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Kate Gets Her Man

By: RichardGerald



This is the first part of a love story. As you might guess from my other stories, I have rather a dark view of love. But please don't judge the story only by part one. I want to thank Vickie Tern for all the editing assistance. It is a big job and I tinkered with it after she finished. There will always still be mistakes because this is free, and I am no professional.

*****

The Montague bar on Capsulate Street was crowded on a Saturday night. When Sergeant Kathryn Keenan and Officer James Lefave of the Tyler County Sheriff's patrol walked in, it was 12:30 a.m. Both officers were in a somber mood. They had just come from Dennis Morgan's home where his wife Desi Morgan and her lover Scott Tillman had been assaulted. Tillman, a six foot three ski pro at the local resort had been expertly kneecapped with a heavy object, a small weighted Tee Ball bat by the victim's description. Desi had been vaginally raped with the small end of the same bat. There was a lot of blood.

Kathryn, an extremely well-built woman who stood several inches over six feet, had one hand on her service Glock and the other on her nightstick. Jim Lefave, a tall beanpole of a man, was six four with a head of bright red hair reflecting his Irish heritage, despite the French origin of his last name. Jim was a local boy. Kate was a New York City girl. She was a five-year veteran of the New York City police force who had taken the job with Tyler County to get away from her ex-husband, his family, and sadly her family. She had an eight-year-old son Thomas Sullivan, Jr. Who missed his father although he had rarely seen Thomas Senior when they lived in the south before the move. Kathryn's ex was a man who worked in his family's construction business when he wasn't' chasing women. Between the two he found little time for his son. 

The Montague had a bad reputation with the road patrol. The old timers could remember the place from before Denny Morgan had taken it over. It had started life as a college bar in the 1960's before the drinking age was raised to 21. After that, it became a biker bar, a raw hard drinking kind of place where fights, drugs and prostitution were all on the menu. Now it was a place where older students mixed with bikers and anyone else who enjoyed the slightly wild atmosphere, the decent food, and moderately priced beer. The hookers and drugs were gone and Denny, as Dennis was known to everyone, could cool hot tempers before things got out of hand. Kathryn walked up to one of the two barmaids and asked for Dennis Morgan. The woman who Kathryn believed was called Lottie paused, not at first realizing that Kate was asking for Denny.

"Last booth in the back," Lottie answered.

Denny was a small man, maybe five six but with a husky built. He habitually wore a blue sports jacket and a red and blue striped regimental tie with a light colored dress shirt. On his right hand was his Cornell Law School ring. Denny was by profession a lawyer, and he kept a small law office even though his principal occupation was tavern owner. He was excessively proud of having graduated from Cornell Law School. He had worked very hard to get his law degree since his widowed mother had spent all of the family's college fund on his older sister's medical degrees. Denny had worked his way through school, including summers as a bartender at the Montague. 

Kathryn briskly walked up to Denny in the back booth, her wide hips swaying provocatively despite her best efforts to prevent them. Denny was almost hidden in the booth. Only his arms and hands showed until you were right in front of him. But he could see the whole bar from where he sat.

"Dennis Morgan," Kate asked.

Denny merely nodded his head.

"Please stand, you are under arrest."

Denny stood up. Kate began to hook him up, to place handcuffs on his wrists.

"Kate!" James said nervously behind her.

"What?" she said, turning her head slightly to look at her partner as she closed the cuffs on Denny's hands.

As she turned, she saw the problem. The bar that had been filled with happily inebriated people a moment ago was now stirring into a hostile crowd. As she turned more fully, she saw two very big, angry-looking bikers coming towards them from the bar. They were truly huge men, and she was debating in her mind — stick or gun and leaning toward gun —when Denny stepped around her in front of them. Denny raised his cuffed hands to calm the crowd. 

Earlier that evening Denny had stepped between the two bikers when they were squared off and preparing to 'kick the shit' out of each other. As the men had squared off, the bartender had reached beneath the bar for the bar-bat, a small child-size Tee Ball bat filled with lead shot. In the right hands, the bar-bat was a formidable and possibly lethal weapon. But Denny had moved quicker and gotten between the two men, who towered over him. 

He'd placed his hands on their chests and said rather sarcastically "Don't make me hurt you guys."

The line brought the general laughter he had intended. Denny followed up with a funny involved story about his physical prowess, making himself the butt of the punch line of the tale. By that point, the bar was buried in laughter. Denny got the two combatants to have a free drink on him, and the argument was soon replaced by the two men sharing drinks together.

Now as Denny held up his hands the bar went silent.

"Please, please," Denny said. "These officers are just making what is clearly a false arrest. As most of you know, I am an attorney. Therefore, I know that such an arrest can lead to a big payday. Now considering the pitiful price of beer in this place I can use any cash that comes my way even if I have to go to jail to get it." 

The bar crowd broke into laughter and cheers of "You get 'em Denny", 

And "Just like a lawyer," and, "Some people have all the luck."

Kate and Jim used the momentary conviviality to get Denny out of the barroom and into the street.

"Thanks, Denny," Jim said once they were outside. 

Kathryn gave Jim a withering look and pushed Denny to the side of the Sheriff's brown and white SUV parked by the curb. She patted Denny down for weapons, noticing as she did that he had a hard muscular body concealed by his loose clothing. After the pat-down, she helped him into the back seat of the patrol vehicle. When she was seated behind the wheel with Jim riding shotgun, she read Denny his rights.

"Did you understand what I read to you, Mr. Morgan?"

"Yes, but can I ask a question."

"Of course?"

"Why am I being arrested?"

Kathryn frowned at him. "You know why," she said.

"No, I don't," Denny replied.

"Assault and rape," Jim said.

"What, who, and when?" Denny asked.

"Your wife and Scott Tillman earlier this evening," Jim replied.

"You're saying, my wife Desi was attacked? And who is this Tillman?"

"Alright play it any way you want Mr. Morgan, but you are getting locked up. No more questions, "Kate said and started the car heading for the County Jail. 

At the Jail, they confiscated Denny's clothes for evidence and gave him an orange jumpsuit. He called his lawyer Tony Abrouso, the most respected criminal attorney in the area, and got him on the case. Kathryn figured Denny could use the best, as she was confident Dennis Morgan was looking at a long sentence. Her confidence began to slacken the following morning when she escorted Denny to the hearing held in Judge Platt's home office.

The senior County Judge held the hearing from behind a big oak desk in his study. Judge Platt began by saying hello to everyone including Denny and then let Patricia Stone, the part-time assistant district attorney, argue strenuously for the setting of a high bail. Patricia was a pretty petite young woman, but Kathryn had seen her in action several times before. Pat was no push over. When she was done, Tony Abrouso began to speak, but Judge Pratt stopped him.

"Denny, you undertake to show up to answer these charges," Judge Pratt asked.

"Yes, your Honor," Denny answered.

"Good enough for me. You are released on your own recognizance and prohibited from coming within 200 feet of the ALLEGED victims," Pratt said, getting up and thereby signaling that the hearing was over.

"What just happened?" Kathryn fumed.

"You arrest the most beloved man in the County and you expected they would give you a medal?" Patricia said.

This was the beginning of the downhill slide as far as Kathryn was concerned. A search of Denny Morgan's car, home, law office, and, of course, the Montague, turned up only the bar-bat. Kathryn was, however, sure they would find blood traces and other evidence on Denny's clothing and the bat. This would be the evidence they needed to confirm the witnesses' testimony. Both Desi Morgan and Tillman had positively identified Denny as the man who had brutally assaulted them. The problem that arose very quickly was the reliability of the witnesses. Kathryn found it hard to believe, but the universal opinion was that Desi and Tillman were lying. This opinion was held by most of the sheriff's office.

"Jim how can you believe that?" Kathryn asked her partner.

"Those two are no good. You want me to take the word of a whore and her asshole boyfriend over a decent man. A guy who when we came to arrest him saved our asses, or have you forgotten? Jim said.

"No, but we have two witnesses."

"Yea, a slut who spreads for everyone and her sleazy boyfriend. Who is this Tillman character? Some ski bum here for a season hoping to strike it rich bedding a wealthy man's wife. I hear he was bragging all about it to his ski bum friends," Jim said.

"We were the first responders on the scene. You saw the condition that the woman was in, and no man does that to his own leg. Certainly not an athlete. He may never be able to use that leg again," she said.

"All I'm saying is those two can't be trusted," Jim said.

Kathryn could only shake her head and wait for the Lab Report from the State Lab. As a woman who had suffered abuse herself, she sympathized with Desi. She did not condone infidelity but saw no reason men should be allowed to play around while women were expected to be saints. Her fellow officers including the female officers saw her attitude as being unduly influenced by her sex. 

__________________________________________

"I can't believe it, this has got to be incorrect," Kathryn said.

"Told you," said Jim

The report back from the State Lab showed no blood on the bat taken from the bar or the clothing worn by Denny Morgan.

Kathryn was shaken, but it got worse. Moments later she was called to Under Sheriff Ferguson's office.

Jack Ferguson was old school. If he had his way, no female would work road patrol. There was one exception to that belief, Miss Kitty, as they called Sergeant Kathryn Keenan behind her back. Sergeant Keenan was the equal of any man he had. She was as strong as the average man and she was quicker and smarter in tight places. Even the best of men can lose it when things get tight, but Keenan was cool under fire. She was also the best shot he had.

Kathryn was the perfect officer and the worst pain in the ass he had ever known. She would not tolerate sloppy work by those beneath her. She worked so hard to toe the line herself she made everyone else nervous. When you add to her other problems her difficulty dealing with the more amorous of the male gender she was a colossal pain. Most men were intimidated by her size and physical presence, but males wearing a uniform often saw only a challenge. Her consistent rejection of every male advance had not made her popular, and in fact it had led to the rumor she was gay. This further isolated her from her colleagues. 

As she walked into his office, Ferguson was once again struck by the sheer beauty of his Amazon of a subordinate. Tall for a woman with tits that entered the room well before the rest of her. With a stomach flatter than any man's in the department. Her red-blond hair cut short in a style that suited her and flattered her oval face, with its emerald green eyes. But it was those hips that got you. They moved like an invitation to a host of unnatural acts. On every other woman, the uniform was at best unflattering, but on Kathryn it was just this side of obscene. When the average citizen looked at Sergeant Keenan, they thought she was a stripper on her way to a gig.

Ferguson could only shake his head. Her nickname was demeaning, but it fit. She had the disposition of a cat, stubborn and unpredictable. He knew she had decided that Denny Morgan was guilty and that no amount of evidence to the contrary would suffice to dissuade her. 

"I have nothing to do with it. The DA made the decision not to prosecute all by his lonesome," Jack said before Kate could get a word out.

"Doesn't he understand that this guy has the only motive for what is a brutal assault and rape? This looks so bad like we gave him special treatment," She said.

"You need to learn that we are only the investigators. The prosecution is the job of the DA," he said.

That settled it as far as Jack was concerned, but he was sure that Kate would not let it rest. As she walked from his office, he was sure the DA would be hearing from Sergeant Keenan.

___________________________________________________

Amanda had been the DA's secretary through three administrations. She knew her job was to screen those who wanted to see the DA. The office of the prosecutor in the State's smallest County was pretty much a one man job. There were two part-time assistants, Patricia Stone and Thomas Harder, but the day-to-day office of DA was Amanda, Frank, and Charlie Coffey, the investigator, clerk, and Guy Friday.

"Go right in - he's expecting you," Amanda said on seeing Kathryn.

Frank Simon had his lunch on his desk and was settling in to eat it, a mixed Italian sub with extra dressing. Frank had gained a few pounds since becoming DA two years before. Papers and books were scattered about the office. Kathryn had to remove some from a chair to sit down.

Frank Simon's appearance and his untidy office did not exactly inspire confidence, but Kathryn had seen him in action. He was a very good prosecutor and perfectly capable of winning a weak case. The fact that he was not willing to even make an attempt in the Morgan matter irked her.

"Mr. Simon sir, I think you have not been appraised of how serious the injuries suffered by Desdemona Morgan and Scott Tillman are—" she began.

"Stop," Frank said, and with a small sigh put aside his lunch and from the morass on his desk pulled a flexible brown folder.

The DA laid his Morgan folder before Kate and said, "Go ahead open it. What we have here are thirty-three witness statements all freely given to Charlie Coffey attesting to the whereabouts of Dennis Morgan between 7:00 p.m. and about 12:30 p.m. when he was arrested by two Sheriff's officers. The best estimate is the crime was committed between 10:00 and 10:30 p.m.

Kate opened the file and began looking at the statements. They were from each of the Montague employees except the kitchen staff, the last of whom had left before 9:30, a half hour after the kitchen closed. There were statements from the bar patrons about where Denny was all that evening, and how he had stopped the fight around 10:30.

"These are all from his employees and friends. They could be lying to protect him. The barmaid Lottie says she refilled his coffee cup every half hour all night long. But there are only two barmaids when I was in there making the arrest, and they were busy as hell. She could not have been pouring coffee that often," Kate said.

"Go to the last affidavit and read it."

 I was in the Montague from 7 p.m. until 10:30. I eat dinner there every Saturday night since my wife died. I like to watch the sports on the seventy inch TV. I am familiar with Denny Morgan having known him for his entire life. He always wears his Cornell Law School ring. He is only one of two lawyers in the County who attended Cornell, and I know the other does not wear her school ring.

Denny Morgan was seated in the back boot when I arrived at 7 p.m. and he remained there while I ate dinner and watched the Yankees play. When the game ended I finished my beer and left a bit after 10:30. I could see Denny's Cornell ring the entire time I was there. 

Signed: Edward Reagan, Retired Justice, New York Supreme Court Appellate Division.

Kate looked up at Frank, "Judge Regan?" She said.

"Yea the most respected man in this part of the state, and the most honest man I have ever known. You want me to go before a jury with him ready to take the stand saying the Defendant could not have done it. And oh, by the way, there are another thirty-some witness that say the same. Add to that the alleged victims filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit yesterday. Money is always a rather a good motive to lie

"So there's my case, the word of two greedy adulterers against the word of good Judge Regan and God knows how many others before a jury of Denny Morgan's friends and neighbors. I would not only lose the trial I would lose my job. Remember, Denny ran against me last time, and I only won because that Tea Party style Political Committee came in with a bunch of negative ads right at the end. Yes, I condemned that Committee, but it won me the election. I wish I didn't feel so guilty about it, but it did provide me more incentive to do the job to the best of my ability.

"If I prosecute Denny I will look like a vindictive SOB, who not only ran a dirty campaign but used his office against his opponent. People don't like that. I don't like that. But I do like Denny Morgan and if Ed Regan says he didn't do it that is good enough for me," Frank Simon reached for his lunch. "Now if I may I would like to go back to this great sandwich," he said.

Another officer might have given up when confronted by the solid alibi that Dennis Morgan seemed to have developed without any effort, but not Kathryn. She knew he was guilty. It was a matter of finding the evidence to prove it. That smug little man might think he had gotten away with it, but he wasn't counting on the relentless Sergeant Keenan.

______________________________________________________

Kathryn lived in a cute little two bedroom Cape on the northeast side of town. As a single parent raising a son, she had all the usual difficulties plus the rotating schedule of the road patrol. She worked ten days on and four days off, on alternating day and night shifts. It was a tough schedule with a child. If your spouse helps with child care, it's a lot easier. But that was never the case when Tom Senior had been in the picture.

Her ex had been a spoiled young man, more a boy who never grew up. They'd had Tommy because his doting parents wanted grandchildren, But Tom Senior was no father. The baby put a crimp on their nights out, and her insistence on working meant there was little time for them to be a couple without the baby. Kate soon realized her spouse was cheating. There were too many late nights when he came home smelling of booze, perfume, and sex. That's when the fighting started. Kate was a big woman and strong physically in ways that women aren't normally, but she was no match for Tom Sullivan's right fist.

The physical pain was bad, but nothing compared to the humiliation of a police officer reporting for work with a black eye and bruises. Everyone seemed to know who had inflicted the injuries. Another woman might have garnered sympathy, but Kathryn was too imposing physically to expect or accept the sympathy of others.

The ironic thing was that she felt like a scared little girl who wanted to run home to her family, but her mother, father, sisters, and brothers all sided with her husband. Tom Sullivan was not just rich and handsome, he had the Devil's own charm. He had a quick tongue and all the sweet words to go with it. He was sorry and he was provoked. Kate was a bit of a shrew, always at him about working late. She was jealous and tried to wear the pants. He always had an excuse ready, and the worst part was that he believed his own deceits.


Kate Gets Her Man Ch. 02



By 7:15 Friday night Kathryn was a wreck. Sophie the seventeen-year-old high school senior from four doors down had come to babysit Tommy. Dennis Morgan was due at 7:30 and Kate's dress was too short. It was the simple black dress she had purchased just after her marriage some eight years before. It was too tight and too short. Why did she think it would fit after eight years?

She was almost twenty pounds heavier. Sure it was all muscle, but the dress hugged her body like a second skin. And it was a good five inches above her knees. It used to be a comfortable five inches when she was twenty-one. Now she was twenty- nine and the dress made her look like a tramp. But she had deliberately worn her four-inch pumps. She didn't wear heels because they made her too tall. The expensive, high fashion heels had been an uncomfortable extravagance intended to make her ex-husband happy on their honeymoon. Their purpose this evening was different. She wanted to look down on Dennis Morgan. Intimidate him, and make him feel inferior. 

She feared all she had accomplished was to make herself seem desperate. It was - after all - the first time she had been out with a man in six years, and she was nervous. At exactly 7:30 Denny showed up. She was out the door before he could stroll up the front walk.

"Wow!" he said.

"You got a problem, Mr. Morgan?" she asked.

"No, no, it's just WOW," he said.

"It is not attractive to go about with your mouth open," she said.

Denny shut his mouth but walked past her toward her front door.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To say hello to your son and tell him when I expect to bring his mother home." 

Before she could stop him, Denny rang the doorbell. It was Tommy, not Sophie who answered.

"Hello, you must be Tommy," Denny said.

"Yes," Tommy said in a small shy voice not quite expecting someone like Denny to be at the door.

"Hi I'm taking your mother out for dinner and maybe a dance or two after, but I intend to have her back by midnight if that is alright with you," Denny said.

"I guess," Tommy said.

Denny then held out his hand and Tommy shook it, relaxing as he did. By this time, Sophie had come to the door.

"Hi Denny," Sophie said, a big smile breaking her face as she ushered Tommy back into the house.

"Was that necessary?" Kate asked.

"Yes, as I hear his mother dating is a new experience for him. I wanted to make him as comfortable as possible."

Denny walked over and opened the Honda passenger door. She had to step up to get in, a bit of a trick in the heels. Her skirt rode up as she did. Denny was transfixed. He closed the door and hurried around to the driver's side.

When he got in, he tried to settle himself behind the wheel, but he was compelled to speak.

"You are so beautiful," he said.

"Oh, please," she said.

But the sincere way he said it got to her she had to harden her heart and remind herself how deceitful this man was.

"I have to say your choice of transportation leaves something to be desired," she said.

"Ok, so there are no misunderstandings. I have a lot of property, but I'm normally cash poor. I have no credit rating because, well just because. So I drive the car I can afford. I was saving to buy a Mercedes, but it cost $75,000 and at the last minute something came up."

"Sorry, I am really not that shallow. We are going out on a date so I am going to try and put my claws away and be a civilized human being. So, starting over, thank you for being on time," she said. "And thanks for taking the time to put my son at ease. You are right, this is new to him and it made him a bit nervous. More than you know, because his father is coming to visit tomorrow for the weekend, and he is very excited and on edge."

The explanation about the car set her back a bit and reminded her that there were things missing from the financial disclosure. But why cash poor? Everything Morgan claims to own was cash-generating. Bars are a cash business, so are rental properties, and his beer business should be producing income. So where did it all go? 

Denny drove them to Belle Claire on the Southeast side of town. As restaurants go, it was both popular and ultra-expensive. As the name suggested, it had a French cuisine, or in this case French Canadian. Its owner-chef was Charles Trudeau. Charlie, as he is now known. 

The parking lot was not paved. Negotiating it in four-inch spiked heels was difficult. Kathryn once again cursed the thought that made her think the heels were a good idea. Denny was not intimidated by her need to lean on him to get across the gravel lot. She felt his masculine strength and her physical reaction to it felt almost like a craving. She knew, where men were concerned she was an addict always on the verge of a slip. 

Entering the magnificent Victorian building with its twin turrets she walked a little easier, but could feel the exaggerated sway of her hips brought on by the shoes. 

"Yes the shoes were a bad idea," she thought.

They walked up to the entry lectern manned by a cute little pixy of a woman with shoulder-length blond hair. The shoulders were bare beneath the hair. The hostess' dark blue dress was strapless and form-fitting.

The hostess smiled and said, "Hi Denny, so nice to see you. Got your table ready."

The hostess then proceeded to step back and step down off the box she had been standing on. If she was still standing four foot nine, it was only because she was in six-inch heels. She was a perfectly formed little human being, and as she led them through the large main room of the restaurant Kathryn had to suppress an urge to run the other way. Kate felt like an alien creature as she towered over the hostess and her own date. She swore that she would never again wear heels.

As Denny followed the two women, he suppressed a smile as much as he could. He had forgotten just how small Trish, who worked the hostess station was. It wasn't just the height difference. Kate's ass was making a circuit like an errant pendulum on a Grandfather clock. "God the woman has curves," he thought.

Kate gladly slipped into the chair that Trish pulled out as they reached the table. It was only seated that she realized they had been placed in the center of a wide room. The main dining room was created from most of what had been the first floor of the Victorian house. It was a superb architectural accomplishment eliminating almost all the interior walls of the building for replacement with supports that seemed to rise organically from the floor.

Kathryn was center stage with no place to go. Every pair of eyes in the room on her, watching her, appraising her, and no doubt judging her.

"A quiet, intimate meal he'd said. The lying SOB," she thought. But she said, "What a nice little restaurant, can't think why I have never been here before."

Denny smiled, playing the game right back. "Yes, a quiet family-run place."

"And here I thought it was the most expensive restaurant in the northern tier," she said.

The waitress made her appearance at that moment.

"Evening Denny, and you Sergeant Keenan," said the waitress, whose name tag declared she was Nicole.

"Evening Nicky," Denny said.

Nicole passed Kate a menu, saying "The special tonight is the Beef Bourgogne Montreal. I highly recommend it."

At that moment, the sommelier and a busboy came with a wine bucket and stand. 

The Sommelier held up a bottle of Champagne. "2002 Mr. Morgan, compliments of Mr. Dodge," he said, nodding his head toward a gentleman several tables over.

Denny waived and then excused himself to say hello to Mr. Alan Dodge, president of Tyler County Bank and Trust.

"I suggest you order. Knowing Denny, he will be making the rounds for a bit," Nicole said.

"Fine, I will have the special," Kate said.

"Good choice. Tell Denny he is having the same," Nicole said.

The Champagne poured and the dinner ordered, Kate tried to relax, but it was difficult with the feeling that everyone was staring at her.

Nicole returned with a bread basket containing what looked like fresh baked French bread. She brought butter and olive oil poured generously into a dish with rosemary.

"You know by morning every single woman in town will hate you," Nicole whispered in Kate's ear.

"It's just a one-time thing," Kate whispered back

"Sure, and that is why you came dressed to kill," Nicole said. Then smiled, shook her head, and walked away.

Kate tried to reassess her actions. She was dressed in her best, wearing a pair of come-fuck-me pumps. She needed to get a grip, put this evening back on an investigative footing. She was wavering like an alcoholic holding a tumbler of scotch.

Denny worked the room filled with the elite of Tyler County like a professional politician. He was pumping hands and slapping backs. No wonder Frank Simons was nearly beaten by him.

A tall, barrel-chested man a good forty pounds overweight appeared, dressed the way you expect every good Chef to look even though they so rarely do. Kate judged his age to be late forties or a bit older. "Good evening Mademoiselle, and thank you for gracing my modest restaurant with your presence," he said on approaching a seated Kate.

He did not wait for an invitation but sat down in the seat that Denny had vacated.

"I'm afraid your date may be a while, but I expect you know how politicians are," he said.

"I didn't actually realize that Mr. Morgan fell into that category," she said.

"But, of course, he is the standard bearer of the persistent if not loyal opposition," Charlie Trudeau said, laughing with pleasure at his own humor.

"I'm trying to understand him," Kate said.

"Good luck to you Mademoiselle, it would be like understanding the Mountains or the Forest. The Morgans are a rare group not driven by standard values. It takes time to understand them," he said.

"So do you understand Dennis Morgan?" she asked.

"No, but like romancing a beautiful woman, it is time well spent no matter the outcome," he said with a warm smile.

"What a charming man," Kate thought.

She could well believe the story of the circumstances that brought him south.

Charlie was a forty-year-old sous-chef in Montreal when he met a young black woman attending McGill University. Her name was Claire, the daughter of two New York State prison guards.

Claire was only twenty when she met Charles Trudeau. She was a better athlete than a student and a country girl at heart, having been raised in Dannemora, New York. Her sport was cross country skiing, but she also did downhill. She was a black woman who had never dated a black boy until she came to Montreal because where she was raised there weren't any, or none her parents would permit her to date.

At McGill, Claire was very popular, but one night at a University function she met the man running the catering crew for the evening festivities. Charlie was picking up some extra work, trying to save enough to start his own restaurant. This was a dream he had been working on for two years longer than Claire had been alive.

Claire saw him, spoke to him, and decided this was her man. She was fed up with the University, stupid boys who tried to rip your pants off, and city life. Before Charlie knew what hit him he was the husband of a mixed race woman and the owner- chef of a restaurant in Northern New York.

Charlie looked at Kate as he refilled her glass with Champagne, "Now you are wondering if what people say is true," he said.

"Ok, did Dennis Morgan build this place?" she asked.

Charlie pursed his lips, "His money...his architect. My wife's supervision and management, but they did let me have some say over the kitchen," a smile breaking his very Gaelic face. 

At that moment Denny returned.

"I leave my chair empty and you fill it," Denny said.

"You leave a stunningly beautiful woman alone in the establishment of a Frenchman and you expect to find her alone when you return?" Charlie asked, shaking his head in disapproval.

Charlie rose and bowed gracefully. "Mademoiselle, it has been a distinct pleasure, but, unfortunately, my duty lies in the kitchen. So I must leave you to this philistine," he said, taking his leave.

Denny sat down and Kate did not give him a chance to slip away again.

"Well Mr. Morgan, are you ready to confess," she said.

"Yes," he said, "I committed a very serious crime and it has been weighing on my conscience. 

She was startled and then he gave a wicked smile and she knew he was having her on.

"Oh, and that was?" she said.

"About two and a half years ago I was running for DA and about a month before election day I received a poll that showed the election very close. So in clear violation of the campaign finance laws I donated money without disclosing it, over twenty-five thousand dollars," he said.

Kate thought a moment about what he said and then it hit her.

"You are the most devious, duplicitous snake of a man I have ever known. Not only did you get me here under false pretenses, but you have poor Frank Simons beating himself up over ads that you ran against yourself," she said.

"Now you're not being fair. Frank is a good DA. Maybe not a great candidate, but a good man and a good DA. He deserved to win. What could I do? I only let my name go on the ballot because I was sure no one would pick me over Frank. It was too late to withdraw. I certainly couldn't afford to win. So I cheated," he said.

"To lose! You threw the election."

"Keep your voice down. We don't want to embarrass Frank do we?"

She could only sigh and shake her head. 

"I assume you have some excuse for what you did to your wife and her lover."

"Now there you go again, accusing me of a crime I could not have committed."

"Oh, you did it. I know you did it and I will never stop. There is no way you can stop me, Mr. Morgan."

"Denny, everyone calls me Denny."

"Let me make this clear. I am not your friend. You are a criminal and I am an officer of the law. It is my duty to pursue you," she said.

"And how's that working out for you," he said pouring her more Champagne.

She took a big swig from her glass.

"This is very good," she said momentarily distracted.

"Yes the Dom is always good, but the 2005 Rouget we are having with the main course is to die for," he said, "The wine cellar is Charlie's pride and joy. It's not just a matter of money although it did cost a pretty penny. It's that skill Charlie has in knowing what to buy and when."

"You like wine," she said.

"Not particularly, but Claire - that's the cook, Charlie's wife - has tried to teach me, She says only fat old white men drink beer and like it."

"Well, she's right. I love wine. But I will not let you get me drunk," she said.

"Agreed. You drink only what you want. This is my chance to get to know you," he said.

"No this is your chance to man up and take responsibility for your actions," she said.

"Please be reasonable. You have no case. No physical evidence tying me to the crime. I was in a room full of people at the time, and if you are claiming that I somehow slipped away, how would I know when and where to go? Do you think they called me up and said 'Here we are, come assault us'? So Sergeant, you have only motive. Or you did until you walked into this room with me, wearing that dress," he said.

"So my dress is a bit tight," she said.

"Drink your champagne and consider every man in town has been lusting after you for years. No one has gotten to first base. Now here I am dining with you. I could give Desi a big kiss for the favor she has done me. First she takes a ski bum to bed and then she accuses me of assault. A charge that everyone will now believe my new girlfriend saved me from." He said this with a broad smile dancing on his face.

"No one will believe that. I fought to get you prosecuted. I saw the DA for that very purpose," she said

He only laughed.

"That fellow who ran all those nasty commercials against me? He certainly would have proceeded with any case at all. But he had no evidence. Everything you collected proved clean. You did a great job keeping me out of jail," he said.

"But people will know—"

"The gossip will be fabulous. Oh look here's our dinner," he said.

Nicole arrived with the plates filled with Beef Bourgogne. The Sommelier was next with the Rouget as red as rubies, and poured it into glasses shimmering in the restaurant's amber light. It gave Kate time to think. Would people believe that she was his girl before the attack? No one who really knew her, but how many had speculated that she was a lesbian? Now they could tell themselves, 'See, she was dating a married man on the sly.' He was right - the gossip would be so attractive.

"You are such a snake," she said.

"Are you always this sore a loser? "

"I'm not a sore loser."

"Really, I know nothing about you and you know everything about me."

"Humph, I doubt anyone knows anything about you. You're so completely deceptive I doubt you know yourself."

"Well humor me, tell me about Kathryn Keenan," he said.

The wine was extraordinary and it loosened her tongue. She found herself telling him everything. He was a good and sympathetic listener. She told him all the gory details. She hid them from others, but they came out under his prodding. It was almost as if he knew already, for he seemed to prompt her just where he needed to.

"It's so humiliating, isn't it, to be cheated on and abused? You go through it all by yourself. There never seems to be anyone who can understand the pain," he said.

"Yes," she said, noticing the wine was almost gone and Nicole was clearing the plates.

"The worst part is you still love the person who is causing you such pain and no one understands that. People seem to think you need to take action, as if it's all your fault," he said.

"You're powerless and you feel so worthless," she said.

"How about dessert, coffee, and then dancing," he said, trying to change the subject.

"Oh, I can't get home too late, my ex is coming in the morning to take Tommy out for the day. He hasn't seen him for almost a year," she said.

"Now Nicole will be quick with the order and just a few turns around the floor at the Driscol on Main Street and I will have you home before midnight. You never know, I may yet confess."

"I doubt that," she said, but put up no real protest. She was far too mellow. She was a big woman and could hold her drink, but she had a weakness for good wine and the wine had been very good indeed. 'He is a total fraud and the most duplicitous man I have ever known. Yet he is a good listener and has a strange attraction for me that I can't shake,' she thought

The coffee helped her sober up a bit, but when they got to Driscol's it was Karaoke night. It didn't bother Denny one bit, he dragged her out onto the small dance floor and pulled her in tight. He had a strong but gentle embrace.

Soon the half-drunk singers were singing love songs to them. Kate had her heels off, dancing in her bare feet with her head on Denny's shoulder. She knew what everyone would think. "I'm his girl," she thought

But she knew it wasn't true. This was just a night, a nice night. She'd had a pleasant meal and some good wine with a sexy man. She had to face it, he was sexy and she needed a man. But not him, because he was a criminal and eventually he would slip up and she would have him. Denny Morgan could twist and turn like the snake that he was, but he could not escape her. 

Then she was home at her own door and he took his goodnight kiss. It curled her toes, and she realized she was still holding the shoes she had taken off to dance.

______________________________________________________________

The alarm woke her, but it wasn't the alarm. It was the doorbell.

"OH NO!" she thought.

The clock read 8:30, she had overslept. Her head was filled with cotton fuzz. She grabbed her robe and went to the door, thinking, 'The one time Tom Sullivan was early had to be today.'




Kate Gets Her Man Ch. 02



But it wasn't her ex. A young woman in a SUNY sweatshirt and faded jeans was standing there, holding a huge bouquet of roses.

"You got the right house?" Kate asked.

The girl laughed. "Come on. It's Saturday morning, My Mom got up at six o'clock for these flowers. Only one man she'd do that for. So guess who they're from?" the girl said shoving the flowers into Kate's hands before she slipped away.

There was a card, but the girl had been right. Denny was the only man she knew who could pull off this trick.

"Kate, had a wonderful time - Denny," the card read.

"Mom is Dad here?" Tommy called from the top of the stairs.

"No, it's just some flowers, but get ready your father should be here soon."

There were two dozen roses. It was obvious to Kate what Denny was about. The man was devious as hell. He knew her ex was due to pick up her son. The flowers would drive Tom Senior crazy, but at the same time the news would spread that Denny had sent them, furthering the rumor that she was his new girlfriend.

Ten o'clock came and no Tom Sullivan. It was all Kate could do to keep her son calm. The boy had been looking forward to his father coming to take him out to a planned trip to the Water Park. Kate and Tommy had been to the park several times, but it was a special treat due to the expense. Tom Senior had promised the treat to his son.

Just before eleven the phone rang. As Kate went to pick it up, the doorbell rang. Tommy raced for the door.

"Hello," she said. "Where the hell are you? Your son is waiting."

"New York...well, when are you coming?"

"Mom, it's Denny," Tommy said.

As Kate hung up the phone, Denny came walking in. He could tell instantly something was wrong with Kate.

"Tommy, I'm really thirsty, can you get me a glass of water?" Denny said.

When Tommy had run off for the water, he asked," What's wrong?"

She couldn't help it - she started to cry. It was part anger, but mostly sorrow and self-pity.

"He isn't coming... the prick didn't even try to get here...It's my fault...Tommy was counting on going to the Water Park with his father. Now what do I tell him?" she said.

Denny came to her and wrapped her in his arms. She felt how sure his embrace was, how strong.

"Stop crying...You need to smile for Tommy. Just follow my lead."

When Tommy came back with the water, Denny started in. 

"Well you know I was on my way to the water park alone. Why don't you and Tommy come with me and his Dad can drop by when he gets here," Denny said.

"But I don't know when he'll arrive," Kate said, falling in with the deception.

"Just leave him a note telling him where we are," Denny said.

"Ok, Tommy, go and get your suit while I write a note," Kate said.

As Tommy disappeared up the stairs, she said," What happens when Dad doesn't show up?'

"Well he is sad, but at least he'll have a nice day at the park...Now get your suit," Denny said.

It took all of five minutes. Most of the time was taken by Kate picking out her suit. She had two - a blue one piece that was rather worn and faded, and a green bikini. The green suit showed a bit too much flesh and she hadn't worn it since a beach excursion six years ago. She hesitated but took the green suit.

Denny parked in a reserve spot at the park entrance and walked into the sales building. A moment later he walked out with three wristbands. The park was crowded on a warm summer day with Canadian visitors from the North and Americans from the East and South. Tyler was a poor county dependent on warm summers and cool winters to bring tourists, visitors to the lakes and the mountains who spent money in the stores and restaurants. Denny acted like he owned the water park, because he did, at least a sizable portion of it. He wrapped a gold and silver striped band around her wrist which they showed at the gate as they entered. 

Five minutes later she was in the women's VIP dressing room. Little individual dressing rooms for those wearing the gold and silver wristbands had been provided. Denny and her son Tommy were no doubt in a similar room in the men's locker room.

Kate realized the green bikini was a mistake the instant she put on the top. When she'd bought it, she had been a perfect 40DD. But no more. Her breasts had enlarged with her constant exercise routine. They pressed into the thin fabric, making her nipples too obvious, threatening to spill out altogether.

The bottom fit awkwardly over her hard glutes. Each of her lower cheeks had a defined dimple. She was showing way too much skin, pale skin, as if from illness. Most of her was a sharp contrast from the healthy appearance of her face, neck and arms, which showed the outdoor nature of her job. She needed a good few hours in the sun to even out her coloring before she would look good. Oh and a new, more modest suit.

Denny and Tommy were waiting just outside the women's locker room. Given the choice she'd made, Kate had wrapped her towel around her lower half, hiding both pale flesh and the miserable fit of her suit bottom.

"Wow!" Denny said as she appeared.

"Please, haven't you any other statement of appreciation?" she replied.

"Sorry, but you know...Wow!" he said.

"I should've brought the other suit," she said.

"Not from my point of view," he said.

"Can I go to the slides now?" Tommy asked.

"Yes, just let me find a place to put our stuff," Kate said, walking off to where the beach chairs were crowded together.

The park was busy and there were few chairs left. Kate spotted some empties on the upper terrace.

"Ok, I'll be up there getting some sun," she said pointing to where she would be.

"Now let me put on your sunscreen and then you can go to the slides," she said to Tommy.

When she had applied the sun block, Tommy ran off.

"Did you bring sunscreen?" she said.

Denny shrugged.

"No, because although you have your suit, you were really on your way to the YMCA pool?" she said.

"So you caught me," he said.

"I was beginning to wonder whether you have the ability to tell the truth," she said, beginning to coat his skin in sunscreen. For a white man, he had a tint to his skin. It seemed to fit with his dark eyes and straight black hair. He was a handsome man.

"Aren't you worried about Tommy?"

The touch of his skin was warm and felt good. She had missed this kind of intimacy. "No Tommy is afraid of heights. He stays to the little slide in the small pool," she said.

There was an awkward pause as she finished coating his upper body. For a brief moment, their eyes met and the longing that each felt was apparent.

"How dark and inviting his eyes are," she thought

He was the first to flinch. "Well let me go and keep Tommy company anyway," he said.

Kate found a vacant chair on the upper deck, spread out her towel, and oiled herself for the sun.

She was working on her tan and lazing sleepily, taking in the sun. Her mind and body kept coming back to Denny Morgan. She had been too long without a man and he had got to her. By all rights, she should hate him for the criminal he was, but there was something innately likable about the unpretentious man who hid his wealth behind his guy-next-door front. Driving an old Honda and wearing clothing that could have come off the rack at Macy's. 

It was mostly her body that was betraying her. A need that she had smothered for six years while she healed from the trauma of her divorce was no longer easily controllable. Men were dangerous to her. She believed most women had more ability to handle men. Physically she was the equal in strength and ability of most men, but emotionally and sexually she was weak. What Tom had down to her only this morning proved his lingering power over her and her terrible weakness for the male gender. Tom had reduced her to tears in the space of a brief phone call. All the guilt at what she had done to her son by depriving him of a father, and the shame of being just another abused wife, had come back to her. He had the power and she didn't.

She had said 'Never again!' and that was why Dennis Morgan - for all his everyman charm and good looks - would never have her. Morgan was just another batterer. He was another man seeking to take without feeling the need to give back, a user and abuser of women. Maybe all men were that way and she had fortunately found out in time.

Kate must have fallen asleep for a bit, the effect of the sun and the lingering effects of her night out. She sat up and looked for Tommy. Her heart jumped into her throat. Tommy was on the high slide. He was waving at her. In an instant, he threw himself down the whirleycues of turns, headed for the deep pool.

She jumped up and ran toward the pool. She reached the edge just as Tommy was thrown off the slide end into the arms of Dennis Morgan. That powerful swimmer made the catch with an ability to move in water the way he walked on land. Tommy was laughing and waving at her, as happy a boy as she had ever seen. Soon the two were swimming to the side of the pool, Denny coaching Tommy's every stroke like some over-protective father.

"What were you doing on the high slide," Kate asked, bending down to the pool edge.

"Oh well, you see Denny was afraid so I had to hold his hand going up the first time. And well, after that he is kind of old so he stayed down the bottom," Tommy said.

Denny was smiling like the cat that ate the canary. Kate gave him a dirty look but leaned in a little too close. In an instant, he grabbed her and pulled her in. The water was cold and took her breath away. She tried to fight back against Denny. On land, she would have had the advantage, she was taller with muscles strengthened with deliberate purpose. She had taught self-defense and had a good knowledge of martial arts

In the water, Kate could swim, but not like Denny. He handled her like a child and she ended grabbing him around the neck and holding on for dear life. 

"Give-up," he said

"Never!"

"Come on, I want to go on the slide," Tommy said, pulling at them.

They spent the rest of the day together in and around the water. About four they decided it was time to get something substantial to eat. They had skipped lunch and all were hungry. As they headed out of the park, Kate realized it had been a long time since she and Tommy had had such a fun day.

Mama Lupe's was a barn turned into a restaurant. The walls of a modest old cow barn had been blown out into a great circular roofed porch. The building showed Belle Claire's architectural flare. The old barn's footprint was the kitchen. This was encircled by a bar complex and around this the restaurant spread out beneath its great sloping roof. 

Denny was treated like a returning monarch. The wait staff all knew him. The place was crowded with a mix of tourists and locals. But there was never any question that a table would be found for Denny. No less a personage than Mama Lupe herself greeted them as they were seated. She was a big black woman, her short helmet of hair entirely gray. She hugged Denny to herself like he was a little boy.

"What this I hear? You no sooner free of the skinny white woman then you take up with Xena Warrior Princess. You break Mama Lupe's heart yet again!" Mama said, a big broad smile gracing her face.

Turning to Kate she said, "How is ya child, nice to meet ya. You's one lucky woman."

Introductions were made all around and they settled down to eat three of Mama's special burgers served with plates of homemade fried potatoes and onion rings. Nothing tasted as you would expect it to. The food was hot and sweet at the same time. The burger meat had a deep rich flavor. The restaurant was popular for a reason.

"Did you use the same architect for this place as Belle Claire?" Kate asked.

Denny put down his burger and thought a moment. He looked around.

"Yes, I guess we did," he said.

"The story I hear was that Mama use to work at a diner along the Interstate when one day she just opened this restaurant. Funny how people find opening a restaurant so easy in this County," she said.

"Did you ever wonder what it was like to grow a potato?" he asked. "You spend a fortune on fertilizer and pesticide not to mention seed potatoes. You face drought and the potato blight and when the crop in finally sold it goes to a broker who pays you one tenth of what the potatoes bring in the market. The same holds for everything on this table."

"And the point is?"

"What is money for if it doesn't help people? So Mama opens her restaurant and everything on her table is local. No middle man to take the farmer's profit or overcharge her. Yes, we're still not rich, but there is enough to go around. Why do you care that the money for the restaurant came from a sleazy bar on the wrong side of town?"

At that moment a grandmotherly woman appeared. She was Nancy Sommers, the director of the YWCA's children's day care center.

"Denny I am so glad I saw you. I know your note said not to mention the check, but I just can't let it go. I have to thank you," Nancy said.

"Please, it was nothing," Denny said, looking both embarrassed and nervous.

"I know that seventy- five thousand dollars means very little to a man like you, but to the daycare, the kids, and their mothers it was truly God sent. Almost a miracle! We would have closed without it. You can ask Kate here what the center means. Tommy use to come when he was smaller." Nancy turned to Kate for confirmation of the Daycare center's value. This was true - the low-cost Daycare had been a godsend when she had first arrived with a small child in Tyler County. Many women depended on it and the sacrifices that Nancy Somers and her staff made to keep the cost down.

"Well I'm happy that the money...that was just lying around went to a good purpose," Denny lied.

Kate knew the moment the sum was mentioned where it had come from, Denny's new car fund. It was why he still drove the battered old Honda, but it was also apparently the reason the daycare still functioned.

"Well we appreciate it and I want you to know how much good you have done," Nancy said giving his shoulder a squeeze before walking away.

"It would serve you right if I went after that woman and told her that you used the money you were saving for a new car. That yes it did mean something to you, but her Daycare center meant more." Kate said this as she reached her hand across the table and placed it on top of his.

She didn't mean for other's to see, but they did and heads nodded knowingly.

______________________________________________________

Sunday morning Kate took her son to church. She never went Saturday evening, and she never attended the big new modern church in the new development. The diocese had closed all the older churches, but St Thomas's had been kept open by the Newman Society to serve the University Community.

Father Stevenson conducted the morning services. He was a man of late middle age. He had no opinions on birth control, abortion, or divorce. He preached each Sunday on tolerance and loving your neighbor. He was exactly the priest a divorced single mother needed. 

The little nineteenth chapel was principally run by co-eds from the University. The girls cleaned it, served at the mass, and took the collection. They ran the Sunday school and served coffee and cakes after the service. Father said that he could not have functioned without them. This Sunday they were watching Tommy so his mother could talk over a problem with Father Stevenson. 

Kate and her priest sat in the little office in the building behind the church.

"What can I do for you?" The Priest asked.

"I have a problem. I need for someone to tell me how a good man can do something terrible without the slightest bit of remorse," Kate said.

"Yes Denny Morgan is a puzzle," the Priest said.

"You've heard."

"Of course, it's the first topic of conversation. The outsider Sheriff's deputy and the town's favorite son make interesting conversation."

"It's not all true or mostly not true...It's just that I'm having these feelings and I need help," she said. 

"I came from Boston originally, but I've been here a few years. Maybe it's my occupation or just my natural inclination, but I tend to remember the actual events, not what most people choose to remember," he said.

"What do you mean?" she said.

"Well take Denny. Most people remember the bright and happy kid. The young man who seemed to have the Midas touch. Yet his steelworker father died before he was five, a bridge accident I believe. I recall that his sister Ellen was the high school valedictorian. She was the girl with the bright future and a hovering mother who saw nothing as too good for her blue-eyed daughter. The son was the failure, the swimmer who missed the cut.

"Ellen went to an Ivy League College, I forget which. She attended medical school, but when her mother became sick, that was her brother's problem. When the mother died Ellen appeared briefly, oversaw the sale of the family home, took her share, and left her college-age brother to fend for himself as best he could. You see, Ellen had no use for her brother or the rest of the Morgan clan. They are a big but poor family. I believe she referred to them as trailer trash."

"You're saying he had a hard life," she said.

"No, I'm just remembering the facts. You must judge for yourself. His first wife was a pretty petite girl. I remember her as a few years younger than Denny, and maybe a person who was a bit immature. However, they were very much in love. Two people that made you smile when you saw them walking down the street holding hands.

"He was right out of law school and struggling to make their living. She took a job at the University as a secretary in the Anthropology Department. The man was visiting faculty from the West Coast. A big University put him on sabbatical for a year. Rumor said there was some scandal. They needed him gone for a while. The School here treated him like a prince. He was the big man from a big school.

"That professor was handsome enough, and he had sophistication I guess. Whatever it was, Denny's wife took up with him and left for California after the divorce. It seemed to me that the real Denny disappeared then and the current incarnation appeared.

"I'm not saying this is a bad thing. Five years ago when the roof blew off the Church during a winter storm, I spent a morning walking around in a hopeless fog. In the afternoon, the men and materials appeared to put on the roof. No payment needed, all taken care of by Denny Morgan."

"You haven't answered the question, Father. How could the man who fixed the Church roof and kept the Daycare open brutally rape his wife?" She said.

"Most people do not believe he did. Some do believe it but see the act as justified. I fear you fall into a small minority who believe he did it and should be punished. You must be in a difficult place because you are naturally attracted to his goodness. But repelled by the dark place that may lurk within." As he said this he put his arm around Kate and began to pray.

"Hail Mary, full of grace. Our Lord is with you.

Blessed are you among women,..." 

_____________________________________________________________

"You sure had me fooled," Jim Lefave said.

"What are you talking about?" Kate demanded

"You and Denny Morgan," he said.

It was Monday morning and she was at work. Everyone was looking at her funny. 

"Look you don't know what you are talking about. I was out this weekend with Dennis Morgan, but that is as far as it goes. We are not together. I'm not romantically involved with him," she said loud enough for others to hear.

"Well I hear different and from a reliable source," Jim said.

"Who would that be?" 

Karen got it direct from Alice Dupree, Dan Dupree's wife, and he is the cook at the Montague," Jim said.




Kate Gets Her Man Ch. 02



Karen was Jim's live in girlfriend.

"So you are taking the word of a cook over your partner."

"When my partner is a woman who never dates and suddenly is spending the weekend with the richest guy anyone knows, yea maybe. But Dan is closer to Denny than anyone. They're like brothers. Denny literally picked Dan out of the gutter, got him off drugs, and supported Alice and Dan's kids while he went through a treatment program. So when Dan says Denny's got it bad for you, I got to wonder, partner," Jim said.

Their patrol took them out toward Schuylerville. They drove away from the Lake, up into the foothills of the Adirondacks. The ride was straight, clear, and uneventful, so Kate had a lot of time to think. She had feelings for Morgan, but what were they? More to the point, what were his feelings for her? He was untrustworthy. Almost every word he spoke was designed to deceive. Didn't matter what was involved or who. He lied continually about himself. He concealed everything both good and bad.

"What do you know about Champagne?" she asked Jim.

"Know it cost more than beer." He said.

"Exactly," she said.

__________________________________________

"Dom Perignon! Sure, we got it."

The sales assistant in the wine warehouse was looking at the female Sheriff's deputy funny, but he led her back to where the high-end French wines were housed in a temperature-controlled room.

"We have a good 2009 which is only $167 a bottle and an exceptional 2005 which sells for $212 a bottle," the assistant said.

"What about a 2002?" she asked.

The assistant laughed, "If we had a 2002 - which we don't - it would top five hundred a bottle, best vintage in a long time."

Kate thanked the assistant, bought a nice bottle of Rhone, and joined her partner at lunch in the Brugger's Bagel shop.

"Find what you were looking for?" Jim asked over his chicken soup and a bagel sandwich.

"No, just a new question." she said.

"What's that?"

"Why does a banker send a bottle of five hundred dollar Champagne to a bar owner who doesn't have the credit to buy a new car?"

Jim had no answer. The Tyler County Bank President, Alan Dodge knew that answer, but would he tell? Before she spoke to Dodge, she would need to do a deal more investigating into who Dennis Morgan really is, and his true financial situation.

*****

 End of Part 2. If you think you know how it ends let me know. 



Kate Gets Her Man Ch. 03



 Once again thanks to Vickie for her help



 Kate sometimes wondered how her life would have turned out if she had never married. She had a promising career as a New York City Police officer before her disastrous marriage had forced her to abandon life in the big city. Few people realize how rural most of New York State is. Reach into its northern mountains and lakes and you find wilderness, poverty, and a highly unsophisticated way of life. Gone is the cosmopolitan to be replaced by an insular hostility to strangers and racial prejudice.

 Life as a single mother was difficult in a city if you had resources, but impossible without them. She did not regret her marriage or her choices because they provided the one gift that made life worthy while, Tommy. To Kate, her son was the reason she got out of bed each day. He was why she smiled through each adversity. 

 All she needed to make her life complete was that rarest of all things, a truly good man. She longed to be a mother again, to come home to a happy family. To have a father for her son and an unspecified number of siblings to keep him company. The most annoying thing in her life at the moment was the fact that every time her fantasy turned to the perfect man she thought of Dennis Morgan. 

 She spent Sunday night with her silver vibrating friend. She was a believer in building your pelvic muscles with kegel exercises. It was a wonderful excuse for pleasuring yourself and exercising at the same time. She could pull the vibrator into herself without the use of her hands. She spent an hour pulling the vibrator in and pushing it out. 

Using her fingers on her clit while moving the vibrator in and out with her pelvic muscles she drove herself to six orgasms. Afterward, she felt ashamed not because she pleasured herself, but because Dennis had invaded her thoughts. He was an intruder she could not keep out. She remembered how it felt to be helpless in his arms in the pool, the warm passion of his lips in his good night kiss, and his sensuous dark almost black eyes. He was a powerful, seductive presence, but one she must resist.

 Summers, Tommy spends his days at the Y's day camp. Kate would drop him off before her shift began at eight and try to pick him up as soon after four as she could. When she worked nights, she had to arrange for a sitter. Tommy was good about her night work. Ann Driscola, the elderly widow who lived up the road with her sister, needed to supplement her social security checks. Minding Tommy was a lot better than working at McDonald's as far as Ann was concerned. However, Ann didn't like working overnights. Seventeen- year-old Sophie was a good backup for Ann, but unavailable to sleep over alone.

 Kate would swap out her graveyard shifts, midnight to eight a.m. for the four to midnights that were the least desirable. Ann knew that the second shift would most often result in overtime for Kate and a resulting late night for Ann or Sophie. It was a situation that worked well for all of them.

 Normally Tommy was ready and waiting when Kate appeared at the Y's entrance, but not today. The girl at the desk informed her he was still in the pool, and so he was. He and Dennis Morgan were in the water together at the far end of the pool. There were half a dozen other young swimmers all getting instruction from Morgan.

 "Mom! Mom! Come see what I can do," Tommy called.

 Kate came to the pool edge as Tommy took off racing down the pool. Some of the other swimmers took off in pursuit. There was no doubt her son's swimming was improving. Reaching her, Tommy pulled himself expertly from the water.

 "Did you see?" He said.

 "Yes, you have gotten very good. I doubt I could catch you."

 "Denny's been teaching us. Did you know he was a champion swimmer?"

 "Yes, I did know that. He almost went to the Olympics I heard. Now it's time to go."

She sent Tommy off to the locker room as Denny came up.

 "So now you're a swim instructor," she said.

 "They needed someone to fill in between the basic and the advanced class," he said.

 "Let me guess, they figured this out when you volunteered today," she said.

 "Something like that," he said.

 "Well thank you. Tommy can use the instruction. He likes to swim as you apparently noticed, but his mother isn't much in the water," she said.

 "Doing anything for dinner tonight? I was going to grab a pizza," he said.

 "Sorry, you have most of the town believing that we are a couple. I would prefer not to add to the rumor." 

 Denny laughed, "Ok, Kate, deny it all you want, but when I want something I don't stop until the buzzer sounds," he said.

 Tommy was not as accepting of her refusal.

 "Why can't we go for pizza with Denny?" Tommy demanded.

 "Because we don't need to see Mr. Morgan every day."

 "We don't, we didn't see him yesterday."

 "It was Sunday, but we saw him both Friday night and all day Saturday."

 "It's not fair, he's my friend and you don't like him."

There is no reasoning with an eight-year-old. Dennis Morgan sure knew her Achilles heel, but she was determined that Morgan would not use her son against her. Though as the saying goes, the best-laid plans of mice and road patrol sergeants....

________________________________________________________

 "Sorry Kate," Jack Ferguson said.

 "Look, please, can't you pick someone else?" Kate said.

 "It's not till August. That gives you two weeks to find a sitter. We need a senior officer to be watch supervisor. With all the vacations in August, we are short. But be happy the Sheriff himself suggested you. He's got great confidence in you, and frankly so have I since you put all that Denny Morgan nonsense behind you." 

 There was no use arguing with Jack either about the assignment or about Morgan's guilt. But what was she to do about Tommy? Ann didn't like sleeping over and Kate was none too sure the older woman could handle the job. Sophie was too young to cover late nights like that. She was pondering her predicament as she reached her desk.

 "Congratulations, lieutenant," Jim Lefave said.

 "What?" she said.

 "Acting third watch commander, Next step is Lieutenant. It will make you the first female in that job. Bet you get the bars by year end," Jim said.

 "Slow down partner and remember I'm an outsider and a single parent with a young child. Got any idea who I can get to provide overnight care?"

 "I would assume your boyfriend would. He's been spending every day at the Y in the pool with your son."

 "Firstly he is not my boyfriend and second he is a violent criminal. How could I leave my son with him?"

 "You got to be kidding me. You been on the job almost four years and he's the only guy you've ever been out with. Last five weeks you been seen with him at least a dozen times. I hear he's been to your house. People say he's crazy about you and your kid. If you're not his girl what's going on?" Jim said.

 It was true enough. Dennis was like catnip to her. Try as she might she could not leave him alone. He would ask her out three or four times and she would resist, only to give in the four or fifth time he tried. And he never stopped asking or slacked off his assault, not one bit. They had stopped running separately in the mornings, and now ran together whenever possible. She wouldn't swim with him because he took advantage. When they were together in the water, she couldn't keep his hands off her. The worst part was, she knew she wanted his hands on her body and his lips touching hers.

If Tommy had his way, his friend Denny would spend every night with them. The two were good together. They played video games together and planned their next day's activities. But it wasn't just Kate keeping them apart. Morgan had a bar to run. Whatever else he did or didn't do, Morgan ran the Montague from seven at night to 2 a.m. in the morning. Tuesday through Sunday Dennis was in a Montague back booth, with only the occasional night off when he dated Kate.

 "Who fills in for you when we go out?" she asked.

 "Dan Dupree, of course, the best friend I ever had."

 "I heard it the other way around that you pulled him from the gutter."

 "You know you are not a very forgiving woman. We all have our problems, it's what we do to solve them makes us who we are. Helping others is the best way to solve your own problems. Don't look at what I did for Dan. Think of what helping Dan did for me."

 "You are the strangest man I ever met, Dennis," Kate said.

 "Why can't you call me Denny like everyone else?"

 "Because Denny is the mask you wear. I want the man behind the front."

She kissed her Dennis then. It wasn't planned, she just did not stop herself. 

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

"I don't know Jim. I have feelings for Dennis it's true, but how do you trust a man whose whole existence is a lie," she said.

Jim LeLave could only shake his head. If there was a more unlikely couple than Keenan and Morgan he had never heard of them, but something you could not quite explain existed in both of them. It was as if something larger than romance was at work. Something in their stars perhaps.

Kate fought it for ten days before she gave up and called Denny.

"I need a favor," she said. 

They were at the Lakeside Dinner. It was lunch time she had invited him for once. As usual she could feel every eye in the place on them when they came in. However, attentions soon waned now that everyone seemed to regard them as a couple.

"Anything I can do for you," he said.

"I need to work the third shift the month of August that's the midnight to eight a.m. shift, but I don't have anyone to watch Tommy."

"Yes you do, me," he said.

"I can arrange coverage until you get off at 2 a.m.," she said.

"Why I'll be at you place every night by 11:30," he said.

"But the bar?"

He reached across the table looked her hard in the eyes.

"If it is a choice between the Montague and Tommy or you what do you think wins?" he said.

Kate looked down She couldn't speak for a moment, her heart felt like it was in her throat.

"I don't know what to say but thank you," she said tears touching the corner of her eyes.







________________________________________________________

By the end of her first week as watch supervisor Kate was exhausted. She'd had only the one bad accident on the Thruway and it had involved no death. She'd been required to kick the State Police off the accident scene -- the most corrupt and useless police force in the United States had been blocking traffic and the emergency vehicles with their patrol cars. Other than that incident she'd had a quiet sit down job. The only burden of the job was the astonishing amount of paperwork.

On her first night, she had expected the usual good-natured hazing. She'd gone near the whole shift before she needed to use the ladies room only to find it locked with no key to be found. If this was the best they could do, they were in for a shock. She walked right into the men's room, locking the door behind her. But all the stalls were latched from the inside. It took her a good ten minutes to get one open.

When she emerged, she got a bucket of ice water over her head before they all shared a celebratory cake with 'Miss Kitty' written in big letters. She'd been accepted as the new watch commander by the good old boys. When she kicked the State Police butts, she earned both their respect and their loyalty.   

Returning home, she found Tommy up and dressed for camp and breakfast prepared for her. The beds were all made and sundry other chores performed. She tried to tell Dennis he did not have to do this, but he refused to listen. She knew her resolve, where Dennis Morgan was concerned, was slipping. She began to consider the possibility that you had to accept the facts as you knew them rationally. This man was no rapist and it seemed impossible he could have committed the crime. Maybe things between them could go somewhere.

Kate was in the watch commander's office when she saw Don Walker trying to sneak in. She caught him before he could reach the men's locker room.

 "Hold it! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be on the Interstate!" she said.

 When he turned, she saw the reason for his early return to the station.

"Jesus, please tell me you ran into a bear," she said.

There were four long deep scratches from his mid-right cheek down over his jaw line to his neck. All he could do was look guilty as she led him toward her office and the emergency medical kit.

 When she had him seated, she began cleaning his wound.

 "Alright, Who, When, Where, and Why, and it better be good," she said.

He hesitated partly in fear, but mostly embarrassment.

 "I stopped Claire Trudeau for a broken tail light and, well, one thing led to another," he said.

 "One more chance to tell me on your own," she said.

 "Ok, Ok. Claire and I go back to high school when she was plain old Claire Morgan living in a trailer with her Mohawk father and her black mother. We dated. I was on the football team and she was a cheerleader. So I stopped her tonight and I made a suggestion that we get together again," he said.

 "In other words, you made a sexual proposition to a married woman while on duty," she said.

 He gave her a pleading look just before he flinched as she began coating the wound with iodine. 

 "All right, give me the exact words you used," she said.

 "I can't remember exactly. You have to understand, before she was some big ass ski center manager and restaurateur she was just another dark skinned slut. So maybe I said something like why not meet me behind the Wal-Mart like old times—I'm way better than that fat husband of yours. And she does this and gives me a kick in the chins." 

 "OMG, you realize the complaint she's going to file," Kate said.

 "Never gonna happen, not with you here," he said.

 "What are you talking about?"

 "She's Denny's cousin. He built that restaurant for her husband and the Ski Center for her, but that's just by the way. The Morgans all stick together. Black, white, and mostly red, no Morgan hurts another and if you fight one, you better look over your shoulder to see if the others are coming."

 He wasn't just a macho asshole. He was an idiot good only for manning a radar gun.

 "Ok get out of here. You got mauled by a bear if anyone asks. But be aware, one more sexual advance to anyone while on duty and I will personally cut your balls off and stuff them down your throat," she said. She stood, and he got out of her office.

She sat down again and hammered her fist on the desk. Just when she was beginning to convince herself that Morgan was innocent, this comes up. They must all have known that Scott Tillman, Desdemona's lover, worked for Dennis' cousin, but no one had said a word. Claire was one of the missing pieces. She must have learned from Tillman where the couple would be on a night that Dennis could reach out and strike. Plotting what looked like an impulsive act. How long had they planned, and how many were ultimately involved? Don Walker had said the Morgans stick together.

_________________________________________________________

The young black woman was bawling orders to big coarse looking workmen in backhoes and bulldozers. She had a line of men working with shovels and others with crowbars shifting boulders. The mountain looked as if it was bleeding from a series of scars. The iron-rich rock was being leveled and shaped into the base for the snow that would be coming soon, both manmade and natural. 

It had been three weeks since Kate had learned the connection between Claire Trudeau and Dennis Morgan. They had been hard weeks with her torn between what she saw as her duty, and the love she knew she felt for this man who had come into her life. Through gentle persuasion, Dennis Morgan had convinced her that she could have a meaningful life with a man. 

These had been weeks of financial researching, and calls to an old police academy friend who now specialized in financial crimes. Those had been interesting conversations about the true state of the economy and how America's corrupt banking system actually works. A surprising number of financially sound small banks had failed while the large insolvent institutions that had caused the financial crisis survived with infusions of taxpayer money. The big banks were even allowed to enrich themselves further at the expense of the small banks.

The Tyler County Bank and Trust survived, but Alan Dodge refused to say why. He wouldn't lie, he just would not talk. It was anything you want Ms. Keenan, except the truth.

 "For a special friend of Denny Morgan whatever we can do, but the bank finances and Mr. Morgan's relationship with the bank we discuss only with the regulators."

Claire saw Kate approach and she didn't smile. This was a tough, determined woman, Kate decided. She knew what Claire could do to a man, but she was undeterred. This had to be done.

"I'm—" Kate began

"I know who you are Sergeant, and why you have come," Claire said.

"People think this is a seasonal business and we have off when it isn't snowing, but we're constantly fighting to maintain it. It takes a lot of sweat and effort to keep people happy and relatively safe on these slopes," Claire said, turning to Kate. 

"I'm not here to trap you or cause you trouble—" Kate said.

"No, you just want the truth, which is the one thing that will destroy us all. So why don't we walk down to the lodge building? We have hot and cold drinks and food for the crews down there," Claire said. She turned without waiting for a reply.

They found seats in the empty lodge building and Claire served coffee and Danish.

"It's already getting cold up here. Could be a good year," Claire said.

"Are you very profitable?" Kate asked.

"We do better than most thanks to Denny. He knew to put most of the money into the amenities. You never make money off the actual skiing. It's in all those extras. The food, drink, equipment you can sell," Claire said.

"I imagine your husband is a great help with the food and drink," Kate said.

"Charlie knows his business and that happens to be a kitchen, but you have to watch his expenses like a hawk."

"Especially since you're all broke," Kate said taking a sip of coffee but never taking her eyes off Claire.

"So you know. Denny said you would eventually get on to us. You certainly are no Desdemona," Claire said.

"She never caught on?"

"That stupid bitch. If she knew there was no money how long do you think she would have stayed? She is only good on her back and she thinks with what is between her legs," Claire said as her lips twisted and her eyebrows raised in disgust.

"But she would have known as soon as they got to the actually financial discovery. The minute they got past the assets into the liabilities and saw how all of this was pledged against the liabilities of the Tyler County Bank," Kate said motioning to the buildings and grounds around her.

Claire shrugged, "It wasn't expected to go on this long. The recovery has been exceptionally slow. Denny had no choice as he saw it. He could have saved himself, but only at the expense of all the rest of us. Allen was a wreck, I think he was contemplating suicide. None of us did anything wrong. A bunch of guys on Wall Street cheated, stole, and misjudge. My Mohawk grandmother was right, you can't trust Americans, only your own people."

"So everything Dennis Morgan owns and all the income is propping up a failing bank?"

"Not failing just undercapitalized. We couldn't let the regulators come in and take over. The FDIC would pay the small depositors by calling every loan the Bank had. The ski lodge, the Water Park, Belle Claire, Mama Lupe's and more than half the home mortgages in the county. We all would be back living in trailers."




Kate Gets Her Man Ch. 03



"Would that be so bad?"

"Easy for you to ask that, with your white skin, green eyes and blond hair. But take a good hard look at Denny. He's got the same white skin almost, but that's it. That renegade sister of his couldn't get away fast enough. There's a big difference between her and Denny. He will never turn his back on us. The bar was debt free, and so were the breweries and the Hop farms. He could have walked away, but he didn't."

"So Desi had to be taken care of."

"Greedy bitch! Denny could never resist a good looking blond. The light eyes, the pretty curl to the hair. Said she loved him, wanted children. Well, she lied and then she planned a divorce. I guess you figured it when that useless excuse for a man Tillman bragged about how they were going to be rich. Loverboy told his buddies all about it. What they did and where they did it. Unfortunately, for lover boy his cronies were more concerned with keeping their jobs."

"They told you when and where?" Kate said.

"Pretty much, Denny's house was just a short drive along the old reservation line. The one the County refuses to honor," Claire said.

"You naturally needed to stop them before the world found out how precarious the Morgan finances actually are. Can't afford a run on the bank can we," Kate said.

"Seems to me you're pretty smug for a woman who just found out her man is broke and deep in debt."

"Maybe because I was seeking something other than money. Maybe I was looking for a man who was worth loving," Kate said.

Claire seemed to reflect on this as if something inside her was warring with itself.

"You almost make me believe that Denny found the blond he was looking for this time," Claire said.

"I don't know that to be true because I don't believe I can get past what Denny did no matter how much he believed he had to do it."

As Kate got up to go, Claire stood pressed her clenched fists against the table and spoke the words that would truly trouble Kate. 

"Think about this Sergeant. Some of us thought that the best solution was to eliminate the problem entirely and very permanently. It was Denny who refused the best solution." 

Kate was under no illusion that Claire Morgan was incapable of homicide, or that she lacked the ability or the necessary accomplices to make Desdemona Morgan permanently disappear. You only had to look up at the Mountain to know what Claire's faction of the mixed race Morgan family would have done without the slightest hesitation.

_________________________________________________________

"Come in Sergeant, I've been expecting you," the Honorable Ed. Reagan said, swinging his screen door wide so she could enter.

"Thank you, Judge," Kate said.

"Not judge anymore, but I do make a passable ice tea and I love company, especially those who come looking to solve mysteries," he said.

He seated her in the pleasant living room of his modest ranch home. The house had an empty feeling, as if it were waiting for someone to come home and fill it with life.

"Do you miss your wife a great deal?" she asked.

"Shows, does it?" he replied.

"A bit," she said.

"Well it's hard to lose someone you spent two-thirds of your life loving, but I am getting by. I must admit I owe a bit of a debt to that rascal Denny Morgan, who I presume you have come about."

"Yes, but you are the only one who has had a bad word to say about him," she said.

"Oh don't misunderstand me. Being a judge is a boring job, the worst part of which is that you are cut off from the association of your legal colleagues. The only people you associate with on a daily basis are your fellow jurists, as dull a bunch as ever there was.

"But Denny Morgan has a gift. A very amusing man in a courtroom. He can hold the attention of a crowd. More than a comic, he is a magician. He has any number of tricks. The rabbit from his hat, birds fly from his hands, and he can make any card in the deck appear at will. A very clever fellow indeed," the former judge said shaking his head.

"Yes, I always looked forward to Denny appearing before me. He was never dull and he always brought a surprise with him. That is why like you, I am of the opinion that he did what he was accused of, but I doubt anyone could ever prove his guilt," the old Judge said.

"But you are the principal witness to his alibi," Kate protested.

"And a truer statement I never made. I refuse to lie in any cause. The ends never justify the means of themselves. I saw Denny Morgan there that night, I am in no doubt of this. He is nothing if not eccentric. One of the richest men around, and always in a worn blue blazer from the Gentlemen's Warehouse. You could not mistake it or that Cornell Law School ring on his finger flashing in the dim lighting of that one-time biker bar. I can see him in my mind now half hidden in the back booth. He is watching everything that goes on in his bar. Nothing gets past Denny Morgan that takes place in the Montague. I am sitting at the bar by that Seventy Inch Sony watching the Yankees, but Denny is watching me and everyone else.

"If this was some magician's trick it was worthy of any stage in Vegas. I can't lie, if he left that night, he fooled me and every other pair of eyes in that establishment. I can swear to nothing but the fact I saw him there. I am sorry young woman I cannot reassure you that he is innocent, but I can do nothing less than testify to that unlikely fact."

Kate pursed her lips. She had no idea what to do. She was sure Denny had done what she arrested him for, but how he did it seemed as much a mystery as ever.

The Judge leaned forward a small smile broke his craggy face. 

"You know young woman, I have a lot of years on you so listen when I tell you that we are most effective when we learn to let the ones we can't win go."

"I guess you are right in a law enforcement sense, but personally it causes me a problem," she said.

"Well, I see your problem. And all I can say—having lived the greater part of my life with another, is that it isn't your intellect that keeps you together, but your heart," the old man said a tear trickling down his face.

Kate leaned forward placed a kiss on his worn cheek and said "Thank you, Judge, and retired though you may be, I have never known a man more worthy of the title."

___________________________________________________________

Kate was waiting at the kitchen table when Denny walked in at 11:30 p.m.

"You're not in your uniform," he said.

"That's because I have my four-day break," she said.

"Oh, so you don't need me to watch Tommy?" he asked.

"No, and he is at my mother's for a week. I made the arrangements yesterday and packed him off on the plane today. Mom called to say he arrived safe," she said.

"Well I guess I'll be going," he said

"I need you to stay. We need to talk and then I need you to make love to me," she said.

Denny fell back into one of the kitchen chairs, stunned by her words.

Kate's green eyes looked into his dark ones. Yes, she could see it. Very faint, but there was the non-European blood, the Mohawk blood diluted by countless generations of intermarriage. She could see the years of hurt from betrayal that left him suspicious and yes, violent. The generosity and loyalty to his family and to so many others that coexisted with a deep resentment. How much of what had happened to Desdemona was caused by greed and how much by anger? You would never be able to tell.

She broke the spell, "I know you did it, and I know you had your reasons. Some of the motive was selfless, but what you let loose was a violence that is part of you. Nevertheless, I love you and want you and I can't stop myself from loving and wanting you."

"Kate, I—"

"Let me finish. I don't believe I will ever be able to prove what you did. You're very smart and you had help from sources I can only guess at. So we are going to put this behind us, pretend it doesn't exist. All I want for now is for us to make love."

"Ok, fine by me, but I want to be honest about my situation. I'm broke, all I have is debts—"

She stopped his words with a kiss. Took his hand and led him up the stairs to her bedroom.



In her bedroom, she stripped him, not letting him help, then pushed him down on her bed. She began a slow strip tease for him, watching his erection rise. When she had him up and herself stripped she kneeled over him, straddling his legs.

When he realized what she was about to do, he said, "That's not necessary," and tried to rise.

She pushed him down saying "My house, my bed, and...MY COCK."

She had taken hold of his cock as she said this last, and slipped the head into her mouth. Her tongue danced across his urethra and slipped beneath his foreskin. Denny had never appreciated a blow job before but he quickly realized that this was to oral sex as the Mona Lisa was to portraits. Millimeter by millimeter she took him in. He was no more than half way home and ready to cum when she eased back.

"Calm down, we have a long way to go before you cum in my mouth and I swallow your seed," she said.

She nearly put him over right then.

"This is rather unexpected," he said.

She laughed, "Well for once I'm the one doing the surprising."

She slipped him back in her mouth and continued her slow descent until her nose was buried deep in his pubic hair. The scent of his musky sex sent a deep longing pleasure through her body. It had been so long and her need was so great. 

 She held him in her throat. Squeezed him with her throat muscles and then released him back him out. She estimated he had one more deep go in him and she was right. As she backed him out the second time, he let loose in her hungry mouth. She lost all control then as if someone had flipped a switch sending her into high gear. 

 It took all Denny's strength to wrestle control from her. He ended on top, his mouth smothering hers, his tongue fighting hers for control. For the first time in his life, he tasted cum, but she had him lusting so much for her he was beyond caring.

 Denny moved down to try and return the favor.

 "No, you don't need to do that," she said.

Now it was his turn to laugh. "Need to, I can't stop myself."

 He began licking her from behind her knees, up her thighs, while his fingers alternated teasing her sex and her breasts. When his tongue reached her vulva, she moaned. When he finally touched her clitoris, she let out a scream.

 Denny found she had a clit like a small angry thumb sticking out from its hood. He teased it, barely touching it with his tongue while his fingers began a slow exploration of her lower body. She began to beg him to finish her.

 "I'm close, Dennis please, I just need a little more," she said.

 "Sorry Kate, payback is a bitch," he said.

 He tormented her, keeping her on the edge until suddenly he sucked her clit into his mouth and reached his hands up to assault her breasts. What followed was a powerful orgasm that sent her thighs trembling and left her limp as a boiled noodle.

 They lay cuddling for a while.

 "I'm almost to my time of the month. It should start over the weekend, so I'm safe," she said.

 "And if you're not?" he said.

 "I guess I should warn you I really want children. It's just who I am," she said, turning to look deeply into his eyes. He smiled back at her.

 "I will hold you to that promise," he said.

 Those were the words that sealed their bargain. He could not marry her -- he was still legally married to Desdemona. What followed were months of secret sex and emotional frustration. Fall arrived and seemed quickly replaced by winter. 

 It was on a night following a day of legal maneuvering between Denny and his estranged wife that Kate delivered the news. Tillman had left the field, scurried off to Aspen in an attempt to put his ski bum life back on track. Desdemona was still stubbornly fighting for a payday.

 "Denny, I missed my friend," Kate said

 "What friend?" Denny asked, distracted by troubling thoughts as to what might happen to his current wife if she continued to hold out for money.

 "The one that visits every twenty-eight days," Kate said.

 "Fuck...No sorry, I'm happy—but you know...bad timing,"

Their heads came together and their arms wrapped around each other. They were in love and they wanted the child they had made together.

______________________________________________________________

Ferguson called her in to give the heads up.

"Sheriff is going to announce it just before Christmas. So congratulations," Ferguson said.

Kate was pleased, but her happiness was tempered by wondering what the reaction was going to be when everyone learned that the new lieutenant was an unwed mother. 

She called Denny. "I just made lieutenant, love," she said.

"Congratulations! You deserve it! And will make the prettiest lieutenant anyone has ever seen."

"Until they notice I'm pregnant," she said.

Denny went quiet.

"You still there?" she asked.

"Don't worry Claire is going to take care of things," he said.

"What things!—Dennis WHAT things?"

"I'll tell you later," he said and hung up.

She tried to get him back, but her calls went to voice mail.

She drove to Belle Claire. Whatever it was she had to stop it. When she arrived, it was early afternoon. A sign said the restaurant was closed for the day. She found Charlie Trudeau seated in the main dining room sipping a glass of wine. A half-full bottle sat on the table.

 "It isn't that bad," he said, speaking more to himself than Kate.

 "Where can I find Claire— at the Ski Lodge?" she asked.

 Charlie gave a sad sigh and took another sip of his wine.

 "All the rest is gone, all my Grand Cru, just the California Plunk left," he said

 "Charlie what are you talking about? And where is Claire? It is very important."

 "She took it, sold everything. It was a great cellar. They sold the hop farms. They even mortgaged the Montague."

 "Why?" she asked, dropping into a seat across the table from him.

 Charlie reached across, grasped her hands.

"Family, it was always about family. Can't let you down. So Desi gets her money. Not what she dreamed of...but then that was always just a fantasy."

They were silent looking at each other. Kate broke the silence, "How much?"

Charlie shrugged, "My woman doesn't bother me with such things, several millions I guess. The wine alone was a fortune.... Here, try this wine -- it is not all that bad," he said.

That is how it was done. Desi was gone and the marriage was on. No real proposal, but then none was needed. 

The wedding was meant to be a simple affair, but it quickly became apparent that the little Catholic Chapel would not hold all those who wished to attend the ceremony. They had to wait for good weather so a tent could be raised outside, and for Denny to finalize his divorce. The settlement covered all claims, with both parties releasing each other and the divorce granted as a no fault on consent.

 So on an early spring day, beneath a clear blue sky, Father Stevenson conducted the ceremony. He had worked very hard to nullify Kate's first marriage and was pleased to see the large crowd gather on the church lawn. They spilled over onto the University playing fields as their ranks passed two thousand.

 Mama Lupe hosted the reception with the help of Charlie Trudeau. By day's end, they had run out of everything but beer. It seemed everyone was drinking but the bride, who was by that time four months pregnant. Lieutenant Keenan's fellow officers made up for her abstemiousness by over indulging. The new commander of the second watch was fortunately on her honeymoon for a week, so they would not need to face her ire the following day. 

 Kate found herself poor but happily married and on her way to becoming what everyone believed would be the first female sheriff of Tyler County. After all, she now was Kathryn Morgan, the wife of the most popular man in the County. She had everything a woman could want until the night she walked into the Montague. 

 Kate was near six months pregnant. It was a hard pregnancy because she was carrying twins. Good old Denny had forgotten to tell her the Morgans were prone to twins. She had the worst of the three shifts, but it was Wednesday night, the slowest day of the week, and Sergeant Jim Lefave was helping her.

 Just before Nine o'clock she decided to visit her husband instead of eating her dinner and then regurgitating in back into the porcelain bowl as she usually did. A nice ginger ale and a little loving and commiseration from her husband were in order.

  Kate walked into the Montague right at nine and waved to Lottie as she headed for the back booth. There she found Denny seated almost hidden by the booth, drinking coffee. He smiled as he saw her.

 "Well this is a nice surprise," he said. 

She kissed him as she awkwardly sat down, maneuvering her belly to slide into the booth next to her husband. She pulled down on her uniform skirt. Pants were no longer an option with the extended belly. Whatever physical intimidating she still commanded was in the authority of her voice, not the motherly shape she now had.

 As Denny slipped his arm around her, a figure emerged from behind the booth.

 "Payday Denny," Dan Dupree said.

 Dan was a small man, if anything an inch or so smaller than his boss. His dark hair had a touch of gray, but the two men had a degree of familial similarity. Up close you would never fail to distinguish them, But from a distance? Say across a crowded barroom. In the dim light?

 Denny reached into his jacket for the kitchen payroll checks. 

Wednesday was the day the payroll was received by express mail from the Rochester payroll company. Kate pulled herself up to look over the back of the booth where a hidden door was now open.



 "HOLD IT," she said as Denny passed the payroll check to a suddenly nervous Dan.

 "So that was how it was done! Dan comes out of the kitchen after the staff has left. He flips off the lights at the breaker box, changes into the jacket, puts on the ring, and sits in the booth. You leave and flip on the lights as you go. A short drive down the old reservation road you know so well. A brief bit of violence and then when you come back, the process is reversed. Everyone sees just what they expect to see. No one looks close because they have no reason to. I got you, Dennis Morgan," Kate said.

"Calm down now, it's not good for the babies," Denny said patting her arm. Denny sighed, "It's ok, Dan. Give the boys their checks and go home. Give Alice and my little cousins a kiss for me," he said.

"No, no, you're under arrest! It's my duty! It will be alright, I will stand by you, but you're caught!" she said.

"I'm very sorry," Denny said. "But I can't let you embarrass the Sheriff or DA, Simons any more than we have done already. Whatever you know is useless. You're my wife and it's all privileged. "

"But—but I know," she said.

"Yes, you are very smart and good at what you do, but so am I. Believe me when I tell you, the minute you open that lovely mouth of yours, all that will happen is that everything you say and all the information that comes from there can never be used again. You're my wife now. They can't use what you know against me. So please be considerate and don't make things awkward for everyone. Poor Frank has to stand for reelection next year, you know." 

It hit Kate like a bucket of ice water. He had outmaneuvered her from the first.

 "Dennis Morgan you are a snake. The most treacherous creature God ever made," she said, and then she smiled as the thought hit her.

 She climbed over him till she had her knees straddling him with her big belly pushing against him. She reached down and undid his pants.

 "What are you doing?" he asked.

 "What do you think? The elastic snapped on my last good set of underpants today. In this dress, I walked right out of them. It was very embarrassing."




Kate Gets Her Man Ch. 03



"You can't do this here!" he said.

She pulled his hardening cock out. She spit in her palm, then lubricated him. It took a bit of doing, but she got him in as her smiled widened.

 "I got you, Mr. Morgan. You smart ass attorney," she crowed.

 "Please—people will see," he pleaded.

 "We're hidden in this booth," she said.

 "I am, but you're not. You stick up over the top. People will know what you are doing," he said.

 "So, I'm your wife. For better or in this case for worse. Can't divorce me now can you?" she said.

 "No, I can't, but I never thought you would take advantage of the situation. After all, we love each other."

 "Love is only a mitigating circumstance. Dennis Morgan, I sentence you to life without benefit of parole," Kate said and then pulled her vagina over his male member and into her tight grip. He gasped, as it felt like she had a vice between her legs. Dennis Morgan was trapped beneath Lieutenant Kathryn Keenan Morgan's pregnant body.

"Told you that you could not escape me," Kate said, leaning in to whisper into his ear and press her cheek to his.

"Who said I wanted to?" came his reply.

They made love in the back of the seedy Montague bar off Capulet Street. They were only partially hidden by the deep booth. Two lovers who should not have been. By common understanding, they were the richest couple in Tyler County, and who are we to disagree? 



Well there you have it. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing. Please let me hear your thoughts.



Kate Gets Her Man



Experts would have said that Tom Sullivan was a classic example of a domestic abuser. In public a loving husband and victim of an unsympathetic spouse, but at home a bit worse for the drink, an abusive and violent man. Kate came to know Tom Sullivan as a cheating, selfish, and immature individual with no impulse control. The kind of man no intelligent woman would stay married to.

Still, Kate forgave him twice for beating her. She knew this was two chances too many, but she did it for her son's sake. She walked after the third beating. It was either that or pull her service issue automatic the next time, and she was determined not to kill her son's father. There followed four years of hell. Everyone was on his side. He was required to pay child support but failed to pay.

The Courts were crowded and slow, and his family's overpriced attorney worked them like a fiddle. She finally threw her hands up and took the job at the other end of the state. He threatened to block her move until his attorney explained that the deal included no child support payments. 

_____________________________________________________

Late Wednesday night with little Tommy in bed asleep Kate slipped on her shorty nightgown. It had been six years since she'd had a man in her life. She was no lesbian, she needed the feel of a man's hard body. She missed the touch of a man's rough skin and the tickle of his beard in her private places.

She lay down on the queen-size bed she'd brought with her from New York. It was the bed she had purchased with Tom for their first apartment. The bed they'd made love in. She would push him down on this bed, undo his belt, and pull down his pants till she exposed his cock. Then she'd run her tongue around the helmet of his sex. As he hardened, she'd lick up the sides. When the moment was right, she'd take him into her mouth. She did it slowly, working him into her mouth a little deeper with each stroke of her head. He would moan and try to push deeper, but she'd hold him back. She loved a man in her mouth almost as much as in her pussy. Taking Tom this way first meant he would last longer later when he was buried deep inside her.

At first she had not enjoyed the taste of semen, but now she missed it as much as the taste of his cock. She'd work him slowly into her throat till her nose was buried in the musky fragrance of his pubic hair. Then holding him still locked in her throat, she'd use her throat muscles to gently massage his cock head until he'd beg for release. Then she'd take him fast till he erupted into her mouth.

He would try to pull away after he came, but she would lock her arms around him until she had sucked down the last drop of his discharge. It was a blowjob technique she had taken instruction on. 

Kate had been a virgin three months before marrying the exceptional handsome Thomas A. Sullivan. Tommy was a boy who—if the girls could be believed—had a lot of experience. Kate had wanted to bring something to her wedding night her husband would remember and for which there would be no regrets on her performance.

For three weeks, she'd searched for someone who could tell her how to fellatio her man. She asked almost every hooker she encountered on and off the job. She'd tried to be discreet, hiding this from Todd Wilson, the experienced officer she had been teamed with as a rookie. 

Then one day Wilson said, "My wife wants you to come to dinner next Tuesday."

"Ok, should I bring my fiancee?"

"Not a good idea. It's my poker night, and the youngest will be sleeping over with a friend. Understand?" he said with a slow nod of his head.

Doris Wilson was a woman in her early fifties. She had the rounded figure that comes with age and menopause, but she was still a handsome woman. She sat Kate down at the Wilson's kitchen table and brought out a set of six phalluses. The instruction took two hours. There were jokes, giggles and much blushing from Kate's side of the table.

Over soup, Kate asked the question that had slowly begun to form, "Can I ask who taught you?"

"The madam in my first house ... Oh, don't be so shocked. My Todd knows, he arrested me several times before he worked up to asking me out. And yes that was the last time I turned a trick."

"And it wasn't a problem?"

Doris waved at the line of fake cocks. "There are many kinds of cocks but only two types of men. The kind worth having and the kind that are not worth your effort. Unfortunately, the first kind are small in number and the other far too many.

"With the good kind of man sex is the smallest part of the relationship. The right man will forgive anything for the woman he loves, and she must be willing to do the same for him," Doris said.

Doris gave her some final advice, "Remember, always finish him in your mouth and let him see you swallow his cum. It drives them crazy. You will get used to the taste."

"You don't find it a bit gross?" Kate said.

"You eat raw oysters?"

"Yes."

"First time did you think it a bit gross?"

Kate only nodded her head in reply.

"Trust me, girl, if you learn to give him pleasure you will learn to enjoy it," Doris said.

So Kate learned to give head from a woman who had mastered the art, and she had a real surprise for her husband on her wedding night. He surprised her as well. She thought his penetration would hurt her, but it didn't. Sex was something she came to with low expectations, and she was vastly surprised. What she didn't get was the love of a good man. 

The first year of her marriage, she wore her husband out in the bedroom. Most days she fucked him until he was too limp to perform. But even in those days there were warning signs he had a roving eye. She often felt when they were out together that he was barely with her. It would have been so easy to cheat on him, but she would never do that. She was a one man woman. She just had the wrong man, and now she had none.

She was so horny and had no cock. So she reached deep into the drawer of her bedside table and brought out her silver bullet. The battery operated toy would have to do. As usual.

______________________________________________________

Thursday morning she rose early to put Tommy on the school bus. He needed to be out the door by 7:17 a.m. as they were at the top of the bus route. It was the start of her four days off and that gave her time to investigate Denny Morgan. She was parked outside Morgan's apartment by seven thirty. Denny had been ordered out of his home on Ganienkeh Road and had moved into one of the numerous rental apartments he owned in the college town. 

Normally Kate had a good morning run after putting Tommy on the bus. She had heard that Denny Morgan ran in the mornings as well and decided to follow him at a discrete distance, letting him know he was being watched and hadn't gotten away with it.

At seven forty-five Denny exited the top floor rear of an older two family house. He ran south toward the University campus. Kate followed him. He kept a good pace until he reached what she knew to be the College cross country route. At that point, he took off. He was remarkably fast for a small man. 

He must have run a good ten miles before his route took him back home. Kate was winded but unbowed. She had kept up with the man. Of course, he was more than a half-foot shorter and ten years her senior, but she still felt she had accomplished her task. A half hour later he stepped out of his house and entered his vehicle. His car she felt an odd choice for an attorney. He drove a ten-year-old Honda Pilot. Not the prestige car she would have expected.

Denny stopped at the municipal lot off the Main Street. He entered the Lakeside Diner about 8:45—in good investigator fashion she made note of the time he left his home and reached the Diner. The Lakeside Diner was not by the lake but in the town center. Nor was it a traditional diner, located as it was in a nineteenth-century commercial building. It was, however, a local hangout favored by the legal and political crowd.

Thirty minutes later Denny exited the diner and walked the half block to where his legal office was located in a mid-block storefront. Kate entered the diner and took a seat where she could watch his office.

She had barely settled in with a coffee and bowl of hot cereal when Deputy Don Walker walked in with his road patrol partner.

"Hey what you doing here, Sarge?" he said.

"Having breakfast," she replied.

Don was one of those men who never understood the word NO when uttered by the female gender. He was in his mid-thirties, determinedly single and extreme good looking. Add his six-foot athletic body and he did not actually often hear No. He had been after Kate since her first day in the Sheriff's office, and he was the source of rumors about her sexuality. 

It was not that Kate was not attracted, but he was way too similar in personality and manner to her ex-Husband. Still, she was coming to the realization that if something didn't happen soon she would have to bed the bastard if only to get some relief. Toys were useful, but she needed the real thing.

Don and his partner gathered their take-out coffees and departed. They were no sooner gone when a thirtyish blond woman in business dress sat down at Kate's table. 

"Hello, I'm Alice—"

"Blake. I know who you are, Counselor, and who you represent," said Kate to the attorney she knew represented Desi Morgan.

"Good, I was hoping we could help each other," said Alice.

"Sorry, I work for the Sheriff and my investigations are not public unless he says so," Kate said.

"Let me rephrase. I was hoping to help you with the information I have," Alice said.

"I'm not sure that we are still investigating your client's attack," Kate said warily.

"Well, I heard that you are not the kind of officer who gives up so easily. So let me share this with you," Alice said, discreetly passing a document to Kate. 

"When you read it you will see it is a financial statement for Dennis Morgan. It shows him to be far wealthier than anyone around this town suspects, but if I were to guess it shows only a small fraction of his real net worth. 

"You see, everyone looks at Denny and says that is not the kind of man to jealously attack his spouse and her lover. But what if the motive was money? Denny lives modestly. People know he has money, yet he lives like the average guy. No one suspects the enormous wealth he has. Wealth he would go to great trouble to protect," Alice said.

"Sorry, counselor, but rape and assault are crimes of passion," Kate said. She held onto the document more from curiosity than duty.

"You will never corner a man like Denny thinking inside the box. Yesterday, after the DA killed the charges against him, Denny filed suit against his wife and her lover. Thirty-seven causes of action for slander, libel, and malicious prosecution. You see, he is suing her. No matter what she gets in the divorce, he plans on taking it back," Alice said.

This made Kate sit back in her chair and smile.

"It's not funny," Alice said.

"I wasn't laughing. I was just thinking how unhappy I'm going to make Mr. Morgan when I get him—but now I have to go," Kate said, seeing Denny leaving his office through the diner window.

Alice followed her line of sight and nodded, saying," I'll keep in touch."

Kate nodded in reply and hurried after Denny. As it turned out, he was going to the Courthouse. For Kate, this was a familiar place. She knew the guards on the entry door. They waved her past the security. She easily followed Denny into a part of the Courthouse where she had never been. 

In a small hearing room, a judge's bench had been set up. The lawyers were gathered at the front. They were passing comments and laughing at jokes. Denny seemed to be the butt of most of the jokes. He seemed to take it well and give back with a few jokes of his own. Kate did not normally see the lawyers in what she assumed was their general work setting. They acted much like the officers in the squad room at shift briefing.

Her experience told her there was always an officer or two who played the fool for the others. It was clear to her that Denny was the fool and maybe like many before him he resented the role, even while he played it to the hilt. The judge came in they all rose, and the proceedings began. There was nothing more than a series of motions that the individual attorneys argued.

Kate sat in the last row and perused the Morgan financial disclosure form. Alice Blake was right. Dennis Morgan was a wealthy man. The key to his wealth seemed to be the bar. Kate recalled his statement on the night of the arrest about the low price of beer. Whatever the price it was highly profitable and she soon understood why. The County was currently booming with microbreweries. Part of the reason was the natural spring waters that filtered through a Dolomite formation, and the other was the return of many farmers to growing hops. Beer requires hops, this crop had been a staple several generations ago in New York and had returned. Morgan was invested in all of it.

Looking at the report, it soon became clear that Denny had what amounted to a linear monopoly. He owned a part of each brewery and a long list of farms. Whatever he sold beer for he was getting it cheap and making money both sides of the transaction. His fingers had spread into numerous restaurants and drinking establishments. The last page of the report was a list of his real estate holding. She couldn't be sure, but it seemed that Denny Morgan owned half the County in value if not in square acres.

The report, however, seemed incomplete. The assets were listed, but there seemed to be no liabilities. Moreover, there were only three bank accounts listed, all at the Tyler County Bank and Trust. No balances were listed. The report was not certified by an accountant or signed by anyone. It was marked as a draft and undated. Alice Blake was right - this was only part of the story. 

When the hearings finished, Kate sat up straight making sure that Denny saw her as he exited. She wanted him to know she was watching. She wanted to worry him. She wanted him looking over his shoulder for her. She was coming to the conclusion that Denny's attack on the lovers was an act partly of passion and partly of greed. However, whatever the motive and however he might appear on the surface, this was a smart, deliberate man. Dennis Morgan was a planner and a schemer. The attack was well thought out and prepared beforehand. That was why there was no physical evidence, but how he had convinced so many people he was where he was not? 

Denny made only one more notable stop that day before Kate had to leave to meet her son's school bus. He stopped at the YMCA to swim in the pool. Kate was watching him swim laps in the pool from the observation deck. He was a remarkably elegant swimmer, and that was the word for it. He seemed to pass through the water without friction. He wasn't in bad shape for a man his age either. He must be in his early forties, but he was in reasonably good shape. He was no muscle man. His was a lean build, but not excessively so. As she should have expected after that impressive run that morning.

"He's beautiful isn't he," an older woman wearing a YMCA Gym shirt said.

"Yes in a way I guess he is," Kate said.

"You so rarely see a stroke like that. It looks so totally effortless. If only he had been two inches taller," the older woman said.

Kate realized that the woman was referring to the beauty of the swimming stroke. Kate gave her a quizzical look," taller?" she said.

"Two-tenths of a second closer to the wall and he would have made the Olympic swimming team," the woman said.

Kate could only shake her head. Denny was beautiful, and it was not just the swim stroke. His looks were not movie star pretty, but there was something all male about him. A physical presence that was real. And yet he wore a mask. He was perhaps the most deceptive man she knew and just maybe the most interesting. But make no mistake, he would be made to pay for his crime. Sergeant Kathryn Keenan was determined that Dennis Morgan would pay the maximum penalty.

________________________________________________________________

Kate followed and harassed Denny for two months on and off duty. She went over every detail of the crime. It had been well planned. At a little before 9:40 p.m. the lights in the Montague went off briefly. All the witnesses remembered the first electrical failure. Most remembered a second failure possibly at or after 10:40. Everyone seemed to remember the fight that Denny had stopped and the time of that could be clearly fixed at 10:47. The good judge could place Denny or more specifically Denny's Cornell ring in the booth at about 10:00 p.m. when the Yankee's first night game of the season ended. Both the Yankee's game and a Celtic's Basketball game had been playing on the large twin 70" TV screens over the Bar. 

Kate went over every detailed. She when back and question each individual she could find. Anyone who had been in the bar after 9:30 p.m. This included every employee except the kitchen staff since they left well before the lights went out the first time. She turned up only witness saying they saw Denny in his back booth. The judge was the killer witness with his affidavit placing Denny in the bar as the Yankee game ended.

The maximum Kate figured Denny could have been gone was between twenty minutes and an hour depending on whether the judge was correct in what he saw. An hour was barely enough. Kate had found a back route from the bar to the Morgan house that could be traversed by a four-wheel-drive vehicle, such as a Hondas Pilot. The first time she tried it in the Sheriff's patrol SUV it had taken far too long but with a little practice the time improved appreciably. With enough practice, Denny could have done the route in say twenty minutes, with a round trip of forty minutes. That gave him twenty minutes to commit the crime and dispose of the evidence. 

If the crime was committed between say 10:00 and 10:20, the time schedule was tight, but a determined man with a plan could do it. She had a grudging admiration for Dennis Morgan even as she hated the vile thing that he had done. She was no hypocrite. She knew the desire for revenge and violence that infidelity could instill in a person. She had been there, but good people resist the impulse. They certainly do not plan and practice to bring pain and suffering. Dennis had to be chastised. He had to pay a penalty, and it was Kate's job to bring that about. 

Several times, as she drove the route she believed Morgan would have followed, she saw men on horseback with weapons. They watched her as she drove her Sheriff's vehicle. They were - she knew - Native Americans, part of a group that claimed land exempt from taxes. The dispute had been waged for years between the County and the Mohawks. If they were patrolling, they could have seen Morgan driving this route. The problem was they would never cooperate. To them, the County and the State were the enemies. Still would not others have seen Morgan racing his car along an almost unused back route? Why would a white lawyer know such a road by heart unless he practiced it?

For the next two months Kate followed, watched and harassed Dennis Morgan. She ticketed him for the slightest infraction. All of which he paid without complaint. She kept him under her constant surveillance, but he seemed to shrug it off. She meant to force him into giving himself away. It did not seem to be working until one bright summer's day she followed him down a quiet side street, and he made a U-turn right in front of her.

Kate flipped on her lights and sirens and pulled him over. As she approached his vehicle with her ticket book out he rolled down his window.




Kate Gets Her Man



"May I ask what you think you were doing?" she said.

He smiled and said, "Just getting your attention."

"And why was that?"

"Want to ask you out next Friday night."

"What?"

"I'm asking you out Friday night. So how about it?"

"Have you lost your mind?"

"Look you have been following me everywhere. I'd like to go out to dinner Friday, and so I figure since you will be there anyway ..." he said with a little-amused smile at his own humor.

Leaning into his truck with her own smile, she said, "You are forgetting one thing..."

"Oh, what?"

"I don't date criminals," she said.

He laughed. Stopped, thought a moment, and said, "Well why not? Maybe I want to confess."

"So if I go out with you then you're going to confess?" she said with as much sarcasm as she could muster.

"Sure why not? It's been bothering me," he said.

She had to pause at that. She didn't believe him for a moment, but she was intrigued. He was right, what better way for her to follow and maybe trip him up than to go out with him. If she pushed, he might really make a mistake. 

"What time Friday?" she said.

"Say 7:30," he said a broad grin cracking his face.

"Ok, 7:30 pick me up at my house," she said handing him the ticket.

"Good and sorry about this one, but your boss promised he'd fix any more tickets you gave me," He said waving the ticket and laughing.

All she could do was glare at him as he drove off. 

Now, what was she going to wear?

*****

 This is the end of part one. 

If you think you recognize any individuals or event, please remember I made this story up. I also changed and invented geography. Yes, I borrow from my life experience and the places I know, but I write fiction. It's just that and nothing more. Fiction is best when it sails close to the truth.  © 2015 by Richard Gerald