Loss of Innocence

Loss of Innocence

soppingwetpanties

Another story featuring our favorite hard luck detective, Max Pemberton.

Thank you to migbird for your thoughtful comments and encouragement.

Thank you for your votes and comments on “Betrayal.” Please vote… comment… on this one. It’s catnip for me.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, merchandise, companies, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. All characters in sexual situations are 18 years or older.

Prologue

I’m Maxine “Max” Pemberton. I was a member of the Cincinnati police force for thirty-five years. I’m retired now, and running a café that was owned by my good friend, Nicky, who passed away almost ten years ago and left it to me. When I joined the force, I was a brash, impressionable young woman with a chip on my shoulder and a serious drinking problem.

I was married to a man I met in college, but the hard living and the long hours took its toll, and after seven years of ups and downs we called it quits. It wasn’t Jim’s fault. It wasn’t mine. He knew I was going to be a cop. His dad was one. He knew what he was signing up for. What we didn’t figure was that I was attracted to women and not to men. I didn’t know it for sure during our marriage, but I knew it for sure the first time I went to bed with a woman. My sex life with Jim was practically non-existent at the end, and the intimacy I achieved with my first female lover told me my time with Jim was over.

Back when I started, the force was only about ten percent women, and few at the upper echelons. I had to be scrappy to make it in a testosterone fueled work environment. And make it I did, but not without my share of dizzying highs and rock bottom lows.

I found love (and lost it as well) with a battered wife [Cold Steel], tried my luck again with a police Lieutenant [Hot Steel], crushed a drug ring [Pink Ice], and uncovered corruption in our department [Betrayal]. A former lover and colleague from the Columbus police force, Leka Singh, worked with me on an abduction case. This is our story.

Chapter One

Getting Back on my Feet… Again

There are only so many times that you can get crushed and pull yourself back up again. I felt like a cat that’s used up eight of her nine lives. My life was an elevator ride from the penthouse to the basement, and back up and down again so many times I’d lost count.

The latest broadsides were the death of my former partner and lover, Rachel, followed by Brianna’s death, so young and vulnerable [ed. note — see Betrayal]. There was little I could have done to prevent either tragedy, but I felt responsible nevertheless.

My partner Lanny took me back to the Royal Palms Motel, a fleabag on the wrong side of the tracks in Cincinnati. I’d taken up permanent residence there for the past several months. My usual reaction to a tragedy of this magnitude was to get and stay blind drunk for as long as possible. Lanny convinced me that drunkenness wasn’t a viable long-term coping mechanism. I reluctantly agreed.

During my last case I had reason to reconnect with Lehka Singh, a Detective First Grade in the Columbus Division of Police. Lehka was of Indian descent, a first generation American. Her father Preshant came over in the 60’s from Hyderabad to join a national automotive parts manufacturer located near Columbus, and shortly after brought over his wife Maira to start a family. Lehka was their first born daughter, followed by her sister Eshana three years later.

Lehka had the usual assimilation issues one would expect of a non-white person in Middle America. Those problems were compounded by the fact that in her late teens she suspected she was gay. Of course her parents put an inordinate amount of pressure on her from the time she was a little girl to marry a good Indian boy (translated — a doctor), pressure that she found to be both offensive and antithetical to her biological desires.

As one could have expected, she rebelled from the customs of the old country. Even if she was heterosexual, it was unlikely she would have followed her parent’s wishes. But being gay, there was zero chance of that happening.

The second point of friction was her career choice (translated — she should have been a doctor). Her expressed interest in enrolling in the police academy, combined with her rejection of every male suitor her parents put in front of her, led to a virtual estrangement for many years. Lehka never came out to her parents, though everyone in her workplace knew she was gay (her sister also knew, but was sworn to secrecy). Of course, after the public accolades Lehka received in solving a double homicide case with me (including the highest level of commendation from the Columbus police force), she became the pride of the family. Better late than never.

My relationship with my parents wasn’t that much better than hers. My father was a sales representative for a pharmaceutical company (which I consider to be ironic, given the number of drug dealers peddling Oxy that I’ve busted) and was always on the road. My mother was a raging alcoholic, and as far as I can tell it’s the only attribute I inherited from her. I consider my nomadic living habits (the last five months in a shitty motel room) to be from my father.

Lehka was a Detective Third Grade when I met her. She was working a murder case in Columbus involving a teenage girl, maybe nineteen, who was sexually assaulted and strangled with a blue nylon rope which left fibers embedded in the skin of the victim’s neck. The ligature marks from the nylon rope could only have been made by a person of unusual strength. Lehka noticed that there was bruising on the neck from the perpetrator’s hands, and that the more extensive bruising on the left side indicated the killer was left handed.

Lehka detected a similar modus operendi in a case I was handling, a young prostitute who was strangled and left by the river. I noted in the case file that there were blue nylons fibers on the victim and deep bruises caused by the killer’s hands. Lehka called me, and we compared notes, and there was enough similarities to warrant a joint investigation. Our respective managements agreed, and we ended up working together for three months, culminating in the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator.

Even though it was common knowledge that I was a lesbian, the fact that Lehka hadn’t come out (and was terrified if her parents found out) limited her sexual experience to a few casual out of town encounters that involved groping but no hard core sex. As far as I knew, I was her first.

Lehka was tall, probably 5’10”, with long black wavy hair. It had a beautiful sheen to it. She had dark skin, about the color of burnt butter, and a thin face with a narrow nose. She had a beautiful smile that went nicely with her shiny dark eyes. I was attracted to her instantly.

When we talked relationships, she would either avoid the subject or tell me she hadn’t been in one. Of course I never believed her. Someone as attractive as her would have undoubtedly led to at least one long-term relationship. That’s when I suspected she was hiding something.

Nothing happened between us during the investigation. Nothing. Lehka never let on that she was interested in me, even though I detected a strong sexual tension. She was good at being closeted at that time.

It was our celebratory party that lit the fuse.

It was the middle of the summer. We had just found and arrested the killer. He was in Cincinnati, in the West End, planning his next kill. We captured him in no small part to Lehka’s tireless work on the case. We ended up at the Landing Point on the night of his arrest, the watering hole of choice for our station.

As usual, Kris, a woman who was a fixture at the Point, was serving our table. It was Lehka, me, and the rest of the investigative team — a half dozen guys from both Columbus and Cincinnati, drinking Jameson’s and trading barbs about which office did the heavy lifting. I already had a reputation as a heavy drinker, and I found that Lehka could hold her liquor as well. We’d already been drinking for several hours when the guys started making rude remarks. You have to remember it was ten years ago, when HR departments weren’t breathing fire up your ass all the time. Lehka and I both had nice breasts, though mine were bigger (to be fair, I was carrying about twenty more pounds than her, and at that time I was a “G” cup), so you can imagine the focus of the drunken men’s attention.

Stony, one of the lead detectives from our office (he’s now retired), tugged on my blouse. A button popped open, revealing some of my considerable cleavage. Stony was a good guy, but not a good drinker. He was already hammered.

“Jeez Max, you never go out with me even though I ask nice.” He slurred his words and spit ran off his chin. Stony’s wife kicked him out of the house a few years back, and in his inebriated state he was literally willing to fuck anything with a hole in it.

I was going to give him a pass. We won. We were happy. We were drunk.

“I don’t think it was you asking, I think it was your puny dick,” I fired back.

The guys started laughed at Stony, who proceeded to down another shot and slam the glass on the table in triumph.

“Heyyy. Fuck you guys.” He pointed to his mates, wobbled like a drunken sailor, and then hit his chin on the table as he lurched forward.

Two of his mates put their shoulders under his arms and helped him out, the toes of his shoes dragging on the floor.

The others filtered out with them, leaving Lehka and me on our own.

Kris returned to find just the two of us. “Outlasted the boys, eh?” She was a barrel chested woman with a heart of gold. She’d been working there for twenty years, and knew what was going on at our station better than anyone there. She loaded the empty glasses on a tray and started wiping down the table.

“Those guys can’t drink shit,” I declared. I was feeling no pain. Lehka was looking at me differently.

Kris laughed. “You are two tough broads. You drank Stoney under the table… or maybe on top of the table.” She chuckled as she said it.

“We are tough, aren’t we Lehka?” We gave each other a high five.

“Fuckin’ A right,” Lehka chimed in. She was feeling no pain as well.

“Someday we’ll have those motherfucker’s jobs,” I boasted.

“You got that right, fucking perverts,” she answered. As it turns out she was right. She ultimately became a supervisor in her department and made First Grade. I, on the other hand, found Maker’s Mark, and became a drunk… First Grade.

“Two more shots Kris,” Lehka barked out, in no mood to quit partying. She had never let her hair down in front of me before. It was clear she was gathering up the courage to do something. Another button had opened up on her blouse, but she either didn’t notice or didn’t care. I noticed.

“Don’t you girls have to work tomorrow?” Kris asked.

“Nope,” said Lehka. “We get tomorrow off. My first day off in two months. That’s why I’m going to parteeee.” She had to put her hand on the table to keep from falling forward like Stoney.

“All right, but let’s at least make sure neither of you drive. I’m going to call you a cab.” Kris loved us like a mother, and acted like one too.

“OK,” Lehka said, “But bring us our drinks.”

“OK,” said Kris. “But’s it’s last call.”

“She’s a buzz killer,” Lehka muttered out of Kris’s earshot.

“She’s all right,” I answered. “She just worries about us.”

Kris came back with the shots.

“Thanks Mom,” Lehka said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Kris gave her a big smile. She pinched Lehka’s cheek. “Now you girls behave and get home safe.”

We downed our shots, paid the bill and waited outside for the cab. It was well past midnight, and the air was finally cool, and the rank humidity gone. We heard crickets chirping in the tall grass between the rustic bar and the river.

“I’m really fucked up,” said Lehka, her eyes rolling in her head.

As an experienced drinker, my first instinct was to see if she was going to vomit. I lifted up her chin and looked into her glassy eyes. It didn’t look imminent.

She plopped herself down on a wooden bench that ran along the front wall of the outside of the bar. She kicked out her feet and rested her back against the wall.

“I like you Max.”

“I like you too Lehka.”

Her eyes were narrow slits. Her head was bobbing. “But I really like you,” she insisted.

“What do you mean?” I asked her. I had an inkling but I wanted her to say it instead of me guessing.

“You know,” she said.

I could tell that she was a bit embarrassed, even though her brain was toasted.

I gave her encouragement. “I don’t know, Lehka, just tell me.”

“Max…” Her head was listing against the wall. “You want me to tell you that I think you’re a very pretty woman. Now there, I’ve said it.” She nodded her head to add emphasis to her observation.

“Uhh… thank you Lehka.” I wasn’t going to play more games. She was clearly struggling with her sexual identity. We both had way too much to drink, and the cool night air brought some vitality to our conversation.

“Lehka, do you want to go back to my room?” Lehka had a room at a hotel a bit further out of town. We were going to have the cab drop me off first and then take her to her hotel.

Lehka was lucid enough to know what I was asking. I was always interested in her, but she really hadn’t shown any interest in me. At that time, I wasn’t even sure she was into girls.

She looked at me. Her face said yes.

* * *

The cab ride over was a blur. We started making out in the back seat before the cab was out of the parking lot. I remember when we pulled into the Royal Palms parking lot, I already had her blouse unbuttoned to the waist and had my hand inside her bra. We quickly straightened up before we got out. I paid and we staggered up the outside steps to the second floor, making way too much noise for 1 a.m. We fell through the doorway into my room.

“Have you ever been with a woman?” I asked her. She was a bit wobbly on her feet. I let her sit down on the bed.

“Yeah,” she said. But then she added, “I kissed I think two…”

“Kissed?”

“Yeah, it was nice.”

I was standing. She was sitting. I unbuttoned my blouse and took it off.

“We’re going to do a lot more than kissing,” I told her.

“Yeah,” she said dreamily. “I want to.”

I stood next to the bed and let her reach behind me to unclasp my bra. I could hear her short breaths. I shrugged my shoulders and let it drop to the floor. I guided her hands to my breasts. Her slender fingers felt the texture of my skin and then she cupped my breasts in her palms.

“How is it Lehka?” I asked her.

“So soft Max. Better than I imagined.”

For me too. For someone so obviously inexperienced, her touch was light and electric. She played with each nipple, pinching each one hard enough to make me gasp. I could see that she was looking at them longingly.

“Go ahead,” I told her. I knew what she wanted. Her eyes made it obvious.

She leaned forward and captured an erect nipple in her mouth. She sucked it hard in her mouth, elongating it, and the swirled her tongue around it. Her tongue was wet and heavenly.

“Ummm, for a newbie you’re good at this,” I told her.

“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” she confessed, and then went back to her licking.

“That’s it babe,” I said, encouraging her. “Suck on them.”

The alcohol haze was clearing. Our true feelings were becoming crystal clear. I ran my hands through her thick mane of hair and kissed the top of her head. I gave a gentle downward push of her head with my hands, and she understood I wanted her to go lower. She kissed her way down my tummy until her face was in front of my pants. She unbuttoned them and eased them down to my ankles. I kicked them off. My panties were sopping wet. She put her thumbs under the waistband and pulled them down in one motion. I let them fall to the floor and stepped out of them.

“Max… I want to kiss you there,” she said softly.

She was shy. I was going to rid her of that hang-up. “You mean my pussy?” I asked.

“Yes… yes… your pussy.”

I sat on the bed with my back to the headboard. She turned around on the bed to face me. I lifted up my knees and spread my legs apart inviting her to me.

“Come here baby,” I beckoned. “Lick my pussy.”

She bent down between my knees. I grabbed a handful of her silky soft hair and pushed her head between my legs. She drank deeply from my well of desire, quenching her thirst for me. I moaned deeply.

“Make me cum baby,” I told her between panting breaths.

Her tongue was everywhere. I rolled my head from side to side. “Yes… baby… yes.”

I closed my eyes and saw bright lights. We were too drunk to do anything more. We fell asleep in a tangle of arms and legs.

* * *

We only had a few days more until her temporary assignment to Cincinnati was over. We spent most of the time in my room, with her learning the ways to love a woman. It was a bittersweet parting, more bitter than sweet, as we went back to our respective careers, and her to her family as well. We were a hundred miles apart, but it just as well could have been a thousand, as we became enmeshed in the machinery of police work, a stifling career even if the loved one was in the same home. A long distance relationship was well-nigh impossible.

Although we swore we would stay in touch, the phone calls became spaced further and further apart until it was just an exchange of Christmas cards and the occasional phone call. We were separated for five years, until a drug investigation, and Brianna’s death, brought us back together.

Chapter Two

The Reunion

I reconnected with Lehka during our investigation of Jumbo Williams. It had been months since we talked last. She provided me with key information on Ray Driscoll, a cop that turned out to be bent, and at the end of the conversation told me that she missed me. That information was filed away until the death of Brianna, when I was grasping for a lifeline. I told Lanny that I needed to see her. Like the good man that he was, he called her, and she agreed to take some time off work to talk me off the ledge.

I took a week off work to recover, and was lounging in a cheap plastic lawn chair on the second floor balcony of the Royal Palms, drinking a ginger ale and wishing it was vodka. The late afternoon sun was shining on my face, and I had my eyes closed to enjoy the last vestiges of the day. I heard a car pull into the parking lot and looked with interest at whoever might be getting out. People watching at the Royal Palms was one of my favorite spectator sports. It was a oft-used place for wayward spouses to make their connections, stealing furtive glances in the parking lot before disappearing into one of the rooms for their illicit tryst.

But there was only a single person getting out of the car, and from above I saw it was Lehka. Her shiny black hair was a giveaway, but even from a distance I could see the intrusion of a few gray hairs. Otherwise she looked as fit as always, though carrying maybe a few more pounds in her middle and her butt.

She looked up and saw me. I waved. She smiled and waved back. She walked to the office to get the keys to her room.

I kicked back in my chair and put my feet on the rusted wrought iron railing, happy to see an old flame and wondering if something more would come of this. Not more than a few minutes later Lehka was taking the luggage out of her trunk and rolling it to the stairway. I got off my ass and scampered down the stairs to help her.

“Lehka!” I shouted, giving her a massive hug. “You came.”

“Anything for you Max,” she choked out during my boa constrictor squeeze.

I held her at arm’s length. “You looked like you haven’t aged a day.” Then I picked up one of the gray hairs on her head. “Well, maybe a couple of days.”

“You look great Max. No foolin’.”

“That’s what a few months of sobriety will do.”

“So sorry to hear about Rach and Brianna.”

“It’s why you’re here.”

We got to the top of the stairs. I looked at her for direction.

“Room 205,” she said, looking at the plastic fob on her key. No fancy cards at this motel. Old school keys.

“Next door to mine,” I observed, stating the obvious.

“That was the idea.”

I opened the door for her and we carried her bags in. The room was configured the same as mine. There was a door between our rooms that was locked. She unlocked her side.

“I think we’ll be spending a lot of time together over the next week,” she said. Was her voice dripping with sexual innuendo or was it my imagination?

She opened her suitcase on the collapsible folding luggage caddy. “I’ll change and freshen up. See you in half an hour?” she asked.

I was already halfway out the door. “You got it.”

* * *

I unlocked my side of the pass through door and opened it. I decided to take a shower and change my clothes into something nice. Tattered jeans and a t-shirt probably wasn’t the best look for me. I put on a summer dress, something breezy. I didn’t usually wear dresses. I looked at myself in the mirror. Still holding it together, even at forty. Of course my breasts were my most noticeable attribute, but a little make-up and a nice dress made me presentable.

Lehka came through the door. She also had shed her jeans in favor of a blouse and skirt. The blouse was unbuttoned enough for me to admire her cleavage. She was always a good looking girl.

“Night on the town Max?”

“I’ll take you through my usual routine. First Nicky’s, then the Landing.”

“Sounds perfect.”

She drove. Nicky’s was only a five minute drive and she remembered the way. The small parking lot in front of the diner was full, so we parked a bit down the street and walked back past modest brick ranch houses. The diner was an old trailer with white aluminum siding. I opened the ancient wood screen door and held it open for my new guest. The dollar bills pinned to the wall fluttered in the breeze.

Nicky skirted past me and hugged my companion. “Lehka, it’s been years. You look as lovely as ever.”

Lehka beamed, maybe more than when she saw me. “Oh Nicky, I can’t tell you how good it is to see you.” Everyone treated Nicky as their second mother.

“So how’s your godchild… Rina was it?”

“You have a very good memory Nicky.” Lehka was already feeling warm and fuzzy and so was I.

She pointed to her rounded waistline. “Honey, it’s about the only thing I have left.”

“I’m sure you were a beautiful young woman,” said Lehka, always knowing the right thing to say.

Nicky looked at her wistfully. “Thirty years ago. I had packs of men follow me like dogs.”

“Men haven’t changed,” said Lehka.

“Oh, I’m sure of that,” Nicky said. I’m sure she was thinking of my pussy hound partner Lanny when she said it. I caught Lanny looking at me that way, and he knows I’m a lesbian.

We sat down at a table for two. Most of the other tables were occupied. I could see Nicky’s eyes wander elsewhere. Someone was waving for her attention.

“Hey Nicky, why don’t you take care of the other folks. Just bring us whatever you want,” I told her.

“Thanks honey,” she said as she pivoted to head back to the kitchen. Lehka watched her amble back.

We both rearranged the silverware in front of us. It was cheap flatware, but at least it all matched. There was a moment of awkwardness. Were we getting back together? Were we going to have sex?

So I did what I always did at these critical moments in a relationship. I fumbled.

“So Lehka. I was reading that Ohio State had a great recruiting class.”

Lehka kind of screwed up her face. “Max. I didn’t take vacation days and come all the way here to talk about football.”

“I always seem to miss the elephant in the room,” I confessed. I wasn’t good at these moments.

“Fucking Tyrannosaurus rex.” Lehka put a finer point on it. Like I said, she always said the right thing.

“Yeah…” I said, buying time to figure out what I was going to say. I knew if I said something about the Reds she’d throw her water in my face.

“I thought about you…” I started. It was a weak beginning and Lehka had obviously been thinking about this for a long time. Why was I such a doofus when it came to relationships?

“Max… you asked for me. Lanny called me and told me you were going to go on a drunken bender if I didn’t come. I’m here. Talk to me.” She was getting impatient.

Shit, I forgot how she made Grade One. She was a smart motherfucker and I was always going to be one step behind. OK. Now was the time to tell the truth, even if it didn’t come out right.

“My call to you a few weeks ago really brought you to the front of my mind.” This was a much better start. I was feeling better. She was paying attention instead of interrupting me. “You know, all the shit that’s happened here. Five years zipped by in a heartbeat.” But I was still stalling. Get to it, I told myself.

“I really like you Lehka, and…”

Lehka stopped me. “You told me you loved me.” Such a phrase was not soon forgotten. I hadn’t forgotten.

“I do Lehka, I do.”

“You told me you loved me Max. You broke my heart.” I could see a tear welling up in her eye. I had already fucked this up royally.

“Look Lehka. Let’s enjoy Nicky’s dinner and then go to the Landing for a drink. I promise I’ll only have one. We’ve got all night to talk.”

She backed off a bit. I was relieved I said something that made sense. Of course we had all night. We had the whole fucking week to hash it out. She was wound tight as a spring. I’m sure she realized she was coming on strong.

She put her hand on top of mine. The beautiful Lehka returned. “You’re right Max. We haven’t seen each other in five years. We’ve got plenty of time to talk this through. I’m sorry. You know I run a department of sixteen so I always have to be sharp and to the point. Sometimes I can’t turn it off.”

“Another reason to take this a bit more slowly.” Now I was back on an even keel with her.

“Right,” she said. She settled into her seat.

Nicky’s timing was impeccable. Saved by the bell. She brought her trademark beef roast with carrots and potatoes. The whole plate was swimming in a lake of thick, rich brown gravy. I watched Lehka sniff the steam rising from her plate.

“Oh Nicky. I missed your cooking.” Lehka took a forkful of the fluffy mashed potatoes and dunked them in the gravy pond.

“Ummm. This is better than sex,” she told Nicky.

Nicky knew that Lehka and I were an item. That night at the Landing was part of common folklore at the police station. She gave us a mischievous smile. “Maybe you’re going to find out.” She winked and walked away.

I took a bite of the potatoes. Lehka watched me as I licked the gravy off the tines of the fork. Subtlety wasn’t my strong suit. I knew what I wanted. She did too.

She looked at me and gave a quick snorting laugh. “I get it Max. I’ve been thinking about this a long time.”

Maybe it wasn’t as long as for me. We broke up for the simple reason that her family and her career were in Columbus and my career was in Cincinnati. She was a romantic. How could we have ever made it work? This was a one week thing.

“I have too,” I fibbed. I should have been thinking about her the whole time we were apart if I really loved her.

* * *

We were stuffed after leaving Nicky’s. Lehka said that it was a long day, and she asked to skip the Landing. We had the whole week to see everyone. We drove back to the motel. She went into her room without saying a word so I went into mine. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I wasn’t going to make the first move. She was the one who had been thinking about it for such a long time.

I turned on the Reds game and sat on the bed. I twisted the cap off a bottle of water and took a long draw. Dinner was salty, and I was thirsty. The cool water made me think of Lehka. The deep shimmering pools in those dark eyes. The game faded away as I started thinking about her. When we made love. When I told her that I loved her. It was a too short glorious period of my life when I got to look into those eyes every day.

I heard the door separating our rooms open. Lehka was wearing sandals. Nothing else. She leaned against the door frame. I saw her brown skin, still stippled with small droplets of water from the shower she’d just taken. Her hair was wet, and hanging down past her breasts. All the curl was taken out by the weight of the water. Water dripped off the ends of her hair. She shaved her pussy. That was a change. It was wet, but I think for a different reason. Also a little tattoo on her thigh. It was a butterfly. I used to call her my little butterfly.

The game was forgotten. Everything was forgotten for that moment. Brianna… Rachel, all of the good and bad. It was my chance to try to capture lightning in a bottle.

“You’re every bit as beautiful as the day I first saw you,” I told her. I had finally said the right thing at the right time.

“And you are everything that I want.”

She stood up straight, kicked off her sandals and padded into my room in her bare feet. Water dripped onto the carpet. She turned off the television and stood in front of me.

“Kiss me Max.”

She pushed me back onto the bed and fell into my arms.

The passion of a five year hiatus came welling up, immersing us in a field of kisses, on her lips, on her neck and on her breasts. I felt her wet hair clinging to my body. I remembered why I told her I loved her. I wanted her desperately.

My hand went to her sex. It was slippery and wet. Her lips welcomed my fingers in, and before long she was moaning. I captured one of her dark brown nipples in my mouth, feeling the hardness and bumpiness of the skin. Her back arched as my fingers found that perfect rhythm in harmony with the undulation of her hips. She called my name. She held me tight. It was as if we had never separated.

When her orgasm subsided she rolled off the bed. I admired her cute tush as she went back into her room and brought back a pink vibrator, a bullet style one like I have.

“Get it wet babe,” she told me. This was a new Lehka. The naughty Lehka. I liked Lehka 2.0.

I put the entire shaft in my mouth and made a show of it as I pulled it out slowly. Two can play at this slutty game. It was shiny with spit.

She rubbed it lengthwise up my slit, wetting it further and giving me a sizzle of pleasure, then dragging it back and forth.

It was too intense. “You’re teasing me,” I choked out.

“That’s the point Max.”

She did it until I begged her to stop.

“Fuck me with it,” I told her.

“Get on your hands and knees Max.”

My God. Good girl Lehka had been up to no good over the past five years. I got on my hands and knees and raised my ample booty high in the air. I felt the tip of the vibrator push into my slit, filling me up. She turned it on. I flinched. She spread the cheeks of my ass, lapping at my furiously winking hole while she fucked me hard with the vibrator. This was no innocent girl any more. Her tongued rimmed my ass and then pushed to enter it.

I let myself be carried to some dark celestial plane of wicked pleasure.

“Lehka,” I gasped. “How…?”

She tongue fucked my ass. I’m sure I woke up the people in the unit below. I used words Leka didn’t know. My body was hers. To the core.

She purred as she licked me, a low throated growl. I wanted to remember this sinful feeling. The feeling of unadulterated pleasure. Her tongue was deep in my ass. She pulled down hard on my nipples. I shrieked.

“We’re going to wake up everyone at the motel,” I cried out.

She pulled her head up, just for a moment. “I don’t fucking care.”

She went back to eating my ass.

There were too many orgasms. I felt completely wrung out. I rolled over and held her tight. She raised up on her elbows.

“Max?”

“Yeah,” I said, in an post-orgasmic glow.

“You talk too much.”

* * *

I was sitting up in bed in my birthday suit, my head propped up with several pillows. Lehka was naked as well.

“I always wanted to get back together with you,” she confessed to me.

“I’ve even thought about moving to Cincinnati.”

She never mentioned the last part to me. I didn’t think I could tear myself away from the Queen City. I was born and raised here, and imagined I would die here as well. Besides, with all of my ups and downs, I was practically unemployable anywhere else. I never thought she’d consider moving away from her family and her career. Stupid Max. She loved me that much and I didn’t see it.

I wasn’t getting any younger. Maybe we could make it work this time. But how?

Lehka laid her head on my chest. I raised my head up to look into her dark brown eyes. “Why me,” I asked myself. My life was a series of train wrecks. Did she really want to get on board? I knew it wouldn’t come out right, but I had to ask her. I did love her, and part of love was telling the one you love that your love was toxic.

I sat up straight. She reluctantly moved her head and sat up next to me.

“What’s up Max? Something’s eating at you.”

She looked so beautiful. Her soft curves. My Indian princess. I wanted her to stay but I had to say my piece.

“Lehka, you know me better than anyone. I want to make sure you know what you want. I do love you but I also know that I have a history of destroying relationships with the ones I love. Are you sure?”

She smiled and kissed me on the cheek. “Oh Max, sweet Max,” she started. “I do know you.” Her hand wandered down to my breast. She playfully twisted my nipple that gave me a zing of pleasure. “Max… you’re like a drug. You make me feel good… and I want more.”

She cupped my breast with the palm of her hand as if she was weighing it. I couldn’t help but sigh. “You’re dangerous Max. I’m the sweet, innocent Indian girl. I’m smart. I studied hard in school. I followed the rules. I’ve always tried to be the good girl. That’s why I’ve never told my parents I’m gay. They have this illusion that someday I’ll see the light and marry a good Indian boy and give them many grandsons. I’m a pleaser Max. I want to please everyone.”

Then her hand went lower, her fingers raking through the matted hairs of my pussy, feeling the wet, ripe lips they guarded and that she so recently plundered.

“But there’s a darker side to me Max. The sweet Lehka is a veneer that I show everyone. But you… you bring out something else in me.”

She put two fingers inside me. She was waking the beast again. I lifted up my hips to meet her. She was toying with me.

“I like danger. That’s why I became a cop instead of a doctor. You bring something out of my soul. Something raw. Some call it a zest for life. Some call it living on the edge. I want to walk that edge with you Max. You were my first. I’ve been with a few women since, but none of them measured up to you. I feel alive with you. Every nerve ending. Every pore in my skin. You make me feel, Max.”

Her fingers churned inside me. She knew how to touch me. She knew how to make me cum at her whim. My breathing became ragged.

“This is my answer Max.”

I watched her slide her index finger in her mouth to wet it. She was so hot. Her perfect olive skin pressed against mine, white dappled with freckles. With a naughty glint in her eye she slid her saliva coated finger under me, finding the crinkled skin of my anus and rimming me with it as she fucked me with her other hand. I could do no more than pant, and let her possess my body. The finger went inside me, deep in my back channel, and the pleasure soon came in waves, tossing me back and forth in the bed. I called her name. Then again. Until I threw my head back and issued a low, throaty moan from that beast that lived within me. Her answer was a resounding yes.

Chapter Three

The Phone Call

The next day was Monday, and I had put in for the rest of the week off. We had it planned out. We’d go for a run in Hopkins Park, lunch downtown at the Bearcat Club and then dinner at Nicky’s. We put on our running outfits and put in a solid 5K. Lehka was five years younger than me, and more fit. She finished the course and had time to buy us both coffees before I finished the run, panting and hunched over with my hands on my knees. I fucking hated running.

“Middle age is creeping up on you Max,” she chided me as she handed me my coffee. She pinched around my midsection. “And some love handles?”

I put her hand on the swell in my sweat soaked Dri-Fit shirt. “But my tits are bigger, and that’s all you care about, isn’t it you perv?”

“Gross,” she spat out. “I love your tits, but you need a shower first.”

I kissed her on the cheek. “Love me like I am,” I told her.

“Unfortunately that is the case.”

* * *

We did shower and then went to the Bearcat Club. It was a pretty sedate lunch crowd. Lehka had never been there so I showed her around. We made a stop at the bar. Grace was setting up for the evening’s happy hour. She was sixty and crusty and made a mean Manhattan. She was my kind of gal. She was washing highball glasses when we approached the empty bar.

“Who’ve you got there Max?” she asked me without looking up, her hands still working in the sink.

“Lehka Singh. A detective in Columbus. We worked a case together a few years back and now she’s visiting me.”

Grace put a glass on the drying mat and wiped her hands on a dish towel. She could see how Lehka had cozied up next to me.

“Looks like a lot more than a visit,” she cracked.

Lehka put her arm around me and kissed me on the cheek. “We have a thing going.”

Grace chuckled while she appraised my girlfriend. “That much is obvious. You have to watch out for that one,” she said, offering sage advice and pointing to me. “She’s trouble, and that’s with a capital “T.”

“In River City?” I asked her, in an obvious reference to The Music Man.

“With a capital “T” that rhymes with “P” and that stands for pool,” Grace added, finishing the line.

“You’re a laugh riot Grace,” I told her sarcastically.

“That’s what everyone tells me Max. So can I get you something?”

“I was bragging about your Manhattans.”

“Of course you were.”

“Could you make us one?”

“We’ll share it,” added Lehka, showing Grace who the boss was in this relationship. She smiled at me. She approved of my choice.

“You guys having lunch here?”

“Uh huh,” I grunted.

“I’ll have the drink brought to your table.”

The lunch was great. Old school. Cobb salad for me. Pan fried trout for Lehka. We both enjoyed the Manhattan. Lehka had a sip and I finished it. I resisted the temptation to order another one.

We went back to the apartment. We were just about to get another play session in before dinner. I had just finished taking another shower when I heard my phone ringing.

“Should I get it?” Lehka asked.

“Yeah,” I told her.

She rolled over in bed to retrieve it off the nightstand on my side of the bed. “Max’s phone,” she answered. I was drying my hair with a towel.

“Uh huh.”

“Right.”

“Thirty minutes.”

She put the phone down without giving it to me. She was now sitting up in bed, resting against the headboard, and not saying anything. She was nude, and her skin and breasts were flawless. I toyed with the idea of hopping back in bed for a quickie. But of course curiosity got the best of me.

“What?” I asked her.

She covered herself up with a sheet, pulling it up to cover her breasts. “You need to be at the station in 30 minutes. Captain Sheehan cancelled your vacation. Apparently there’s something big going down today.”

“Shit,” I muttered. That killed the rest of the day, and maybe the rest of the week. “I finally get you out here and I have to go back to work?” For once, I wasn’t happy about going back to work.

“Let me go with you,” said Lehka, putting a bright face on the development. “I’d love to see Lanny and the rest of the guys if you don’t mind.”

“Fine,” I said. “Go on and get dressed.” Maybe this would be an adventure.

* * *

The folks at the station didn’t expect to see me in uniform, but it was abuzz with activity with all manner of personnel I didn’t recognize. I went into the ready room expecting to find Lanny holding court, Lehka trailing behind me. He did not disappoint.

“Hey you goof,” I said to him. He of course was sitting at one of the white Formica topped tables hitting on some newbie cadet.

He looked up. “Sarge. I wasn’t expecting you. And Lehka! This is a surprise. How are you?” He stood up out of ingrained courtesy. The sweet young thing he was talking to excused herself, realizing she was now the third wheel.

Lehka gave a bear hug to my partner. “It’s been too long my good friend.”

“Hanging out at the station, huh? Don’t have anything better to do?” he asked.

“Of course not Lanny. I’m a cop. I don’t have a life.”

He smiled. “Of course you’re right. You’re always right.”

Everyone was filing into the briefing room. I followed Lanny in. I pointed Lehka to my secret stash of coffee beans so she could brew a fresh pot while we were in the meeting.

“What’s up?” I asked Lanny to his back as we were filing in.

“Found a bunch of people packed into the back of a semi.”

“Whoa,” I answered. “How many?”

“Don’t know. Maybe forty?”

We sat down in the back of a crowded room. Captain Sheehan went up to the podium and put down her mug of coffee. Sheehan was in her 50’s. I’d known her for as long as I served. Divorced (weren’t we all?), short dishwater blonde hair, petite and thin with a “cut the shit” attitude. That’s why we always saw eye to eye.

“Glad to see you all here,” she started. “Pulled everyone back from vacation. Grace, Pete, Max, thanks for coming back on short notice. I think I saw Lehka in the ready room.” She pointed to me. “We pulling from Columbus too Max?” she asked in jest.

“Yeah,” I said in a strong voice so everyone could hear. “She said this sorry group of losers needed her help.”

“Let me get to it. Highway patrol pulled over a semi for a routine traffic violation and found fifty illegals from Guatemala packed in the back. Apparently the driver was taking them to Detroit to dump them. Likely to a Ukrainian gang. The traffic stop occurred in our jurisdiction. We’ve temporarily situated them in a warehouse on the north side of town. We need to process them. ICE is going to be there as well. I want all non-essential personnel to report to the warehouse to assist.”

She pointed to a good looking male officer in the back. He waved his hand. I didn’t recognize him.

“Lieutenant Aoki has a briefing packet for each of you. Dismissed.”

There was a squeak of chairs and loud conversation as the room emptied. I got a packet on the way out and found Lehka in the ready room watching the brewing process finish. Lanny and I filled our thermoses.

“We’re going to a warehouse. About fifty illegals there. Want to come?” I asked Lehka. She’d come to see me, so what else was she going to do?

“Sure. I want to go with you. I’m part of our department’s human trafficking task force. I’ve never been a part of something like this. How can I help?”

I thought for a second. “Captain Sheehan. Let’s talk to her. She running the operation from our side.”

“OK,” said Lehka. “Let’s see her now.”

Captain Sheehan was in her office making final preparations for our trip to the warehouse. There was a frenzy of activity around her, mostly to sign the necessary paperwork. I got in line outside her office behind two other officers We tried to listen to what she was saying. Her office door was open and somebody was having her sign a requisition for additional manpower. We heard snippets of the conversation. This was going to be an expensive operation and was going to exceed the department’s budget. I knew Sheehan was going to want to be effective, and having a free resource would be tempting.

We waited a few more minutes before her office cleared.

I thought I had a good relationship with her. She was head of my section, and I’d done some good work for her. I knew I was a pain in the ass but I got results. And Cap’s performance was measured by stats, and I made her stats look good. She liked to bust my chops, sometimes for fun, but she respected me, and that was important. She was filing a piece of paper in her oversized briefcase when I knocked on the open door. Lehka was standing next to me.

Sheehan looked up from her filing and lifted up her reading glasses.

“Singh, huh?”

I could see her do her Lekha thing, which was to charm the uncharmable.

“That’s right ma’am, Lehka Singh.”

Sheehan sat down in her chair and put her feet up on the desk. “I apologize for my informality, but I’ve been on duty since the illegals hit our town. That was twenty-six hours ago, so I just need to get off my feet.”

“Appreciate your time, sir,” said Lehka.

“For you, I’ve got all the time in the world, Singh. I understand you’re part of Columbus’s human trafficking task force. You’re coming here to volunteer. Am I right?”

Lekha was stunned. “That’s… that’s right sir.”

I felt as if Sheehan had just performed a magic trick. How did she know why we were there?

“Bring your uniform and sidearm?”

“As a matter of fact I have.”

Lehka… always prepared.

“Good,” said Sheehan. “You’re on the team. I’ve already cleared this with your commander, for up to six months.”

“You have?” she said, startled. My mouth was hanging open as well.

“Yes, I have. You can see I’ve got a lot on my plate so I’m cutting right to it.”

“Why, thank you sir.” Lehka looked as if she had just won the lottery.

“Of course, and by the way thank you. I know sometimes I can be a bit of an ass but I do appreciate your service to this department. I know you’re tight with Max here. You did good work together on that double murder. Saved us a ton of resource when you solved that case and took a nutjob off the street. So I know you and Max are going to make our department proud in sorting out this situation.”

“Why, thank you sir. We’re proud to be of service. I volunteered for my department’s task force because I think I can make a difference. I’m fluent in Spanish and have worked with Guatemalan refugees before.”

“That’s great, Singh. We’ll have to sort out your role here, but I feel like I just found some money in the street. I’ve reserved a group of corporate apartments near the warehouse, and I’ve penciled one in for the two of you.”

“Thank you sir. Max and I wanted to work together again, isn’t that right Max?”

Up until then, I’d been a bystander in the conversation watching a lovefest between Sheehan and Lehka. Now she had put me on the spot. We of course had never discussed this. She was waiting impatiently for my answer.

“Umm… that’s right Lehka. We think we’ll be a valuable resource to you.”

It sounded good to me. I wasn’t getting the evil eye from Lehka. Then the Max curiosity got the better of me. “Sir, if I might ask one question.”

“Sure, Max, what is it?”

“How did you know what we wanted when we came into your office?”

Usually a magician never reveals her tricks, but Sheehan wasn’t protective of her thought process.

“You really want to know Max?”

Lehka looked at me. Her expression said “Why the fuck did you ask that question?”

I had violated a cardinal rule in life. Don’t ask a question if you don’t know the answer. I had no idea what Sheehan was going to say.

“OK Max, here it goes. I know that you and Lehka worked together on that double murder. You and her ended up fucking like rabbits and everyone in the department knew it. She’s back here. She looks as beautiful as ever and it’s clear as day to me that’s she’s in love with you. I needed help on this debacle so I was grabbing everyone I could. I got you back from vacation and I realized I’d get Lehka too, because honestly what the fuck else is she going to do while she’s in Cincinnati, especially when she’s bilingual and experienced in what we’re dealing with. Does that about sum it up Max?”

Lehka looked as if Sheehan had pulled my pants down. It was a look of horror and awe. Sheehan was a sharp motherfucker. Then I realized I was such a dumb fuck. This wasn’t a one week thing. She wanted it to be permanent.

Lehka had a solid position and career path in Columbus. She’d proved her worth and was a shoo-in to be promoted again. That goodwill would be gone if she moved to Cincinnati. But now I realized what happened. Lehka could have a six month trial to see if this worked. If it didn’t, her old job would be waiting for her. I’m sure she figured this out before we went into Sheehan’s office. She was just surprised that Sheehan had figured it out in advance.

Lehka stood up and put her hands on her hips. “Well Max, is the Captain right?”

I thought this was going to be a routine meeting. Instead, I was ambushed. How had things gone so horribly wrong? Lehka and Sheehan were staring at me. It was the moment of truth for me. I had to declare my feelings for Lehka. There was no other option. Thankfully it felt right to me. Maybe it took something like this to make me do something big in my life. My head was swirling when I opened my mouth.

“Yes Lehka, Sheehan is right. I do love you. Let’s see if we can make this work.”

Those were words both of them wanted to hear. Maybe all three of us could win.

We both left Sheehan’s office in a bit of a daze. Both of our lives had changed during a five minute meeting. Sheehan had figured it out before we did.

“That Sheehan is smart,” said Lehka.

She looked around. No one was looking at us. She kissed me on the cheek.

“I love you Max.”

I kissed her on the lips. “I love you too Lehka.”

* * *

We went back to the motel to pack. I was saying good riddance to my den of iniquity once again. There were a lot of memories in the room, mostly about Brianna. It was good that I was moving out. Away from those memories. Her drugs. Her consuming addiction. My own descent to Hell along with her. The disgusting drinking, and taking a career I’d spent a lifetime earning and trying to flush it down the toilet along with the rest of my life. But Lehka would help me rise above this place. She was just what I needed when I hit bottom.

I threw a few things into a duffel bag and trashed the rest. As I sorted through my things I thought about Lanny and Nicky, and how much they helped me, and all the good we’d done when we put Alan Parsons, Jumbo and Steph in prison, cleaned up some of the corruption in government, and got a bad dude off the street. It was a mixed bag here, but it held plenty of memories. Lehka was packed first and helped me straighten up the place before I left. We threw my duffel and two boxes of stuff into the trunk of her rental car and filled the back seat with my clothes. My car was on its last legs, so I decided to donate it to a battered women’s shelter. I’m sure it had a few thousand miles left in it. Lehka and I could buy a car after this assignment was over. In the meantime, we’d use the rental car our department was going to pay for.

We were assigned to a corporate apartment a block away from the ad hoc detention center. We weren’t allowed to move the refugees without the proper approvals. Some would be granted asylum and entry into the United States. The others would be deported to their country of origin, most of them to Guatemala. Our role was the assimilation of the successful asylum seekers, and the security of the facility while detainees were there. In a sense, we were prison guards, though the people we kept inside were not criminals and could voluntarily go back to their own country. That made it a bit strange, as they had little incentive to escape while their asylum applications were pending. Why escape when you could be granted legal entry? Escape would void their asylum applications.

The harder part was helping assimilate approved asylum seekers into our community. Most didn’t speak English. Lehka would be pivotal in this effort, since she was fluent in Spanish and knew what type of resources they would need. I didn’t know any Spanish and wasn’t as interested as she was in this process.

I was assigned to be part of the security team. We had a total of ten people assigned to this team. Lieutenant Keandra Waters headed up security. Waters replaced Driscoll, the previous Lieutenant who I put in jail along with the sleazy politicians and drug dealers. Waters was a good cop. I worked with her on a couple cases before she was promoted. She was young and ambitious. She was ten years younger than me and already my boss. She didn’t have as much practical experience as me, and book smart doesn’t make you street smart. Waters would have to rely on me for the latter.

So Lehka and I ended up having key roles in the operation. We were also setting up house together and trying to see if we could make this into a long term relationship. That was a lot to accomplish in six months.

Lehka’s rental car, a Kia sedan, was stuffed to the gills with our stuff. Lehka didn’t pack for a six month stay so we planned to use one of our days off to go back to Columbus to retrieve more of her clothes. Our temporary apartment and the warehouse were in the Clifton area of Cincinnati, not far from I-75, the main north south expressway that bisected the Queen City. We were only minutes from Burnet Woods Park, and my alma mater, the University of Cincinnati.

Our apartment building was tucked into an older residential neighborhood in the south side of Clifton, a decidedly mixed race village that was considered a safe and desirable place to live. It was a marked change from the sleazy motel that was home to me for the past six months. Lehka breathed an audible sigh of relief when we pulled into the apartment’s secure underground parking lot. She was used to more creature comforts in her life, and living in the Royal Palms was for her just one step above living in a cardboard box.

There was an assigned parking space for our apartment. The garage was clean and well lighted. We unloaded part of the car and filled the elevator, leaving just enough space for the two of us to fit. We were on the third floor of a five story building. The elevator lurched to a stop on the third floor. Our apartment was at the end of the corridor, apartment 3A. Lehka unlocked the door and we saw our new home for the first time, a two bedroom apartment with a full kitchen, a living/dining room, and a view from the living room of the tree-lined neighborhood below.

“Looks like we’ve landed in clover Max,” Lehka said with a big smile on her face. She flipped on the light in the master bedroom and threw herself on the bare mattress, bouncing on her back. “Come here Max.” She was as happy as I’d ever seen her.

I climbed on the bed and sat next to her. She sat up and grasped my hand. “We really did it Max. We’re together again.” She kissed me on the cheek. “It’s all I ever wanted.”

“It’s what I wanted too,” I told her.

“Really?” Lehka asked. She was a bright, intelligent, and beautiful woman, but feeling her way through this as well as me.

“Really Lehka,” I said, assuring her. “We’re doing the right thing. We love each other and this is our chance to see if this can work.”

“I love you Max,” she said again. Her hand moved over my breast. Her palm went over my nipple.

“Now?” I asked. “We haven’t even moved in.”

She pulled her faded OSU t-shirt over her head to show me her flawless skin.

“Don’t you want to fuck me Max?”

“You can’t imagine.”

She reached behind herself and unclasped her bra. “I can imagine a lot Max.”

I helped her slide out of her panties and then her bra. I undressed quickly.

“I love your big tits Max. They’re beautiful.”

“Thank you. It’s not all peaches and cream. Sometimes they hurt my back.”

“Can I kiss them?”

I held them up with my hands. “Please.”

“Oh Max, they’re so soft.” She kissed each one softly and caressed the skin. “I could get lost in them.” She put her head between them and nuzzled her face into my chest. I ran my hands down her back, tracing the contours of her hard body.

“Kiss me Max. I can’t wait any longer.”

I mussed her perfect hair and then kissed her lightly on the lips.

“Max,” she said breathily.

I pressed my lips hard against hers. Suddenly we merged into one, in a frenzy of kisses. The heat level in the room was rising. I could no longer think straight. I was with a beautiful women and she was offering her body to me.

I couldn’t control my mouth. “Lehka, Lehka, why…”

She put her hand over my mouth. “No more talking Max.”

Chapter Four

The Abduction

I brought a coffee maker with me. There was no way I was going to drink the department issue crap. Lehka and I were holding mugs of the good stuff during our first morning briefing. There were about twenty people in the room, most of whom I recognized and a few I didn’t.

“Lehka, Max, thank you for joining the team,” said Captain Sheehan. She had us stand up for a few seconds. “Most of you know Max. Max has been reassigned from her patrol car in the West End. Max is going to join Lieutenant Water’s security team. Lehka Singh is a detective on the Columbus force. She’s had extensive experience with their human trafficking task force. She’s on loan to us for six months to work on the project and then to set up a task force like the one in Columbus. Lehka’s going to be joining the staff in charge of assimilation of the refugees who are granted asylum in this country. Right now, 48 of the 50 in detention have applications pending with the State Department.”

“Lieutenant Waters, please give us a briefing on the refugees.”

Waters took the stage. An ambitious 30 something officer who worked her way quickly up the ranks. Top of her class at the academy and high praise in each of her positions. This was her first high profile assignment.

“Thank you Captain Sheehan. Here’s what we know. These people were packed into the shipping container in San Antonio and on their way to Detroit. We received an anonymous tip and intercepted the semi with the container approximately 72 hours ago. We believe there was cooperation between a Mexican gang in Nogales and a Ukrainian gang in based in Detroit. Most of the workers were destined for minimum wage jobs. We’ve got Detroit PD looking for the place they were supposed to be held. We believe there may be more held there. These folks are usually charged $20-25,000 for the transport, and have to work years to pay off their debt. Escape is not really an option. These gangs will track down defectors and kill them. Some of the women are put into prostitution, often addicted to drugs.”

“We’ve gone through the people in detention, and based on our initial round of interviews there are 28 males that were going to work in restaurants and factories. There were twenty-two females that were told they would be domestic help, cleaning homes and hotels. In truth, most of them would be forced to be prostitutes. It’s likely that at least a dozen, and maybe up to twenty, will be granted asylum in the United States. It will take a great deal of coordination with a multitude of agencies to get these folks what they need to live in this country. My team will help coordinate those resources.”

“Questions?”

There were none. We were told to go to our group leaders for our specific assignments that day. We were going to run 12 hour shifts, one day on and one day off. We had eight people on the security team, so two would be on duty at any given time. I was paired with Dan Pearson, who was reassigned from Mount Adams, one of the ritziest neighborhoods in Cincinnati. Dan was a former wrestler, shorter than average, stocky, and someone not to be fucked with. Dan and I got along just fine.

The first few days were pretty routine. Familiarizing myself with the security protocols. Getting to know Dan. And for the first time, meeting the detainees. Because they weren’t prisoners, they were given a bit more freedom of movement, and were often taken out for medical appointments. Usually one officer would accompany the patient, which left only one security officer at the facility and one supervisor. The budget wouldn’t allow for any more resources. There were usually a handful of officers present with different tasks, but in a pinch could assist if there was a security incident. I told Waters that I was worried about a having a single security officer manning the perimeter. She acknowledged my concern, but told me to see if we could make this work.

There was an interesting mix of people in the facility. The vast majority were under thirty and in good physical condition. A few brought children and one woman had a baby. There were two people in their sixties, and my guess is that they paid the transport fee up front. I didn’t speak Spanish, and few spoke English, so it was mostly just grunts and nods rather than a meaningful conversation. Lehka, on the other hand, got to listen to a number of their stories. She took at special interest in the new mother, Carina De León. Her baby was only four months old, and she was told she’d be given a job working in housekeeping in a hotel. In truth, the traffickers likely were going to separate her from her baby and force her into prostitution.

Lehka was working regular eight hour shifts, so our schedules didn’t align well. The first three days went smoothly. Lehka and I settled into a routine, and the few times we had down time together we tried to make love, but were too tired. We didn’t talk more about our relationship. We both figured we had six months to sort it out, and the priority now was learning our new jobs.

The fourth day there started ordinarily enough. Dan and I debated the merits of trading away the Red’s first baseman, and his big contract, and whether Maker’s Mark or Wild Turkey was the best bourbon. One of the detainees had a doctor’s appointment, and I was assigned to ride along. I was in the doctor’s office texting Lehka when I got a call ordering me back to the warehouse. An admin would come over to accompany the detainee back. I knew it was serious.

I rolled into the parking lot ten minutes later. There were already three squad cars there with their lights on and a scrum of people by the front entrance. There were a lot of people on the inside shouting. I saw Dan sitting on the step of the paramedic’s van with an ice pack on the back of his head.

“What happened?” I asked him.

“I don’t know. I got struck from behind. Probably the butt end of a gun. I went face down and didn’t see anything until I came to a few minutes later.”

“What happened?”

“Not sure. I was pushed over here to the van to be attended to and ordered to stay here. Sheehan just showed up and is trying to sort it out.”

He lifted the ice pack and rubbed the back of his head. “God damn it Max. It happened on my shift. I let the team down.”

“Dan, it couldn’t have been your fault. We were short staffed. They must have known we’re down one man when somewhere here has a doctor’s appointment.”

“Fucker caught me when I was taking a piss.” He showed me a nasty bruise on his chin. “I hit my chin on the urinal on the way down. That’s what really knocked me out. I think the guys at the station are never going to let me live this down.”

“Another reminder that God didn’t intend us to face away from the door when we’re taking a piss,” I told him. He gave me a weak smile.

“Glad to see you didn’t get hurt. Who was the supervisor on duty?”

“Waters.”

“Do you know what happened to her?”

“No. Haven’t heard.”

I left Dan sitting there forlorn. He wanted to help, but he was going through the concussion protocol and wouldn’t be allowed back on duty until the team’s doctor signed off. I went off to find Sheehan. I figured I’d look for a clump of uniforms and she’d be in the middle.

Sure enough, to one side of the front entrance was a circle of blue around Sheehan. I didn’t interrupt but could hear what was being said. From what I could piece together from the intelligence they were sharing was that three men wearing balaclavas overpowered Dan and then went into the facility, found and tied up Waters and then grabbed four women. One of the women was Carina De León, and the baby was left behind. Early speculation, though unconfirmed, was that they were members of the Ukrainian gang, and snatched the people that would make the most money for them, the young women.

Sheehan spotted me standing behind the gaggle of officers. “Pemberton! Do you know where Singh is?”

“No sir,” I answered.

“Find her, then check in with Waters.”

I went to the office area where Lehka had a cubicle. She wasn’t there. I asked the person in the next cube, and found out she went to a copy center to make copies. I called her on her cell.

“Max, what’s up?”

“Four women were kidnapped from our facility.”

“Are you OK?”

“Yeah, yeah, Dan and I are OK but Cap wants you back here ASAP.”

I went to find Waters. She was sitting in her office, filling out a report. She was an attractive brunette, though the day’s events put a scowl on her face.

“Pemberton, what’s up?” She put down her pen and folded her hands on top of the desk.

“Cap told me to see you.”

“With Pearson out, you’re going to have to pick up at least one of his shifts while he recovers.” I could see red marks on her wrists where she was zipped tied. She saw where my eyes were focused.

“You OK?” I asked.

“Yeah, really more embarrassed than anything else. I was sitting here when two hooded men came into my office with handguns.” Then she offered an apology. “Should have known we were too exposed,” she admitted. “We were trying to stay on budget and were too thin with the security staff.”

It was good to see that Waters was open to constructive criticism. “We need one more person,” I added, stating the obvious.

“Right you are Max. We’ve put in for one more officer to handle the doctor’s appointments and other off-site visits. We’ll always have two security officers on duty.”

That made me feel better. But now we had to find Carina and the other three women and had a baby to take care of.

* * *

By the time Lehka got back, Sheehan was in her field office.

“Max, Lehka, have a seat.”

We sat in those Steelcase chairs with the fake green leather seat coverings. Her desk wasn’t much nicer.

“I know you didn’t sign up for this, but Lehka is one of our most experienced detectives, and the two of you solved a difficult double murder case. I’m going to pull you off your assignments to find these four women. We have Carina’s baby in foster care.”

“For fuck’s sake. Is there any bottom for these animals?” I asked, disgusted with this latest development.

“Apparently not Max. You’re going to report to Lieutenant Waters. She’s already been briefed. You two up to this?”

“Yes sir,” we both said at once. I would have volunteered for this and my guess is that Lehka would have as well.

“Good, now kick some asses and bring them back.”

* * *

“Shit Lehka, I was looking forward to a routine six months. Now we’ve got to tackle a Ukrainian gang,” I said to her as we left Sheehan’s office.

“First things first, Max,” said Lehka.

“Yeah, what’s that?”

“Lunch. I’m starving.”

We went to Cincinnati’s finest, Skyline Chili. They specialized in chili dogs. We ordered and then slid into a molded plastic booth. I’m a traditionalist. I go for the standard three way. A hot dog slathered in savory chili and topped with diced onions and a mountain of finely shredded cheese. Lehka wanted it spicy, like our sex, and substituted habanero cheese. We each ordered two, and left stuffed and happy.

“What next?” she asked in the bright sunlight in the parking lot.

“Station. See if we can round up some intel on the Ukrainians.”

Chapter Five

Olek

Our first stop was Maddy Barnes. She ran the back office for our department’s drug task force. Maddy knew everyone and everything about the people running drugs in our town. I figured the Ukrainians hit Maddy’s radar screen at one time or another and could give us a lead. Her office was in an annex to our station, the newer wing with the nicer furnishings. She was a cute young thing, probably early 30’s with short brown hair, thick eyebrows and designer glasses. She had perpetual man issues. I could never keep track. She was typing away on her computer when Lehka and I went into her office.

“Hey Maddy, how are you?” She scolded me the last time we talked for skipping the social niceties.

“Fine, and good of you to ask,” she said, lifting up her glasses onto the top of her head.

“Dating anyone?” I asked. Who said I was lousy at small talk?

“Your partner, Lanny.”

That was somewhat unexpected. Lanny had dated most of the women in the station, but I thought Maddy was above all that.

“Slumming it, huh?”

“He’s a sweet man.”

“Yeah he is. But he has a wandering eye.”

“I know his rep. He’s latched onto to me, for better or worse.”

“Latched on?”

“He proposed.”

“No.”

“Yes. I’m thinking about it.”

I forgot why I was in her office. No one had ever tamed Lanny.

She shrugged her shoulders. “Not sure I’m ready to settle down with him.”

“Enough about me. So what’s up?” she asked.

“We’re here about the snatch and grab this morning.”

“Right. I heard about that. Ukrainians. Tough bunch. You’re looking for Olek Shevchenko.”

“How solid is your intelligence?”

“It’s a gang based out of Detroit. Olek controls Cincinnati. The usual. Drugs, prostitution, gambling. They have their fingers into everything. You created a power vacuum when you arrested Jumbo. They filled it. I think they took what they viewed as their property.”

“Do you know where we can find them?”

“I think Lanny might know more. He was reassigned to our unit while you’re on temporary assignment. He’s been tracking Shevchenko for us.”

That made sense. That’s how Lanny and Maddy hooked up.

Maddy looked at Lehka. “Good to see you Lehka. Didn’t have anything better to do than hang out with this loser? By the way, you look terrific.”

“Thanks. I ran out of things to do in Columbus so I decided to come to Cincinnati. Max seems to get in all kinds of trouble so I’m here to bail her out.”

“Looks like you have a pretty babysitter Max.”

“She’s all right. I think she’s got the hots for me.”

“Character flaw,” Maddy noted.

“Right,” I said. I wanted to add “fuck you,” but she gave me valuable info.

* * *

We sought out Lanny in the break room. He was usually in there trying to charm the females in the department. We found him sitting by himself reading a manual on police procedures. I’m not sure I ever saw him crack a book.

“Whatcha doing partner?” I asked him.

“Reading.”

“I can see that. Are you OK?” I asked him. I was thinking he was ready for a psychological examination.

“Studying for the sergeant’s examination.”

“Really?” Lanny never exhibited this kind of ambition. He was usually more interested in chasing women.

“Yeah, would be nice to make what you’re making Max. Trying to save up for a down payment on a house.”

“Setting up shop with Maddy?”

“How’d you know about that?”

“Just saw her. You’re way over your head partner.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m trying to keep my nose clean Max. It’s hard for me.”

“You must really love her.”

“I do. She’s the real deal as far as I’m concerned.”

“I’ve got to say you’re right. Just hope you can keep up.”

“I’ll try. So what can I do for you? I hear you and Lehka are working together again.”

There were no secrets at the station. Did everyone know my business?

“Right. Maddy told us about Shevchenko. Do you know where he is?”

“Not exactly. But I know some places where you might find him.”

“Where?”

“Syd’s for one. Apparently he’s moving the stuff that Syd’s crew is trying to fence. Also seen him hanging out at Kolba’s Taverne. It’s a Ukrainian restaurant in North Fairmount.”

“Great, Syd loves me,” I said. Syd actually hated my guts. Lanny was with me when we rousted him to find Lester Marsden, a lowlife snitch who knew who killed my former partner Rachel Tompkins. I also helped put away Syd’s wife for dealing drugs from behind the counter. That didn’t ingratiate me with him either.

“I can go with you,” Lanny offered.

“That’s OK,” I told him. “Lehka and I can handle this. Better to keep you in reserve.”

“You know best Max.”

Lanny trusted me implicitly.

* * *

We drove to the West End, which was one of the poorer neighborhoods in Cincinnati and the beat that Lanny and I patrolled. Syd’s was located in the heart of the West End, surrounded by abandoned houses and dilapidated store fronts. The front window of the bar was bricked over long ago, and there were perpetually at least a half dozen motorcycles parked in front. Syd was cleaning off one of the tables when Lehka and I walked into the dingy interior of the bar. It made my skin crawl to be in that place. He looked up at me with dark eyes. The few hairs that he had were clumped together and hanging over his forehead.

“Brought one of your lesbo lovers I see?” Syd spit out with venom in his voice. He put his head down and went back to wiping off the table and ignoring us.

We walked up to his table so I was inches from him. He stank like the bar.

He raised his head slowly. “Gonna rough me up you miserable bitch?” His eyes radiated hate.

“Nope,” I said. “I’m going to have my lesbo partner do that.”

Lehka grabbed his forearm and gave it a quick twist. His eyes were as big as saucers. There was fear in them. He was all talk.

“Let me go you dyke!” he shouted. The bikers in the back stopped their pool game to watch. They knew from the last time I was in there that it was probably better not to get involved. They went back to their game as we roughed up the bar owner.

I put my face right in his. I could see sweat beading up on his forehead as Lehka applied more pressure. His face was as red as a ripe tomato. She jerked upward. I watched his eyes clench together as they squeezed out a tear. Lehka was enjoying it. I didn’t know that about her.

“Listen shithead. My partner Lehka here hates misogynistic motherfuckers like you. She wants to twist your arm off but I’m lobbying for your pathetic pecker. Have you seen Olek Shevchenko?”

“Never heard of him.”

Lehka twisted a bit more. His face was contorted and he was snorting through his nose. His ratty eyes burned with contempt.

“They’ll kill me…”

“You’ll wish you were dead after we make you a one armed eunuch.”

“I haven’t seen him in a week. Honest.”

Lehka let go. He sighed and rubbed his arm.

“Thanks for nothing shitbird.” I spit on the table and pointed to it. “I think you missed a spot.”

* * *

Unfortunately Syd was telling the truth. He didn’t tolerate pain well, and Lehka must have picked up that skill in charm school. Our next option was the restaurant. Strong armed techniques wouldn’t work there. I didn’t know exactly who to shake down, so we decided to stake it out. Maddy sent us a grainy surveillance photo of Shevchenko, so at least we knew who we were looking for.

We used Lehka’s rental car for the stakeout, parking a half block away with a clear sightline to the restaurant’s front entrance. We’d been there for about two hours, and it was drawing near their 11 p.m. closing time. Lehka and I decided to wait until they closed and extinguished the lights in the off chance that Shevchenko would show up after hours.

No one had gone in or left in an hour and we were bored shitless. The food was gone and our coffee thermoses were empty.

“Nothing doing here, Max.”

“Let’s just wait another thirty minutes Lehka.”

We hadn’t had any alone time in a while, and we were too tired to have sex when we got back to the apartment. Apparently Lehka decided that now was the time to get frisky. I was sitting in the driver’s seat. Her pretty little hand started to unbutton my pants.

“What are you doing?” I asked her, knowing full well what she was doing.

“Just visiting an old friend,” she said. She slipped her hand inside my panties. I could feel her fingers raking through my pubic hair. I involuntarily lifted up my hips. She slid my pants down to my knees.

“Lehka…”

That naughty girl.

“Shut up,” she barked at me. She licked two of her fingers and worked them inside my panties. I didn’t realize how horny I was. The fingers reminded me.

“Oh God Lehka,” I gasped. She found my G spot. I could feel myself getting very wet. I felt like I was in a high school flashback.

Her thumb found my clit. I took a glance at the restaurant. No movement. I closed my eyes, just for a second. She was going to make me cum. The sense of danger made it even better.

“Oh Max… I love your wet pussy,” she whispered in my ear. Her hot wet breath gave me a shiver. Lehka was some kind of nasty.

“Ummm. I love your fingers,” I moaned back to her. She was rubbing her fingertips against my G-spot. She knew where my buttons were and how to push them.

I tried to open my eyes but I couldn’t. It was feeling too fucking good.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

My window vibrated hard enough that I thought was going to break.

My sweet reverie was inundated in cold water by the butt end of a policeman’s flashlight hitting the driver’s side window. The officer outside turned on the flashlight and flipped it over so it was shining in my face. I lowered the window. I couldn’t make out who it was.

“Max?”

It was Emil Rodriguez. He patrolled the West End when I was there. Apparently he still was, and was treated to the sight of my pants down to my knees. Lehka had a guilty and embarrassed look on her face and was trying to hide her wet fingers from view. I hadn’t been this embarrassed since high school when a mother came home early to find me kissing her daughter in her bedroom.

“Hey Rodriguez.” I was brain locked. My lips started moving, spouting gibberish. “Lehka and I… uh… Lehka was looking for her keys.”

I had to think fast and I wasn’t particularly good at it.

“Did they happen to be in your pussy Max?” he deadpanned.

Rodriguez had a Cheshire smile on his face. We really stepped in it. This gossip worthy incident would have prominent mention during Sheehan’s early morning briefing. Yet another chapter in the annals of “What the fuck was Max thinking?”

“Sorry Emil…” I started to say.

Emil didn’t let me finish.

“Just keep your pants on Max. Have a good night.”

He climbed back to his patrol car. I could see him in the car having a laugh with his partner. It was already starting. The next day was going to be brutal.

I pulled up my pants and buttoned them. The lights were off in the restaurant. We didn’t miss anything.

“That was a close one, wasn’t it Max?” Lehka said excitedly and naively. She didn’t appreciate the power and speed of the department’s grapevine. It was likely that everyone would know about it in the next hour.

“Yeah. A close one.” I gave Lehka a kiss on the lips. I didn’t want to tell her that Emil was the biggest blabbermouth in the station.

I was thankfully distracted when headlights flashed past us.

“Over there.” I pointed to a black Mercedes pulling up to the curb. Two men got out, but the shadowy light didn’t allow us to see who they were. We watched them go up to the restaurant’s entrance. The lights turned on to greet them. Even from our distance, I could tell it was Shevchenko. He was wearing a long gray coat that looked expensive. He was smoking a cigar. His dark, shiny hair was unmistakable. He looked like a polished man carrying himself with confidence.

We waited for about an hour. The two men came out and got into the car. We followed at a discreet distance with our headlights off. It was a lightly travelled neighborhood that time of night and relatively easy to follow them without being seen. The car stopped briefly at a house about a mile or so away before continuing to a gated compound after a forty-five minute drive. I thought there was a good chance that our kidnapped women were in the house.

I called in to Captain Sheehan. She authorized 24 hour surveillance on the house and the restaurant. Lehka and I decided to continue to push in case they weren’t in the house. We would start surveillance on Syd’s.

We knocked off for the night, happy that we were able to locate Shevchenko. I was convinced he was hiding the women somewhere in Cincinnati.

That night we were both in a better mood. I took a shower first and was enjoying the hot spray when I felt a nude body slide behind me.

“This space taken?” Lehka asked. She cupped my breasts and pressed against me. This was my new favorite way to take a shower.

She cradled one of my breasts in the palm of her hand and rubbed soap on it with the other hand. “I missed you Max.” She leaned over and sucked on my nipple. She pulled on it with her teeth. It was sweet pain when she let go.

I turned around to face her. I leaned forward so my finger could feel its way to her slit. It went further back to rim her anus.

“This belongs to me tonight,” I told her.

She wiggled her cute butt, pushing my finger past her anal ring.

“Own me Max.”

I pushed my finger deeper into her ass.

“Fuck me and own me,” she growled. I kissed her while I fingered her butt. There was something primal about our sex. What did she mean by “own”?

The skin on my back was turning a pinkish red. The water beading on Lehka’s cocoa brown skin was much sexier. I didn’t want to stop kissing her.

She squeezed her legs together and my finger popped out. She wiggled past me and under the spray and I moved to the back. It was her turn to seduce me.

She twisted me around so my cheek was pressed against the glass wall. She kicked at the inside of my right foot.

“Spread’em,” she said in her best policewoman voice.

I spread my legs further apart. Her hand shot upward to roughly cup my sex. She forced a finger inside me. More sweet pain.

“What are you up to up to my little slut?” She put her hand around my neck while she finger fucked me.

“Nothing,” I answered truthfully.

She pulled her sweet, sticky finger out of me and shoved it under my nose.

“You call this nothing?”

“I can’t help it,” I confessed readily.

“You are my little slut, aren’t you?” she asked me.

“For you I am.”

I sucked the dew off her fingers and turned off the water. We stood there dripping and listening to the water swirling into the drain.

“I love you Max,” Lehka declared.

I put my arm around her wet skin. “I love you too.”

* * *

We spent the day at the facility chipping in with our old roles, while biding our time for the night time surveillance at Syd’s. We found a good spot about a block away. We could watch the coming and goings from the bar with a telephoto lens, and were inconspicuously parked between an abandoned car and an empty trailer. We were about two hours into it when I sensed someone behind us. I turned my head and saw two men pointing guns with silencers at Lehka and me. They were wearing shiny black leather jackets and black slacks. Trouble. Big trouble.

I rolled down my window to see a grizzled face with a two day growth of beard.

“Mr. Shevchenko would like to see you,” the man on my side said. He had a pronounced Eastern European accent. “You come with us.”

Lehka and I offered no resistance. We got out of the car. We followed one man to Syd’s while the other trailed behind us. Syd was behind the bar. He gave us the evil eye but said nothing. Shevchenko was sitting alone at a large round table at the back of the bar. He motioned for Lehka and I to take a seat on the opposite side of the table.

“You’ve been watching me,” he said, in a deep, heavily accented voice. He was what you would expect for a Ukrainian crime boss. A large man with broad hands, a barrel chest, a thick beard, and dark, wavy salt and pepper hair. He had a glass of clear liquid in front of him. I had a good guess there wasn’t water in it.

“Yes,” I admitted. There was no harm in admitting it since they just caught us doing it.

“And yesterday too.”

I thought he hadn’t seen us, but he clearly had. I filed away that I’d have to improve our surveillance technique.

“Where are my manners? Would either of you officers like a drink? Officer…”

“Pemberton, Max Pemberton. And my partner Lehka Singh.”

“Ice water would be great,” I answered. Lehka nodded. Olek motioned to one of his men to take care of it.

“You Americans, so in love with ice,” he chuckled. “Now let me tell you something. I did not take those girls.”

His statement surprised me. Of course we thought he did. But having his men take us to meet with him so he could tell us — that was a strong denial. I wanted to believe him.

“Why would I bring attention to myself? I’m a businessman. I do lot of business in your town. I don’t need your attention. Why would I do this for four women in your detention facility?”

His questions made sense. Taking those women would undoubtedly trigger a strong response from the department. But then it occurred to me that the abduction of the four women wasn’t reported in the press. If he didn’t do it, how did he know? I decided to play along with him.

“If you didn’t do it, who did?” I asked. It was a logical question.

“I knew you would ask me. I don’t know. But I can find out.”

“You do that. I’m only interested in finding those women.”

He held his hands out in a friendly gesture. “I just want to help as concerned citizen,” he said glibly in his accented English.

“Right,” I said in an equally glib manner.

“You not like Ukrainians Officer Pemberton?”

“It’s not that you’re Ukrainian. It’s because you’re a lying scumbag.”

“Officer. Now you offend Olek.”

“You obviously know more than you’re letting on. We’ll keep our eyes on you Mr. Shevchenko.”

He gave me a stare with his steely gray eyes. “You do that Officer Pemberton. We keep our eye on you too.”

* * *

“What do you make of that?” asked Lehka.

“I want to think he’s telling the truth, but something’s that’s stopping me from believing him.”

“There’s too much for him to lose by doing it,” Lehka noted. “As he says, it doesn’t make sense for him and I’ve got to agree. He can prove it by helping us find who really did it.”

“We still have to keep an eye of him.”

“Absolutely. There’s no honor among thieves.”

“Let’s go back to the station. I think Captain Sheehan is working late and I’m sure she’ll want to hear this first hand.

* * *

Sheehan was at the station working late into the night. She was really working two jobs, with her responsibilities at the detention facility as well. She had her head down mired in paperwork when we went into her office.

“Max, Lehka, I didn’t expect to see you this late at night.”

Lehka relayed the story in detail. All of it, leaving out only the part where Rodriguez found us in a compromising situation. Sheehan wasn’t going to let us off that easy.

“So Max,” she started, “there’s talk around the station that you were literally caught with your pants down during the Shevchenko stakeout. Is that true?”

It wouldn’t do any good to lie. I’m sure Rodriguez told her in person. It was too juicy a story not to.

“Yes Cap. It won’t happen again.”

“Regulation pants are to be worn at all time when you are on duty.” I could see her smirk. She just wanted to see me squirm. It was working.

“Yes sir, in the future, the pants stay on, all the time.”

I think I satisfied her. She got her pound of flesh.

“Enough of that. So you believe Shevchenko?”

We both gave our views on why he might be telling the truth, but with reservations.

“We should keep looking. He may be right, and there’s someone trying to frame him.” She poured more coffee from her thermos into her mug. “But who would want to point the finger at him?”

I thought about it for a second. Who indeed? Who would have the most to gain by fingering the Ukrainians?

I went back to the expert — Maddy Barnes. She had her finger on the pulse of the Cincinnati underworld. I shared Shevchenko’s denial with her. She twirled her pen between her fingers like a baton.

“Makes sense. Shevchenko’s been keeping a low profile here. He suffered a loss, but he’s not about to implode his whole operation over it.” She started tapping on her keyboard.

“When you busted Jumbo, it left an opening for a number of gangs. The Ukrainians, the Chinese. There’s also a Mexican gang trying to make inroads here. Those are the most logical groups. Wait a sec.”

She scrolled through another screen. “I’ve been hearing a lot of chatter recently about some Columbians. They’re bringing cocaine in. We don’t know how. They’re also trying to horn in on the prostitution.”

“Thanks Maddy. That’s helpful. Anything I can do for you?”

“Nicky still making her meatball sandwiches?”

“Yep.”

“Bring me back one next time you remember.”

“You’ve got it.”

Chapter Six

The Columbians

I decided we’d hit up Lanny for more information. He might have some useful information to narrow our search. I invited him and Rodriguez for beers at the Landing Point after his shift was over. Lehka joined us. We were all wearing our civvies. Kris was waiting on us. She brought a tray of longnecks. Rheingeists, a local beer that was our current favorite.

We toasted by clanging the necks together. Lehka watched me. I took a small sip.

“I’ll be good, babe,” I told her.

She took my hand and squeezed it.

“I love you,” I told her.

“Hey guys. You done over there?” asked Lanny.

“Sorry Lanny,” I said. “Lehka’s keeping me on the straight and narrow.”

“Big job Lehka,” he told her.

“Shut up Lanny. She knows what she’s signed up for.” I gave him a playful shove.

“I doubt it, partner.”

“Pants are still on,” I said to Rodriguez. I pointed to them proudly.

“So what have you guys heard?” asked Lehka, getting the conversation back on track.

“Definitely would look at the Columbians,” said Rodriguez. “I’d look at them first. They’ve been muscling their way into the West End. The Ukrainians are pushing back, and I sense a turf war is in the making.”

“I’ve got to agree,” said Lanny. “They’re moving a lot of product here. Cocaine is plentiful and cheap. Plus they’re schemers. I wouldn’t put it past them to try to frame the Ukrainians and take the heat off themselves.”

“Know where to find them?” I asked.

“Let me take you around tomorrow. I know some of the places they hang out. Haven’t really kept close tabs on them lately. ”

“Sounds good. We’ll meet you at the station at 8.” I snuck another sip of beer when I thought Lehka wasn’t looking. “So Lanny. What’s going on with Maddy?”

“Dumped me.”

“Sorry about that.”

“I wasn’t smart enough for her,” he said with a sigh. “Oh well. I really didn’t like that book work anyway. So onward.”

One good thing about Lanny was he didn’t hold a grudge.

“So who’s the flavor of the week?” Lanny was such a dilletante when it came to women. I needed a scorecard.

“Angela. We just started dating.”

“Angela in accounting?” I asked.

“That’s the one.”

“She’s too good for you,” I noted.

“They all are in your eyes Max,” said Lanny.

I laughed. “You’re right for once Lanny.”

“You’re making me sorry that I saved your life,” he said. He’d never forget it and neither would I. Taking that bullet meant for me during a drive by shooting. It was his ace in the hole, that he could play any time he wanted to. He knew it and I knew it.

“Checkmate Lanny.”

“Right boss.”

Lanny hit his beer again. I looked to see if Lehka was watching. She was. My beer was left untouched.

“So Lehka, why are you putting up with this loser?” he asked. He showed me two could play at this game.

Lehka smirked. I saw it. It was meant for me. “You know Lanny. I’ve been asking that same question myself.” Then she put her arm around me and kissed me on the cheek. “But then I always remind myself that I love her.”

That made me feel good. But of course Lehka wasn’t going to let me off scot-free. “But as they say, love hurts.”

Then Lanny became the good partner. “I would take another bullet for Max. She taught me everything I know.”

“I know you would Lanny.”

Lanny also didn’t want my head to get too big. “Of course, it’s not a lot, but it is everything that she knows,” he added. He toasted me again. I took a long sip of my beer, with Lehka watching. I missed drinking and I missed the goofball.

“So Lehka, you’re on a six month assignment here. Planning on something longer?”

Lanny asked the question that was on my mind.

She looked at me. She knew I wanted to know the answer too.

“We’ll see how it goes. I’m liking it so far.”

* * *

Lehka and I were in the station, in my cubicle, going over the security footage of the kidnapping. It was grainy, and we couldn’t make out the faces of the abductors. Lehka was going forwards and backwards, trying to see if we could get a decent image of someone’s face. These guys were clever. Wore balaclavas, and didn’t take them off once.

Sheehan came into my cube. “Got an anonymous tip. Told us the women were being held in a house in the West End.” She handed me the address.

“Saddle up cowgirl” I told Lehka. “We’re going hunting.”

We drove out to the address. It was an abandoned house in a cul-de-sac, with a car on blocks in the front yard. The front door was left open, as if the occupants had left in a hurry. We announced ourselves. We walked into the living room, kicking away yellowed newspapers to get to the bedrooms. Lehka drew out her flashlight and searched the first bedroom, finding nothing. The master bedroom in the back had two discolored mattresses and crumpled fast food wrappers and empty water bottles littering the floor. Lehka found a colorful hand knitted scarf. I recognized it as belonging to Carina. She was wearing it when I met her.

“Fuck, we just missed them,” said Lehka, kicking a paper bag. “Looks like they just got out. The food in that bag is still fresh.”

“Who was it? Let’s have Lanny interview the neighbors and see if they can get some intel,” I said to her. I was pissed as well. At least we knew they were probably still alive.

Sheehan was bitching out a cadet when we reached her office. I could hear her yelling through her closed door. The cadet, a cute young thing, came out red faced with her head down. She was fighting back a tear when she saw us.

“Hey Lanny… Max…” she said, her head hung low.

I went to Cap’s open door and I knocked on the metal doorframe.

She looked up from her paperwork.

“What?” She look annoyed. She was clearly in a foul mood.

“Care to share?” I asked her, trying to be helpful.

“No.”

She put down her pen. “Max, what?”

I threw the scarf on her desk. I managed to elicit a smile at my offering.

“What’s this?”

“Scarf we found at the house.”

I gave her a picture of Carina we had on file. It was her scarf. No question about it. She was wearing it in the picture.

“No trace of them other than this?”

“Found some takeout food containers and empty water bottles. Pretty clear they were there,” said Lehka. “Food was fresh. I’d say we missed them by hours. The front door was left wide open.”

“Hmm,” she said. “Maddy came back with intel on the address. Turns out it’s owned by a shell company we believe is controlled by the Columbians.”

Lehka looked at me. “Looks like we have our perps.”

“Columbians? This was a pretty bold move for a gang to establish their street cred in our town. I’m not completely convinced. It’s too neat. And Shevchenko had much more to gain.” I wasn’t ready to make a call. I couldn’t deny that the initial evidence was certainly pointing in the direction of the Columbians.

Sheehan added her two cents. “We need to move more resource towards the Columbians. We don’t know a whole lot about them.” Sheehan seemed to be lining up behind Lehka.

I was the contrarian. “I think we should double surveillance on Shevchenko. I don’t trust that motherfucker. This is too easy.”

“Max, you know we don’t have the budget for that, especially when you’re playing a hunch.” Sheehan was always wedded to her fucking budget.

“Max, you’re being unreasonable. We have no evidence the Ukrainians were involved,” said Lehka, piling on.

“Go your own way,” I told them, quoting my favorite Fleetwood Mac song.

Lehka rolled her eyeballs. “Max, sometimes you can be such an asshole.”

* * *

Lehka was a “by the book” detective. She went where the evidence took her, and the evidence was clearly pointing to the Columbians. I on the other hand went with my gut. Our clash in styles was brought to the fore when we received conflicting tips. Another anonymous tip came in about the Columbians. Syd told me that Shevchenko was up to something. He had seen a number of men from Shevchenko’s gang that he didn’t recognize. Most of them were from Detroit. Lehka wanted to chase down the Columbian tip and I wanted to double down on Shevchenko’s surveillance. In the end, we agreed to disagree. She took half of the team with her, and I took half with me.

We returned to the station late that night to compare notes. Hers turned out to be another near miss. Again, evidence of squatters in the house. But best of all, one of her investigators found a photograph tucked into a crack in a bedroom wall. It was a picture of Carina’s baby. Lehka thought that was proof positive she was on the right trail.

I confirmed Syd’s intelligence. We saw increased traffic around Shevchenko’s house and at Syd’s bar. Nothing concrete, but it was probably double the number of people we usually saw surrounding him. I had no doubt that Shevchenko was up to something, and my working theory was that he was planting evidence implicating the Columbians and was preparing to spirit the women out of Cincinnati. I, of course, had not a shred of tangible evidence to back my theory.

“Looks pretty compelling here Max. Two safe houses where we believe they stayed. Both houses registered in shell corporations controlled by Columbian interests. You have nothing. You’re the sports fan Max. In my book, that’s 2-0, and you’re losing.”

I never thought I’d had to compete with Lehka, but she was bringing to bear the experience of managing a whole raft of detectives and making the hard call every day. I on the other hand had no one reporting to me and didn’t approach my work with a scientific bent. I was old school, and hunches were a valuable tool in my arsenal.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was a picture we received, anonymous of course, of a car parked on the street near the holding facility on the day of the kidnapping. It was parked in a dark spot for CCTV, and was apparently taken with someone’s phone. We ran the plates and discovered the car was owned by a company believed to be controlled by the Columbian cartel. The car was later found torched and abandoned on the other side of town.

I stood firm in the face of a growing pile of evidence implicating the Columbians. I still had only my suspicions. Sheehan wanted to control the budget and cut the overtime for surveillance on Shevchenko, and moved all of those resources to chase the Columbians. I went into her office to protest. Lehka as looking over her shoulder, poring over a spreadsheet on Sheehan’s computer monitor.

“Cap. I know the Ukrainians are behind this. It’s too easy. They’re practically leaving a roadmap to the Columbians.”