Inspector Pat Gibson, Jackson County Sheriff's Department, Retired, curled her feet under her and rested her head on her husband's chest. She sighed comfortably.

"What is it sweetheart?" asked Inspector Mike Gibson, Retired. He carefully placed his arm around his wife of 50 years. She felt so brittle and so light, her body wasting away from her long struggle with cancer. He kissed the top of her head, disturbing her snow white hair.

"Just thinking," she answered, She slid one arm under him, the other around him and laced her fingers. She listened to the steady rhythm of the pacemaker he had been given after his second heart attack. His chest was no longer the six pack of muscles and his arm was thin now, but his closeness still thrilled her.

"About what?"

"About all this," Pat indicated with a movement of her head.

Mike looked around and smiled. "It is quite a gathering isn't it?" The broad back yard of their house was covered in people of all ages. Two grills smoked with hamburgers and hotdogs. Metal washtubs full of ice and sodas were being constantly restocked. Kids played games, adults talked and a radio carried the music appropriate to their annual 4th of July party throughout the gathering.

"Children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Something that at one time I never even dreamed of having. And a husband who's as handsome today as he was that day I first met him so many years ago." Pat tipped her head and accepted a kiss from Mike. "Thank goodness Bob DuPree was running radar on Highway 143 that day.

Pat felt more than heard the sigh from Mike. "Honey, for forty years we've been over this. I know he was your best friend. But we got up those stairs as fast as we could." She looked at him and then continued. "Only one thing could have changed that day. But he wouldn't have been the man he was if he hadn't gone out in that parking lot that day."...

... Gunfire echoed through the area. Screams and cries were not confined to the open air. Captain Mike Gibson tried to make sense of the noise and conflicting reports coming over the radio mounted in their big SUV. He cursed, something he didn't often do and looked at his wife, who was sitting in the passenger's seat, talking on the cell phone. "What the hell is going on?" He demanded.

"Sniper in the city hall tower," Lieutenant Pat Gibson answered. "We have at least five people down. Bob Dupree and his partner are arriving now. More backup is on the way, but its going to be 10 minutes at least."

Mike looked in the mirrors and spun the big vehicle to the left. "We can be there in three."

"Take Lavoir Street, it'll bring us up to the back and the rear set of the building should shield us," Pat advised.

They roared to a stop behind the target building. They both leaped from the vehicle. Mike pulled off his coat and tie. As Pat raced to the back of the Ford, Mike looked in the back two seats at the rest of the family. "Carol, when we go in, back up into that parking garage. You'll be safe there. Stephanie, you and Mikie look after the twins."

"Yes sir," came the chorus from their children.

Mike sprinted to the rear of the vehicle. Pat already had the back opened and the gear they kept at hand pulled out. She tightened her vest, strapped her equipment belt around her waist and chambered a round in her Glock. As Mike pulled his gear on she loaded his Smith and Wesson and handed it carefully to him. They turned their radios on and donned the brown jackets marked "Sheriff". Mike ran for the building's back door, fishing a key out.

Pat started to close the door. She stopped, pulled off her shoes and threw them in before slamming the door. She chased Mike towards the building, running in her stocking feet. "I swear I am never going to wear heels again in my life, whether we're going to church and dinner out after or not. And I look ridiculous in this getup over a dress."

The two of them stormed up the service stairs to the main floor. Pat pointed right and they rushed up towards the fourth floor and the ladder to the tower. Mike was on the radio, demanding silence from everyone except the officers on the scene. "Talk to me Bob, tell me what's going on. Can you pinpoint his location in the tower?"

"Mike, he's on the north side. Be careful, when you come through that door he'll be right on your left hand." There was a woman's scream on the radio. "What's that lady?" they heard. "Oh My God. Danny, hold her here. Oh Shit, there's a little girl out there, Mike. I'm going after her."

"No," Mike called on the radio. "Hold your position."

The two officers heard the fatal moments over their radios as they charged up the stairway. Bob's twisting and turning made the first shot miss. Danny's covering gunfire caused the gunman to duck for a moment. When Danny reloaded, the man popped back up just as Bob caught the little girl up and ran for cover. Bob managed to shield the girl with his own body. Two high powered rifle bullets tore through him, penetrating the vest they were never intended to stop. In one last heave Bob managed to throw the child to cover before he fell lifeless to the pavement.

Screaming with rage Mike hit the wooden door at the top of the steps. Barricaded or not, the door offered little resistance to the infuriated former marine. He shook his head to clear it from the impact and swung his weapon to cover the man he saw.

Pat took an extra moment to come through the door, avoiding the wood splinters with her bare feet. She came in low since Mike had come in high. She called an order to the gunman. "Drop your weapon, NOW!" The man snarled and spun, the rifle barrel swinging towards them. Each officer fired twice, the classic "double tap" of their training. Hit four times, the gunman collapsed.

When the cleanup was finished, there were two dead civilians, three wounded ones and a badge to be retired. Bob Dupree received the highest award the department had to bestow, and Mike had lost his best friend...

... Behind his glasses Mike's eyes wandered over the extended family. He smiled, remembering their friend, when his gaze landed on Lt Colonel (Retired) Bob Gibson, USMC. He felt Pat smiling. "I know who you're looking at," she teased him.

"Yes, well, when our youngest is old enough to be retired, I begin to think we're not as young as we think we are. And I bet, since we're looking at our children, I know whom you're looking at."

"Just Carol," Pat nodded towards Deputy Inspector Carol Gibson Wilson. "If I look too hard at Stephanie she thinks I need a pill or an exam."

"She's a good doctor, honey." Mike paused and admitted, "If a little over protective now that her parents are her only patients. And Carol, my gosh. All she wanted from the time we married was to be a law enforcement officer, like her mother."

Pat smiled. "Everyone has those special moments in their lives. I have been blessed with so many. The day I realized you were in love with me, the day we married. The days each of our children was born. And by no means the least, the day Carol and Stephanie called me 'Mother'." She laughed. "But having both parents as white shirt officers on the department didn't always make things easy for her...

... The man and the woman had the car rocking. He was stretched out as best he could along the front seat, his head propped on the door's arm rest. His shirt was unbuttoned, exposing his chest and his jeans were open. The woman was crouched over him, her smaller body in the 69 position. She was nude from the waist down. Her blouse was open and her bra pushed up to expose her breasts.

Because of the tight fit the woman's knees were bent and her toes pressed along the glass of the driver's side door. The man's head was tipped up between her spread legs. His tongue was rapidly flicking over and between her puffy lips. His hands grasped her hips, his fingers curled onto the swelling of her ass. He pulled her down onto his stabbing tongue as it dipped inside her and she groaned.

Her head bobbed up and down as she slid her lips over his erect cock. She paused at the top of each stroke to swirl her tongue over the mushroom head like she was licking an ice cream cone. Then she plunged back down over the shaft until her chin mashed against his groin. Both of them uttered wordless moans, encouraging each to further pleasure their partner.

The black and white cruised slowly down the road. The two officers in it peered out at the passing bushes. The area was one of new residential construction and there had been a number of complaints about theft and vandalism. The night's briefing had reminded them to be sure to make frequent checks and run off any trespassers.

"There's a car over there in that little access road," Deputy Carol Gibson said.

"I see it," Deputy Roger Wilson commented. He reached for the radio. "Do you want me to call it in?"

"I can't see the tag." She shifted the cruiser into park and reached for her flashlight.

"Good lord, look at that car bounce," Roger breathed. He laughed. "Now why do you want to disturb them Carol?"

"Because its our duty to keep the area clear," Carol said with a straight face. Then she grinned, "And because its mean, but its fun." With that they got out of the cruiser, closing the doors carefully to make no noise and approached the car.

Inside the car the couple had shifted positions. She was on her back with her hips lifted in the air and her legs lying along his chest. She was almost bent double as he pounded his hips against. She humped up at him by arching her back, taking his thrusting cock all the way into her. Her fingers raked his back and her eyes were glazed over.

"Oh yes, yes, yessssssssssss," the woman crooned. Her arms wrapped around the man's torso. "Now honey, NOWWWWWWWWWWWWW."

"Yes baby, yes," moaned the man in reply. both bodies stiffened against each other. The man's head tilted as he released a torrent into the woman. She cried out in reply as she shuddered and met his orgasm with her own.

Roger kept his partner covered as she approached the completely fogged over driver's window. She turned her flashlight on full and used the front of it to rap on the window. There was a moment's pause, then the window rolled partway down. Roger strained to hear what was being said, a big grin on his face.

After only an instant, Carol jerked upright. She spun on her heel and all but ran back to the car, waving at Roger to join her. He slid into the seat, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "What in the world," he began only to have her cut him off.

"Not a word Roger." She started the cruiser, peeled into a U turn and drove out of the subdivision as though they were being chased. By the light of the street lamps he could see her face was completely rigid. Then he realized her face was also completely red. Good lord, she was embarrassed by, well, by whatever that was.

Behind them in the subdivision, the car window had been cranked back up. The man and woman snuggled together. She giggled. He smiled. She laughed. He broke into laughter and in a moment they were almost weeping they were so carried away.

"Think we scarred her for life?" he asked.

"I hope not," she replied." But after all, how many cops catch their own parents parking?"...

... "I wonder if she ever told Roger the whole story?"

"Maybe after they were married," replied Pat. "I certainly never asked her about it. It was all your idea anyway."

"Can I help it if I can't keep my hands off you? Besides, I forgot they were patrolling that area."

"For someone who claims he knows every bit of this county, when you get it wrong you get it really wrong."

"Now I simply misremembered the numbering system on ONE street!" He protested.

"Yes, but I'M the one who got knocked on her ass," she replied...

... The car slipped quietly into the store parking lot, its headlights out.

"8 Lincoln is on the scene, Dispatch," Pat quietly advised. "How do you want to handle it Mike?" she asked her partner and for the last 3 months now her lover and beloved.

"You wait here while I go around to the next street and go up two blocks. I'll park up there and radio you. We'll close in and catch him between us. And honey? Be careful. This is just a Peeping Tom report, but I have a feeling."

"Okay," Pat replied. She slipped out of the car, checking her walkie-talkie. Then she suddenly leaned back into the car and kissed him. "You be careful too."

Pat stood under a tree at the street corner and listened. Mike quickly but carefully pulled the cruiser around and sped off down the side street. Her thoughts followed him. Simply amazing. Tall, handsome and strong with a gentle, loving heart. And he was hers. What could he see in a tomboyish woman like her? He didn't even know her, that her last relationship was with another woman and she still had strong attractions to her own sex. Well, she never would have thought it, but her attraction to him outweighed any other in her life. She really loved him so much.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the squawk of her radio. "Damn it Pat. I was wrong. The house is two blocks up the street, not one. I just pulled in the complainant's driveway. Wait a minute," he paused, then "He's spooked, he's running! 8 Lincoln to Dispatch, officer in foot pursuit, south on Donaldson from the 100 block."

With Mike's first words Pat was moving. When she heard his full radio transmission she began sprinting up the street. She ran with her flashlight in one hand, the other on the grips of her weapon. She didn't draw it, nothing in this situation justified deadly force. She stiffened and slowed as she heard Mike's powerful voice ahead and to her side. "Sheriff's Department, Halt!"

Pat stopped. She turned towards a line of hedges to her right and strained her ears. She heard crashing noises and suddenly a body burst through the bushes and slammed right into her, knocking them both down. They fell heavily together to the sidewalk but Pat, with her martial arts training, reacted first. She rolled on top and struck a careful blow to the other's stomach with the barrel of her flashlight.

As the other person, crumpled Pat turned the light on the suspect. A man in his apparent 20's he had long stringy hair and a full beard. He was in stocking feet and dirty denim. Since he matched the description broadcast of the peeper, she straddled him and cuffed him.

Mike came through the bushes and took in the scene. "Hey!" he called, seemingly very indignantly. "I turn my back for five minutes and I find you on top of some other guy."

Pat pulled the wheezing suspect to his feet. She smiled the sweet smile that Mike had already learned meant to back up quickly. "Going to like sleeping on the couch when you come over are you?"...

... "Hey, that turned into your first felony arrest. That scumbag turned out to be wanted for everything but good manners. He went away for a long time."

"Still didn't help the bruises on my bottom."

"I think I worked very hard to help you over them. I applied a lot of massage therapy as I recall."

"Even used your hands for some it," Pat recalled with a smile.

They continued to snuggle and their eyes wandered.

"Who do you suppose it was harder for? Being on the department, I mean?" wondered Mike aloud.

"Hard to tell. Carol was the first deputy with both her parents on the force. Mikie had to face both his parents were getting pretty up there in rank, AND he had a sister and brother-in-law who were both sergeants by then. On the other hand, people were pretty used to the Gibsons being around by then. He also made a pretty spectacular impression when he was still a rookie, even if we did cover up his famous words that night"...