Usually, I would tell the radio when I switched patrols. This time, the night was quiet and I just drifted back into the second patrol. There seemed to be nothing on the road. As I was driving by a wooded area, I saw at the edge of my lights, a squad car pulled in the woods. That wasn’t a problem. Out here you went to the bathroom wherever you could. I drove down a ways and pulled off to wait. I didn’t want to go down some dark road and catch an officer with his pants down taking a dump in my spotlight.

It was 30 minutes before I saw the squad car pull out. I just stayed in the shadow where I had waited. It was Schultz, I knew he thought he was a ladies man, but he was carrying his lady with him. They were talking and carrying on while they were driving and took no notice of me. I let them get ahead a ways and followed them. Schultz never looked back. I pulled up behind him and said on the car to car frequency. “Schultz, pull over, now!” At first I thought he would run and I think he did, also, but at the last minute, he decided to bluff it out and he pulled over.

I got out of the car. Of course, my stick was in its holder. I walked up to his car and asked. “What are you doing Schultz?”

“Aw, Sarge I am just giving this lady a ride home. Her car broke down.” I reached over and took Schultz’s microphone. “This is car 43. What is the last 10-20,” meaning location, “you have for officer Schultz?” The listed 10-20 was 20 miles on the other side of the nearby town. The car 43, you say, I didn’t tell you, but I got a brand new black and white. No cigarette smell, no vomit smell, just new. And it was all mine set up as a sergeant’s car. “This is car 43. Make a notation. I am requesting any traffic from Officer Schultz about a 10-41,” woman, “in his car?”

“That is negative, 43.” I almost thought I could hear the radio operator laughing. Schultz had been pulling this for months. They all knew, but with only one sergeant there was no one to catch him.

“Take the woman home Schultz and meet me in the lieutenant’s office at eight o’clock tomorrow morning.” I spun on my heel and left. Only the officers on duty knew about this so we could handle it as the lieutenant wanted.

I got to the office at seven the next day and, sure enough, Schultz was there at seven thirty to try to get the lieutenant’s ear before we were to see him. We ended up going in the office at eight o’clock as I intended.

“Lieutenant, I do not know what we have, but since it could have repercussions on the department, I thought I should bring it to your attention. Officer Schultz was in his squad car with a 10-41 without checking with the radio.”

“Aw Lieutenant, I can explain,” Schultz started. I found this lady walking down the highway, her car broken down. I was just giving her a lift. The sergeant just jumped before she knew the facts.”

I kept a straight face, “That may be the case, but I want to stress the fact that proper protocol was not followed. Schultz should have logged the woman in his car with times recorded and locations recorded so when he parked for 30 minutes with her off the old railroad crossings, we would know nothing wrong was going on.” Schultz’s face just fell. I wasn’t through. “As a department, we need to consider if Officer Schultz parked with the lady for 30 minutes, was he forcing her in any way?”

Schultz stood up. “I don’t have to force anyone. They always come freely.” I just smiled. I had nothing further to say.

The Lieutenant looked at me, “Since we have established the lady was not being held against her will, what do you suggest sergeant?”

I just shrugged. “I guess docking him a weeks pay would encourage him to get a room and not do something which might bring problems to the department.” The Lieutenant nodded. Schultz was dismissed.

“Sergeant, Parker, remind me to stay on your good side. You knew what you were doing all along, didn’t you?”

I sighed, I only wish I was as good as the lieutenant thought I was. Docking a weeks pay wasn’t really that bad of a punishment. They would take the week out of his vacation time. So, unless he had big plans for his vacation, it didn’t cost him anything. It did go on his record and we had recorded disciplinary action. I figured that with Schultz’s stupidity, I should watch my backside for a while.

Cutting Richard out of my life had also cut off my social life. As a sergeant, people like Schultz would just love to have something to use against me. So, anything I would do, would have to be done far from my district. Not seeing Richard, I also was reluctant to go back to see my parents. I called every time I could, but always found a reason to not come home.

Two days out of every week, I was on call 24 hours. These were the days when Sergeant Johnson was off. Of course, he had the same situation on the days when I was off. If one of us got sick, the 24 hour schedule, would come into effect. The best thing to do, on the days you were off was to get out of town.

Since I didn’t want to go home, I would drive to Capital City. Some days I would drive to Central City and see Maria. Tess had Kyle almost hogtied. From what the other officers said, he hadn’t gotten in trouble one time since they had been going together. I thought that Kyle was a little like Schultz, except that Kyle was smarter.

Central City had set up a SWAT team like the state. They trained differently because their situation was different. I hadn’t heard anything about Max for a long time. I sort of hoped he would wish me well on making sergeant, but no word. I refused to ask any one for fear that it would get back to him and I wasn’t sure …..I just wasn’t sure of anything.

Policemen just do not go into banks. They use direct deposit and drive up windows, because if a robbery goes down, the policeman caught inside the bank is in trouble. If the robbers find out he is a cop, his chances of being killed are very high. Unofficially, we were cautioned that we should in that case, hide our identity. They didn’t have any suggestion for when you were carrying your off duty weapon.

Off duty weapon, this was something I haven’t mentioned directly. A policeman is considered on duty 24 hours a day. There are times when they are not directly subject to call, but they can always be called out in an emergency. That is why on my day off, I left the district.

Since the law enforcement officer can always meet one of their more disgruntled clients many, and maybe most, officers have a weapon they can carry when they are off duty. Most states have laws that reflect the fact that law enforcement officers are exempt from concealed-carry laws.

In out state there is one exception. No one off duty can carry a weapon in an establishment where there is liquor being served. It seems that two officers in some minor agency once were shooting pool one night in a bar. They degenerated into doing this with their revolvers. This exception is good. I wouldn’t want the responsibility of using my revolver if I had been drinking.

I carried a diminutive Smith & Wesson Chiefs Special. This was a little 5 shot revolver that could be carried in my purse. I practiced with it as much as I could.

I needed to see about a bank loan. My personal car had had its life prolonged by the fact that I used the cruiser for most of my travel but when I did things strictly for personal reasons, I always used my own car. The poor little thing just died one morning. I had it towed, but the result was the value of car, $300 and amount of estimated repairs, was $1500. I needed a new car.

There had been so many stories told about the danger of bank holdups that I was clearly nervous while talking to the loan officer. It took about two hours to conclude my business and I breathed a sigh of relief when I left.

Once back at my apartment, I turned on the TV. Regular programming was pre-empted by the news that the police were locked in a stand off with a bank robbery. It was the bank I had just left. I watched as the state police SWAT unit was called in. The town I lived in, now, was too small to be able to handle something like this. The state units arrived and their van parked outside the bank. I saw the men dressed in black emerge from the van with the same precision as the football players at a high school game.

They split into several smaller groups and seemed to just melt away. I knew that the snipers would find locations where they could cover the windows and exits. There were spotters who would be trying to gain information. There was a man in a suit. I thought that he would, probably, be a negotiator who would try to talk the situation away from a standoff. I noticed another man in the edge of the crowd who looked familiar. The next time the camera panned him, I saw that it was my old drill sergeant. He probably wasn’t a sergeant any more, probability he was now a Lieutenant or a Captain.

There was one man in the group getting ready to enter the building if the negotiations failed, that I recognized as Max. Even with the helmets and flack jackets, which were the heavier bulletproof vest they wore. I recognized the way he moved and the way he stood.

I saw the tiny pips on his collar. Max was now a sergeant in the SWAT team. Thinking about this, I had become an expert on Max. That worried me. The operation was successfully concluded and the TV was focused on the hostages while the brass congratulated each other. I saw in the blurry background, the SWAT van pull out.

I was tempted to rush down to the district station to see if I could catch Max but I figured that SWAT usually left, when their job was done, as quietly as possible. He wouldn’t be there.

I did give a talk to the officers in my patrols about entering a bank. They asked me just like I had asked my self. What do you do if you just have to be inside? I had no answer for them or me.

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What would you do if you were a homicide detective? Your have the murder of a beautiful woman who everyone said was a saint. Your only clue, was held by the very confused ghost of the victim. Haunted Memories should be ready soon AU with out aliens.

Martine the police have lives and loves like everyone else. The biggest problem may be the appearance of impropriety. The Police person reputation is damaged by appearance. The public must see them above the moral height of everyone else. Like Teachers, religious leaders, people look up to the police and if they see things that suggest corruption that is enough. You will see to day that Liz must fight to make her life look correct as well as be correct if she is to lead.

The bank thing, bank robbery is not a crime that has high arrest rates. It is way to common and if it is by professionals they would take offense if they thought one of their victims was an officer. That is why in many places off duty police do not want to be caught in a robbery.

L-J-L 76 Lizza it is always a pleasure for you to enjoy my story. Questions must wait for story to catch up with them.

Begonia Eve I just hope you and Martine can not get discouraged in my story. Max and Liz will get together. Trust me.

author note: Liz learns that supporting her men when she thinks they are right brings their support for her.

Chapter 13

I was called into Capital City to see Senator Jacobs. He wanted to know about how I was doing and what were my next plans. I was glad to see the senator because I owed him a lot in what he had done for my career. I also was a little upset because with me being out of district, it put another 24 hour shift for the other sergeant. Senator Jacobs wanted to introduce me to a friend of his. Representative Hiram Kane was one of the younger men in the state legislature.

After, talking to me and the Senator, I was surprised that he asked me to lunch. Of course, I was in uniform, but we went to one of the best places in Capital City. “Liz, you are becoming a well known figure in the state legislature. Jacobs talks about you every time he is trying to get something for the State Police.”

Kane was having a beer, but I was sipping iced tea. “The Senator has been very kind to me. He has stood by me no matter how badly I screw up,” I replied.

“Kane laughed, “He paints you as sort of a wonder woman in the real world,” he mused.

“Jacobs very much wanted to entrench women in police patrols for personal reasons as well as political,” I told him.

“Officer Parker, I have to be blunt. There is no other way to say this, is your personal life free so that I could ask you out for dinner some evening on your day off?” he asked while looking for something in my face.

I thought for several minutes. Then, I said, “Yes, I think I would like that.”

It was several weeks before I heard from representative Kane. In this time I had a lot to consider. Back home, I had dated cowboys and business men. Sometimes, I stayed the night and sometimes, I cut the date short. I had always called the shots using my gut feeling to tell me what to do. I owed the Senator a lot, but why did I get the feeling that he may have set this meeting up just to introduce me to Kane? If he did, was that necessarily bad? If I did go with Kane, how free would I feel if the date went south, or bad, and I needed to pull the plug?

The day of the date arrived and I had taken a motel room in Capital City. I didn’t want the long drive back to my district late at night. If course, I didn’t even have a uniform with me. I thought long and hard about my off duty weapon and, at the last moment, I left it at home.

The date consisted of a diner and, then, Kane had tickets to a theater play. It was a great night. I was worried as we went home because I didn’t know how I felt about him. Would he press me to go to his house or to come to my room? And if he indicated that is what he wanted, what would be my reaction? I was almost thirty and a long way from being a virgin. The surprise was that he gallantly brought me home and, with a kiss on my hand, he left me at my room. He did whisper, “I hope we can have another date sometime.”

That went well or so I thought. The next few weeks were filled with efficiency reports, checking dailies and supervising patrols. I felt that things were going very smoothly. The lieutenant called me in once and asked how I was doing. He also asked me what I thought my long range plans were. That was a hard one. I was only concentrating on week by week. It did give me something to think about.

The second date with Hiram Kane was to attend a formal dinner. I had to scramble to find a proper dress. It cost me a considerable part of my monthly budget. I was introduced to many people important to the state. I even met the governor. It was really late when we went home. Yes I did go to the house where he lived when he was in Capital City. That week end my motel room had no use.

I would go to Capital City many times when I had days off. Hiram and I were becoming an item. He was divorced as were most single men in their thirties. He had a family back home that he saw regularly. If we continued to hit it off, I saw no reason we couldn’t keep dating. How this fit into my long range plans, I just didn’t know. I really didn’t know what my long range plans were anymore.

Back with my patrol. Edwards came in the squad room the other night and he had a dark mouse under his eye. The bruise under his eye was clear indication that he had been in a fight with some one. “Eddie, what happened? Did you lower your left or did you go in unprepared for an arrest?” I was half joking Edwards had become one of my best troopers.

To my surprise, Edwards was very non-committal. I asked one of the other troopers and the answer was, “I don’t know Ma’am. You will just have to ask Eddie, yourself.” There was clearly something they didn’t want to talk about. A day later Schultz came back from days off and he had a cut on his lip. I frowned and he ducked his head. I didn’t get along very well with Schultz since I had caught him with that woman down by the tracks.

My entire shift seemed different that night. On patrol, usually, someone in the shift would call me to go to coffee. I heard several pairs of officers go 10-10, officer out of service and subject to call, but no one called me for anything. I wouldn’t have thought of this except for something in my gut was acting up.

I went back to the office at the end of the patrol instead of going home like I usually did. I found Schultz in the wardroom working on his reports. I sat down and I could see that he didn’t like it. “Schultz, what is wrong with the patrol tonight?”

He looked at me and I could see his dislike. He responded in the tone but not the volume, that would have been used at the academy. “Nothing is wrong, Ma’am. Do you have a complaint against my work, Ma’am?”

I just sat there doodling with my fingers on the table top. “Schultz, you don’t have to like me, but if I am doing something to effect the patrol I need to know what it is.” Then I had a flash, “Schultz what were you and Eddie fighting about the other night?”

His black eyes flashed back hatred at me. “What did that little punk tell you? I knew he was a mama’s boy running to the sergeant when anything happened.”

I leaned back, “No, Eddie wouldn’t say anything either. Look, if there is a problem, I need to know about it and take care of it.”

Again the academy voice, “No ma’am, no problem Ma’am. There is no problem that you can take care of.”

“Don’t give me that crap, Schultz! Come on. Off the record. What the shit is going on?” I was getting angry. If my men were fighting, I needed to settle it now. I had seen the problems when agencies fought and I well knew what fighting could do within an agency.

Schultz glared at me, “Off the record, Sarge?”

“Yes, my word, off the record,” I promised.

“Its you ma’am. Your are the problem!” He still glared at me.

“What did I do to cause a problem now, Schultz?” I asked. Now things were turning around. If I was at fault, it could mean that I really wasn’t ready to ever be a sergeant.

“Well, you busted my ass for being down at the tracks with a whore. I took my lumps, but I wasn’t hurting any one. You are doing the same thing I am, but you are trying to get ahead in promotions instead of rising the normal way through channels. You are trying to cheat the system.”

I sat back. I hadn’t thought my actions through very well.

“I saw a note from that senator or whoever you are sleeping with asking the lieutenant to consider recommending you for promotion. I, at least , was just getting laid and not trying get a promotion I have no right to.” Schultz went on.

I dismissed him with a wave. My personal life was no longer personal like Captain Whitman had ordered. It was interfering with my command. I had to do something quickly.

I was still on nights, but I came in early the next day. I placed a call to Hiram Kane. “Hiriam, did you request the Lieutenant that I be recommended for a promotion?”

Hiram was jovial, “Yes, I did Liz, I wanted it to be a surprise, but having a friend in a high place should have some advantages. I was hoping you would get off patrol and we could spend more time together here in Capital City.”

“Hiriam, I don’t want off patrol. I think our going together is becoming a conflict of interest. I don’t think we should see each other, at least for a time. I have to get my patrol back in order first,” I tried to explain.

“Oh Liz, don’t be like that. You take playing police too serious. Take it easy, there are many more things in life other than playing with fancy cars and guns.” Hiram was showing how he really felt about my job.

I slammed the receiver down. Now, what was I going to do? How was I going to get my reputation back with my men?

“Lieutenant, I screwed up.” I said.

The lieutenant went over and closed the door to his office. “According to your record Officer Parker, screwing up is not enough for an announcement. What did you do this time?”

“I censored Schultz for sleeping with a whore in his squad car. I felt that he was endangering the reputation of the State Police department but it seems that I may be doing the same thing.” I was laying out my case.

The Lieutenant frowned, “How do you see that? I haven’t heard of you picking up anyone in your squad car.”

I have been dating a State Representative. I just learned that he requested that I be promoted. That was not my idea. But, I can see how it looked to the men. I was told to always keep my personal life personal and not let it affect my work as a cop. I didn’t and I apologize.” At least, I was being truthful.

“You mean you didn’t ask him to write this?” The lieutenant handed me a hand written note sighed Hiriam Kane.

“No, sir, I do not want a promotion, at least not yet. I want to learn to be the best damned sergeant in the State Police. I think I have a long way to go.”

The lieutenant took the note and laid it down. “I didn’t think it sounded like you Parker, but you never know. There are a lot of temptations out there. Sometimes it looks easier to reach out and grab one of them. I will take care of this, Parker. Go get some sleep so you can make your patrol tonight.” With that, I left. I had a hard row to hoe in the next few weeks.

Hard row it was. The whole patrol was sullen. I had better response from the city after I got their brass fired than I was getting from my men. The Lieutenant had ordered his secretary, known to be the greatest gossip, to write a letter to Hiram Kane that said, “Dear Representative Kane, after due consultation with Sergeant Parker, we both feel that she needs more training as a patrol sergeant before she considers any promotion. Thank you for your interest in our department, Lieutenant Rodriguez.

Of course, just as the lieutenant knew they would be, the contents of that letter were known all through the district before the stamp on the front was dry.

I got a call that Officer Schultz was in trouble. That didn’t surprise me. I was called into the lieutenant’s office. There was a lady sitting off to the side and Schultz was sitting in front of the Lieutenant’s desk. As I walked in, Schultz’s face fell all the way to the sewer. “What is the problem, Lieutenant, “ I asked.

“It seems that Miss Grimes here was raped by Officer Schultz.” The lieutenant stated.

I made a face, “That is serious indeed. You want me to book him, Lieutenant? For the record, Miss, when did this happen?” I inquired as was reaching for my cuffs.

Miss Grimes was blinking her pretty blue eyes. “Last week Friday night down by the tracks.” She stated, just like I now knew, that she intended to say when she got into court.

Schultz looked like he was getting ready to be led off to be crucified. I was reaching for his wrist when I turned to the woman. Friday, you say? What time?” I demanded.

Miss Grimes still blinking, said, “It was about ten o’clock that night.”

I turned to the lieutenant, “Sir, that is impossible. I was chewing his lousy ass out for failing to turn his dailies on time. I made him rewrite the whole pile. He didn’t get out of here the rest of his shift.”

Miss Grimes stuttered, “Well, maybe, it was another night. Maybe, I got it wrong, somehow.”

I laid into her, “Lady, make up your mind. Pick which night and I will get his daily in here and we can check on that. Maybe, we should check on who you are in the first place? Lady give me some identification, right now!” I was slowly going into the command voice taught at the academy.

“I don’t carry any identity with me,” she stuttered. “Maybe, I made a mistake.”

You better believe you made a mistake.” I reached for the stamp pad on the lieutenant’s desk. “Here just give us your thumb print. Hey, lieutenant, doesn’t she look like that escapee from Colorado? Have you received the prints from that one?” I grabbed the lady’s wrist and jammed her thumb on the stamp pad. Then I jammed it on a blank paper on the lieutenant’s desk. Lady, be sure to leave your address with the desk. I probably will be coming after your ass with a warrant, tomorrow.” The lady fled.

“Damn it, Parker. Captain Whitman sent me a bottle of aspirin, when he heard I would have you in my district. Now, I know why. Get out of here, both of you.” For some reason, the lieutenant was holding his head.

Liz left and she could hear Schultz right behind her. “Sarge, wait up. I gattah talk to you,” he said.

Liz turned, “Yes, Schultz what can I do for you?”

“You knew what you were doing all the time, didn’t you?” Schultz was very confused. He didn’t know it, but that is what the lieutenant said when I was setting him up about the woman.

I shrugged. If I could have thought about it, I was making the same gesture that Max always made.

“I was pretty sure, Schultz, but sometimes you have to take a chance. I was sure you didn’t rape that woman. That isn’t your style. I bet you don’t pay for it or steal it. When you screw, it is always mutual consent. Am I right?”

“You better believe it, Sarge. She just came out of the blue. I don’t know who put her up to it,” he pleaded.

“Well, make sure those dailies are exact, Schultz. Get them into me on time. That might be the only thing that saves your ass if I don’t have a good enough imagination.” With that, I left.

I do know that Schultz’s dailies were on time and they were complete from then on. Schultz accounted for every minute. I heard from Maria and she from Tess, who had been told by Kyle. See what I mean? It was almost first hand. Lieutenant Rodriguez, had told Captain Whitman how I handled that problem. The entire Central City district was laughing how diminutive Sergeant Parker had bluffed a complaint away. I sure had handled that problem well. My officers were also coming back to the way they had been at first.

What had it cost me? I was on the way to learning to love Hiram. I wonder how I would have liked to have been the consort of a politician?
--------------------------------------------------

A police story old time style. Haunted Memories What would you do if you were a homicide detective? Your have the murder of a beautiful woman who everyone said was a saint. Your only clue, was held by the very confused ghost of the victim

Smugglers of Antar is now finished. the next of the series will be posted sometime this spring

Begonia Eve I am not one who can talk politics. I assume that this social discourse is important but to me the powers that be exist only to hurt my life someway. That is just me not any great truth. What is worse is that Liz is again being used. It is getting to be that the only ones who respect her are those who work closest to her including Schultz. Liz was a product of the training she got from Max. She took that training to heart and that is why she is a good officer.

Natalie I also like Liz with an attitude. That idea is why I chose to write this story. A state police person has to cop an attitude or they won’t survive. I have enjoyed writing Liz with an attitude in several stories. I think her character and its intellect is rich in attitude if you look for it.

L-J-L 76 Lizza things are developing.

Dreamsatnight the kotex episode happened many times. This was the cheapest and most sanitary method for a blood compress. I learned in the years I closely followed the State Police that confidence and the ability to adapt were among the most important traits.

Martine This part was developed from a starting speech I heard of a newly appointed sergeant.

Men do what you are trained to do and I will support you when you get in trouble, but make mistakes I will be down on you in a minute.

This is what makes good police officers.

The SWAT dialog is just mine just for fun. the idea of a highly educated Hispanic pretending to be almost illiterate comes from a friend i had who actually became a state senator. He used this dumb attitude many times to fool those against him. SWAT was just forming when i was in the police. Of the standoffs i was in one ended up in a cussing match and the cop spoke better Spanish and knew more cuss words than the perpetrator, so he resolved the situation and the other a lot of people just got shot.

Chapter 14

My men worked hard. They all were turning in dailies filled with activity. Their citations were up. Their DUI arrests were up and they were getting the occasional comp letter. Complementary letters were to make you forget the bitch letters. You tried to keep them balanced. The other sergeant was happy that he didn’t have to take as many 24 hour shifts as he had before.

Edwards had taken a 10-48 domestic disturbance call. The10-48 meant the call had been considered dangerous. We didn’t take too many domestic disturbance calls. We had the training, but we lacked the practice. The county sheriff handled most of them. Sometimes I wondered if any policeman had the ability to solve something that a trained marriage counselor many times couldn’t find a solution for.

I frowned when I heard that Edwards was given this call. Domestic disturbances could go anyway possible. Max had told of one time when a county unit had taken a call and he arrived and found the wife bleeding from an obvious beating. The county officer was cuffing the man when the bleeding wife started hitting him with a frying pan, crying “You are taking my lover! You are taking my lover!”

I checked the radio log. Edwards had gone 10-97, arrived at the scene almost 30 minutes ago. I nodded to the radio. If Eddie had forgotten to go back 10-98, cleared from the scene, I would chew him a new one. These times needed to be correct to make sure the officer wasn’t accused of something like Schultz had been. The radio room tried, but they got no answer. I was going to have to check on him.

Now everything that happened next was totally my fault. Max had told me to trust no one and to always use my head. My unit was traveling and I was going 10-33, emergency lights and siren blaring. I arrived and the house was dark. I had my flashlight and I drew my revolver. I forgot to go 10-97, so the radio rooms hadn’t known that I had arrived at the scene.

“Car 124 to station. Do you have contact with the sergeant? This was officer Schultz.

There was a few minutes silence as the radio room tried to raise the sergeant on the station to car and on the special officer’s frequency. “Sorry Schultz, I can’t raise her. She was going to check on Edwards at a domestic dispute call. She never went 10-97, so I don’t know where she is.”

“Car 124 to station. Better call the lieutenant, I will go there and check the situation out.”

Now Schultz did not think many things would cause the sergeant to not follow procedure. If she did make a mistake, he would razz her forever. When Schultz got to the address, he saw two squad cars parked in front of the darkened house. He carefully crept to the sergeant’s car and carefully opened the door. All state cars had their dome light disconnected from the doors so he could do this without anyone knowing about it. He reached for the microphone. He talked almost in a whisper. Car 124 to station. We got problems, 10-60, I repeat 10-60, officer needs assistance. Both patrol cars are here and there are no lights on at the house. Get supervisors out fast.”

Both the lieutenant and Sergeant Johnson were called. Schultz then turned to the law enforcement channel. He called 10-60 and soon he heard the sirens and saw the lights of the county cars. Even the city marshal had driven out. It was sometime before the supervisors arrived. Someone turned a spot light on the small house and a shot rang out. The spotlight blinked out in a flash.

Lieutenant Rodriguez had called the state headquarters as soon as he heard there might be a problem. He would rely on his officers and the county officers to contain the situation. When arriving at the scene and seeing the shot out spotlight, Rodriguez called the state radio operator and requested State SWAT for assistance.

Edwards had driven up to the domestic disturbance. He hated these. Edwards wasn’t married and he couldn’t understand someone hurting someone, who at one time they must have loved. He called in at his arrival just like he was supposed to. Edwards was thinking and going slow. He was determined not to make a mistake. He knocked on the door and said in a strong voice, “State Police, open up please.”

He had to hammer on the door more than once, but he could see someone moving around through the curtains. Some one was opening the door. When the door was thrown open, Edwards heart went into his throat. She was a little thing, but she had a body that was meant for love.

Edwards tried to look around and he did check the crack between the door and the doorframe. She stood back and motioned for him to come in. She was dressed in just a shear pajama top. Eddie had real trouble keeping his mind on his purpose. As she motioned, she backed up into the next room. Eddie showed his light around, but he saw nothing to cause him worry. Procedure frowned on officers entering a house such as this with a drawn weapon. His eyes indivertibly (def: in a manner which cannot be diverted or turned aside) riveted on the beauty in front of him. Her naked body just made judgment difficult.

A man came behind him and hit him in the back of his head. When he woke up, he was bound and the woman in the see-through pajamas was holding his gun while a rough character was looking out the windows. Edwards could only see this from the faint lights of the appliances plugged in the kitchen.

Eddie heard the roar of the car outside. He heard the skid as the car went sidewise and the slam of the door. There was only one person in the district who drove their squad car like that. It had to be the sergeant. Eddie just hoped that she would hold back and follow protocol like she had drummed into her shift. Eddie saw the door was open and he could see outside the stars twinkling. As he lay thinking, the lady came over and put his head between her naked knees. Eddie saw that she had a knife. All Eddie could think of was that they were going to attack the sergeant. He always thought Sergeant Liz was like wonder woman. No man or woman could take the Sarge. Eddie saw her shadow fill the door way and he struggled violently against his bindings.

Liz had jumped into her squad car. She was so worried that she almost forgot to go 10-8, in service. Liz drove with her emergency equipment on. She didn’t have time to chat on the CB. She was scared. She could just see that kid, Eddie, getting into trouble.

She kept thinking that, maybe, he had just forgotten to go 10-98, through with the assignment, in which case Liz would ream his ass. But, inside, she would be so glad that anything she could say wouldn’t ring true.

Liz turned off her emergency equipment, as she got closer to the address. Maybe, there would have been nothing and she would burst in on Eddie having coffee or a Coke with a family who were only watching their TV too loud.

Liz saw Eddie’s squad car in the distance, but the whole street was dark. When she got right beside the squad car, Liz hit her breaks and put her car into a semi spin. She ended up with her car facing the house right behind Eddie’s car. The door of the house was open she could see the shadow looking like a monster’s open mouth.

Liz had shut off her headlights when she turned off the emergency lights. Getting out of the car, she peered at the open maw before her. The windows, like eyes on each side of the door, gave even more credence to the monster waiting to swallow all who entered.

Now Liz’s situation was different from Eddie’s. Eddie was making a domestic disturbance call. Liz was facing a possible officer in trouble. Procedure said revolver in one hand and the weak hand away from the body holding the flashlight.

Liz could see the body of Eddie lying sort of reclining, but behind him still in the shadows she was making out a half-naked lady. The lady was holding a knife against Eddie’s throat. Liz had 125 grain hollow points in her .357 loads for her Smith. The practice with John so many times, along with the constant practice she had kept up, told her what she could do with the revolver. Her mind was fixating in planting a shot between the eyes of the woman. She figured that Eddie might get hurt, but he would have a chance to live if she killed the woman threatening him.

The lady holding Eddie screamed, “Drop your gun or I will slit his throat.”

Liz was in what police sometimes called the “onion field.” There had been a double homicide once when the officer approaching the hostage had been told to put down his gun. Then the perpetrator shot both him and the hostage. Liz had no intention of falling for this. In her mind she was squeezing the trigger.

Liz was hit from the side with a rifle butt. As she fell, she felt two shots.
One shot going around her vest into her chest and the other went low just below the place where the vest gave her protection. Sergeant Liz, wonder woman, Venus Smiles, had fallen.

For three hours, the police surrounded the house. They had tried to shout for someone inside to give up Except for that one shot through the spotlight, there was no movement inside. The dark gray van of the SWAT team arrived. There were ten men in the van. Sergeant Evans walked over to the collected men behind the police cars. They all shook hands and made introductions. “We are pretty sure we have two hostages inside. The first one would be officer Edwards. He was young, but known as a good cop. The other would be his sergeant. Sergeant Parker is know for being very protective of her men.”

One man, whose name badge read Schultz, said, “Sarge wouldn’t walk into a trap unless something like Edwards being hurt would distract her. She don’t hardly ever make mistakes. She’s the best, that one.”

That hit Max like a ton of bricks. Liz was one of the hostages. He withdrew to the van. Lieutenant Chavez, had been a used car salesman before he joined the State Police. He was born with a silver tongue. He could sell beer at an alcoholics anonymous meeting. Once he made contact, there was a very good chance the situation would end peacefully. If the hostages were still alive, he had a good chance of getting them out. The first thing he must determine would be, if they were alive. The police had an almost mystical faith in him.

There was Captain Lucero. Long ago he, had been a drill sergeant. Now, he was head of the SWAT team. He remembered the little lady who had so much drive and courage.

The media arrived and the first thing he did was move them two miles away. He knew that there were probably TVs in the house. He didn’t want any messages getting out to them. The men, at least those who had been troopers for a few years, all had trained under him. He commanded almost complete respect. He was, also, watching the TV coverage. He saw that channel 12 was showing pictures of the house. He called one of his best men. “Evans, come here.” All Lucero had to do was show Max the TV picture. “Stop him, Evans,” he said

All assumed that Max would go seeking the cameraman, but they didn’t know how Max thought. Max jumped into a county car and the deputy drove him back where the Television trucks were parked. Max walked up to Channel 12’s truck and he entered. All the men were crowded around a monitor. When they saw Max, one pompous man stood up and was spouting first amendment rights.

As far as Max was concerned, where an officer’s life was endangered that just didn’t hold. If that officer was Parker, nothing else mattered. Max shoved him aside and with the cutters he had used back at the college a couple years ago, he cut the power to the monitor.

Before anyone could stop Max, he went outside and sprung up to the roof of the Channel 12 van. He cut the bolts that held the antenna to the roof. With a kick, he pushed the antenna off the roof. The TV boys were screaming to the deputy. He just stood and smiled.

Even if the deputy had disagreed with what was done, he was not about to start a fight with Evans. In a loud voice Max warned, “We are setting up our snipers. If they see anyone sneaking around the house, they will probably assume they are part of the situation.

They quickly returned to the scene. Chavez had gotten through. “He was speaking as broken English as a Juarez Pimp. Chavez had a degree in English, several in speech and a doctorate in psychology. His car selling was done for his doctoral dissertation. “Hey, man, my boss is being a hard ass. He wants to know why you killed the hostages?”

The answer on the phone was, “They ain’t dead yet. You do what we want and you might get to see them again.”

“Hey, don’t yell at me! I told you the boss is a hard ass. He figures you have killed them He wants to use incendiaries and burn you out, man. You really pissed him off!”

“You tell that boss of yours that they are still alive for now. It will be on his head, not ours, if they get killed.”

“Not good enough! The bastard told me to quit talking to you unless you show me they are alive.”

Chavez knew he was taking a chance, but he was worried. This man who he was talking to was definitely not the sharpest tick on the hound dog. He had to be bluffed into giving the information before the shock troops would be released.

Chavez had no doubt that this would be the resolution. The demands were for a squad car. They would take the hostages with them as tickets of safe travel. Smart guys would have tried to find some reasonable demands to make to get a chance to be free.

“Hey, Policeman. Here is the chick cop. Say something to the boys. Tell them you are all right.” Max could hear a yelp. He knew that unless you hurt her pretty badly, Liz wouldn’t yelp.

“We are Okay for the moment…. If eyes of Mars is there, tell him Venus Smiles believes in him.”

Okay, mister policeman, you know that at least the chick is alive. Now see about getting us out of here!”

The SWAT men moved away from Chavez. He would just be trading bull shit with the captors anyway to keep the man’s attention. Information was coming from the spotters. They were listening to the house to determine where the hostages were being held. They were also listening to see how many were in the house. They had identified Sergeant Parker. They sent the word that Sergeant Parker seemed to be getting weak. No one had said if she had been hurt or not.

They, finally, found Eddie’s voice. He sounded awful. He was clearly not in his right head. There was a woman and a man. The man kept yelling for the woman to put some clothes on. They all agreed that the captors were not very smart. This meant that they would be unreasonable in any discussions.

There was no question. They would be going in. Max, as sergeant, would be leading the way. It wasn’t going to be difficult, but it must be fast.

They called in for extra medical help to ride in the ambulances. The outside wall was packed with explosives to outline an entrance way. They were using explosive developed during the Vietnam war. They blew their entrance. The entrance of the team was violent. Both the man and woman captors were killed. Liz was on her way to the hospital. So was Eddie. He probably had a concussion.

--------------------------
my second police story is of the old detective variety and yes, I do owe this to things that Martine waken with in me about writing police stories.
Haunted Memories What would you do if you were a homicide detective? Your have the murder of a beautiful woman who everyone said was a saint. Your only clue, was held by the very confused ghost of the victim that you weren’t even sure you were actually seeing.

SoulMates in CyberSpace they only knew each other by user name, but they became the most important relationship in each other's lives. for Valentines Day

Mezz It cost Liz a lot to take care of Eddie. She was his sergeant and she felt responsible for her men.

Dreamsatnight Yes they are out but now they have to be healed.

Natalie36 thankyou

L-J-L 76 no she didn't see him. Liz knew that the SWAT team would be called out. She had a lot of faith in Max. admitting their feelings is coming up dating also in future. There will be two happy endings one rated teen and one more mature

Begonia9508 we won’t ever know what their problem was. Many times when the perpetrators are killed like this by SWAT there are many questions unanswered. They could have been felons who in their domestic argument brought attention to themselves. They could have had some idea that they could hold hostages for money or something.

Don’t fault Eddie. I was not alone when I faced this gal. there were several cops with me. I was a shy person and pretty young at the time but she was disturbing. We just took our lady to jail.

Emz80m your presence is an honor.

Martine when I write I see the characters playing in my head just like a TV show. That is why I doubt I will ever graduate from Fic writing . SWAT took lessons from bank robbers. They are so noisy and so fast that most times no one has time to think. I liked my negotiator. He probably wasn’t realistic but I enjoyed him. When Max finally sees Liz he will give some explanation for his absence. Max was hurt also when he saw Liz dating the legislator. Most cops don’t like legislators either. Pay close in the next several chapters to what her captain has to say to her.

Chapter 15

I woke up. I Elizabeth Parker, the smallest of small town girls, one of the first women in the state police in my state, the first female sergeant, a person who turned down a cowboy and a legislator, having one of the highest arrest records and also one of the greater collections of complaints, was now lying in a hospital bed with two bullet holes in my body.

My mother and father would be coming to see me as soon as they could. I had flowers from Richard and from Hiram. Senator Jacobs had personally requested the best doctors. I would be operated on, again, as soon as they thought my body could stand it. They got the bullets out, but they had to do some more repair work.

Well, I had lost a lot of blood and I had been smacked around a lot during my captivity. They were trying to hurt Eddie and I kept making them mad at me so they would leave him alone. I was responsible for Eddie. I was his sergeant. He was one of my men.

I had a visitor who I never expected. It was Schultz. “Damn it, Sarge, you gotta get well! I will just get in trouble unless you are there to chew my butt.” I guess that was one of the greatest complements I have had.

Central City Police Department sent flowers. I went over the card carefully. I didn’t expect it and I wasn’t disappointed that John’s name was absent. He sure was bitter. I really didn’t know why exactly, or why I even cared.

Every time I would get something, I would quickly grab the card. Then, when I saw it wasn’t Max, I just let the card slide. One of the nurses saw this and she asked if I was looking for someone special. I, for some reason, started crying.

Maria and Michael came by. The first thing Maria asked was, “Did he come by or anything?” I didn’t have to ask what she meant. I fully knew. I just shook my head. I looked terrible. My eyes were black and my face was bruised. It seemed that my face was the punching bag for our captor when he was frustrated.

Captain Whitman came by and his wife was with him. They both were trying to conceal their horror at my appearance. Mrs. Whitman looked much younger than the captain. I remembered that she hadn’t been the supervisor of Officer Parker, so she hadn’t aged as much as the Captain. Her name was Isabel. When they had visited a while, Isabel went down the hall to the restroom. I turned to the captain. “Is Max around any more?”

He looked at me sort of funny, “He is stationed at Capital City. Haven’t you ever run into him?”

I shook my head, “He has kept up with your career, Parker. I think you were the best rookie he ever had.”

I wondered what he had heard circulating in Capital City about me. I am sure that the gossip must have said something about me going with Hiram. We were quite an item for a while. I wonder if he heard something to make him think I was using people to work my way up in advancement.

As we were talking, the captain’s wife, Isabel, came back in. “What are you saying about my brother?’

I looked at her and, also, at the captain. They were related to Max.

“Are you in love with my brother?” Isabel asked. She had been studying my reactions when we were talking.

I flustered and sputtered. I tried to say something but once the captain had told me I wasn’t smart enough or crooked enough to lie very well. I just lowered my eyes. They soon left.

Oh my god! What if they said something to Max. Will they make him madder than ever? All I wanted, now, was to get out of here, go home to my parents and try to get well. I was sure they would give my sergeant position to somebody else. I just wanted to quit hurting and go back to my patrol.

“Hey Parker.” I heard and my mind went into overdrive. I don’t know how many times I had played this out in my mind. I had thought that I would see him at coffee and I would saunter over in the typical swagger that police have.

Funny, that swagger is mainly because of the gun belt and the Sam Brown strap. That strap across our shoulder was the same that pirates had used as they strode the ships of old.

I had imagined that I would run into him in court or at some road block and he would see me working just as he taught me. What happened in reality was just so unplanned that I almost fell apart.

“Max,” I cried, “It is so good to see you! What are you doing here?”

“I just had to see if ‘Venus Smiles’ would talk to me after all these years.” he said. I was searching to see if my appearance would throw him. My face was a mess. Max was almost as stoic as always.

Talking to him now, there were only two things that kept me from leaping up and hugging him. First I was wearing a hospital gown with the back opened. Second I was still tied to tubes, which limited my movement.

Max walked over in the movement that I had imagined for my self and pulled out a chair and sat down. “I have tried to keep up with you, Parker. You have done well for yourself. I hear you were the terror of the south when you were moved into that district. Truckers would come through and tell me that you had run out of cowboys to arrest. Venus Smiles is very well known in the Citizen Band, CB world.”

I didn’t know what to say. I had had Max for my teacher and I had done the best I could. A lot of what I accomplished was due to Max, but a lot more, I was coming to understand, was my own accomplishment.

“ I saw when you made sergeant. You drove Rodriguez nuts, but he wouldn’t trade you. He is still trying to make his new sergeant temporary and get you back as soon as you are well.” Max stated.

“Why didn’t you come by to see me, sometime? I missed you. I was always worried that my problems with the Central City police had upset you.” I told him.

“It wasn’t that, exactly. I trained you and you were running with your training. I didn’t want to say anything that would get you into any more trouble. I told you that you were giving me a run for getting into trouble. I did see you twice.”

“When Max? Why didn’t you say anything?” I asked.

First time was when you were at the governor’s ball with your date Representative Kane. Again when you and Kane were at a meeting about the state police in Capital City.” Max informed.

“Why didn’t you say anything Max?” I inquired.

“Liz, you were with a date. The date was a Legislator. You know how I avoid politicians. The first time, I was with the governor’s security. We were supposed to be seen, but not heard. That was our instructions. The other time, I did not know what you were doing, but I knew that you had made friends in high places. I didn’t think you would want someone from your past butting in,” Max stated in a matter of fact way. I didn’t miss that this was the first time since I had been in trouble with the Central City Police that he had ever used my first name.

“Oh, Max, I have messed up so many times in my life, but you have never been someone in my past. Every time I go into a situation, I have you on my shoulder telling me what to do, what will work and how to support my men. I messed up this time! They should give me time off for not following the book when I went in. I got shot and it is, probably, my own fault.

When you always told me to wait behind the car door and to call for help if something went wrong, I thought it was because you didn’t trust me to back you up. I, now, realize that by going in that house after Eddie, I left myself without any backup or way to get it. I, also, realized that I was responsible for a lot more than my self. I had Eddie’s life in my hands, as well.”

As I was talking, Max was just nodding in agreement and searching my face. That worried me. Just how bad was my face. They had told me I would need some reconstructive surgery. He spent the better part of the evening talking to me. When he left, Max gently touched my hand. That was about the only part of my body that didn’t have bruises and it had tubes fastened to it.

The next day, one of the nurses came by, “Was that the guy you have been looking for?” she asked.

I didn’t know what to say So I said in a whisper, “Yes, that is the guy.”

“He is good looking. What is he to you? Boyfriend or what?” the nurse inquired.

How did I tell her what Max was. He was my teacher, my mentor, my idol, my hero and, maybe, my friend. Isabel had asked, “Was I in love with Max?” I just didn’t know. Something had made me turn down several other men who were very good men, indeed. Was I waiting for something with Max? That was silly.

I was home. Mom and dad kept insisting on waiting on me. I had to conceal any want I had or they would do it for me before letting me have a chance. My father was attending Mass every morning. I wondered if he was trying the “Lord’s patience” with his incessant rosaries. Richard came by to see me. He didn’t bring up our past, but he did spend some time just talking to me, telling me about his ranch. It was pleasant to have the diversion to think about. I wondered if his offer of marriage was still open. Then I wondered if I would want it if it was. Richard carefully said nothing about our relationship.

One thing you can say, the state police had good medical coverage. Especially, since my wounds were all in the line of duty, as they say. In the next few months, I was in and out of the hospital as they worked to repair my face, my body and even in the psychology ward as they tried to repair my mind.

The shrink asked me what I thought about my trauma. I told her that my captor was a rank amateur. I had been hurt worse in training. She recognized this as bravado and I am sure I got negative marks for that statement. She asked me how I felt about my captors. I said, “Lady, Max blew them away. I don’t ever have to think about them except to worry that I didn’t take care of Eddie as good as I should have.”

This took us on another two days of discussing responsibility. I tried to tell her that I was responsible for my men. I was responsible for their training and their outlook. I had made a mistake and that had caused Eddie to be hurt worse.

She scribbled for half our allotted time on that comment.

I was having physical therapy. I insisted they work on my wrists and my hands. They didn’t understand that it took a strong wrist to wrestle the big squad cars around. It took a strong hand to hold a light revolver with full house 357 loads in it. They didn’t understand that I had full intentions of going back on the force and wanted to do exactly what I had done before. Well, almost, the same thing, I didn’t want to make what I thought of as a mistake again.

While I was in the hospital, Max would come to see me when he could get away from Capital City. He even came down to see me at my parent’s house a couple of times. Others would bring me candy and flowers, but Max would bring me a copy of the Police journal. Once, he brought me a book on deviant psychology, a treatise on criminal minds.

I got notes and letters from everyone. Once, I got a letter from the lady I had met in the neighboring state several years ago. She had heard I had been shot and she was wishing me well.

Kyle and Tess got married. I wasn’t well enough to attend, but Maria said it was a nice. It, also, was a fun wedding considering Kyle’s reputation. Tess had a strong hold on that bronco.

My doctors were considering when I would be fit for duty. The shrink was talking to me about finding another occupation. I got the feeling that she believed that women in the police force were a mistake, anyway. Schultz wrote me that they were breaking in the new sergeant. He was having trouble filling the shoes of Sergeant Parker.

My wonderful car had been turned over to someone else and I only had my own personal car to get around in. I so missed the power of the squad car. I remember one rodeo cowboy bull rider, as he got off the huge bull, he had attempted to ride. There was just nothing to compare with the power of the beast. I was still out of uniform, but I was asked, (ordered?) to report to Capital City headquarters.

Senator Jacobs was waiting for me. He must have had someone watching for me because being in my private car there was no radio call to listen to. I was seated in his office and he was studying me like I was some specimen on a slide. “Elizabeth Parker, what are you going to as soon as you are released for work?”

I had been thinking about that very thing for the last few months. “I will request I be given a patrol district again and I continue as I was.” I replied.

Jacobs just shook his head. “It will be sometime before you are allowed on patrol again, Elizabeth. If you come back, you will be on light duty for about six months. Then, if psych decides you are ready for duty, you can talk about going back on patrol. Your psychologist doesn’t talk favorably about having you back on patrol.”

“I know, sir. She doesn’t believe in women on patrol, anyway.” I told him. That damned shrink! I could just strangle her! Whoop be careful about that one. That is exactly what they are looking for.

You could come to Capital City and work for public relations,” the senator said. “Representative Kane would be glad to help you set up some programs.”

“Hiram Kane has already tried to interfere with my career once. I do not think I want to be trapped by him again,” I informed the senator. He just smiled, as was his way.

“Elizabeth, your are a valuable person. Don’t cut off those who would try to help you. I am sure Hiram Kane has only your best interest at heart. You should be more considerate about what he is willing to do for you.

I felt that I had just attacked the Central City police department again. I glared at him and, then, left. I went to the State Police head quarters, but no one knew anything about me being there. I had, now, been betrayed, by two more people. I needed to see Max.

I went to personnel. I asked about my sick leave. It had been approved for six more months as long as I was employed. I had a lot of thinking to do. The first thing I had to do was see to if I could get this, my story, published. The second was to figure a way to go back to college. Could I fit in a civilian world again? I only knew that I had no interest of being caught in the trap I saw in Capital City. I was Liz Parker and I almost died, but “I was the toughest mother in the valley.” I survived; I avoided those who wanted to control me.

And, Oh yes! I married Max while I was going to back to college When he transferred to a federal security job, I went with him as his wife, the mother of his child and, as he once said, his equal. I am Elizabeth Parker-Evans and I was one of the first women in the state police in my state.

THE END

Now that is the end of my story, but it was far from the end of my life. The manuscript was sent off and I was hoping someone might pick it up. I would just wait and see. As I said, I married Max. That is a story in itself. To keep my medical insurance I had to face my situation with the state police.

This story is not over. Liz's life will continue and the M/L moments that Martine so desires will be next week i promise.

-------------------------------

My name is Princess Anjuli this is my shortest story it is not M/L

Haunted Memories What would you do if you were a homicide detective? Your have the murder of a beautiful woman who everyone said was a saint. Your only clue, was held by the very confused ghost of the victim that you weren’t even sure you were actually seeing.
SoulMates in CyberSpace they only knew each other by user name, but they became the most important relationship in each other's lives.

Begonia9508 Eve, officer Parker was writing a book of her life. She chose to not include the intimate details of her meeting with Max in this book. Now she will tell the readers how they got together and what happened at the end of her career.

L-J-L 76 Lizza, the story is far from over. Now you will see the events that Liz was unwilling to disclose in her book.

Mezz No, no sequal. See above about officer Parker’s book. Mechanically events up to this point are taken from things that actually happened to many officers in order to show what it was like to be a women in the state police. Most of the next part is just fiction except for the tragedy at the end. The love scenes come from the mind of a dreamer. Liz and Max do their job and have a long life together.

Emz80m yes this is a back drop for their love story. Mentally I needed a break from the police stories to approach the fictional part of romance.

Natalie 36 A couple weeks from now at the very end of the story, Liz has her final expression of how much more powerful and better she is than the machine of those who would use her.

I tabulated the collection of my stories since I started writing a little over a year ago. I have been going over some of the earlier work and I have learned a lot. I guess I owe a lot of thanks to writers who I read and study and to the readers who have corrected me I think I am improving and my wife says my mind is clearer since I started these works. Thank you ken r

Chapter 16

For now, I was given an ultimatum. I had to go back to work. I was only approved for light assignments. Senator Jacobs sent me several offers, but they were all tied into living in Santa Fe and being under his and Hiram’s control. I wanted to avoid that. There was a job in Central City as a radio operator. I took it. And, surprisingly to everyone, I requested the night shift. The radio room was usually run by civilians. It, also, was a place for anyone on restricted duty. Night duty was from four in the afternoon to Midnight.

Since I was a commissioned officer, I was requested to wear my uniform. The radio room isn’t bad if you can stand the thought that the other officers are having excitement and you are the mother hen taking their calls and waiting on them hand and foot.

There were two surprises for me. Schultz, from my former patrol group, and Clarence Johnson, form my former district down south, had transferred into the Central City district.

Oh, did I forget to say, Captain Whitman was still the commander of this district? He welcomed me with a new bottle of aspirin on his desk. “Parker, or should I say Sergeant Parker I look forward to see how you disturb my radio room.”

“No, Sir, Captain,” I responded. “I have learned my lesson. Cool and by the rule is my motto.”

The Captain snorted and I took that to mean I was dismissed.

Since the state police headquarters was in the middle of Central City I had a lot of city officers stop by from time to time. I heard a little about John Troy. He had been removed from training and was back on patrol. I felt bad about that. Of course, none of this was my fault. But, when you once thought you were in love with someone you do not wish them bad times even if your parting was unpleasant, at least I didn’t.

Garcia from the city police would come by from time to time. Her first name was Delores. We became pretty good friends. She would bring me gossip from the ranks of the city officers. I would tell stories of some time past. When she left, I felt that was hard. Nearly all of my stories were starting, “Several years ago….” I was not having many adventures anymore.

I had to invent things to keep going when the nights were dull. I had a small city scanner on my desk, but the state radio would, some nights, be almost silent. I found the ‘laws of Evans’ worked even in the radio room. I made friends with the city and the county dispatchers. Many times, we solved disputes without ever calling the brass to attention.

I learned to type and to type well. The Internet was years from being a reality. There were networks. NCIC or National Crime Information Center could be accessed, but it was not as easy as it would be much later. You copied the information. Then, as soon as you had a break in the radio traffic, you would go over to a punch tape machine. It was one of the early teletype machines. You would carefully type in the message. Then you would put the tape in a feed and push a button. It would run and the machine would type what you sent. If all went well, the information would be answered by the Teletype machine which I though was a smart assed machine. It was always telling me how much better it was than I was at typing.

There were other even faster ways. The telephone would work much better if you knew whom to call. There was a big card in the radio room back in the console where it couldn’t be seen by anyone other than the operator. It was an Air Force number and the instructions read, “Call if there are any reports of unidentified flying objects.” Several of our officers had been involved in sightings.

There were the normal searches, such as calling the city or county asking for a warrant check. I learned which clerks would do the best search. Sometimes, I would rerun the check after there was a shift change.

Well, working nights had a down side. I could spend my days in the doctor’s office. I was still taking therapy both physical and mental. My face had been reconstructed and, according to Maria, I was just as beautiful as I ever was. I hope that was a complement. I was exercising a lot and feeling pretty good.

The mental therapy was still under the female doctor who didn’t approve of women in police. We had sort of an agreement that we just didn’t agree with each other. What she wanted out of her life was not what I had been seeking.

Now, I know what all of you are wondering. What about Max? Well, Max was stationed out of Capital City. We were spending a lot of time together. We would go to the pistol range some days. On a good day, I could wax his ass. No matter what you say, my little 357 was a lot more controllable than his 44 any day. He beat me a lot, but we had a lot of fun together. There was nothing romantic in our association. Max treated me as he always had.

He was respectful, but that didn’t keep him from beating me at most of the activities we did. I had been asking myself what Max meant to me. I kept remembering the curse of the captain. Make sure you aren’t with someone in the black and gray uniform. Therefore it was a surprise one afternoon when the captain called me in before I started my shift.

“Parker, you still got that dress you wore when you were dating that senator last year?” he asked.

“Yes Captain, but I was dating a representative. Why?” I asked.

“Ah, come on Parker. All politicians look alike to me. They are just dandies with their hands in someone else’s pockets,” He declared.

“Captain, some say that any policemen above Sergeant in the state police are politicians,” I reminded him.

“Yeah, and that is why I will probably be the longest tenured captain in the agency. Anyway, Max has to go to a dinner. It is a formal affair. He is raising hell about going. My wife ordered me to find a way to get him there.” The captain’s voice mellowed a bit right here, “Parker, I am not going to order you, but I am asking. Would you accompany Max to this dinner? He won’t refuse to take you and my wife will be happy.”

“I just looked at the captain. “What about your rule that I shouldn’t ever go with some one wearing the black and gray uniform?” I asked.

“Oh hell, Parker, you get into trouble with Max and I will give you a medical retirement. Then maybe, I will have a new sister-in-law.”

Right! The most intimate Max and I had been was when he put his hand on my butt to help me up onto a mustang at the riding stables in the valley. Max hadn’t said anything to me about it, but I wondered if he was still troubled about his wife.

Max called me, “I understand Alex shanghaied you into this affair. I will pick you up at 4 PM and we will drive to Capital City. We can get a motel there and change. Then, we won’t have to make that late trip back.”

Max never thought to ask if I was unhappy, that the captain, as Max said, had shanghaied me. The original shanghai was a kidnapping where the captive was impressed into slave labor on ships on the high seas. I was thinking that I was a long way from feeling I was being forced into any sort of slavery.

I was really looking forward to this. It was the first real date I had gone on since I had been shot. Maria and Tess helped fit me into my dress. I had not been exercising as much as I should. Let’s admit it. The radio room is not as physical as clearing out a bar.

My clothes were packed and I was waiting, in uniform, for Max to pick me up. We drove at the speed limit all the way. Oh, how I yearned to open up the cruiser and cut our time in half. Oh, how I wished to be driving. I was missing patrol so much. We arrived, got two motel rooms and changed into civilian clothes.

We had three hours before we had to be at the affair. Max and I walked around the plaza. There were thousands of tourists, as usual. They were looking at the Native American market on the street. I was wearing a full skirt. The fullness was refreshing as the breeze blew through the folds. Max was wearing boots, with slacks and a polo shirt. As far as anyone could tell, we were just a couple laughing as we walked through the ancient walkways.

I do not think that I had ever been this free to talk to Max anytime before.
When we were on duty, our relationship was clearly professional. Since I had been off, Max had always been guarded around me. It was almost as if he was afraid that he would hurt me someway.

Max, now, knew about most of the men and most of the affairs I’d had this last six years. It was liberating to talk to him. He never judged. Max told me I was the best rookie he had ever trained.

When we got to John Troy, Max told me the story. John and his wife Helen knew Max’s wife Alice. When Max and Alice married, it was just natural that John and Helen become their best friends. For several years as Max worked as a state officer and John worked for the city, the four of them had a lot of fun.

The DUI who killed Alice had been connected to politicians in the city. Max later learned that there had been those in the city who fixed many tickets for him. Max was always bitter about that.

Max, sort of lost track of John Troy. It was later that Max learned that the marriage of John and Helen had many problems. John had a temper, which he normally covered. Max guessed that, over time and stress, the temper just got away from him.

Helen had come to Max one night. She had been brutally abused. John was having trouble getting through his sergeant’s exam and he was blaming every one for his failure. It seemed that all his frustrations from his job as a policeman had just run over into his family life.

Max transported Helen to the battered spouse half way house. John became angry when Max wouldn’t tell him where Helen had been taken. He threatened Max, but, as was obvious, Max Evans wasn’t someone you wanted to pick a fight with. Max turned and left just before it would have been necessary to lay John out cold.

When Max heard that I had started going with John, he hoped I would be good for John. When John reverted to his old ways with me, Max privately warned him that if he touched me, what I didn’t do to him, Max would finish. John was scared of me because of this.

All this personal talk broke down all barriers between us. I was enjoying myself more than I ever had. Oh well, we only had a short time before we had to appear at the affair.

Max claimed that he had seen me that one night when I was with Hiram Kane. When I came out, he just looked at me as if he had never seen me before. He was sure looking at me differently now.

Max was in his dress uniform. It was much like the daily uniform, but the uniform didn’t have any tears or blood spots. Max had several medals for various things. There was only one medal that I envied. That was his expert-shooting medal.

Max was wearing white gloves and a white ascot instead of that silly clip on tie. The clip on tie was important. I had two men, try to grab my tie, when it just fell off, I layed into them. Grabbing my tie counted as assault and what I did to them was deemed justified. It was the same with the Sam Brown strap. One yank and it broke away.

I was in high heels. I was holding my skirt up as we walked down the walkway. Entering the building, we found many people greeting us. Many of the policemen were men I had worked with previously. We were seated at a table near the speaker’s podium. The meal was typical of such affairs. It was totally unsatisfying. Soon, the chief of the state police stood up. He rambled and I sort of lost track of what he said. He was saying something about women in the police. That should have been of interest to me, but I was indulging myself in a fantasy. The fantasy was that I was once again Max’s partner. I guess the introduction of that speech brought to mind most of the good times Max and I had. Then ……

“Here she is, Venus Smiles to many and Sergeant Elizabeth, Liz, Parker to the rest of us.”

I looked around. Oh shit! I had been dreaming and, now, I had to do or say something and I had no idea what it was. I stood up and Max pulled the chair back for me. As he took my hand, he placed some note cards in my hand. I looked at them for a minute. They were for an acceptance speech. I had been given an award from one of the leading women’s groups. My mind was clearing. This affair was in my honor. I wasn’t taking Max to the dinner, but rather he had brought me.

Chapter 17

I stumbled through the speech. Then, when I finished the lines Max had written for me to say, I looked out across the crowd. In as clear a voice as I could, I stated, “I was one of the first women accepted into the state police in this state. I proved I could handle myself every bit as well as a man. I received many accolades, as well as many reprimands, which testify to my service. I have no idea what life has for me in the future, but I hope I helped to open the way for other women to follow.”

There was great applause. The chief leaned over to me. “Captain Alex just told me this was the first time you didn’t put your foot in your mouth.”

After the speeches were finished, I listened to the rest of them, by the way; the affair broke up into a dance. Max led me to the floor. He was not an excellent dancer, but he was adequate. I didn’t care, I knew how agile he was in a bar fight and that was a lot more fun. I was waltzed around the floor by many of the dignitaries. Captain Alex Whitman whispered in my ear. “Parker, I would never tell you where others might hear, but you have always been a great cop. If you repeat this, I will deny I ever said anything.”

I was dancing and I looked up into the face of Senator Jacobs. “Still mad at me Liz? The job’s still open at Santa Fe. Just give up patrol and become an instructor.”

My feelings were so mixed toward the Senator. On one hand he had supported my career. He was there whenever I had needed him. But he also pimped me to his own ends. I always felt that he was using me in his relationship toward representative Kane.

Later that evening Hiram himself appeared, “Liz, I missed you. I wish you would return to Santa Fe.”

“I have my house opened if you want to go home with me,” he whispered in my ear.

I looked at Hiram. He was a smooth person, but I felt no compulsion to go with him tonight. “Hiram, I have a date for tonight. I think it is a date with someone who understands me better than you ever could.”

Hiram just smiled, “Oh Liz, yes, Max Evans, the loose cannon of the state police. Liz, what does he have that I don’t have better? How does he understand you better than I?”

Hiram was holding me tightly. “Max knows what it is like to drive a car at break neck speed. He knows the thrill of entering a bar fight and knowing that I can throw any cowboy there out the door, or to hold a little girl who has been in a 10-45, accident with injuries as the paramedics patch her up. Max knows what it is like to enter a dark room from a sense of duty, even though you get shot. These are the things that are important to me.” At the end of the dance, I went looking for Max.

Max
Max was watching Liz dance. He had done his duty, but he was no ladies man. Liz was dancing with the governor, that senator who had always been around her, and, finally, he saw her in the arms of Hiram Kane, the representative. Liz didn’t have to like politics. The politicians would always flock to her like moths to a flame.

Max wandered out onto the patio to get some fresh air. Isabel had told him she wanted him to get Liz to this affair. He wished he could have refused. The last few months, as Liz had recuperated, had been the most pleasurable since he had been with Alice. Now, he felt a loneliness that he had sworn that he would avoid. He had not dated since the death of his wife. He was afraid that if he found another love, it would be the same thing all over when he lost her.

Max looked over the city. He remembered lines from the TV series “Dragnet.” About looking over the city, maybe he was feeling a little like Joe Friday. Usually, Max was attuned to his surroundings. This time, he didn’t hear the swishing of her skirts or the tripping of her heels.

Liz
I was rushing through the crowd of people looking for Max. I wondered what he had thought as he saw me with the senator and also the representative. The captain saw me.

“What’s wrong, Liz?” he asked.

“I am looking for Max. I need to talk to him before he gets the wrong idea,” I replied.

“What idea would that be, Liz? That you were back charmed by the politicians,” he inquired.

“That is exactly what I do not want him to think. I have my mind totally clear now. I need to see Max,” I told him.

“Liz, if you dare let Max go, I might put you on permanent school bus detail. Try out on the veranda. Max doesn’t stand crowds very well,” the captain pointed toward two large French doors. I ran out the doors as fast as a woman can run in these infernal high heels. I saw a man in uniform walking just outside the glare of the lights from the party. I ran up and cried, “Max, Max!”

Max turned, “Liz, it’s Okay. You can go with your legislator. Ask him to bring you to the motel by nine tomorrow morning and I will take you back to Albuquerque.” Max turned to walk away.

I grabbed his arm. “No, Max, you do not understand. I don’t want to go with him! I want to go with you, if you will just take me,” I pleaded.

Max looked at me, “I don’t do that any more, Parker. Love just hurts too much!”

I hadn’t let go of his arm, “Max, you have to bare the pain to know the joy. Without either you are not really living.”

Max looked at me, “Since when did you become the philosopher, Parker?”

“Since I finally figured why I have turned down two proposals of, if not marriage, at least, they were both for strong relationships.” I finally know what I wanted. I wanted someone who would understand the feelings of me being a policewoman.

As we were standing there, I so much wanted his arms around me. We had been partners, but now I wanted more than that from Max. I hoped in the next few minutes my daddy’s many rosaries really were being counted.

Max took me by the hand. We walked back into the crowd. It was thinning out as the many people were going about their personal business. From a distance I saw Hiram talking to a girl who I knew worked at the police academy. She was a secretary and seemed star struck as she looked at him. I hoped I had never looked that way. Max and I walked to his cruiser. He held the door for me. This was the first time I had noticed that he had had his car washed. Max almost never washed his car. Max said almost nothing as we drove back to the motel.

The fly on the wall (a journalist term for writer watching everything going on around them)

Max got out of the cruiser. He went to the door to help Liz. Max noticed that she waited for him like, he was sure, she waited so many times for her date. He opened the door and helped her up. For a minute, she was wobbly in her high heels. Max steadied her and they walked to their separate rooms in the motel. Max took her to her door and, taking her face in both of his hands, he kissed the lips he had been avoiding for so many years.

Max had no idea when he had first fallen in love with Liz. Probably, when he saw her that second day, with grease on her face covered in blood with rips in her uniform, as she was investigating that wreck. He had forced himself to push her to the back of his mind, because at that time, Max was to teach Liz how to survive. If he had done anything less, her life, now, might not be still shining. When Max got in his room, he saw that they had an adjoining door as he had requested. Max opened his side and knocked softly on Liz’s door.

Liz was surprised when she heard the knock. She opened the door to see what Max wanted. In her mind, there were hundreds of things, but when she heard the words she was totally unprepared. “Liz would you come to me tonight? I have denied wanting you for so long. When you were dancing with Kane I was consumed with jealously. I have always avoided having that kind of strong of feeling. Now, holding you is all I can think of.”

Liz turned and asked Max to help her with the fasteners of her dress. She could have struggled with this herself, but she wanted the feeling of his hands on her body.

As he was helping Liz get out of her dress, Max thought of the many times he had thought of her. When Max heard she was going with John Troy, his feeling s were mixed. He hoped John would be good for Liz, and he also hoped she would bring out the best in John. It hurt, though, when she would talk about her date as they were driving. Liz would never tell specifics, but she did talk about the good times they’d had. That hurt, but, again, Max remembered that his job was to teach Liz to be strong. He couldn’t do that if he let emotion get in the way.

The two times he had seen her in Santa Fe with Hiram Kane were like a knife to his soul. To see his dream girl being seduced by the glitter of politics was hard. By that time, Max was sure that he had fallen in love with Liz. Max followed every scrap of news he got about her career. When she made sergeant, Max almost called on her. Max wasn’t going to do that. He had promised himself when Alice was killed that he was going to avoid those feelings.

Max had been very discrete in how he handled the pressures of sex when they got too high. He worked hard not to acquire a strong affection for anyone, again. Any women he had, during that time, knew that they couldn’t compete with the memories of a dead woman and with something else that they, mysteriously, couldn’t define.

Now as he held the dress and she steadied her self as she stepped out of it, Max found his emotions totally lost and out of control. Max was in love with Liz Parker. The toughest lady in the valley. He didn’t care what he had done to make her that way. All of her accomplishments were hers alone. Yes, Max had been her teacher, but Liz faced the world with her own skills.

Liz took the dress and hung it up. It was the only formal one she had. She turned to Max dressed only in her slip and underclothes. He took her hand and pulled her close. As he hugged her close, her high heels were almost not touching the floor. Max backed back into his room.

He seated Liz on his bed and started taking off his uniform. He hadn’t worn his service revolver that night. Usually at affairs like this especially since they would be served alcohol, the dress uniform did not include the side arm. Max did have on his dress boots. One hand on the dresser and the other wrestling with the boots, one at a time. Max finally got them off. He removed his shirt and since it had been a mild night, he hadn’t worn a tee shirt under the wool of his uniform. Max slipped off his pants and now was down to his boxers.

He faced Liz in her slip. Standing in just his boxers, Max reached for her. Liz’s creamy brown skin took on a blush as Max held her. Liz hadn’t blushed when she had been with a man for a long time. The blood was rushing to her head as she contemplated what was coming. Liz had had many lovers, but this was bound to be different. The bond they had now was stronger than sex could ever be. Max had once said “She would do to ride the river with” and he also called her his equal. To people of action, these statements meant trust. When they finally made love, Liz was sure that it would be different from anything she had ever had before.

“Max this will be the first time I ever made love to a state policeman,” Liz said.”

“That’s Okay, it will be the first time I did either,” he answered.

The slip came off and Liz felt a wave of fear as Max gazed on her scars. They were ugly, but they testified the damage her body had suffered. One was through the edge of her rib cage where the bullet had gone around her vest and had just clipped her lung. The other was through the soft flesh of her belly as the bullet had just missed her intestines. Liz thought the scars would heal, eventually, but her smooth skin would always bare witness to this event.

Liz had wondered, when getting ready, how these scars would affect her love life. Would lovers, from now on, be turned off at her two deformities?

Max bent and kissed the scars. He hoped that Liz understood that, to him, her scars would always be badges of courage. This was something he would admire. Only a man like Max could do that.

Max removed first one high heel and, then, the other. Liz extended her legs as Max slowly rolled her hose down her creamy smooth legs. Liz layback, supported by her elbows, as Max was enjoying the view of her now almost naked body.

Hiram had always been totally in control. He was masterful at using Liz in every way. With Hiram, it was clear that he would always be in charge.

Richard, her cowboy, was much more considerate. He had tried to treat her needs as much as his own, but he never understood why she wanted more than just him.

Max now, was fulfilling a lust that Liz had hidden, even from her self. The warrior’s need to make love after a fight was in both of them. That they had been so many altercations together, made Liz feel her desire growing so strong she couldn’t control it.

Max reached for her bra and slipped it off. At first, Liz wondered how he was so deft at doing that. Then she remembered that Max had been married. Max reached for her hips. Sliding his hands under her butt he pulled her panties off. Now, her body was his to see. No longer was she his rookie. No longer was she a policewoman. Now, Liz was just the most passionate woman Max had faced in a long time. Max heard Liz when she said he was the only one to understand her as a policewoman. Liz didn’t know it, but she also brought to Max the fact that she also understood his dedication to the career of law enforcement. Their love was very strong that night.

With his occasional lovers, Max always made it clear that he couldn’t support a long term relationship. Max always had Alice in his mind nodding that he was taking love because he needed it. Alice was always near by in his mind. Now, it was as if Alice had kissed him good-bye and left, as he came to Liz. The spirit of Alice was now satisfied that her earthly lover would be taken care of by this woman. Now she could go about the business of those no longer here.

After their first wave of passion, Max lay with Liz in his arms. It had been almost six months since Liz had been in the field, but Max could feel the strength in her body. Now, she was more than just okay to ride the river with. If they stayed together Max, would have to stretch to deserve Liz as his companion.

When Max had thought that she was going with Hiram, he had told her to be back by nine that morning. Max and Liz, together, barely got out of their room before check out time near noon, when housekeeping arrived to clean and arrange the room for the next customers.
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SoulMates in CyberSpace a Valentine’s Day story.
Haunted Memories What would you do if you were a homicide detective? Your have the murder of a beautiful woman who everyone said was a saint. Your only clue, was held by the very confused ghost of the victim that you weren’t even sure you were actually seeing.

Natalie36 Yes they can come together as equals. I would think this would be so much more satisfying than domination either former suitor offered. Hiram was clearly his way or nothing and he could see nothing wrong with that. Even Richard could not see past his own life. No matter how tender he was.

Begonia9508 I wonder at second loves. I like to write as if in death sometimes something remains to look over the living. Now I just wish I could believe this. There is one more thing that is playing out in my mind. Liz has worked so long and so hard, is the state police the end of her career? In the ghost story I have written the character asks did he miss something as he lived his life. By the way the ghost isn’t Liz. Maybe I am looking for what I missed in writing.

Martine The first part of the story is a manuscript that Liz has written. Now she is telling the intimate details of her story. I am sorry it took so long to get them together. I just felt that Liz had to measure her life by her own ability before she joined her self with Max. Look at what I wrote for Eve above. I have been working on a story, rather long for me where Max and Liz are interacting from the first chapter. It is called the “Cowgirl Princess.” It seems hard because I often look at the love climax as the life climax. But I know things should go past the romance.

Dreamsatnight so far my stories usually eventually end up dreamer happy

L-J-L 76 Lizza yes there will be more danger. Police always must face danger. Liz is still trying to get well from the beating and shooting she just endured. Kids, she explains at the end. Children are the hope for our future.

Chapter 18

The ride back to Albuquerque was a bit strained. Liz couldn’t very well snuggle up against Max. She could imagine poor captain Whitman if he started to receive calls about two state police “persons” making out as they sped down the highway. She hoped she had read him correctly, when he threatened her with that police curse, of inspecting school buses, if she lost Max, that he was giving them his blessing. After all if they carried this further they would be family. Imagine Captain Alex Whitman now related to the two biggest pains in the butt in the department.

Max was stationed at Santa Fe. Liz had an apartment in Albuquerque. Max had two days off, courtesy of Alex using him to get Liz to Santa Fe. When they got to Liz’s place, Max didn’t seem in a hurry to leave. Liz changed into civilian garb and, after a few minutes, Max did also. It seemed funny after last night, Max still went into Liz’s bedroom and closed the door as he changed. It hadn’t struck Liz, yet, that if Max had a place in Santa Fe why did he feel it necessary to get two rooms in the motel? Why were they adjoining?

When Max came out, now dressed in civilian clothes, that is, Levies, shirt and cowboy boots, he took Liz in his arms. “Have we started a new era in police relations?” he asked.

As her mouth sought his, Liz murmured. “I hope so.”

Max thought, they had made love most of the night. And now they had the afternoon, tonight and tomorrow morning. Max would have to be back in Santa Fe tomorrow afternoon. Liz would have to be in the radio room tomorrow evening. They had had a very late breakfast, thanks to the activities of last night. They had totally skipped lunch. Max was thinking that there was a nightclub that was frequented by police. They could go out to supper and, then, stop by for a drink and, maybe a dance or two. Max knew that he wasn’t the best dancer, but holding Liz in his arms after telling himself that he didn’t do that any more, was very compelling.

For now, all Max could think of was feeling Liz’s body close to his. Max sat in the one comfortable chair Liz had in her apartment. He was still holding her hand so he led her to sit in his lap.

Liz had gone with boys since she was in high school. She had made out in pickup trucks and in foreign sedans. Her lovers had been high school boys, college boys, cowboys and, finally, a politician. Now, her lover was someone who not only could love her, but she was sure he understood her better than anyone else.

She shuddered, slightly, and Max immediately looked at her. This was the first date Liz had had since she had been shot. Max tried to be gentler in how he held her, but Liz took his face in her hands and was furiously attacking his lips never the less.

He had to be gentle because there were parts of her body that were still sore.

They dressed casually which meant the clothes they were wearing. Dinner was at a steakhouse. Liz preferred a salad but Max wanted a large rare steak. He had felt the blood rushing through him last night. He felt better and happier than he had felt in years. There was a tiny part in his body that warned without any logic behind it, “Don’t get too happy. There are so many things in life that can take happiness away.”

For now, Max was unwilling to accept that fate would be so cruel to attack him twice.

This was a police bar and club. Mostly, it was full of city police. There just weren’t that many state officers in the district. There were several county deputies, some who well knew Liz and others who knew Venus Smiles. Max was known by almost everyone. It was a surprise that he was here. Max was not known for his social activities.

While they were dancing, Delores Garcia asked to cut in. Liz was gracious. Delores had become almost as close a friend as Maria in the months since Liz had been on restrictive duty. “Max,” Delores said, “treat her real good. She brought your whole, damned, department out of the dark ages. And, she cleaned out the dinosaurs in ours!”

Max had to laugh. Most of the city officers were a good lot. They should never have had to suffer the actions of that old few, who had forgotten why they became officers in the first place. Delores was almost unrecognizable. Normally, she wore her hair tightly pinned up. This was for safety because a longhaired policeman was just giving a subject a handle to hurt them. Tonight, Delores had her hair flowing down her back. Her slacks, boots and uniform shirt traded in for a beautiful, low-cut dress and high heels.

Liz was watching as Max danced with Delores. She remembered the time when she had flowing hair. Now, Liz had kept her hair fairly short. There had even, then, been one time when a subject had grabbed her hair as she was trying to take him down. It earned the subject a slap up the side of his head with her ever-present baton. I also earned her a reprimand for the use of unnecessary force. As the sergeant put the letter of reprimand in her folder he said, “Good job, Parker; you do what you have to do.”

While she was watching Delores and Max, a stocky man in a western shirt came up. “Sarge, think I could have a dance?” Liz looked at Schultz. Schultz had been in the district for some time. He had a patrol way out in the mountains. Liz talked to him on the radio, but he seldom came into the station except during the day for supplies.

Liz was delighted to dance with Schultz. He thought him self a ladies man and, by the way he danced, he probably was. “The old district just wasn’t the same after you got yourself shot. Damn it, Sarge, you scared all of us! That big lug, who brought you dancing tonight, got a passel of bitch letters. It seems he destroyed a complete transmission truck. If he had just asked, the rest of us would have done it for him.” Schultz had seen Liz when she was in the hospital, but he had been careful about what he said to her then.

Liz looked at Schultz, “Just how are you getting along? I see your sergeant doesn’t complain about your dailies any more.

“I am fine Sarge. I am a lot more careful than I was in my younger days,” Schultz answered her as he escorted her back to her table.

Liz thought, “In my younger days.” Had it been that long or had it been just in another world?

Schultz had done some stupid things in his life, but Liz heard about how he followed every step in the book when he heard she had not checked in properly. Schultz had made the call 10-60, officer down, and he had insisted that the sergeant and lieutenant be called.

Max came back; he was smiling, “What is so funny, Max?” she asked.

“I was just warned by the Central City Police department to treat you right. Seems that you have a fan club over there with the men and women in blue.”

Liz had to smile, likewise. There had been a time when she was afraid that she had caused a lot of damage between the relationships of the two departments.

Kyle came by, “Liz, I can’t give you the wild week end, anymore, but how about a turn about the floor?”

Liz looked at Max and he nodded. She stood up and went with Kyle. “So, you and Evans finally got together. I didn’t think anyone could break that iron cage he built for himself,” Kyle stated.

Liz just nodded, “And, I didn’t think anyone would hold you down. How is married life, Kyle?”

“It is good, Liz. You just don’t know what it is like to have someone you know will be there when you go home,” Kyle answered.

Liz sort of shuddered, “Yeah, Kyle, I have thought about that many times. Chasing rainbows is fine when you are young and life will go on forever. Then, you wake up in a hospital bed and everyone tells you how lucky you are. Then you look back in your life and see if, maybe, you were missing something.”

When they were through dancing, Kyle walked Liz back to her table and she saw Tess sitting there talking to Max. Tess smiled and stood up, “Hi Liz,” she turned to Max, “Just remember what I said. Maria and I worry about both of you.” Kyle kissed Tess on the forehead. Then she turned her face up to him and he kissed her on the lips. With that, they left to go on their own way for the evening.

Max and Liz had been out. They had seen and been seen by several of their friends. They would have tonight together, but tomorrow, Max would head for Santa Fe and Liz would try to catch up on her sleep to catch her shift the next evening.

On the way home, Max was driving Liz’s little car. They didn’t think it would be proper to be seen dating in his cruiser. Liz snuggled up to Max. She was wondering what their relationship would bring. It was definitely stronger, and she hoped longer-lasting, than the ones she had had during college. It had more substance for the both of them than what she had with Hiram Kane. Liz had to wonder what Max would want.

Liz had some old nagging questions about what she wanted to do in the future. It would be difficult for both of them to be in the state police if their relationship turned into marriage. Marriage? Ha! Liz had been on one weekend with Max. Maybe, he would look at this relationship like he had the dating of convenience he had done so many times before. Well, She was one to talk. She hadn’t been very steadfast herself at any time.

Liz knew that if she wanted children she wouldn’t be able to go on patrol any more. She was wondering if she even wanted to go back on patrol. Of course, she missed the excitement, but face it, it was dangerous.

When they got back to her house, Max went into the bathroom and washed up. He came back to her bedroom just in his boxers. Last night, they had discovered each other in a very erotic way. Now, he wanted just to find and give comfort in each other’s arms. Liz took his arms in hers. She felt his wrists. They were rock hard. The stiff steering of the squad cars made a police person have very strong arms.

Max just sat and watched Liz removed her clothes. She didn’t try to be enticing, but to Max, it brought back the happy days when he was married. When she was down to her panties and bra, Max stood and took her in his arms. The warmth was something that he had almost forgotten. Just holding Liz with no impatience about getting to their physical love making itself, was bringing to Max the comfort he had missed for so many years. If Liz had understood this, she would have realized that Max already was thinking that he didn’t want to loose what they had this weekend.

Of course, they removed the last of their clothes and ,soon with kisses and feeling, they gave way to the pulsing of love as it pounded through their bodies.

Max and Liz had breakfast. They weren’t nearly as late getting up, as they had been yesterday morning. Liz felt that she had only a couple of hours to reach an understanding with Max as to what their relationship was to be.

“Do you think you will miss your legislator, Liz? He had an awful lot to offer you,” Max said as he reached for hands across the table.

“Max, I had to correct Hiram once for interfering with my career. He seemed to think that advancement should be according to whom you know and not how much you have learned. He just doesn’t get it, any more than Jacobs does. Until you learn to take care of your self, advancement is dangerous to you and those who depend on you.” Liz was remembering the FBI man who the state had hired to train Serena Ortiz, Liz’s one attempt with a rookie.
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SoulMates in CyberSpace they only knew each other by user name, but they became the most important relationship in each other's lives. SoulMates in CyberSpace a Valentine’s day story.

Haunted Memories What would you do if you were a homicide detective? Your have the murder of a beautiful woman who everyone said was a saint. Now even the readers are confused who she was. But she would bring to Max the love of his life in the end.

Dreamsatnight Max and Liz have one more adventure.

L-J-L 76 Lizza the story is about over but I hope you like what happened at the end to Max and Liz.

Emz80m thanks

Begonia 9508 Eve, yes it is 60 miles between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Carole lived thirty miles further north when we were dating. It was an hour and a half drive on good roads. I never knew how much my parents worried when I was going with her until Keith died. Now I am sure they spent many sleepless nights.

Martine I am always excited when I write something that attracts your attention.

This last chapter is dedicated to Robert Rosenbloom who died in 1971 much as described in the story. This final chapter is a highly fictional account of the investigation of his murder.

http://www.nmstatepoliceassoc.org/rosenbloom.htm

the chapter also explains the New Mexico state police reserves. I was very active in this organization for many years.


Chapter 19

“When do I get to see you again?” Max asked.

“That is going to be hard, Max. I am on nights all the time. We would have to arrange when you have a day off. We would have after midnight and before four the next afternoon,” Liz explained.

“Or, you can come to Santa Fe and stay with me on your days off. When I am on nights we’d have the day and when I shift to day we’d have the evenings,” Max answered.

No matter how they did it, they were going to have a hard time in any relationship. Whatever they managed. Liz had gone without a love life for long stretches several times. Max had had almost no social life since his wife had been killed. Liz was thinking that time spent with Max would be good because they understood each other.

Max left and Liz went back to bed to catch up on enough sleep to make tonight’s shift.

Liz was back at the radio that afternoon. The weekend had taken a lot out of her. She was almost exhausted by midnight when her shift was over. At the last minute, she received a call from the lieutenant. The graveyard shift person had just called in sick. The lieutenant asked would Liz take a double shift tonight. The graveyard was different because she would be the only one in the radio room.

Getting up for a drink of water or going to the bathroom would require her to let the patrols know she would be 10-7, or out of service, for a few minutes. Any emergency would have to be taken care of just by her. There wasn’t any real reason to refuse. Liz had the training of her old sergeant who said, “Are you going to be an officer in need of assistance?” Liz had a doctor’s appointment tomorrow, but she would just have to suck it up and keep going.

That was a black night for the district. Otis Redfield, a long time career officer, was out in the canyon east of Central City. Otis was a no nonsense officer. Once when the graveyard shift had gone out of the room without informing the patrol he would be 10-7 for a few minutes, Otis had come back to the office with siren blazing and red lights turning. By the time he had arrived at the station the operator had fled. The operator was never seen again. Otis did his job and he expected the radio operator to do theirs also.

Otis called in; as usual he gave a description of the car he had stopped, the license plate number and his location. Liz gave him a 10-4, okay, and she dutifully noted every thing he said on the radio log. It was almost ten minutes later when she heard, “Hey, Mr. state policeman. You got an officer here. He’s been shot.”

Liz, immediately, came to attention. “This is State Police Central City district. Who am I talking to?”

“Never mind lady who I am. You have a policeman shot opposite the old school on the highway,” the voice answered.

Liz, immediately, went into action. As she was dialing the ambulance company, she was also calling Schultz. That location was where Redfield had last called from. The ambulance was dispatched by the time Schultz answered, “Car 124, Central City, what do you have Sarge?”

“Schultz, the highway east bound, right opposite the school. Redfield is down, 10-60, officer in trouble. Schultz, use 10-48, be careful situation is dangerous.”

“10-4 Sarge,” Schultz answered. Liz could hear his siren and the hum of his lights over the radio transmission.

The next thing for Liz to do, was to call the lieutenant and get him out of bed. She hoped he would call the captain and anyone else he needed. Liz had her hands full. Her first call, after the lieutenant was to the town just east of Central City. She gave all the information she had and requested they set up a roadblock. Then, she called both the Central City police and the county deputies. Information was deployed. Next she made a call to Capital City. She gave the same information she had to the other agencies. Liz rested her head against the radio consol. Had she done all she could? She could only hope.

Liz felt strong hands massaging her shoulders, “You did good, Parker. Go to the restroom and wash your face.” she heard the words of the lieutenant. Liz stood up and looked around. The day shift had been called and, also, the reserves. The reserves were volunteers who had police training and held police commissions. The officers alternately praised the reserves or condemned them. They praised them in times of need, but some officers thought that if the reserves were not available, the capital would be forced to give more money and men to the department.

The squad room was filling up with people. When I came out of the restroom my face still wet from the towels I had applied to it, I saw Captain Lucero. “Hey Parker, I am sorry I couldn’t get to your shindig the other night. I was down south were we are organizing another SWAT team for the south. We are proud of you, Parker.” Then, he smiled for the first time since I had know him, “or should I say Venus Smiles.”

That right there was as important to me as any statement could be. I had a lot of respect for Captain Lucero now; he had been a good training sergeant. He had kept me alive along with what I learned from Max.

I had been up for almost 24 hours. I was feeling faint. I hardly heard when Captain Whitman called, “Hey Max, take her home, and get your butt back here fast!”

I tried to tell them that I needed my car if I was to return to the station, but Max kissed me as he put me into his cruiser. He said the car would be all right and they didn’t want me driving while being this tired.

I mumbled again something about needing the car to get back to the station, but Max said something I didn’t remember. When I woke up that afternoon by the ringing of the phone, I was in bed dressed in my under wear. My uniform had been carefully set out on the chair.

“Parker, can you make your shift tonight?” We are sending a car to pick you up. Parker, come for duty! You are going back into the field.”


I almost jumped out of her bed. I showered and dressed. I grabbed my briefcase with all the papers I would use on patrol and went to my closet. There, way in the back, was my kit, my baton, my shotgun and ammunition. I had pulled these out of the closet and was standing by the door when car 124, Schultz, drove up.

“Hey Sarge, ready to go?” he shouted. Then he got out and helped me with my things. “Sarge, it was the worst thing I ever saw! You know I have seen blood. Hell you were covered with blood when we carried you out of that house. Otis was shot in the neck and spilled all the blood he had. I tried to stop it with my thumb, but that hole was just to big.”

I listened to Schultz all the way to the station. No matter what, Schultz still considered me his sergeant and he needed to talk. I was thinking about when we were on the gun range. There was one place where we had 20 seconds to fire six rounds, eject the brass empties and reload. Then fire six more. It wasn’t that hard, but I would take my time pacing myself. Max would fire almost before anyone else and have several seconds left over after he had fired his 12 rounds. Redfield, on the other hand, would have all 12 of his shots fired and be standing around watching every one else and he still shot a score of 95. He was a very capable cop. That didn’t matter. He was dead now and all the rest of us could do for him was to find his killers.

At the station, Schultz helped me get my things to the wardroom. I didn’t say anything. Schultz didn’t help carry me things because I was a lady, but because I was a fellow officer that he liked and wanted to help.

The lieutenant took me to his office. “Parker, I know you are still on restrictive duty, but we need you in the field. I am putting you in charge of the reserves. They are well trained, but some of them are a little over anxious. Parker, don’t let them get killed. Use them. Their officers will give you list of how many you have for the different shifts. Remember, some of them will be holding down day jobs also. Don’t let them get burned out, but give them a chance.

This wasn’t exactly what I had been expecting. I had worked with the reservist before. I knew that their abilities varied and would best be know by their own officers. I would plan to meet them this evening and give them some sort of pep talk.

The lieutenant looked at me for several seconds. “There is one other thing, Parker. The only car we have is Redfield’s. We will probably retire the number for a few years, but right now, that is the car you drive. Can you handle it, Parker? Some officers don’t like to drive a dead man’s car.”

I gave an inward shudder, “What’s the matter, Parker? You an officer in need of assistance?” her sergeant had said so long ago. I turned to the lieutenant. “No sir, I am not afraid and I will try to honor his number while I have it, Sir!”

Central City was the biggest city in the state. It wasn’t as big as Phoenix Arizona or many of the cities in Texas, but it was a formidable city. The police closed it down. For one week, there was no crime in the city. There were125 stolen cars that were recovered at the roadblocks and 75 nationally wanted fugitives were captured. The city police, the county deputies and the feds all assisted the State Police in their hour of need. Every car, every truck and every bus was inspected. There were stories to fill coffee stops for years afterward. There was the truck where, when they looked in the sleeper they found a naked lady smiling at them. She turned out to be the trucker’s wife. He winked as he drove off, telling the police that his truck was fully equipped. There were so many stories that going 10-10 for weeks would be necessary to exchange them.

The reservation had their Thompson machine guns at their roadblock. It was noticed that one reservation police car had a case of over 1000 rounds of ammunition for the Thompsons.

Merchants tried to take care of all, but the most difficult problems. The word was out. “Don’t go to Central City if you are wanted or if you want to cause trouble!”

I found the reservist as eager as a bunch of hound puppies. I made assignments where they could be best used. Their own officers took care of the deployment. I was mostly working at night because that was when my reservist were available. A few of them had the option to take time off their jobs and helped during the day but most of them came in after work and put in from eight to ten hours for me.

One morning when I came home, I found Max in my bed. He just grunted and mumbled that he had to get away from the confusion for a while. We didn’t make love but we slept the day away in each other’s arms. I wandered just before I drifted off to sleep, how did Max get into my apartment? I hadn’t given him a key. O well, I had always thought Max sort of magical, he probably picked the lock just like James Bond.

The car the killers were using had been found abandoned in Central City. Through finger prints and other evidence, the four men were named and warrants were issued. Other warrants for them began to drift in. Two of them were just petty thieves, but the other two were wanted, big time for their involvement in anti government groups.

The Central City Department cornered one man. He tried to shoot his way out. That was a big mistake. Another one tried to run the roadblock through the reservation; the Native American police did get to use their Thompsons. One of the FBI men screamed, “Who the hell gave them goddamned Indians machine guns?”

The sergeant at the roadblock replied, “They were gift from Great White Father in Washington. Partial payment for lands lost.”

The way they held the machineguns wasn’t lost on the FBI man.

That would have, maybe, gone over better if it hadn’t been known that the Native American sergeant had a Business degree from Harvard.

The other two were finally tracked down. The pressure on the entire criminal community made these men unwelcome. Word was given to the City where the men were hid out. A short Swat operation by the city and they were in custody.

Every one was back at the squad room to be debriefed. This was an important time. Problems that had occurred were brought up. Solutions were suggested. Information between departments was shared except for the FBI. They, as usual, didn’t share information with anyone.

Max looked around. He didn’t see Liz. He shrugged. She could have been on some other shift or be safely back at her apartment sleeping. One of the women police officers came in and whispered something to the lieutenant. He quickly looked up and motioned for Max to come out the hall.

As Max came into the hall, he heard the siren of an ambulance. He made it to the ladies room just as they were putting Liz on a gurney. Max got into the ambulance with them. The attendant was loosening her clothes. Liz was white as a sheet. Her normally, creamy skin looked very sick.

Captain Whitman arranged for Max to have a couple of comp days. Max stayed at Liz’s apartment. This was a time when Max would accept political favors, even from a relative. Liz was out of intensive care the next day. No one would tell her much. They just kept saying wait until your doctor talks to you. Max did come by and sit with her for a while.

Liz
For several weeks my life had been just coasting along. I had been given a command, as such. When Officer Otis Redfield was killed, I was given charge of the reserves. These men were volunteers. That is not to say they were second rate officers. Some of them rivaled in training and dedication some of the full time officers, but they were volunteers. That is, they did this as a hobby and got no pay, except for satisfaction. My job had been to utilize these men in the best way. I worked closely with their own officers and they put in as much time as any of us.

Closing up a town as big as Central City was difficult. We believed that we had closed all avenues of escape and, sure enough, one man tried to make a break for it through the reservation. Another got in a shoot out with the City police. Then, the criminal element that was already in Central City, decided that these men were just causing them too much trouble so they ratted them out to the SWAT team.

I was heading to the debriefing session. I was hoping to see Max before he left for Capital city. I stopped in the lady’s restroom and that was the last I remembered. I woke up back in the hospital with Max asleep in a chair by my bed.

No one would answer my questions. It was always “Wait until your doctor comes in.” Finally, the doctor arrived. He said something to Max and Max left. That wasn’t what I wanted.

“Officer Parker, your body has been subjected to a lot of abuse lately. You had internal bleeding and it is lucky you passed out at police headquarters rather than out on patrol. I am afraid that I have further bad news for you. Your face has healed, but it was subjected to a lot of damage. You do that, again, and it will be very hard to repair. I have talked to your captain and, also, the officials in Capital city. I am afraid that your rough and tumble days are over. You are going to have to find a calmer job.

Max came in when he left. I was crying. I, Sergeant Elizabeth Parker, the “toughest mother in the valley,” was being grounded. Max held me and when they released me, he took me home. I hadn’t yet asked why he didn’t have to go back to duty, but I imagined it was a benefit of my captain and his brother-in-law.

“Max maybe I can take a job in Capital City. I can work for the academy and we can be close by in the same district?” I cried.

Max pushed me back a little where he could look in my eyes. “Liz, I am being transferred down south. They are making me Lieutenant of the new SWAT team they are forming there. I will be even further from you than I am now.”

When Max left, I only knew that I had to make some real changes in my life. I had turned down being the wife of a rancher because I wanted to remain a patrol cop. I had turned down the association of a politician because I wanted to control my own advancement and not be used by others. I did not want to loose the one person who had meant so much to me. Max and I had talked once about the conflicts of us both being in the state police. Now, I had to make some choices. The fact that I could never go back on patrol made them for me.

I was summoned to Capital city. I expected to be intercepted by Senator Jacobs and I wasn’t disappointed. “Liz, before you make any decisions, please hear me out. You have been a decorated policewoman. Your can easily teach at the academy. You do not have to throw away what you have in the department. We still can use you many ways.”

I thought for several minutes. I knew what I wanted to say, but this time, I didn’t want to put my foot in my mouth. “Senator, you have always helped me in my career, but you have, also, manipulated me and used me. That is what I don’t like. Hiram pretended he loved me, but he, also, was using me for his own purposes. I don’t like that feeling. I do not know what awaits me, but I think my time in the state police is over.”

Jacobs had that same smile he always did when he was talking to me. “Liz, yes, we used you, but that is the way of life. People use each other. Don’t you think both Hiram and I, are used by people? That is just the way of politics.”

I, again, thought about my words carefully, “Senator, there is just one difference between you and me.”

That little smile again, “What would that be, Liz?”

I looked at him, maybe, I saw for the first time. “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will, fear no evil because I was made to be the toughest mother in the valley. And, Max said I was his equal.”

That sealed my career as a state officer. There, of course, was a lot of paper work. I was on disability for at least some time. I phoned Max and asked him how big his apartment was and whether he wanted me there with him. Where he was stationed, there was a state college. I, at the time, did not know what I would do next. But, there must be a place for a trained policewoman near where ever Max is stationed.

The women’s movement may frown, but I intend to follow Max wherever he is stationed. Not because I put my career second to his but because I need to be close to him if I intend for him to be the father of the several children I hope to raise. I hope Max and I will instill in them the strength to be whatever they want to be.


Motto of the Navajo Tribal Police: “I will not die. I will fight. I will survive. I will go home.”

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Are you a person with a big heart? Can you take back to your heart a woman who is stripped of friends, family and hope and cast out into the world to either die or by any means possible survive? Can you try to understand her and still love her? “Liz come back” Coming soon.