Maxine Stone's New Life
Chapter 1

Copyright© 2011 by carniegirl

Erotica Sex Story: Chapter 1 - Maxine stone is a retired Air Force Noncom trying to get by in a small town. Her new life is filled with small characters and minor adventures.

Caution: This Erotica Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa   Fa/Fa   Fa/ft   Ma/Ma   Consensual   Reluctant   Coercion   Gay   BiSexual   Heterosexual   Mystery   Oral Sex   Anal Sex   Masturbation   Fisting   Transformation   Prostitution  

"Max, I'm going for a coffee want me to bring you one?" Ed Martin, aka the bondsman, asked as he walked toward the door of our small office.

"No thanks, Ed," I replied. "The coffee from my Mr. Coffee is fine with me. I'm not really a big fan of designer coffee. Too many years of bad coffee," I replied.

"Yeah, you haven't been out long enough to develop a taste for the finer things in life."

Finer things in life I wasn't sure about, but I hadn't been out of the Air Force very long, that was true. I had done most of my twenty two years in the Air Police. During that time I had done everything from ride in a patrol car patrolling the base housing area, to guarding convoys in Afghanistan. It had been a long and eventful 22 years. Unfortunately I got frozen in rank at master sergeant. I had been told by my last commanding officer, that I would never rise above my rank at the time. According to him, I was not a team player That being the case, I pulled the plug at 22 years.

That little conversation came while I was recovering from a piece of shrapnel in my belly. Compared to most of the wounds from that stupid war, it wasn't even worth mentioning. If it had not been for the conversation with Captain Hartman, I wouldn't have bothered.

By the way don't let anyone tell you that you are safe in an armored Humvee. My life was probably saved more by the shortage of explosives in Afghanistan, than by the Kevlar. Fortunately the IED wasn't as big as it might have been the year before. The Vee was a total loss, but thankfully I wasn't.

I had planned to retire at thirty and do very little, if anything afterward. When I went out at 22years, I had to look for something to fill my time and to supplement my pension. I was fortunate. If I could stand the long lines, I had free medical coverage from the VA. I probably would go with the co-pay and use the private coverage available to me.

I found myself back in Aster because I had this old high school friend named Jennifer. She had gone on to the state university and become a lawyer. Jen and I had stayed in touch over the years. Mostly it had been Christmas cards and a wedding invitation every few years. There had been 22 Christmas cards and five wedding invitations to be exact. Two of the invitations were mine and three were hers. Her third marriage was still intact, while my second husband had been killed in Iraq. It was only a couple of weeks after the end of combat operations there. Somebody forgot to tell the rag heads to stop sending rockets into the American compounds.

Even then I was still a reasonably attractive 41 year old woman, even so I didn't date much. All my old friends were far away and I hadn't made many new ones. The only unattached man I knew well was Ed, and he was about seventy. Even though we shared an office Ed and I didn't really work together.

My friend, the lawyer, convinced me to open a process server business. She hooked me up with all her lawyer friends. Jen also helped me place advertisements in the most well read lawyer rags. I had been at it about six months and business was picking up slowly. I didn't spend much time in the office, so the desk space in Ed's little converted filling station was more than enough for me.

Other than sleeping, I didn't spend much time at home either. The one room garage apartment was also enough space for me. The small space was located over Jen's two car garage. Her current husband didn't seem to mind me living there. They certainly didn't need my paltry rent, so it had to be the fact that I don't close my blinds when I dress. There was only one window in the apartment and it faced the house. I can only be seen from the upstairs windows of the main house. Jen's husband never mentioned seeing me naked, but he always had a wolfish look when we passed in the hallway. I didn't mind that he probably saw me, Hell, I didn't mind that Jen might have seen me as well. It has been a lot of years since I was shy about such things.

I lost my virginity when I was fifteen. I lost it to a grown man, who managed the mall's video arcade. He was cute, and I liked to hang out there after school, and on weekends. He showed me the right amount of attention, and he said the right things. I was young and full of raging hormones, so it was a natural thing that happened. I wasn't legal, I knew it even then, but neither of us cared.

After a few months he moved on to a new teenager, so I moved on to boys my own age. Twenty five years ago oral sex wasn't so common, so it was mostly hugging, kissing, and hand jobs until I graduated high school.

Upon graduation I signed up for the Air Force, just to get away from home. I was probably smart enough for college, but I came from a fatherless home. My mom was divorced and working her butt off to keep me and my brother fed. There was just no money for college. Twenty years ago there were far fewer college loans available. Probably a good thing, since I didn't start my adult life in debt, like so many kids do these days.

I found myself at forty one living on a tiny pension, in a tiny apartment, trying to get a tiny business started. It was going to be a struggle for a while, but I honestly didn't mind. It was more fun to live without stuff. In the end you don't own stuff, it owns you.

I drive a stupid minivan only because Jen had one she wanted to sell. It proved to be a good decision, even if it had been an accidental one. Most days I run around town in jeans and tee shirts. I dress younger than I probably should, but people don't seem to mind. At least if they have a problem with it, they keep it to themselves.

The minivan allowed me to carry a dress and fancy shoes. Now and then I needed to dress up a little. It had only happened a couple of times, but there are places I can't get into wearing jeans. They keep me out of the country club, even if I do have my boobs hanging out. Since I never had kids I can wear a thin bra without having them at my knees. It seemed that sometimes people just wanted me to pretend to be ladylike. Hey I can pretend with the best of them.

"At Your Service," I said into the phone after I stopped it ringing.

"Hey Max, it's me Milton Price," said the metallic voice.

"Hello Mr Price," I replied. Price was a lawyer I had gladly added to my slowly growing client list.

"Got a tricky one for you. By the way call me Milt or Milton at least."

"Sorry Mr. Price, too many years in the military."

"Oh okay, anyway the husband wants to be sure his wife doesn't grab everything, so we are freezing the bank accounts. I want her served first, then I want you to call me immediately so we can freeze the assets right after."

"You know that is going to cost extra. I have never made a notification like that before. How about ten bucks added to the bill for the call."

"You are a hard hearted money hungry lady, but I like that about you. Sure I'm just going to pass it on to him anyway."

"Good I'll swing by for the paper after lunch, unless you want to pay the emergency service price?"

"How much more is that?"

"Instead of the twenty five it is double to fifty then there is the ten return notice expedite fee." I just made up the term 'expedited notice fee' on the spot... "Think fast, and be flexible airman", I remembered that advice from my time on the line.

"So sixty bucks and you will do it now?"

"Yes, just hand me the check, and the address to serve it, when you hand me the papers."

Except for the rush it was a typical transaction. I waited for Ed to come back, before I left for the office of Price and Sloan Attorneys at law. When I walked into the door of the office, I found myself in a room that could have been in a hundred year old building. It was actually in a building no more than five years old. Lawyers liked to look as though they had been in business for generations it seemed.

"Can I help you?" the receptionist asked.

I didn't comment on the young woman's grammar. Instead I replied, "I'm Maxine Stone, from At Your Service. You should have a document for me to serve."

"Yes Ms Stone, Mr Price said you would be right over. In your case that meant right over. Some people take hours to get here."

She was a chatty little thing. She was certainly cute enough. She was definitely young and I expected firm bodied as well. Any other time I might have chated a few moments with her, but at that moment I was in the work mode. Over the years I had learned to separate my private life from my work life. I expect that is really what bugged my bosses over the years. In the military not many people seem to manage that consistently.

She did smile sweetly as she handed me the large brown envelope. I looked inside to be sure that the check was with the folded blue wrapped papers. The envelope contained the legal paper I needed to hand to the lady named on the attached index card. I also needed to ask her to sign the fake form on my clipboard. If she refused, I simply made a note of it. I also took a quick shot with my digital camera whenever it was possible. It helped, if I ever had to go to court. The camera I used was a poor quality thing about the size of a credit card case. It could shoot inside without flash, which was a big plus, otherwise it was just a small low quality digital camera.

"Thank you," I said as I turned to leave the office.

The fact that I found the receptionist cute might have bothered me once upon a time. Those days were long gone. I was always reading in women's magazines that all women were probably biologically bisexual, but chose to suppress the inclination. I just choose not to do that anymore.

After a few weeks into my first enlistment I found that I could enjoy both men and women, pretty much on the same level,. Men and women were segregated in the early part of my career, so any surplus sexual feelings had to be taken care of in a different way. Lots and lots of masturbation went on in those first weeks. All the women in my training flight were young and healthy, so it was pretty normal.

The girl/girl hookups began with the few women who were pure lesbians finding each other. From there it spread to those of us who had been experimenting with open masturbation. That kind of worked it's way into girl/girl sex. Yes, I was right there trying it all. I was young and not all that moral, so it was no real problem for me to justify it. I don't think I ever considered myself homosexual, just open minded.

I'm not sure my commanding officers would have felt the same. That's why don't ask, don't tell worked. We could all pretend, just like I did when I wore a dress and high heels to get into the country club lounge after six pm. I pretended to be a hi class, high maintenance lady instead of the no class, wrong side of the tracks, bisexual bitch that I really am. Hey I know what I am and it works just fine for me.

Enough of my miserable life, I thought as I climbed into the minivan for the drive to Crestview Estates. Crestview was one of those over priced, over decorated, housing developments. Of the fifty houses probably only two were occupied by real Aster residence. All the rest of the home owners drove from the larger city next door each night just to sleep in the country. Why the hell they bothered was beyond me. Crestview and the more heavily populated, cheaper but still similar developments around it were driving the cost of everything higher. I knew that only because Jen and her Husband were one of the few Aster families living in an only slightly downscale Crestview type development. In that one maybe five percent of the residents were really from Aster. The rest of them even called Tryon for their plumbers. The thought of doing anything or using any service from Aster was dreadfully pedestrian.

It was no wonder the Aster kids hated the Crestview kids. Oh the Crestview residents loved the Aster schools, even with the open animosity of the locals. They got to send their kids to school in a system with much less crime than the schools in Tryon. The got better schools without paying high taxes or private school tuition. What was not to like about that.

A very few of the businesses in Aster did business with the Crestview types. Judging from the address on the card inside my folder, divorce lawyers seemed to be among them. The drive to Crestview only took a few minutes but it was really a world away. The grass seemed greener in the yards of the million dollar houses. Crestview was the highest level of prosperity, but the lower level subdivisions got lumped in with Crestview. Ones like the development where Jen and her husband lived. I was headed for Crestview proper that morning.

The house looked like a small stone castle. There were round stone parts that looked like mini watch towers. They looked as though there should be archers standing by to fight off the locals. It was all just an illusion though, the stone walls were most likely made from fiberglass panels. I knew it was no castle because there was no moat. What is a castle without a moat?

I took my brown envelope with the folded sheath of papers, wrapped in the blue cover sheet, inside to the front door. I knocked on the wooden storm door with what had to be the most expensive door knocker made. It was heavy and could have been gold for all I knew. I banged it softly at firs, but after a few minutes of waiting in the sun, I banged hell out of it. Still no one came to the door.

I opened the outer door to put a card with my phone number and a message inside. The message was that I urgently needed to speak with the occupant. I even checked the index card and then wrote Mrs. Porter, in the blank space. It wasn't very personal, but it had worked once. When the huge wooden storm door opened, I noted that the house door had been splintered. Someone had kicked the hell out of that big assed door.

Since I had been a cop, even if it was a military cop, I used my knuckles to push on the door. I had no interest in leaving my finger prints on it. The door opened so I shouted, "Mrs. Porter, its Maxine Stone are you home. I need to speak with you." I was afraid that something bad had happened to Mrs Porter, but I sure as hell didn't plan to enter that house without more reason than I had at that moment.

Instead of going inside, I backed into the yard where I dialed 911 on my cell phone... "911 What is your emergency?" the female voice asked.

"I found a door kicked in when I tried to get in touch with the resident at 200 Crestview Circle. I think you need to send the police or sheriff out. I think someone has broken in."

"Are there any injured people inside?" the operator asked.

"I have no idea, I don't want to walk into a house with the door kicked in. Do you want me to go look around?"

"No stay where you are, I have the sheriff's deputies on the way. Stay on the line please."

"Not a problem, I'll be in the front yard so tell them not to ride in with guns blazing."

"We don't do that kind of thing, and they do know yo u are the woman who called it in."

"Good," I replied. It actually was a load off my mind. I had no desire to deal with an injured person, or something worse. It took only a few minutes before I heard the first siren. I tried to keep an open mind while I waited. The best case scenario would be a missing plasma TV.

"What happened?" the teenage deputy asked.

"I was going to leave a card in the door, when I noticed that it was splintered. I pushed it open and called for the homeowner. When I didn't get an answer, I decided to call 911."

"Okay, you stay right here while I look around."

"Works for me," I replied. I didn't even smile at the kid with a gun. He had no idea that I was more familiar with a firearm than he would most likely ever be. Since I did like younger men now and then, I tried to play nice.

When he came out, he was a little green around the gills. "What did you find?" I asked.

He took a deep breath, held up his hand for me to shut up, then he keyed his radio. "221 to dispatch. You need to send the homicide detective, an ambulance, and 721 out here."

"Was it a middle-age woman?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied quietly.

"Most likely Mrs Porter," I suggested. "I was here to serve papers on her. She and her husband seem to be going through a divorce."

"You need to stay till the detectives arrive," he suggested.

"Okay, do you mind if I wait in the van. This is a little upsetting."

"Okay, Just don't leave." I nodded.

Just as soon as I was in the van, I called the number on the index card for Eddie Price. "Price and Sloan how my I direct your call?"

"This is Maxine Stone. I need to talk to Milton Price. It is important." Even though I said was important it took several minutes for Price to answer."

"Maxine did you serve the papers?"

"No, but I'm not refunding your money. This call is worth every penny. Mrs Porter may have been murdered." I went on to tell him the whole story almost second by second.

"Stay were you are and try to find out all you can. I'm going to get Porter in here and see what is what."

"When you talk to him, remember somebody kicked in the door. He probably wouldn't have done that, if he did the deed. After all he does still have a key, I assume."

"Good point Maxine I'll keep that in mind, when I talk to the cops. I am pretty sure we will be having a chat."

"Me too, since I had to tell them about the divorce. I didn't tell them about the frozen assets yet. I don't have any privilege, so I will probably have to tell them that I have no idea what kind of papers I am serving."

"That will help. If they ask for them, try to call me before you turn them over. I might be able to invoke privilege."

"I can try."

I put the phone away, then studied the scene outside the house. There were two marked sheriff's cars, two unmarked cars and an ambulance crew standing by. It was obvious that someone inside the house was very dead. The ambulance crew had not been allowed inside so there was no hope for the victim.

Since the detectives were still inside, they were obviously trying to figure something out. I waited until the crime scene van drove up before I attempted to enter the house. When I got stopped at the door, I explained, "I need to go back to work. So are you finished with me."

"Stay here, I'll ask someone if you can go." the kid cop suggested.

When he turned his back I followed him deeper into the house. I got a glimpse inside the living room door before anyone noticed me. There was a woman on the floor. The absence of any blood convinced me that she had probably been strangled. Just about anything else would leave blood. Even poisoning would most likely leave a puddle of vomit. My guess was strangulation.

"Hey, get that woman the hell out of my crime scene," one of the detectives, who happened to be a woman, shouted at the kid cop.

"Hey, can I go back to work?"

"Leave your number with the patrolman and you can go anywhere you want, Just as long as you don't want to leave this county."

While we had our one sentence conversation, I took in as much of the crime scene as I could. She didn't look like she had put up much of a fight, at least her clothes weren't torn and I didn't see any of her clothes laying around her, so I assumed that it was a straight up murder. Nothing screamed sexual assault, but then only a good thorough autopsy could tell for sure. Still that little bit of information was better than nothing. There was also the absence of blood, which suggested strangulation.

I drove back to the office but on the way I got calls so I served two more court papers ... I picked them up and delivered them without anything out of the ordinary taking place. I drove toward the office at the end of the day to leave the records box. I didn't want to leave one of the few things of my dad had left behind, when he left mom in the van overnight. I kept my records in his old metal fishing tackle box. Mom said he had used it in the early years of their marriage. I felt like it and my record of deliveries would be better protected in Ed's office.

"Max, how far off are you?" Ed asked in an elevated voice.

"I'm five minutes out and headed to the office," I replied into the cell phone.

"Can you swing by Jake's clinic. He has had an incident."

"Sure Max, you gonna' bail me out," I said as I put the pedal to the floor. Max wouldn't have called me, if it was something he could handle himself. It was a short drive to Jake's Aster Clinic. The clinic smelled of strong disinfectant I noticed as I entered the front door.

"Hi I'm Maxine Stone, Jake's father asked me to stop bye." The receptionist at the Aster Clinic was not young or chatty. She didn't even speak to me. She announced my presence into the intercom, then motioned me to the single door leading into the clinic proper.

A woman in green surgical scrubs opened the door for me. She didn't look friendly, but she did look terrified. I noted the contrast between her and the receptionist. The receptionist had been icy, but this woman was clearly afraid. She didn't speak. She just led me back into the bowels of clinic.

I found Jake's son sitting at his desk staring at a bottle of Jack Daniels Black Label "So what's up Jake."

"I should have called the cops instead of calling dad first."

"Why is that Jake, because he sent a woman?" I said intentionally. I wanted him on the defense.

"Nothing like that, It just seems to be who I should call."

"Tell me what happened, then we can decide what to do. Cops might be the best thing or maybe not."

"Okay, some thugs burst into the clinic. They held us at gunpoint demanding money and drugs. I told them we don't keep drugs here, so they demanded that I write them a scrip. They said that they would be back every week for a new one. They also said that the clinic had a new landlord and the rent to stay in business was a thousand a week."

"Did they tell you when they would be back?"

"Friday," he replied.

"Well you can call the cops and they will do what they can to find the guys. My guess is that they are from Tryon. When they go across jurisdictions. it is harder to get anything done. Or I can hang out here Friday and give them a surprise. Of course your dad can find out who it was, and I can scare pure hell out of them. It's really up to you."

"I think I'll call the cops. No offense Ms Stone."

"None taken Doc," I said that as I stood to leave.

"Could I pay you to come hang out of Friday, just in case."

"Call the local police tell them what happened, and see if they want to do that. If not get in touch with me."

"Fair enough," he replied. "Do I owe you for stopping by?"

"No, I'm going to take it off my rent." I smiled as I walked from his office.

"So?" Ed asked as I carried my dad's tackle box to the safe room. The safe room was a concrete block room with double walls and a very secure steel door. Ed used it to store his files and I used it to store my dad's tackle box and my small weapons collection.

"I'm sure he told you someone decided to sell him an insurance policy. One that only covers protection from the guys who sold it."

"Yeah, but it was also armed robbery, since they stole the prescription at gunpoint."

"That's how I see it. He decided to call the cops."

"They won't do shit." Ed said scornfully.

"I don't know how good your cops are. I haven't dealt with them."

"Best he can hope for is that they park an empty squad car in the parking lot. To seem not to fucking be, that's their motto." He said angrily.

"I told him I would standby on Friday, if the cops wouldn't."

"Good, if he has any sense he will let you.

"You might want to tell him that. All he saw was a small woman with even smaller boobs. That image doesn't inspire much confidence with most men."

"Yeah well none of them know you, or they wouldn't feel that way."

"So if the cops won't give him real protection, tell him he can trust me."

"You know he don't make a lot of money at that clinic?" The clinic was for mostly medicade and medicare patients. Private pay, or Private insurance patients tended to prefer appointments and waiting rooms with a better aroma. "If it comes down to it, we can work something out. You do know what I mean."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Let's hope it don't come down to it." I replied.

After the conversation with Ed, I took a chance that Price might still be in the office. "Mr. Price," I said into the phone. "I thought I would fill you in on what little I know." I went on to tell him everything I knew and even what I guessed. I also told him to get the police reports if he wanted to know for sure. I explained that I was just guessing.

"So what do you think?" he asked when I finished.

"I am sort of working for your client and I think he did it. That should tell you something."

"Yeah it does, but he has an alibi."

"Me and the police would expect no less. I hope his bank accounts have one as well. It looks a lot like murder for hire. If he didn't do it, someone who knew her did, or had it done. I would bet my ass on that. Not that my ass is of much value."

I took myself to dinner that night since it was Friday. It was the height of my week. I had always splurged when alone on a Friday night. I had stopped by the piano bar in the restaurant where I had dinner, so I was late getting home. If the guy I was drinking with hadn't had a wife at home, I might not have come home at all. I sorta drew the line there. Okay I had slipped over it a few times, but I always promised myself not to do it again. I even managed to keep my promise that night.

At home I lay in bed and wondered how sex would have been with the barroom cowboy. I wondered, if he might be the one to force me to go straight. Probably not, but he might have been the one to get me off tonight, I thought. Since that was not to be, I reached into the night stand for my vibrator. I had been tweaking and rotating my nipples while I replayed the evening in my mind. I had reached a point were more was needed, so I applied the vibrator to my clit.

I almost instantly felt the warm slippery feeling as my body lubricated itself. I was preparing myself for the invasion of a cock. Long or short thick or thin my body didn't care at that moment. It didn't even care if the cock was plastic. or whether it was on a belt worn by a woman. My body just screamed for something to fill the emptiness.

I wouldn't have denied myself even if I had the willpower to do so. I quickly slipped the vibrator inside and moved it in and out of my slippery, swollen opening. My body was on the edge of an orgasm, when the knock on my door sounded. I came hard to the demanding sound. I couldn't stop even when I heard Jen's husband speak.

"Are you alright Max?"

It took some time before I could answer him. "I'm fine Bob. Sorry if I was too noisy." I have been told many times that I sounded like an animal rutting.

"Do you have someone in there?"

"No," I said that pulling on a ratty old robe and moving to the door.

"Why not," he said with a laugh.

I opened the door. "I found out he was married. Like I told you before, I don't fuck married men."

"Or married woman I hope?" he added.

"Not them either," I replied.

"Well if you are okay, I'll let you get some sleep."

Sundays are always a drag for me. That one was no different. I stayed in bed or in front of my small color TV all day. I ate delivery pizza for lunch and left overs for dinner,

Monday I had only one service. The man who got served was a used car dealer. He had ducked service when the sheriff tried earlier. I guess he thought he was going to sell me a car. His wife's attorney had given me one of his cards, so when I showed it to the salesman, who had pounced on me like a hungry lion, he reluctantly called his boss.

"I got your name from a friend," I suggested.

"Really, which friend do we have in common?" he asked.

"Your soon to be ex-wife," I replied as I handed him the court order advising him that she was freezing the family and business assets until there was a hearing. I called his ex wife's attorney from my car to verify the service. I made an extra ten bucks doing that. It seems once I mentioned the immediate notification everybody wanted it.

I spent the rest of the day watching old TV shows on my laptop at Ed's office. My little desk space was in the old storeroom just outside of the secure room which held Ed's records and my valuables.

"Max, my son just spoke with the detectives. It is their opinion that the thugs won't come back. They did offer to send a car by every hour or so. They said they couldn't spare an officer to sit around there all day."

"Yeah, they hear a lot of big talk from little thugs," I admitted.

"Would you go to the clinic Friday and keep an eye on him.?"

"Sure, if we can work out something on my rent."

And that's how I came to be sitting in the rear hallway of the clinic armed to the teeth when they came. First of all they opened the locked door meant for staff only. It had a combination lock and they came right in. Someone had provided them with that combination.

They weren't expecting me, but I had been more or less expecting them. I got the .30 caliber semiautomatic carbine up before they could get the handguns trained on me. I didn't bother warning them, I simply shot the one in front twice in the chest. He pretty much body blocked the second one as he tried to raise his pistol. I shot him in the face from about 12 feet. The thirty cal. slug made a god awful mess of his face. As he was going down the third one closed the door behind himself as he ran. I had to step over the two dead men as I pushed through the door using the fire bar to bypass the lock.

I caught thug three as he was trying to open the car door. I hit him with a set of tazer wires from about five feet. He did the St. Vida's dance for a couple of seconds, then went down in a heap.

Only then did I use my cell phone to call 911. "Yes," I replied to the operator. "There has been a shooting at the Aster Medical Clinic on Spruce Street."

"Anyone injured."

"Three men have been injured."

"Wait right there," the operator demanded.

"Got nowhere else to go, so I'll be here."

About five minutes till the cops get here, I thought. I turned my attention to the tazered man on the concrete of the parking lot. I kicked him in the ribs. "Wake up sleeping beauty. You are the lucky one. Your friends won't be waking up at all. You with me?"

He moaned. "Now tell your friends back home that you met the devil, and she's a woman. Also tell them the clinic and the rest of this town buys their protection from me. One more stranger comes to town, and I will hunt you all down and kill you. I will also kill your wives, your kids, your mommy, your daddy, and your fucking dog. You do believe me don't you?" I asked with my foot on his throat. He nodded just as the cops drove into the parking lot.

They did their cop thing, which included questioning me, along with everyone else in the clinic. Since there was already a report on file, concerning the men laying pools of there own blood on the hallway floor, I was pretty sure it would be written up as a justified shooting. They hauled thug three off to jail before I was turned over to the homicide detectives. The detectives did their dance before they cut me loose. I was a little nervous about what might happen next, but I didn't dare show it. As the final insult the cops took my rifle and tazer into evidence. I still had the DA to deal with. Then I had to tell Jake that someone in the clinic had given the thugs the combination to the rear door.

Since the receptionist was the only one not shaken after the thugs first visit, my money was on her. If she had been nicer to me, I might not have been so sure, but I just had a feeling she was the traitor. It wasn't my problem, so after I told Ed's son that he had a trader, I moved on. It was up to him to ferret her out.

As for the DA, he could rubber stamp the justified shooting, or call for a grand jury investigation. Either way I could do nothing to influence him, so I decided to just wait it out.

I was too shook up after the shoot out to take myself to dinner that night. I managed to pick up some Chinese takeout on the way home. I am not a gourmet by any means. Simple fried rice with sweet and sour pork was my idea of Chinese food.

Jen's husband Bob came knocking on my door around 8 PM. "Jen and I heard on the news about the shootout. Are you okay? I'm sorry that was stupid of course you aren't okay."

"Bob, I'm okay." I said trying to smile.

"Well, we are having drinks. Jen demanded that I come get you."

"I'm fine, but I can always use a drink."

We actually had a lot of drinks. I don't remember which of them suggest strip poker, but we were all pretty drunk at the time. I agreed without hesitation. I still have a pretty good body for an old broad. Belly dancer tummy and all.

The night ended with one hell of a good night kiss from Bob then one from Jen. I left because we were all drunk. It is a lousy idea to let sex come between friends. Especially the kind of sex Bob obviously had in mind.

I hid in my room all day Saturday and again Sunday. Most of the time I refused to answer my phone. I knew who all might be calling and I didn't want to speak to any of them. Then after 6 PM on Sunday I finally answered a call. I explained how I felt to Jen. Then she told me how she felt, then how Bob felt. None of us felt quite the same, so in the end we decided to do nothing for a while and just see what happened.

Even though I knew that small town cops moved slowly, I was still surprised that it took until the next Monday before I heard that they had called Milton Price's client in for questioning in his wifes death. According to Milt it had been a pretty aggressive interview. He asked that I stop by his office before lunch on Monday.

"So how about you getting an independent verification of Al's alibi?" Price asked as soon as I stepped into his phony antique office.

"You might want someone else Mr. Price. I am still being questioned about that shoot out at the clinic. People are going to recognize me. My face is all over the news."

"Yeah I know. That's why I want you. The cops and a jury will believe you, when you tell them my client was at the gym, when his wife died. Not to mention people will answer when you ask questions."

"If he was, and I don't know that he was, they might believe me. Especially if I get a walk from the cops, and that news makes as big a splash in the media. It would be news, 'The woman who killed two gang bangers is exonerated'. However, I still won't know that he didn't just pay some junkie to do it."

"I'll tell you what Stone, we will pay you to do an independent investigation. Your only restriction will be that you don't volunteer anything. You just tell the truth, when asked. You can't lie to the cops or to me. If I ask you, or the cops ask you, just tell them whatever you learn.

"I want to be paid in advance. $250 a day and none of that prorated shit. If I work one minute, I get paid for the full day."

"Fair enough." Price wrote me a check for five hundred dollars. "Now go talk to the people at the gym and tell me what else you need."

"I want all his financial records up to date as of today. I mean banks, brokerage, anything from which money can be withdrawn. Warn your client, I can find all of his accounts, so don't bother trying to hide them. If he has a secret, it is better to fire me, than lie to me."

"Fair enough," Price said as he handed me the check, "This card," he added handing me an index card with an address. "Has the address of the Gym where Al was working out."

"Will they talk to me?"

"I'll have Al call them right now."

I left his office right away and headed for Tryon. I made it out of town before my cell phone rang. Since I always wear a jacket with pockets, the cell phone was easy to reach, even as I drove.

"At Your Service, Stone," I said into the phone.

"Stone, this is Detective Sergeant Blevins."

"What can I do for you?"

"Nothing really, I'm calling to give you a heads up. Your third thug is out on bail. Your friend Ed posted his bail and we cut him loose."

"I'm sure it was just business," I said knowing I was going to have a talk with Ed about that one.

"Who knows, but watch yourself. He might want to get rid of the only witness."

"Did you find out what his gang affiliations are?"

"Best we can tell he doesn't have any. He and his two dead cousins seemed to have been working alone."

"Really, well I will be damned. Dress like a banger and talk like and banger and everyone is afraid of you, I suppose that would work."

"It seems to have worked pretty well. We found drugs and money in his place."

"Well, I'll keep an eye out for him. I'm not sure he wants to find me though."

"Me either, you seemed to have scared the shit out of him." He paused a few seconds then went on. "I did some checking on you. If you need anything let me know, but stay out of trouble."

I had a pretty good idea what he knew. There was very little about me that couldn't be learned from a quick records check. "Who me? I never get into trouble. Speaking of trouble is the DA going to file on me,"

"Not a chance, the press has made you a hero," he replied. "By the way if you stop by the Cop Out some night, I'll buy you a drink."

"What the hell is the Cop Out?"

"It's an old beer bar downtown. You'll be able to find it, just go to the courthouse on main street then drive north two blocks."

"I'll stop bye one night." I promised.

"Good, well bad guys wait for no man, I got things to do," Blevins said.

"Me too, by the way are you working on that killing over in Crestview last week?"

"No, that is the Sheriff," he replied.

"You know anyone over there I can talk to?"

"Try Brenda Williams, she a tough old bird, but she might help you, if you smile sweetly at her." I could hear the insinuation in his voice. I had heard it often enough. Not only did I swing both ways, but for some reason both teams thought I played for them exclusively. I guess people saw what they wanted to see.

"Oh hell, I can do that no problem," I replied with a smile in my voice.

"I bet you can. You strike me as the kind of woman who knows how to get things done."

"I like to think so. Okay I'm getting into traffic, I'll catch you at the bar." With that I turned my attention to the GPS. The gym turned out to be a storefront that could have been a five and dime in the sixties. It had been converted to a brightly lit gym. It just wasn't right to see a gym without a boxing ring. Not only that, it just didn't smell like a gym. Way too many brands of fancy perfume and cologne stank the place up.

The manager was also a personal trainer. He really was a cutie, but I really didn't relate to cute boys all that well.

"I'm the manager, you wanted to see me?" he asked.

"You should have gotten a call from Al Porter or maybe Milton Stone his lawyer."

"Yeah Al called. He said to show you anything you wanted to see."

"Let's do this the easy way. Are you satisfied that Al Porter was in your gym at 10AM that Friday."

"I'd testify to it," he replied.

"That's not what I asked you. So tell me how do you know for sure."

"I saw him."

"How do you know what time it was."

"I just know."

"That won't do. Did he do anything to make the time stand out in your mind."

"Just that he doesn't usually come in before lunch. He is usually in around two."

"Okay, so it was unusual for him to be in at that time of day. So did he seek you out or did you just notice him."

"He stopped by the office when he first came in to ask about some running shoes. We special order that kind of thing."

"So you would say that coming to your office made sure that you would notice him. Did he mention the time or anything like that."

"He said he came in early because he had a meeting after lunch."

"So he made sure you would remember the time." I didn't say it but he was acting very much like a man setting up his alibi. That made him suspect number one in my mind and probably the sheriff's detectives as well. The money trail was going to be the thing that nailed his ass.

I dialed Price from my cell phone before I started the van. "Price please, this is Maxine Stone."

"Yes Ma'am, Ms Stone. By the way I saw you on TV. Did you really shoot those two men?"

The bubbly little thing sounded like a groupie. "Yes, I had to shoot them. But I need to talk to your boss about something else." I said to remind her that I was making a business call, and not just hunting ass.

"Oh course hold please." She sounded like I had hurt her feelings. Rejection is a bitch, I thought, especially if you are cute and bubbly. I might be the first one to say no, even if I hadn't really said no to anything. She didn't exactly come on to me. "Wishful thinking I mumbled to myself."

"Okay Max, what do you have?"

"He did it. He was doing the, man setting up an alibi, dance. You should suggest he plead out the first chance he gets."

"Can you prove he did it. If not, he will probably think he is smarter than the cops."

"Of course he thinks that. No, I can't prove it just a gut feeling at the moment. Do you want to waste more money?"

"Hell Max it's his money, go for it."

"Okay, I'll let you know, if I can find it. Have your assistant get a list of all his financial dealings." What I didn't tell him, was that his client wouldn't give up the real information, but I had an idea how I could find it.

When I got back to the office, I had a long talk with Ed. Since I had solved his son's problem, Ed was willing to share a source with me. His source was inside one of the major credit reporting companies. Nobody realizes how much power those people have. You can't buy a piece of gum with a credit, or even debit card, that they don't know about. If you have a bank account in Sri Lanka they know it.

I got the real list of Al's accounts. It was just a matter of matching it up with the accounts from Price. Once I had the list, if there were any discrepancies it meant Al was a murderer. Al provided the list that afternoon and I matched the lists. Al had a brokerage account he didn't bother to list.

"Mr. Price, tell Al to make a deal. There is a brokerage account in his name from which he withdrew 5k two weeks ago. Your client is guilty as sin. If he gives up the shooter he can probably avoid riding the needle home."

"Thanks Max, it's nice to know. I'll do what I can for him. You won't be telling anyone else about this will you."

"Only if someone knows enough to ask me directly. If they do, I won't lie and you knew that going in."

"Yes, it was our agreement."

Things got boring after that. Nothing at all happened other than I delivered court orders to mostly rich people. I hadn't been laid since I left New Jersey. While waiting for the papers to get processed for my discharge, I met a trucker from Alabama, I met him in a bar just a few miles from the base. Instead of drinking on base or near it, I chose to ride along with another female NCO to a club out on the turnpike.

There I met the somewhat younger man. He was cute and well educated for a truck driver. Jobs were hard to come by for a country boy, he explained. We hit it off well enough for me to windup in the sleeper of his truck. I can only describe the sex as cramped.

He was good enough to touch all the right places and to do a lot of kissing and other things with his mouth. In the end I had a beautiful orgasm. It was more the result of too long celibate I expect, than anything he did. Still I remembered it fondly.

Since I arrived in Aster, I hadn't had all that many offers. I had met plenty of people who I would have slept with, both men and women, but it just hadn't worked out. I am attractive enough, but I just hadn't made the connection that screamed, screw me. My body had finally gotten to the point where it had stopped aching for the touch of another human being. As often happens that is when I met the one who made me melt.

It all started with my trip to the Cop Out club. I was there just to hang out. I hadn't told Blevins that I was going to visit, because he just didn't do it for me. Still I wanted to get away from Jen and her husband for an evening. The Cop Out seemed as good a place to do so as any other. I have never really been inside a cop bar. I had seen a few on TV but the real thing is never like TV. The Cop Out was no exception.

It was a well lit diner, more than a bar. No one met me at the door to ask for my ID, so being a cop wasn't necessary for admission. The bar was far too low for a beer bar. If I didn't want to sit at a table for four, which I didn't, then it was sit on a low bar stool. I hated that thing, it made me feel like a child, but I sat down. I ordered a Bud. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it came in a long neck glass bottle. I shook my head at the offer of a glass.

It was 9PM when I made it to the Cop Out, so people were using the postage stamp dance floor. I watched and listened to the music from the jukebox. Mostly it was playing 1960 rock music. Nostalgic to people older than me. To me it was just old folks music. Still there were lots of people. No cops in uniform but women in scrubs, men in jeans, and even a sprinkling of paramedics in uniform. I supposed that the nurses and me were the only none government employees in the place. I guessed that it would be safe to date any of the men or women in the Cop Out, since they probably wouldn't put up with any real deadbeats or thugs.

A paramedic with the Tryon EMS was the first to ask me to dance. I gladly danced with the man. The man was probably thirty pounds overweight but I didn't mind. He was thin enough for me to feel his erection laying against my stomach. The feel of it and the knowledge that I was the cause made my knees weak. If women had a penis, mine would have been erect as well.

"Come sit with us," he suggested after the dance." As he spoke he looked over to a table of Men and Women. Most of them were in Ems uniforms. There were exactly half a dozen of them, four men and two women.

"What the hell, why not?" I followed him to the table.

"These are my friends," he said just before he reeled off a handful of names which I promptly forgot. I did remember that he said his name was Tim.

"I'm Maxine," I said.

"My God, you are that Maxine, I remember you from TV last week." One of the women said gushing at me.

"I knew I should not have done that stupid interview," I suggested.

"Oh hell, it was a great story, very inspiring," the second woman suggested.

"No, what you guys do is inspiring," I suggested trying to move things along.

"Regardless, I am so happy to meet you. Wait till I tell my dad. He is your biggest fan," the younger of the two females said. She saw my reaction and added, "That didn't come out like I meant it."

"Not to worry, I know how old I'm getting." I said with a huge laugh. I wanted them to know that I was a good sport.

"The paper said you were wounded in Afghanistan is that true?" Tim asked.

"Let's talk about you guys," I suggested. "What's it like being a paramedic?"

"The hours are long and the pay stinks, but otherwise it is great," the younger woman replied. She was trying to make up for her earlier comment.

"I think that's true of most real jobs," I replied. "Only bank presidents and the like have good hours and great pay."

"So Max are you having a good time?" a voice behind me asked.

I looked back and there was Sgt Blevins. "Well Blevins, I'm trying not to stand out like a sore thumb. I mean everyone here works for the city or county. I think I might be the only civilian here."

"Nah, we let nurses in and now I guess we let PI's in as well."

"I'm no PI. More like a low rent PS."

"What is a PS?" the young paramedic chick asked.

"Process server, I probably have the worst job of anyone in here."

"Oh I doubt that," a woman at the next table demanded. Since she was in green scrubs, I didn't argue.

"So sit down Blevins. I think these guys will let a cop join us."

"Sure detective have a seat," One of the guys said.

"Tell me Max, were you planning to kill those gang bangers all along?" Blevins asked. I knew it wasn't the time or place for the question, but I also know he hoped to get an honest answer.

"No not at all," I answered.

"Then how the hell did you get that rifle up before they shot you with those pistols. It takes longer to raise a rifle than a pistol."

"I was ready for them, not because I wanted to kill them, but because I didn't want them to kill me. They came through the door like old ladies and I went hot the minute the door knob turned."

"I see," Blevins replied. The others just stared silently.

"It's the same thing I told you at the police station, why do you seem surprised."

"I'm surprised because its the same thing you told me then. Most folks add or forget something in the retelling."

"Ah yes the old revision of the story trick. Sorry, I just told the truth both times."

"Or you are telling the same rehearsed story again."

"Or that," I said with a smile. We both knew it didn't matter he wasn't going to break me and mine was the only version of what happened before the thugs opened the door. After that people started to die or run, so mine was still the only version that counted.

"How do you feel about killing two men?" Blevins asked.

"Not as bad as I would have felt, if they had killed me." It sounded good but the truth is I replayed the day over and over in my mind. I knew it would go away eventually all the others had. Yes I had been in fire fights before and people had died.

The medics kept drinking while Blevins and I circled each other. "Hell let's dance," Blevins finally suggested.

Just like the paramedic Blevins got an erection. I decided that the Cop Out was great for my self esteem. Unlike the younger paramedic Blevins didn't turn me on. I think before the night was up, I danced with all the guys at our table and three or four more. I love to dance, and I do know how to move my body, even if it isn't perfect.

From nine till midnight I had exactly four beers, so I was the most sober one at the table. I was feeling high but it was not the alcohol. I was high on the sexual charge in the air. At that moment I would have slept with any of about ten men in the place. All the dancing and the penis on the belly had me hot for a man. Hell I was hot for almost any man.

It looked as thought I was headed home alone again as i walked to the parking lot. A hand suddenly came to rest on my shoulder. "Why don't you come home with me?" a young man in green scrubs asked.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked.

"Andrew Pace, I'm an intern at County General. I have been watching you all night and I love what I see."

"Andrew, I'm forty two years old and you are what twenty five?"

"Yes and I have a big dick and a lot of stamina. I haven't had much to drink, so I can get it up easily and often."

"Gee that is romantic," I replied sounding snippy I'm sure. I definitely didn't need him checking out my heart rate.

"Do you need romance?"

"Sometimes," I replied

"Tonight?"

"No." was my reply in a much softer voice.

Andrew lived in a small studio apartment across from the hospital. Once the door was closed he kissed me with his tongue in my mouth and his fingers buried in the cleft of my ass. I could tell he was trying to get his finger inside my anus. Thankfully my clothes prevented it.

I didn't just allow his deep kiss I fought to get even closer. I tried to force his hard penis inside me through my clothes. I was gasping for air between bouts of choking on his tongue. My mind was not capable of thought. I had reverted to primitive brain functions. Those functions screamed reproduce, so I gave in to them.

I pulled on his shirt trying to get it off. He got the idea and pulled on my top. Mine was knit which was a little more difficult than his much too large green scrub top. I decided to help him with my top. It finally came off even though in my excitement I was as clumsy as he had been.

If my bra had been anything less than industrial strength it would have ripped. Since it was more functional than sexy, it took all my concentration to get the hook and eyes latches open. Once my smallish breasts were free he lifted them and bent his head so that he could reach my hard nipples. I felt the pressure of his sucking mouth and I went crazy. I tilted my head back and made a sound more shrill than a moan but it was still a sound unintelligible. It might have been closer to a howl than anything else.

I needed his cock in me and I wasn't even able to beg for it. I was too far gone to do anything more than follow his lead. I had to trust him, even though he was barely half my age.

When he pulled back slightly I knew what I had to do. I hooked my fingers over the elastic waist band of his scrub bottoms. I knelt pulling them down as I went. I was on my knees with his cock at the same level as my chin. It was fully erect and just about average sized maybe a little smaller, but it was an ample amount for what I needed. I opened my mouth and sucked it inside. I held it in one spot and nursed on it, as he had done for my nipples. I didn't move on his cock at all, I just ran my tongue under it and sucked gently on the head. I could feel him stiffen even more, but I did not increase or change my movements in the least.

When he began to push at my face with his hips, I released his cock then rose to kiss him again. I was mad with desire. He pushed me against the dinning room table, then turned me around to face it. I bent over the table not just because he was insistent, but because I needed his cock inside me.

I felt his cock work it's way inside me. I opened as he pushed in as deep as he could. I could feel his ball sack against my vulva as he tried to force even more inside me. He held himself perfectly still for a few seconds then began to pump me. He moved slowly at first then increased his speed. He was pistoning inside me when I came. The need had been great but the release wasn't nearly as much as I had expected. I came but it was not with a great intensity I seemed to just slip into it. Even so I felt my own lubricant pour from me.

Suddenly he withdrew from me then pushed is rock hard cock against my anus. I tried to object but I couldn't find my voice. His cock tore its way inside me. I hadn't been at all prepared for the pain it caused. He showed me no mercy as he drove deep inside me. My insides seem to be on fire as the pain spread. He was deep inside me when he stopped and whispered in my ear. "Clit, rub your clit."

I did as he insisted and felt the world disappear into my sensory overload. I knew he came in me only after I calmed down and felt it leak out. I'm not sure whether I had an orgasm or a convulsion. It was a crazy moment, that I knew for sure. I was exhausted and in pain at the same time. I had no idea what my body was feeling. I thought I might want to kill the intern, but I wasn't sure. In all my 42 years I had never felt anything like it.

My legs were wobbly as I staggered to the sofa. I almost collapsed onto it but he stopped me. "Wait, you are bleeding." The son of a bitch was worried about me getting his semen and my blood on his sofa. What a prick, I thought. However, I did let him spread a towel on the sofa before I sat down. I was too exhausted to leave at that moment.

We didn't speak for several minutes. I managed to stand and make my way to the bathroom, I sat on the toilet and tried to empty my bowels. Nothing happened, except I felt a burning sensation in my anus again. When I returned from the bathroom, I found my clothes, dressed, and left without even saying goodbye. All the way home I cursed Andrew and then myself for what had happened. 42 and I had taken it up the ass for the first time. Even worse a punk kid had been the one to do it. "I am a stupid bitch," I said aloud as I pulled into the driveway of Jen's house.

The next morning I rationalized the pain in my butt was the culmination of six months of things going wrong. Finding myself in a small town, with s small pension and a smaller business, then the shootout all set me up to fall. Add to that the fact that I hadn't found anyone in my day to day life worth screwing, and what you got was a woman ready to lay down for anyone after a drink or two. It was a miracle I hadn't run into a Ted Bundy type.

By afternoon I felt better about my lapse in judgment. Still I had to admit that Andrew had been exceptional. Well all except for the painful ending. I went into the office at lunch. I answered a few calls between trips to the bathroom to try to move my bowels. It seems that taking it up the ass is uncomfortable in many ways.

It was almost a week before all the uncomfortable side effects faded completely. After that it was another few days before I found the courage to return to the Cop Out. I again sat at the bar. The man who asked me to dance was someone I not previously met. It seemed that getting an erection was common with men. I enjoyed feeling his as much as any of the others.

After that dance ended I found myself seated at a table with two other men. I'm not sure what they had in mind but they weren't happy when I left at midnight. "I turn into a pumpkin at midnight," I said as I stood to leave.

Life had again become boring. I went to work and straight home for several nights then I went back to the club. Even I realized that I was hoping to see Andrew. I admitted it to myself but I wouldn't to anyone else. I had no luck searching for Andrew so I just gave up after only few nights. I began to stop in the club for a little dancing and even flirting but I never forgot Andrew.

It was a few weeks after I was cleared in the shootout thing, when the call came. "Maxine Stone?" the voice on my cell phone asked.

"Yes I'm Maxine Stone."

"Ms Stone I read about you in the paper, I wonder if I could get you to deliver a package for me?"

"I'm not UPS," I replied shortly. I had been getting some strange calls since the newspaper and TV did bits on me. Local news was surely hard to come by, if they made such a big deal out of it.

"It isn't the kind of package that I would trust to just anyone. Would you please come talk to me it is very important."

"Alright, where are you?"

"The Sedgefield Club. I'm staying in their guest house. Ask at the desk for James Sidmore. Please come right away, it is very important."

"I can be there in about an hour. I need to make a stop along the way."

What I didn't tell him was that the stop was at my gun collection in the safe room in Ed's office. From the collection I removed my .38 five shot concealed hammer pistol. It was not a pretty thing, but it also did not get hung in my clothes when I drew it from the holster at the small of my back. The pistol was small enough for good concealment.

After the shoot out the sheriff insisted that I purchase a carry permit. As far as I was concerned it was an imposition on my rights, but since I was likely to get checked after the incident, I bought it. Since I was completely legal, I found that I carried the pistol a lot less often. But I really didn't like the idea of walking into a strange room, to meet a strange man.

Sedgefield is the oldest country club in Tryon. It dates back to pre-depression days. Somewhere along the line a few rooms for out of town guests were added. To be have been allowed to check into one of those room, he had to really be somebody. So from the start I assumed James Sidmore was somebody. A quick check on the computer before I left the office confirmed my assumption. James Sidmore, was something of a wall street whiz. He was far past the Whiz Kid tittle and his bank account showed it. Since he lived in New York, I had no idea what he was doing in Tryon.

The Sedgefield was so classy that when I asked for his room, they not only called ahead, but they escorted me to the room. I supposed that they didn't want the riff or the raff rubbing elbows with the sweaty golfers.

The young man in the cheap suit knocked on a door with the number 8 attached. The number was brass and had to be original to the door. James Sidmore opened the door himself. He looked to be about my age or a little Older, but not much,

The young man stepped back after the door opened. "Mr Sidmore, I presume?" I asked in my special smart ass voice.

"I see you don't care for my accommodations. To be honest I don't either, but they are discrete here."

"Well it is a little stuffy for my taste," I replied.

"Yes, I can imagine. You don't strike me as the country club type, and I mean that in a very good way."

"Okay. so what exactly is it I can do for you?"

"You can have a seat for starters."

I sat on the small sofa. The sitting portion of the room was small. "So where is the package?" I asked.

"I am the package," he replied with a smile, but there was no humor in it.

"I think you need to call a hooker, I'm sure they know someone at the desk," I replied standing to leave.

"I'm afraid those are not the talents I need. You see Ms. Stone in three hours my cell phone will ring. When it does a man will give me an address and I hope you will drive me there along with a briefcase filled with cash. At that address I will trade that brief case for another briefcase. Then we shall leave. When we arrive safely at the airport, I will hand you an envelope with one thousand dollars."

"And what will be in briefcase number two, the one headed for the airport?"

"That is of no concern to you."

"Actually it is. If it is drugs, then a thousand bucks it way too cheap. If it is stolen classified documents, there is no price high enough."

"Sorry to tell you this, but nothing so glamorous. The briefcase contains the formula for a new cancer drug. What's even less glamorous is that I already own it."

"Somebody ripped it off and now they want to sell it back?"

"Something like that," he replied.

"So you are sure that he has the only copy of the formula. It wouldn't be hard to sell it to you, then sell it to someone else as well."

"True, but I'm not buying it from the thief. I am buying it from the person the thief sold it to. That person assures me there are no other copies and he has no interest in selling it to anyone else. He is simply a recovery expert."

"Ah like the insurance company that pays the thief to return the painting."

"Exactly, the formula would make news if someone else tried to manufacture it. This way the recovery man gets his reward, and I secure the formula."

"I see. So why do you need to pay a grand for a cab ride."

"Let's say, I'm not a trusting man."

"I would say that in this case, it's probably for the best. Now the big question is why me?"

"I think a woman would raise fewer eyebrows at the exchange. It is a proven fact that you are capable of defending yourself."

"And of defending you and the money, should your expert prove to be a con man."

"Yes that to," he admitted.

"I'll take my money in advance, and if this goes sideways, I will take a hell of a lot more than a thousand dollars for my trouble."

"Sorry, I don't pay in advance," he replied seriously.

I didn't answer I just stood to leave. "Don't you trust me?" he asked.

"About as much as you seem to trust me, but it's more than that. If this goes sideways, you may not be able to pay me. I could wind up in a jail cell for a couple of days while the cops sort it out, and still end up with nothing."

"I see, very well." He opened the brief case. From it he removed a brown postal envelope. After he handed it to me, I looked inside. There were ten $100 bills.

"So what would you like to do for the next three hours?" I asked.

"Let's go have a drink on the patio and watch the golfers coming in."

"If that's what you want?" I agreed.

I was on my forth diet coke when the call came in. As I had instructed he wrote the address down. He didn't try to memorize it. The instructions were that we were to leave immediately. Sidmore settled the bill while I got the van.

He wasn't impressed with the van, I could tell. It was pretty obvious when he said, "I figured you for a sports car."

"A van is a lot more practical for changing clothes, than a two seater with a rag top."

"Yes I can see that," he agreed.

The address proved to be an abandoned auto sales lot. Not one of those fancy bankrupt dealer things, but a vacant lot with a small frame building used previously as the pressure cooker office. We arrived early so I gave it a quick once over. Then I moved my van to the center of the parking lot. It wasn't a big lot and there was only one entrance from the street. Since my van had blacked out windows, it was going to make the recovery man nervous.

When the black Chrysler pulled into the parking lot, I said, "James get behind the wheel, when I get out. If this goes bad, just drive right over us and get the hell out of here."

"He is expecting me." James said.

"If he is straight up, he will be asked what the hell is going on. If he is not right, he will get hinky as hell. Like I said, if it goes wrong, get out and send the cops back."

I stepped from the van and walked between it and the Chrysler. "Nice ride," I said to the man who got out of the car.

"Are you carrying?" he asked.

"Of course, aren't you?"

"Yeah, whose in the van?"

"Sidmore, whose in the car?"

"Mr. Issac, so you got the money?"

"Yeah, you got the merchandise?"

"Sure," he replied

"Your boss shows me his case then my boss will show you his money."

"We are making the rules," the voice in the back of the car shouted.

"You are being careful, and so are we. I think you should respect that."

"Okay, I'll get out when your boss does," he said.

I walked back to the minivan. "He says he will get out of the car when you get out of the van."

"You seem to know what you are doing, should I?"

"Would you recognize the formula as real?" I asked.

"Hell no, I'm the money man not a scientist."

"Shit you should have gotten one of the lab coats to come along. There is no need to risk yourself. Just give me the case and I'll get his. When I come back you drive this thing the hell out of here. I don't want to waste any time."

"Fair enough," he said handing me the case. "If you don't do this right, I'm going to runyou over."

"If it goes bad, trust me you are the least of my worries."

Actually it went perfectly. I carried the case to the man in the back of the Chrysler. He took it opened it then opened his case for me to see. There was a thick book with a cover that looked scientific to me. We made the exchange. "You know if this isn't legit, there is no where you can hide. Sidmore has more money than god."

"Yeah, it's legit," he assured me.

It must have been I got Sidmore on the plane without any incidents and he didn't call asking for his money back. So I considered it case closed. The formula things had been interesting, but it was only a tiny island in a sea of bullshit.

I had become a regular at the Cop Out. Most of the people in the club knew me or knew of me, so it didn't require me to be on stage. I liked the laid back atmosphere. Too bad that Andrew the intern, as I began to think of him, never came back.

The men began to hit on me right after Andrew, but I said no while I waited to see if he would return. By the time I gave up on him, the men had given up on me. Since no one knew that I was bi, the women all wanted to be my friend. None of them had any interest in me sexually. Yes I could tell just by talking to them. So many straight women in one place. It was depressing.

I was in the Cop Out one night in the middle of the week. It was also in the middle of September, when a stranger came in. At least he was a stranger to me. Blevins knew him enough to speak, when the man walked in. The stranger nodded then moved to the bar. The stranger wasn't real big but he was solid. I liked the way he looked.

"Hey Blevins who is the kid?" Yes he was younger than me by about twenty years.

"Careful Max, you could be messin' with a minor."

"I don't think so. He just bought a beer. So give Blevins who is he?"

"His name is Jerry something or other. He has been undercover with narcotics. Straight from the academy to buying coke and rock on the street."

"Hell there ain't enough drugs in Aster to keep anyone busy. I think the dealers come in on the bus." I laughed.

"Sheriff has Aster and Tryon. Kid was on loan to the Sheriff's department."

"Then how do you know him?" I asked. "He ain't family is he?"

"No Max, he isn't family. I knew him from the academy. I teach out there."

"Very good," I said with a smile. "Introduce me."

"I had no idea you were a cougar," Blevins said.

"I am not really, I just don't rule anything out. He is cute. What's that old saying, waste not, want not." I smiled at Blevins as I said.

The kid stood at the low lunch counter with a long neck beer bottle. "Hey Jerry, come here a minute," Blevins said.

When the kid arrived he went on, "I want you to meet Max Stone."

"It's Maxine and hi."

"Hello Ms Stone, I have heard a lot about you."

"I know, I'm even more beautiful in real life," I laughed at the sarcasm.

"Well that wasn't exactly what I heard. The word is that you need to buy a big life insurance policy."

"Why is that?" Blevins asked.

"The three bangers she ambushed didn't belong to the 5th Street Rollers, but they were relatives of a couple of them. Also that warning you gave Paco was taken seriously by the Rollers."

"Oh really, well I'll head on down to Wallymart for a vest."

"Just thought I would pass that along. Kind of showing my goodwill." Jerry suggested.

"I appreciate that. I can use all the goodwill and information I can get."

"There was a lot of discussion about whether to take a woman seriously or not."

"Too bad they decided to take me serious."

"Yeah it is. Just keep your eyes open and your head down." Jerry said as he turned to leave.

"Guess you don't have to worry about me robbing the cradle."

"No, now I have to worry about a gang hit in my town."

"I think I'll worry about it a little more than you," I suggested. It looked like a good time to find a new place to live. I decided that Jen and her husband didn't need to be in the line of fire. "Blevins, I need to find a new place to live. If the Rollers are going to play games, I need to get out of my friend's house."

"Probably a good idea, you can also make your own place more secure. If you don't pass the address around, you can limit their ability to cause mischief."

"So where can I find a little place?"

"Try the newspaper," he suggested.

I went home alone. In all honesty I always went home alone, since I wouldn't take a stranger into Jen's house. The one time I went wild in town, I went to his place. I hadn't been home long enough to go on weekend sex orgies to the beach. For that I wanted to know the guy better. Hell, I found it hard to believe I had only been laid once in seven months. I had also managed to stay away from women during that time, so my reputation was heterosexual. I had no idea if that was a good thing or not.

I waited until the end of business the next day before I talked to Jen. I asked her to come into my one room. "I found out last night that a street gang in Tryon plans to take a shot at me. I do not want you or Bob in the cross fire."

"Oh my God you are such a drama queen," Jen said. "One damn shootout and suddenly everything is life or death."

"Jen, you have never been in a shoot out. The only gangs you know anything about are the ones you see on TV. When these yo yos do a drive by they just spray lead everywhere. Anyone can be killed. I will not be responsible."

"Have it your way. You always do." She said as she stood to leave. "But you better not let anything happen to you, or I will kill you." I could see her eyes glistening.

I held her in my arms and said, "Don't worry hon, I'm a lot badder than a bunch of kids."

"Jesus Max, I know that." She lifted her head pushed me back, then kissed me. It was not a mother, daughter or best friend's kiss. It was a kiss with a lot of promise. "When you get your place you better invite us over for dinner." She smiled as she left the room.

That woman knows how to stage a dramatic exit, I thought. I sat down on the one comfortable chair and then looked around. Most everything in the room belonged to Jen and her husband. The clothes, towels, and bed covers were mine but but hardly anything else. I didn't even own a TV. Fortunately living in my friends house had allowed me to save my separation pay. Not only that the business was actually in the black. I wasn't worried about the cost of the move, I just wanted to get to it before anything happened to Jen.

The way things get done in small towns is that someone knows someone, who knows someone, who has what you want. In my case it was Ed, who had a recent client, who had lived in an isolated fishing cabin about five miles from town. The cabin was about seventy years old so I had some evaluating to do. The driveway leading to the cabin was only a little less than half a mile long, and it was dirt. In the bad weather I was going to need a place in town to crash.

The cabin itself was hardly bigger than the one room over Jen's garage. Ed, who went with me to inspect it, explained that the exterior walls were board and battens. I had no idea what that meant except that I could see the outside was real wood. I liked that.

"The owner is going to be gone a minimum of 2 years even with good behavior. His mother wants to rent it to help with the expenses. Taxes and maintenance on the place plus she put up a lot of money to get him a decent defense. She would sell it but he is adamant that she not sell. Renting, he did agree to though I doubt that anyone would care what he thinks at this point."

"Well, I would hate to shoot him, if he just showed up one night. I want him to know I'm staying here, if I decide to take it."

""I'll make sure his mother explains it all. and that she gives you plenty of notice before he is released. I expect your present problems will be gone by then. When that is done, you can live like a real adult." Ed said smiling.

The cabin was actually one big room. Larger than the over the garage room, because their were no roof eves. The roof was a steep shed roof, high on one end and lower on the other. To carry the roof load there was a line of 6x6 posts half way inside the room. If that line of posts had ever been a wall, it was long since gone.

The floor was covered with an old rug from someone's house no doubt. The furniture wasn't the classy kind of shabby chic, it was just crap. Everything had been discarded from someone's house. Of that I had no doubt. That said, the old refrigerator was cold, There was no range, but I really didn't mind. My plan was microwave all the way. There were no cabinets in the kitchen. The pipes under the sink were even exposed, since it was a plastic utility sink. For storage the house came equipped with metal warehouse type shelving units. Those had started life in some other place no doubt. There was an old ironing board bolted to the wall with one leg on the small end. It served as a breakfast bar, at least that would be its purpose for me.

"What happened to the bed?" I asked.

"When his mother decided to try to rent this place, she cleaned it. She had the bed taken away. She didn't think anyone else would want to rent the place with that old smelly bed in it."

"That was probably a good idea. I'll tell you Ed, I just don't know. This place is pretty dismal."

"Max, if the rollers come for you, it will be down that long drive. They won't be walking five miles through the woods, or paddling a boat over that pond. Those city boys will come right down the road. It won't be hard for you to rig a surprise for them. I understand you have had some experience with IEDs. What was it they called the course you taught?"

"Cooking with Maxine." I replied. "Well all that is true enough, but I still have to work."

"You work from a cell phone, nobody knows where you are more than half the time. The rollers won't know either."

"Ed, I'll have to stop coming to the office."

"The hell you will, I have bailed out almost every bad guy in the county. They are not going to shoot up my office, unless they have a death wish. None of this will guarantee you a long life, but it's your best shot."

"Yeah, you are quite the salesman," I said kissing his cheek.

"I owe you, this is just a payment on the debt."

"So, let's go pay the woman and buy a bed." And that's exactly what we did. Ed was too old to help, so I fought the bed from the minivan into the house alone. It is the kind of situation where a boyfriend would have come in handy. I also bought myself a shopping cart full of household crap. I had brought my sheets and towels from Jen's house. I knew winter would come soon, so I also bought three blankets. You can never have too many blankets, my dad always said.

I had to go to the power company to leave a deposit and sign a contract. I planned to spend one more night at Jen's house. I had not wanted to put them in danger even one more night, but I gave in to her whining. I almost always gave in to her.

We came as close as possible to a family dinner that night. We ordered take out spaghetti from a class restaurant. Bob opened a bottle of wine making our last supper even more special. After dinner we sat around drinking even more wine. I got very mellow over the course of that evening.

Around midnight Bob walked over to me with the wine bottle, but rather than pour more wine into my glass, he kissed me. It wasn't a best friend of my wife's kind of kiss. It was more of a lets get naked kind of kiss. I could have resisted, but I didn't. All the excuses I had for not getting involved the last time were gone. I didn't have to live with them afterward and they both knew it.

Since Jen was sitting there watching, it obviously was okay with her. I had no idea what she was thinking or planning and at that moment I didn't care. I just wanted to float along to a huge orgasm. I just didn't want that to happen for a long long time. I wanted to enjoy the feeling of his tongue in my mouth for a while longer then move on to even more delicious things.

I smelled her perfume even before I felt the hands reach around me from the rear. The hands lifted my knit top into a wad under my chin. Then she deftly opened my bra snaps. There must have been a signal of some kind between them because Bob pulled back at the same time that she lifted my top and bra over my head. I was naked to the waist and it was a marvelously free feeling. I was floating on a cloud of lust.

Somehow I found myself standing. Bob turned me to Jen and she kissed me with a smaller tongue but it was still marvelously erotic. While she kissed me and cupped my breasts, bob unbuttoned my slacks from behind. Before I even realized it my slacks and panties were around my feet. I stepped out of the rumpled clothing. I was naked sandwiched between two people who were still clothed. That didn't last long Bob pulled away. I was trying to beg him not to leave but Jens tongue was in my mouth and I was gasping for air.

My body shivered as though a cold wind had blown into the room, but it wasn't the cold. I shivered at the feel of Bob's naked body against my back, and the sensations created by his erect penis against my butt. Working its way into the cleft of my ass.

I reached behind me and guided it so that it rubbed between my legs and across my vulva. As he stroked my vulva the head of his cock hit my clit at the end of each stroke. It add to my arousal. I felt hands push me forward bending me at the waist. My knees gave way, after some pulling and tugging I came to rest on my knees with my head in Jen's lap. I felt Bob's thick cock push into my pussy. It was not a gentle entry, but it was thrilling. I felt his cock force its way deep inside me. I was soaking wet but my pussy wasn't able to stretch fast enough to compensate for the size of his cock without some discomfort. More of a deep burning sensation than actual pain. It was a thrilling sensation as he drove deep into me.

I was surprised as I rose toward my first orgasm, that Jen repositioned herself moving my face until it was pressed against her pussy. I had no choice but to do as she wanted. Hell I didn't mind one bit, since I was totally out of control and unable to make any decisions on my own. I had to be led and the two of them were doing it just fine.

I came the first time while Bob drove his thick cock in and pulled it out of my pussy in some kind of ancient rhythm. At the same time I was finding a shortage of oxygen with my face pressed hard against Jen's sweet smelling pussy. Whatever she did to deodorize her pussy was choking me. Still I exploded in an orgasm while I fought to survive the experience. It was all about survival as the two of them push and pulled at my body.

It took only seconds for the cock moving inside my pussy to awaken my body again. I felt Jen's muscles contract hard and I knew she was in the throws of her own orgasm. Somehow even though I was almost unconscious, I had managed to lick and suck her clit until she was ready to orgasm. At the point where her muscles locked she pulled my face hard against her pussy cutting off all oxygen. I fought against her until she finally released me.

By that time I was very near my second orgasm. Jen lifted my body then kissed me deeply. She couldn't press herself against me but she kissed me with just our lips touching. She was like me lost in that moment. I could tell neither of us was thinking clearly. I was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to collapse onto the floor. Jen had the sofa and Bob was driving his cock deep and slowly. From his motion I knew that he was about to cum inside me. I was weak at the thought of his cum pouring into me.

"Cum in me, please cum in me," I begged.

"Yes," he almost screamed as I felt him stiffen, then a warmth spread inside me. I never felt the splash of cum but it did feel different after he came.

I fell to the floor exhausted. I almost went to sleep, but Jen helped me to my feet and into their bedroom. We slept off and on that night with a lot of touchy, feely going on between naps. When I awoke in their bed, they were gone. I was thankful. I wanted some time to pass before I came face to face with either of them.

I spent very little time in the office, and only a couple of hours delivering court papers, and the rest of the time I tried to make the cabin livable. That meant everything from having the fuel oil tank filled, to learning how to work the kitchen sink and shower facilities. Fortunately it was still mild weather.

Since the owner never did get around to installing the pipe insulation needed to keep the pipes from freezing, there were turnoffs at the well head for the worst of the freezing weather. That information along with how to drain the water lines was for nights when the temperature fell below 20 degrees. The instructions also told me not to turn them on again until the outside temperature had risen to at least 30 degrees. The well pump itself was protected by a 75 watt light bulb inside the pump house, which I was told should be changed before the temperature got down to freezing. The information came from the state prison via Ed and the cabin owner's mother.

I made a little fancy plaque with the instructions on it and posted it above the kitchen sink as a decoration. In keeping with the industrial theme of the place, I bought a metal work bench to use as an island in the kitchen.

After almost a week had past I was ready to venture back out into the world. In my case that meant a drink at the Cop Out. Since I had a long treacherous drive, I chose coffee and diet coke as my beverage of choice. On the very first night I met Blevins friend Jerry. As I matter of fact I spoke to him as he walked in.

"Hello Jerry," I said with a smile.

"Hello Max, have you seen Sarah?"

"You mean the ER nurse?" I asked. He could see that I was curious.

"Yeah, now that I'm not undercover, I have a girlfriend." He smiled. Even though I didn't feel like it, I smiled back.

A couple of Blevin's friends sat down. It was an older crowd that I attracted. Not long after the older nurses found their way into the bar. I felt safe. I mean I was surrounded by men with guns, why wouldn't I, right?

After a week of having a social life again, I felt pretty good. I picked up a handful of frozen dinners a couple of times a week, and I ate out almost every day for lunch. I spent at least part of almost every evening a the Cop Out socializing with the friends I had made there. I was not sure that anyone knew my true sexual orientation, since the rumors about me and Andrew flew around. He never came back to the Cop Out. He might be worried that I would kill him, if he did. All in all it was a pretty good life. Then of course, as life always seem to do, it came tumbling down. Why it took then so long I never really understood, except maybe the cousin was finally headed for trial.

It happened on a Wednesday night, two days short of being three months exactly since the clinic incident. Since word got out that the rollers were planning to take me out, someone from the Cop Out seemed to be leaving at the same time I did every night. The someone at times was a group, and it varied each night.

That Wednesday it was me, Blevins, Jerry and his chick Sarah. I hadn't really wanted her along, but I wasn't supposed to realize that they were my bodyguards, so I kept my mouth shut. The four of us were on the sidewalk half way between the entrance to the Cop Out and the parking lot when I heard the car Revving up.

During my first vacation in the scenic Iraq, while standing guard at check points, I learned that a revving cars always means bad shit is about to happen. Sure enough, when I found the source of the noise, the car was rolling fast toward us. I saw the arm with the pistol hanging out. My only thought was, get your fat ass on the ground.

I screamed, "Gun," as I went down. Blevins had been around enough to drop shortly after me. The kid Jerry was trying to protect his chick, so he and Sarah were the only ones standing when the gunmen in the car threw about twenty rounds at us. Blevins was already emptying his pistol at the car before I even started to get mine out. I fired all five rounds at them, but it was a waste of lead, I was pretty sure.

I looked back to see blood on the sidewalk. I got to my knees and saw Jerry dragging himself off of Sarah. Jerry had blood over his jacket but it was not nearly as noticeable as the large and growing stain on Sarah's top. The Combat medical training I got before I deployed kicked in. I took my knit top off and quickly folded it into a pressure bandage, I pressed it hard onto Sarah's Chest.

"Blevins, get some pressure on Jerry's wound. One of you people standing with your finger up your ass call 911." At that moment I felt hands cover my hands, then other hands pulling me away. Sarah's nurse friends had taken over. I was suddenly sitting on the sidewalk in my jeans and bra.

Somebody tapped me on the shoulder. It was a man holding his shirt out to me. He was wearing only a white tee shirt. He had obviously given me the shirt off his back. I began to cry at that point. I was on the verge of hysterics, but managed to barely hold it together.

The ambulances came from all over. The attendants took over for the ER nurse, who had been holding my sweater to Sarah's chest. The next one to arrive took over from Blevins. They quickly loaded both of them into the back of their trucks. The third unit's Medics, ordered me and Blevins into the back. Since the Cop Out was downtown, it was a short ride to the hospital. Even so when we arrived, Sarah was in the operating room. They had Jerry in a treatment unit awaiting a second surgeon to remove the slug from his shoulder. Jerry had what we would have called a million dollar wound. It could get one a medical discharge but wouldn't leave them with too much permanent damage.

They instantly took Blevins and me to treatment rooms. I got a pill to calm me down. I wasn't anything more than mad as hell, by that time. I could have used a tranq when it first happened, but thirty minutes later, I was just blood red pissed. Minor drama hurts my feelings and I pout, major trauma makes me just want to kill someone. From talking to other afghan vets, it isn't that much different with them.

I had some scrapes and bruises from concrete burns on exposes skin, otherwise I was fine. They had me sign a bunch of forms, then I was released. Released from the ER usually meant a ride to the exit in a wheel chair. In my case I walked to the waiting room for the surgery patients.

"Are you alright?" one of the patrolmen who had been in the Cop Out asked.

"I'm fine what do we know about jimmy and Sarah?" I had put myself right into the family even though I was an outsider.

"Jerry's isn't life threatening, but Sarah is real bad Max." He spoke in a whisper because there were close friends of hers in the waiting room.

I nodded my understanding. I didn't sit, because I didn't want to talk to anyone. Instead I found my way to the robot room for machine made coffee. It was terrible, but I have had worse. I stood alone in the hallway drinking coffee, when a middle-age woman in a fancy scrub suit approached me.

"You should leave," she said. At first I thought she meant I should go home to rest, but then I understood the tone of her words.

"Why?" I asked quietly.

"Those bullets were meant for you. You shouldn't pretend that you care about her." That time the words were angry.

"I am here because that should have been me. I want to be close even though there is nothing I can do. I promise I will stay away from her friends and family." Since the woman didn't leave, I added. "I am sorry this happened."

"Slut, we all know about you and Andrew, the freak." With those words she left. So Andrew liked to brag. One day I might try to get even. I couldn't unring the bell, but I could break the damn thing. The middle-aged woman left without me saying another word in my own defense. It wasn't the time or place to argue with Sarah's friends.

Blevins approached me from the elevator. "You alright Max," he asked.

"Fuck you Blevins," I whispered as I hugged him. My body shook but it wasn't sexual for a change. I was just tired, scared and my feelings were hurt. Blevins seemed to be the only one who cared.

"It's okay Max, It isn't your fault." The son of bitch knew what I was thinking. "Just wrong place wrong time, all cops understand that. Now let go of me so I can talk to my men."

He left me standing in the hall alone again with my thoughts. The rollers had truly fucked up. I had to wonder, if they knew they had attacked cops on their home turf. Cops are the biggest gang of all, and the most dangerous. They don't do it for the money, they do it for the power. The rollers were going to find out all about that. I just knew it in my soul.

I sat in the robot room with cups of bad coffee. Drinking one after another until Blevins came back. "Max they lost Sarah. You need to go. Some of these idiots want to blame someone and you are handy."

"Alright," I replied quietly.

"Are you alright to drive?"

"I'm fine."

"Maybe you should stay with friends or check into a motel tonight," he suggested.

"I'm fine," I replied. I didn't tell him I was a couple of steps ahead of the rollers. I had already moved to a place no one knew. A place requiring a two mile drive in the country where it was dark as original sin. A drive that showed the headlights of any car following me. The drive on public roads ended at a newly installed cattle gate across my private drive. It was set 30 feet down the drive. If one hadn't been down that drive in daylight, and if that someone was in a hurry to do a drive by, that someone was likely to crash into it. Doing some significant damage to their car, but also giving me a loud heads up. At that point life was would get interesting for us all.

I can't think of anything worse than running into a heavily armed and pissed off bitch in the middle of the night. I had even bought a new shotgun for the dance. I got a Mossburg Pump riot 12guage. It was a lot of gun for a woman my size, but it would get someone's attention just by pointing it at them. That and the surplus kevlar vest gave me pretty good odds of making my presence known. Hell I might even be the only one to walk away, if it came to that. I had other plans though. Sitting in a vending machine room of a hospital most of the night had given me plenty of time to think.

Since I had prepared for it, nothing happened. I slept until noon. The cell phone was broadcasting some stupid song while I tried to get it before the song ended and the call dropped. "At Your Service, Stone."

"Max this is Blevins, we served a search warrant on the rollers about twenty minutes ago. They were so used to nobody calling their hand, that even after shooting a cop and killing Sarah, they didn't even try to hide evidence. Not sure if the guns we recovered were used in the shooting but none of them were purchased legally. We found drugs and money as well as the weapons. The rollers are finished."

"They are never finished. You just got a few of the worst of them out of commission for today. Others will come along to take their place," I suggested. "Probably make bail before your shift ends.

"Well maybe they will forget about you."

"Maybe, thanks for the update." I paused a moment the added. "You do know that they might have been shooting at you. You are head of the gang task force."

"Hell Max, I'm the whole task force. We almost never have any gang trouble."

"You could have fooled me," I replied. I fully expected the rollers to be out on bail before the sun went down. Hell Ed was probably writing their bail at that very moment. I wasn't angry. If Ed didn't do it, someone else would. It did leave me with a problem though. I had to take their mind off me somehow. "Blevins who are these guys, did they come from some big city? You know move south to avoid those killer winters?"

"No these are home grown thugs from Tryon. They started as a skateboard club of sorts. They met at one of their local Parks to skate and smoke a little weed. Then one of them started to supply the others with weed. His name was Simon Russell. Russell was a little more ambitious than the others. Pretty soon he was supplying his group and a bunch of other kids from the high school and university over there. He used the skaters as his delivery and distribution system. He got big enough that he needed muscle, so he brought in a couple of Mexican brothers. From there it became a gang. When they couldn't move enough weed to satisfy everybody's desire for more of everything, they branched out. Then they got to be a real problem."

"So how hard core are they?"

"Russell is still a reasonable guy, but the Mendez brothers that's a different thing all together. Either the brothers or maybe that last cousin, the one out on bail, did the shooting. I would bet my life on it."

You might be doing just that, I thought. "Ah, so how many cousins are there?"

"Well after you came to town there were two less, The one out on bail is the last of the ones we know about. There maybe more on the way though. I would say right now they are down to about one cousin. That still leaves three very bad dudes out there."

"Do you have them in custody?"

"Not yet," he admitted.

"Any chance one of the dealers will roll over on the Mendez family?

"They are scared to death of the brothers. They won't talk, unless they are more afraid of something or someone else."

I stopped asking questions at that point. The rest of the intelligence needed to come from a different source.

After Blevins hung up I called Ed. "Hey Ed, can you get me an address for the Roller's enforcers. The Mendez brothers I think it is."

"Hold on, are you okay. I heard there was a shootout at the Cop Out last night."

"I'm fine, one of the nurses got killed though. I think they were after Blevins." I waited a second while Ed laughed. "So about the address?"

"I bailed the one you didn't shoot out of jail a few weeks ago, let me look in the file." All kinds of things ran through my head as I waited for Ed to return. "According to their file, they lived with their Grandmother."

"Is that a mail drop of do they really life there?" I couldn't believe that these bad ass brothers lived with there sweet lil granny...

"No they may be whoring around, but they always come back to their granny's place to wind down. Regroup I guess you would call it these days."

"At two A.M. how would I know if they were home?"

"Any car in the drive would be an indication. Granny is blind she doesn't drive."

"Ed, we never had this conversation?"

"What conversation?" he asked.

I pulled the maps and even a satellite picture of the house up on the net. I found a place to leave the minivan just four blocks from the house. Even if the response was large, which it most likely would be, the parking lots wouldn't be checked until after the area was secure. My plan was to leave the van on the edge of the secure area.

The plan also called for me to get out of the secure area before the police arrived. At least to get me and the assault vehicle hidden. The city's urban/ghetto park had a parking lot that was unsecured. There might be cameras, that I would need to check. It was far enough away that a 4AM 'thug check' would go unnoticed by the bad guys.

Since I was in no great hurry, I made my shopping run. The purchase date of the items should be far enough away from the assault to at least give me plausible deniability. A good story to a jury who in their hearts wanted to spare me anyway, should be enough. I hoped it wouldn't come to that, but I also wanted to have several end game strategies.

So off to the thrift store I went. Inside I bought mens work pants and a thick paid shirt. Since it was closing in on fall, there were several knit caps available for purchase. I chose the largest one, even though it was yellow and would stand out.

From the outside storage area, I purchased a twenty inch bmx type bicycle. I checked that it worked first, then I put it into the rear of my van. It needed air in the tires at least. I chose to buy a twenty buck compressor rather than be seen on camera in a convenience store pumping up a tire.

At the dollar store, I bought a one gallon gas can, a pair of very weak, thick rimmed, reading glasses, a small container of liquid dish washing soap, a pair of cheap cloth gardening gloves, a pair of rubber household cleaning gloves and finally a roll of gauze bandaging cloth. I almost bought a bottle of peroxide but I couldn't remember how the weak solution would react to gasoline.

With my purchases in tow, I stopped by a small convenience store on the opposite side of town from the road leading to my new home. I bought one gallon of unleaded gasoline, and three glass quart bottles of beer. I bought the tire compressor from a small do it yourself auto parts store. I had way under a hundred bucks in my homemade assault package. Too bad the army couldn't do it this cheap, I thought. It would sure save on my tax bill. It was late in the afternoon when I returned home.

I knew that if I wasn't an instant suspect, I probably would be soon after, the cops might trace a gasoline purchase, but it would be a long shot. I had chosen a mom and pop convenience store, because I didn't see a camera outside. All my other purchases were very deniable. I made all my purchases with cash, so that the trail would be harder to follow.

I had bought the most expensive of the thrift store bikes. Twenty five bucks for a one speed kids bike was a lot there. The one I got didn't have any rust. It looked as though it had been well taken care of. Once the tires were inflated and the seat adjusted, I spent an hour learning to ride again. It didn't take long for it all to come back. On the one speed I wasn't going to set any speed records, but it was faster than any guy could run for long.

I spent the evening on my computer. My old laptop had nothing of any real value on the hard drive, but even so I made it onto ebay to pick up some thumb drives as a place to move my personal files. The hard drive was about to be a thing of the past. While on ebay I bought a hard drive that would fit in my old computer. The hard drive was an older, smaller model. The older versions of Windows were not being recognized any longer for updating, and it would never hold the larger newer versions, so I had to rethink my options. I had always wanted to use Linux, one of those small versions would work, I thought. It looked like the perfect time to try one out.

I slept well that night since I had a plan. It was the being without a plan that kept me up nights. Having a plan made it much easier to sleep. That and a quick masturbation session with my personal vibrator. The orgasm wasn't meant to be mind blowing. It was meant to help me sleep and it worked just fine.

For a week I worked exactly like I had before all the crap came down. I went into the office at nine. I waited for a call to come in giving me something to do. Since the clinic thing and the drive by shooting, I had been getting more work. A lot of it was odds and ends work. It was not my staple, process serving. I expected the extra work to end after the notoriety died down, so I enjoyed it while I had it.

I played dead until Wednesday of the next week. My one exception was a 4AM drive by on Monday night. Just to get the lay of the land. If anyone was on watch, it was from inside the house. Not likely they would know what was happening until it was too late. I also looked for any signs of police surveillance, but I didn't notice anything.

I took a nap Wednesday after work. I even went to the Cop Out and stayed until they closed at 1AM. Jerry was still upset about his friend Sarah. I tried to be no more than concerned. Sure I would have screwed his brains out any other time, but that night I just had too much on my mined. After the Cop Out closed I went to breakfast with Blevins and Jerry, It was 3 AM when I left them in the restaurant parking lot. They surely presumed I was headed home. Since there was a pall over all of them, I didn't have to make a decision about getting laid. Until Sarah's death there had always been a chance, but lately everyone was just too sad to think about such things.

It was early in the morning on Thursday when we left the diner. It was early for us but it was possible that the Mendez family was still working, so I waited at home until 4AM. It seemed to me that by that time even the thugs would be sleeping. I loaded the van while wearing rubber surgical gloves. under the brown cloth work gloves. The bicycle with the metal egg basket from the dollar store attached to the handle bars went in first. Then the box containing three quart beer bottles filled with gasoline and liquid soap. The soap was just to make it adhere to the hard surfaces better. Each bottle was capped with the twist top originally used to keep the beer in place. Finally the gauze strips meant to be inserted into the bottles after the caps had been removed. I could have used tampons but I didn't want anything that even vaguely might point to me. The gauze would get soaked with gasoline from the bottle. I knew I needed to be careful after they were primed. There would be gasoline on my gloves and probably the plaid shirt as well. It was eminently possible to set myself ablaze. The reward could be a life free of the Mendez brothers. The risk seemed justified to me at the time.

Inside the house I removed all my clothes except my panties. I put on a tight fitting jogging suit first. I put on the over sized jeans, then the brown plaid shirt over the running suit. I pushed my hair into the orange knit cap then I checked my pocket to be sure I had the dollar store glasses. I felt as though everything was right so I was ready to go.

I drove the van to the small neighborhood park four and a half blocks from the Mendez house. There I unloaded the bike and then removed the three bottles from the box. Those went into the basket attached to the handle bars. It was a tight fit, but I managed them.

The four block ride to the site of my sapper attack was a nightmare. Bottles of homemade napalm rattled around in the homemade basket not two feet from my face. The glasses were so weak that even when I put them on it made very little difference in my vision. I primed the bottle at the corner of their street, then rode quickly to the house.

The first of the Molotov Cocktails went onto the trunk of the older, but beautifully restored muscle car in the drive. The next two went onto the porch of the house. I did not wait to see what the damages were. Instead, I pedaled the small bicycle as hard as I could back to my van. I had no idea whether anyone would try to follow or not. My mind was focused on getting out of any area that most certainly be quickly sealed off.

I hefted the bicycle into the rear of the van and quickly headed out. Once inside the van, I removed the shirt and jeans. I put them into a black plastic garbage bag. The gloves would stay in place until I dumped everything. The first siren I heard came from a different direction. I slipped easily out of town. I dumped the clothes at a county dump site. The jeans, plaid shirt and orange cap along with the cheap glasses made it into the dumpster. I entered the site a mad bomber and left it as a sweet little process server. I knew the police would be looking at me as well as any others who might have a reason to do in the Mendez clan, so I drove to Aster for an early breakfast I even made sure I was noticed by a waitress there. Doing that was pretty simple, I spoke to her more than just to order.

"God I wish I had your body. Enjoy it while you are young. Middle-age might have you out in the middle of the night getting ready for a morning walk."

"You don't look as though you need to lose weight," she replied.

"I need to lose twenty pounds according to one of those perfect height to weight charts."

"So where do you walk?"

"Sometimes at the park, but it's getting chilly and frankly I'm not sure walking in the park this early is a good idea. They say it is closed until sunup, but I know better. I'm hanging out waiting for the mall to open. God I do love your body." I said. Yes I was flirting with her, but a woman flirting with a straight woman would be remembered.

It was 6AM by the time I finished eating. I dawdled intentionally. After I dropped the bike at the Salvation Army pick up site, I drove to the mall parking lot. I was standing at the door when they opened at 7 AM. I stood with several other mall walkers until the security chief opened the doors. I made sure I was noticed by him as well. A forty year old, reasonably attractive woman, stood out among all the retired people, who usually walked at the mall. It didn't hurt that I had walked there a few morning previously. I really was trying to lose the twenty pounds.

"You are early this morning, Max?" The security man suggested.

"Just an hour or so. I couldn't sleep."

"Yeah, I heard about all the trouble you have been in. Anything I can do."

"Well, you could come over and keep watch over me at night," I said that with a big wink. Might as well make sure he remembered me that morning.

After my three mile hike around the mall, I went home to shower. After my shower I had time for a nap. I did that, since I didn't have a boss. Even with the sleepless night I was in the office by ten, and in reasonably good condition.

"Good morning, Ed," I said walking into the office.

"Good morning, Max, did you see the morning news on TV?"

"No, I didn't. Is there anything interesting?"

"Yeah there was a suspicious fire at the Mendez brothers' grandmother's house. It's a good thing she was in Mexico visiting her brother, or she might have died." He seemed a little upset at the thought of an innocent dying."

"You mean like Sarah at the Cop Out."

"Yeah, like that I guess," he replied.

"So were any members of the family visiting?"

"Yeah, her two grandsons and a great nephew. The whole family was visiting. No word yet on their conditions. Most likely minor, if any injuries at all."

"Ah oh well," I really hadn't expected to do any more than flush them out. "I guess I need to take some things from the safe room. And you need to be very, very careful."

"Sweetie, if those thugs hit me, you won't have to worry about them. There are about a thousand guys worse than them that I have bailed out. Just go through my files and call them all and offer them a grand to off the brothers and it is done."

"Well let's hope it doesn't come to that. You really need a vacation."

"Let's see how this plays out."

"Okay, I'll be operating from the van till you decide to leave." I said with a smile. "Spread the word that I'm not in the office till further notice." I removed the riot length Winchester 1920's style pump shotgun from the safe room. It was the kind with the hammer exposed. It had been used in the federal prison system back in the day. My story was that it was retired at the same time as Alcatraz, but I didn't know that for sure. From the room I also removed the 10mm very modern Glock. I filled a small plastic bag with shells for both as well as the .38 five shot Colt which I wore in a shoulder holster under my jacket that day. When I left Ed's officer for possibly the last time, I felt as though I was going off to war again.

I drove the minivan to the closest McDonald's parking lot. I went through the drive through for a large coffee, then sat in the parking lot to drink it and crank up my computer. Every half hour I finished the coffee went inside to pee. While inside I got another cup, then went back to the car. Since the sun was shining the car was warm. The warm car and the comfortable captains chair soon had me nodding off.

I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before. I was on the nod when the cell phone rang. I looked at the dash clock before I answer it. The clock told me that I had spent the whole morning doing nothing but avoiding everyone. It was 2PM when I said, "Hello," into the phone.

"Max, it's Blevins. We need to talk, where are you?"

"On the move, Blevins. After Cop Out and then Ed telling me about the Mendez brothers' house last night, I felt like I needed to get away from him before he became another Sarah."

"Yeah, I have been looking over my shoulder as well. Honest, Max, I didn't even know where they lived."

"Neither did I, but they just might not know that. So if you didn't do it, and I didn't do it, who did?"

"Probably some other dope gang. They have made plenty of enemies. Hell half the cops in two different cities would be happy to hit them. Then there is all the people they have been strong arming as well as the other dopers."

Well maybe the dopers are ready to cut the Mendez brothers loose. Someone should suggest that if they give them up, the temperature would go down for a while at least." I said that just to plant an idea.

"We have a more immediate problem. Me, you, and Jerry are going to be suspects. I figure we can change the times of our after hours adventure last night and alibi each other."

"So what time was the firebombing?" I asked.

"Around 4AM," he replied.

"So what were we doing till sunup, having a threesome?"

"Actually that's about the best alibi we could come up with."

"There goes my reputation," I replied. "Tell them I left about six. I was out having breakfast then. They might find the waitress, so make it possible for me to have been there. After that I was at the mall walking."

"Good, then we just alibi each other all three of us doing the dirty till sunup. I'll get with Jerry."

"Blevins, what if Jerry did it? We will be giving him an alibi for a crime he committed."

"You think I'm going to lose any sleep over those assholes?"

"I guess not," I answered. So Blevins wouldn't care. He would alibi me, even if he thought that I had done it "I wonder who the rollers think did it?"

"My guess, they think it was you. I mean they did try to kill you, and it didn't work. They know you are capable of killing people, since their two cousins are dead."

"Ah so I'm going to need that alibi," I replied.

"Well, it could have been me or Jerry and neither of us has an alibi either. This will just wrap up the loose ends. Besides no one died, so as far as I'm concerned, it's a no harm, no foul situation."

"You know they aren't going to see it that way."

"Then when they come, kill them all this time, I sure as hell plan to."

After the Blevin's call, I dialed up Jennifer on her direct line. We had been keeping touch again since the shooting outside the Cop Out club. She had set the tone with the first call by completely ignoring the fact that I knew both her and her husband in the biblical sense. For that I was very grateful. I suspected that she just had enough class and guile to wait for a better time to discuss it with me. She did end every call with come see us, you are always welcome. To her credit, it always sounded just as it had before the incident.

"Hey, Jen, it's me, Maxine, how would you like to be my mouthpiece?"

"God, you know I love when you talk gangsta'," she suggested. "So what fun thing are you up to now."

"From a friend at the police department I heard that it looks as though the Tryon cops may want to question me about the Mendez brothers' fire thing."

"Let them ask who you are then, invoke your right to counsel. Do not go to Tryon until you call me."

"Yes mother," I replied.

"If you had listened to your mother I probably wouldn't need to be acting like one. So where the hell are you?"

"Sitting in your van outside a McDonald's hijacking their Wi-Fi signal."

"Hell, Max, that's probably a felony,"

"Hey, I bought a cup of coffee. I'm just drinking it in the van."

"So anything else right now? I'm headed into a deposition about a bank account, not near as much fun as defending you will be."

"Just one thing, I don't want to tell the cops where I live. It isn't the search, it's having the info out there while Granny Mendez's little boys are looking for me."

"Tell the cops to fuck off till they get a warrant, then we will take them to your hide out Ms Barker." With that we both broke into laughter. I was surprised she even knew who Ma Barker had been. "You be damn careful, Max, you are my only fun client." Thank god she didn't mention our personal relationship.

I continued to work at my little business. That same night I found the hard drive in my mail box. I switched out the computer drives immediately, then tossed my old one in the lake behind the cabin. I also loaded the Puppy Linux live CD into the computer's new hard drive. It was a little hinky but it did everything I expected and more.

The day after I spoke to Jennifer Ed called to tell me someone had stopped by his office looking for me. The supposed client didn't leave a number. Ed agreed with me that the Mendez brothers were looking for me.

"Blevins it looks as though the Mendez Boys are looking for me. Someone went to Ed's office, Can you get patrol to watch his place till this blows over. You might find one of them staked out watching the place."

"No problem, by the way speaking of the Mendez brother, the cousin Pablo decided that he didn't like the temperature here after all. He decided to not take his chances in out courts. He left on a bus yesterday I'm told. Too bad your friend Ed is out his bail."

"Yeah, but back to my immediate problem please. Ed said the guy who came to his office was a well dressed Caucasian male about thirty. Could that have been Simon Russell the Roller chief? Do you think he might be trying to make nice."

"I wouldn't bet on it, but I can make a couple of calls to see. Who knows; maybe the rollers are looking for new muscle. If they will drop a dime on the Mendez brothers, this could all be over by dark."

"It's a blood feud now, it won't be over till I am dead, or they are. I've seen this kind of tribal shit in Afghanistan."

"Yeah, knowing you Max, my money is on Mexican funerals for all."

"From your mouth to God's ear," I said. "Please see if you can find out if Russell wants to sell out the Mendez brothers."

I served a couple of papers, enough to cover the cost of my coffee anyway, before Blevins got back to me. "The word from Tryon's gang unit, is Russell wants to distance himself from the Mendez brothers, but he is afraid of them."

"Then why the hell is he looking for me?"

"He wants to trade information for his life. He is afraid you are going to target him next."

"Next, I didn't target anyone."

"Yeah, I know that, remember when that happened I had my dick in your mouth." He said with a laugh at least.

"Yes, my poor sore pussy won't let me forget." I showed him I could be just as crude as any man. "You got any idea what his information is?"

"Number one: it's that he didn't order the drive by at the Cop Out. Number two: seems to be a warning. The Mendez brothers have ordered that everybody they know keep an eye out for you. They want to take you alive. They don't want any drive by this time."

"Ah, they want it up close and personal." I suggested.

"Yeah," Blevins said, "And no chance of a miss."

I spent two hours thinking about it before I called Blevins back. "Blevins, let's ambush the sons of bitches."

"I like it, how?"

"Tell them were to find me then, follow me until we can get them in the clear. Then you can arrest them for kidnapping me."

"That is way too dangerous, the Captain will never go for it."

"Blevins they ain't hunting the Captain. You be there and I'll do it myself."

"What do you need. I know a couple of cops who owe me one and a lot more who would love to bust those bastards. We haven't been able to tie them to the Cop Out yet."

"I need a tracking device they can't find, and something to tell you they snatched me."

"Max you know this could get really rough and go terribly wrong?"

"I know, but I also know I'm damn tired of McDonald's coffee." Even though the coffee at McDonald's is good coffee, everything gets old eventually."

One of the low life Roller dealers gave the information to the Mendez brothers. They had no reason to doubt it, since they put the word out themselves. Russell had turned on them, but they didn't know it.

The tip was that every Friday night I met a woman at one of those cheap Paki motels. We made it a woman to disgust the brothers even more. Also to let them know there wouldn't be much of a threat. I went to the motel alone. I checked into the motel and pretended to wait for my lady love. I was half asleep when they came. When they broke the door, I activated the call for help. The tracker was always turned on. It was just a GPS sending unit the lab boys had fitted it into my ear canal. It was going to take some doing to get that thing out.

When they came I resisted, but not a lot. If they had known me better they should have been surprised that I didn't at least shoot at them. They weren't at all gentle when the dragged me from the room in the middle of the night. I took more than one punch and a couple of kicks.

I had no idea where they took me, since I had a bag over my head. I figured the bag was a waste, since they were obviously going to kill me. My only hope was that Blevins and company would get to me before they did. I had a lot riding on him.

The Mendez brother dragged me into some kind of industrial warehouse. They tied me to a chair with plastic zip ties. Then they took turns bitch slapping and punching me. I expected the cigarette burns at any minute. They loved that I screamed and cried for them. Most of that was not faked. I was in some serious pain and had long since begun to doubt my decision making ability. My clothes had been taken and searched before they tied me to that chair, so the locator in my ear proved to be a blessing. Of course, had they found it, I would have had a quick, merciful death.

One of the nasty brothers took his cock out and stuck it in my face. "Suck it, Punta," he demanded. I couldn't bring myself to bite the damn thing off. I was trying to survive until Blevins arrived. That is, if he could get to me in time.

I took his cock into my mouth and began to nurse on it. He let me do that for only a few seconds then he drove it into my throat. I tried to relax the muscles but my body fought against the intruding flesh. I took a quick breath when he pulled back. I managed to not gag so badly on his second plunge. I was fighting to remain calm to gasp whenever I could. Finally I knew what he intended. He intended to choke me to death on his cock.

I tried to pull away but he held me in place. He laughed as I was gagging and fighting for air. When I could hold out no longer the blackness enveloped me. I knew then that I was dead. Blevins would be too late, if he came at all.

I jerked awake in the back of an ambulance. The paramedic was squeezing a bag that forced air into my lungs. Once I woke up and tried to sit up, he stopped pumping. He placed a mask over my face. He also held me down on the gurney.

I drifted back to sleep. I knew for sure that I wasn't dead, so sleep sounded good to me. When I next awoke, Blevins and Jerry were in the small cubicle of the ER.

"Damn, woman, I never heard of anybody really dying from that. If Jerry hadn't crashed his patrol car through the door, you might have gone down in history. Some asshole lieutenant wanted to wait for a warrant."

"Thanks, Jerry, it really would have been embarrassing to have died that way. Not to mention I don't think I like the idea of being dead at all."

"No problem, it really was Blevins here who saved you. He had to kill the Mendez asshole to get him off you."

"Shit, I missed all the fun?" I said.

"He had a gun, that's why I popped him. It wasn't to save you; it was to save my own ass."

"Thanks, both of you. So is the other one going to jail now?"

"Yes, we finally have something he can't wiggle out of," Blevins said. "I also hear Russell told his crew to stay out of town until he could reorganize the whole dope business thing."

"The weed don't bother me none. It's that other shit." I added.

"We are going to go, so you can sleep. Call me when you get out and well have a beer or something," Jerry suggested.

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