Jackknifed

"Nope."

"Word in the station's that the two of you are a thing," she said, questioning my earlier statement that she wasn't my girlfriend. "I've seen you kissing her right here at the bar. And the kiss was more than a friendly one."

My impulsive took side over. Without thinking, I drew Sky close, tight against me, and smelled the fragrances of lavender and honeysuckle as I kissed her - - kissed her deeply. I didn't care the people around us were watching. Sky willingly parted her lips and sighed as we kissed.

"Like that?" I asked.

"Uh huh," she said breathlessly.

"The station's wrong. We're not a thing. Truth be told, it was just a physical relationship."

I kissed her again and she practically melted into my arms.

"I want something more than that," I told her.

The band just started playing "American Girl," my favorite Petty song. I started to sway with the music.

"Let's dance," I said to her, tugging on her arm.

"OK," she said.

I led her out onto the crowded dance floor. We started dancing and this time Sky kissed me. Her lips were soft as velvet. We slow danced, ignoring the rhythm of the music, and got lost in each other.

"I like you Max," she said to me, looking into my eyes and telling me she was mine.

"I like you too Sky," I said.

I sensed we were bowing to the inevitable. I thought she did as well. She spoke next while we were holding each other tight.

"Let's get drunk and fuck, Max. I really want you," she whispered. She was irresistible. And my ability to resist was non-existent.

"I want you too, Sky," I told her.

"I have three roommates," she said.

"My place then?" I asked.

She took me by the hand.

"Let's get out of here," she said.

* * *

We got into my Honda Civic. I started the car. She got in, and with the thud of the door it was the two of us, alone and in silence.

"Sky, I don't know anything about you," I said, not that it mattered.

"I'm an only child. My mom's Chinese, my father's Irish. I went to Marshall High then Miami of Ohio. I majored in Criminal Justice. This is my first job and hopefully my last. My dad was a cop here. Is that enough?"

"Where was your dad?"

"He was in Homicide."

"Now it makes sense," I said.

It was her turn.

"I know that you were married and divorced, went to the academy, have been with the force for seven years, and have bagged more than your share of bad guys. I've been watching you from afar."

"Stalking me?" I asked.

"Kind of. You're kind of my role model."

"That's disturbing," I said.

"Nobody's perfect."

"Far from it," I added.

I pulled into the parking lot of a local liquor store I frequented. There were a couple prostitutes wrangling with a john. Their pimp was watching, amused at their negotiation. The pimp looked up and recognized me and then went back to watching his girls. I recognized one of the prostitutes.

"Max, aren't you going to do anything?" Sky asked. The solicitation in the parking lot was pretty brazen.

"Yeah," I answered. "I'm going to pick up a couple bottles of vodka."

"I mean about them," she said, pointing at the prostitutes.

"Oh, OK."

"Hey Grace!" I called over. "How you doing?"

The prostitutes and the john looked over at me. "Want to party?" Grace asked.

"Not tonight," I said.

"Was that good enough?" I asked Sky.

"That's not what I meant," she said.

"I know, but live and let live in the West End. They're not hurting anybody."

She was seeing how Max rolled. She shrugged her shoulders. She was young. She'd learn.

We went into the liquor store. Nigel was waiting on a customer. He waved to me and I waved back.

"You know him?" Sky asked.

"Uh huh."

"Do you know everybody?"

"I think so," I answered.

"Who is that?"

"He's Nigel. Brit. Came here a couple years ago. Studying at UC. I think he broke up with his girlfriend."

"Max, you amaze me."

"All in a day's work."

Nigel finished with his customer. There was a gleam in his eye when he saw Sky.

"She's mine," I told him.

"Let me know when you throw her back," he said. "So what can I get you ladies tonight?"

"Vodka for me. What did you want?" I asked Sky.

"Not Sky Vodka," she said, and then laughed. "How about a bottle of Jack Daniels?"

"Coming right up." He went to the back shelves and pulled down a bottle of Jack and two pints of flavored vodka. "So you two girlfriends or something?" he asked.

"I don't know," said Sky.

Nigel winked at her. "Going to find out tonight?"

Her face reddened. "I... I..." she stammered. I rescued her.

"None of your fucking business Nigel," I said, though not in a scolding tone. I knew he was just teasing her.

"Sorry Sky. I'm always giving Max a hard time. I can't help it."

"That's OK," she said. "I've liked her friends so far," she said.

"You girls have a good night."

* * *

It was a rite of passage for my friends (and lovers) to experience the Royal Palms in all its splendor. As one of the West End's premiere destinations for the prostitution trade, there was always a three ring circus going on in the parking lot. When we arrived the full moon had ducked behind a heavy cloud cover and the old school sodium vapor lights in the parking lot gave an eerie orange hue to everything. I could see a female head going up and down on the driver's side of a parked car and two junkies and a dealer having a violent argument over some drug deal by the motel's office. A woman with a ripped t-shirt staggered across the parking lot holding a bottle wrapped in a brown paper bag.

"You live here?" Sky asked, watching the lower echelon of civilized society. She of course was dressed like she'd stepped off the cover of a high end women's clothing catalog.

"For two years," I said.

"Why?"

"Cause I like it, and the rent's cheap. Everyone here knows me and leaves me alone."

"It's kind of noisy... and dirty," she said as we made our way through the trash riddled parking lot. We could hear the roar of the interstate providing the background noise for the loud conversations we were hearing going on about us.

"You get used to it," I said.

"If I was deaf and blind," she muttered under her breath, thinking I couldn't hear her.

"Buck up," I said. "You want to be real police? This place will toughen you up."

I led her up the stairs to Room 204.

"Don't mind the mess," I said as I opened the door.

The usual crap was in there. Pizza boxes, empty takeout cartons and beer and vodka bottles littered the room. This is what you got when you got Max.

"Looks like my apartment," said Sky.

"I guess that's not a compliment," I said.

"Not really."

Enough of the complaining. We were in my room for a reason. I drew her close and cupped her soft, but firm breast over her silk blouse. "You're so sexy Sky. You know that, don't you?" I whispered into her ear.

"I do with you," she whispered back. The shabby surroundings were forgotten.

"Let's drink" I said. I handed her the bottle of Jack Daniels and screwed the cap off one of the pints of vodka. I drank straight out of the bottle. She opted for a plastic cup and poured two fingers. The liquid fire made me flush. She coughed after two belts from her bottle.

I drained half the bottle. She was still on her second cup.

"I guess they weren't shitting me about your drinking ability," Sky said to me while watching me down my vodka.

"Practice," I said.

I took one last swig from my bottle and put it on the nightstand.

"It's time to fuck," I told her, not one to mince words. I run my hand up her skirt to her sopping wet panties.

"Past time," she said.

She carefully unbuttoned her blouse and let my hand roam free on her breast. I slipped my hand inside her bra and rolled the pebbly flesh of her engorged nipple between my thumb and forefinger. A young, firm, and delicious tit. The nerve endings in my fingertips were crackling.

"I like sex, and I like you Sky. I want to fuck you in the worst way," I said to her. She looked into my eyes and her eyes said yes.

She unbuttoned her blouse all the way. "Show me," she said.

I unclasped her bra and threw it on the floor. I seized her nipple between my teeth and gave it a love bite. I squeezed her other breast with my hand. Nirvana.

"Oh God Max. I'm not that experienced," she confessed, her breathing becoming ragged. I liked that kind of confession.

"I have enough for the both of us," I said.

She laid back on the bed, offering herself to me. Her short little skirt had bunched up around her waist. There was a growing wet spot on her white bikini panties. She lifted up her hips to allow me to take them off.

"Please," she said. We both knew what she wanted. She spread her legs wide. Her lips were red and puffy.

I licked her. I tasted her. I ravaged her. She cried out, and through the paper thin walls everyone within fifty feet of our room heard her first orgasm. I used my tongue and fingers to take her up, and then let her down slowly, over and over until we were both covered in sweat.

"Oh my God Max. I never knew it could be like this," she said to me. It was trite, but I never tired of hearing it.

"There's many ways to love a woman," I told her. My hand wandered under her bottom. I used my middle finger to caress her anus. "I like this way. Would you like me to show you?"

She was still breathing hard. "You're so... so... nasty Max."

I liked to hear that too.

"So I've been told sweetheart. Do you want to experience nasty?" I asked her in the sexiest voice I could muster.

"I... I do," she said. Anything and everything she learned in Sunday school was forgotten. Need I remind you that the Royal Palms ain't no church?

God, I wanted to bottle that moment. That moment when a young and innocent woman experiences the dark side and never comes back.

"Lay on your stomach Sky."

She rolled over. The backside of her thighs were a gooey mess. I stared at her perfect butt.

"Pull the cheeks of your ass apart," I told her.

"Oh Max... you're really doing this?"

"Wild horses wouldn't stop me."

She pulled her fleshy cheeks apart, exposing her pink rosebud. God it was beautiful. It gave me chills looking at her perfect taut bottom.

I buried my face between her cheeks and pushed the stiffened tip of my tongue inside the gape she created for me.

"Fuck... fuck," she gasped.

"Mmmmm," I moaned. This was too fucking good.

I plundered her asshole, kissing, sucking, and licking it. My right hand went between her legs, finding the engorged nub of her clit, begging to be flicked by my finger. She pushed up against me, barely allowing me to breathe. I sucked in my breath and tongue fucked and fingered her until she bellowed in some primal language.

"Ppp... I... no... ahhhhh!! Ah... Ah... Ah...". She was hyperventilating and cumming at the same time. Her ass cheeks tensed and crushed my tongue and a gush of liquid spilled out of her pussy.

Sky had just seen the moon and the stars. It was Max's version of heaven.

Time stood still... maybe just for an instant... I didn't know for how long. I crawled up and hugged her tight until we could catch our collective breaths.

I rolled off and we both sprawled out on our backs on the bed, content. I finally glanced over at the cheap digital alarm clock on my nightstand. It wasn't yet midnight.

"We've got four more hours until I need to get ready for work. Let's drink and fuck again," I said, getting my second wind.

She rolled over on top of me and kissed me. Her hand wandered into the swamp between my legs. She may have been inexperienced but her fingers knew precisely what to do.

"Let's skip the drinking this time," she said.

She kissed my neck and then down to my breasts.

"So big... and so beautiful," she said, palming one of my breasts in her petite hand.

I put my hand lightly on the top of her head. Her lips wandered down to my nipple, sucking on it. Sparks of electricity radiated down between my legs. She licked and caressed my breasts until I could take no more.

"Taste me," I said, spreading my legs wide as an invitation.

She kissed my belly and then gave a swipe of her tongue across my weeping gash. My hips reflexively pushed upwards.

"Hurry," I said.

She used her slender fingers to open me and then sucked my clit into her mouth.

"Oh my God... Sky..." I think I said, my head spinning off its axis.

She lashed my clit until my thighs trembled and shook. I squeezed my eyes shut and heard the familiar roar in my ears as I came in waves. I forced my eyes open so I could watch her eat my pussy. It was so sexy to see her face smeared with my juices.

After the last tremors went through me she raised up so she was looking down at me.

"Show me Max," she said.

"Show you what?" I asked through heavily lidded eyes.

"Show me how to eat your ass."

Sky, I thought, where have you been all my life?

Chapter Five

The Grand Finale

Yet another 4:30 a.m. wake-up call with a new fuck buddy fast asleep next to me. Her shift didn't start until nine, so she had at least three more hours. I set the alarm for her and got ready for work. She looked angelic, sleeping as if she didn't have a care in the world. That's what fucked out will do to you. I slipped out of the room without waking her up.

I made my usual stop at Happy Donut. They had just opened and Bea was sweeping the front sidewalk. She saw me with a shit eating grin on my face.

"You sleep with someone last night," she said. She'd seen me too many times after my fuck-a-thons.

"You know me too well Bea."

"You looked tired. Same young girl again?" she asked, referring to Courtney.

"No Bea, not Courtney."

"Must be young girl. You look like you need coffee." She shook her head, then rested her broom against the wall and went inside. She went behind the counter and retrieved a coffee pot and mug. I took a seat at my usual table near the front picture window. She poured me a cup and stood there, watching me. I gratefully took my first sip of the fresh brewed coffee. It was strong and hot. I looked at her with my approval. She then went behind the counter to plate a chocolate old fashioned. She returned and slid the plate on my table.

"You spoil me Bea," I told her.

"I spoil everyone. You not special," she said, though we both knew that I was, at least to her.

"How's your kids Bea?" She told me she had three daughters.

"One in medical school at Yale. One at big accounting firm. Third one a failure."

"Oh yeah? What's the third one doing?" I asked out of sheer curiosity.

"She going to Harvard Law School."

I laughed. "You don't like lawyers either?"

"I see no use for them," she said.

"Neither did Shakespeare," I said.

"Who he? Your boss?" she asked.

"No Bea, just a writer."

"I see no use for them either," she said.

"You're the boss Bea."

"You damn right Officer Max."

She handed me a white wax paper bag.

"Here's a jelly donut for your cute partner," she said.

I handed her a twenty. She went to the register to make change.

"Keep it," I said. "Harvard Law School's expensive."

"She no need it. Scholarship."

"Figures," I said.

"I'm not the only one who smart in the family."

Indeed she wasn't. Just the wisest.

* * *

"So how was your date with Sky?" Lesley asked. She was lacing up one of her boots in the locker room. She asked the question casually but I knew she was dying to ask. I kicked myself for letting it slip that I was having a drink with Sky.

"It wasn't a date," I insisted.

"But you hooked up?"

Lesley could read me like an open book. Was I going to fess up?

"We... spent some time together."

Lesley laughed. "Max, you never miss a booty call."

"Thanks Lesley. I needed that. Lily, DaVanna, Nicky, Maddy and you. You all read me like an open book, don't you?"

"Like you ain't even there Max."

* * *

Lesley finished dressing having bested me. I gave her a donut. Peace in the valley.

"So what's on the agenda today?" she asked me.

"Need to talk to Sky. She's going to work the database to see if she can find this mysterious Chuck."

"You mean the guy who killed Andrea?"

"The same," I said. "I'll be about fifteen minutes."

"I'm not going with you?" Lesley asked, miffed.

"You don't need to be there."

"Oh Max, I wouldn't miss this meeting for the world."

"Please Lesley, no," I said, begging. I knew she was going to be smirking in the background.

"Oh yes, Max."

She was smiling like a Cheshire cat.

* * *

The two of us went strolling over to Homicide, Lesley whistling a happy tune. Sky was making copies when she saw us coming down the hallway.

"Hey Max," she said. Then she noticed Lesley. "Bringing reinforcements too?"

"Sky, this is my partner Lesley."

Sky gave my attractive partner the once over.

"Lesley," my compadre said, extending her hand.

"Sky," my new lover said, accepting the handshake.

"So you're on the Max team now?" Lesley asked. I gave her the evil eye. I knew Lesley couldn't resist.

"Am I?" Sky asked.

"I think so," said Lesley. "You did see Room 204, didn't you?"

I cursed under my breath. I knew I should have left Lesley behind.

"Oh...," said Sky, turning two different shades of crimson. "That team."

"Yeah."

"You're not jealous, are you?" Sky asked, genuinely concerned. I guess Sky thought that Lesley was on the "Max team" as well.

Lesley laughed. "No, of course not. I was just fucking with you. You know, with Max, sometimes I can't help myself."

Sky gave a half-hearted laugh, wondering what she'd gotten into.

I decided enough of the ball busting. Lesley's tongue was getting sharper. I told Sky about Chuck, the birthmark, and how he was fingered as the murderer. Sky took careful notes.

"I'll run it through the database. I spend most of my time on it now. I should be able to tell you if I find a match by the end of the day."

"You do that," I said.

Lesley gave Sky a pat on the shoulder. "I like you Sky, and I mean it."

* * *

Lesley was busy securing permission from Lieutenant Odette to spend department time on our cold case instead of personal time. I told Lesley I'd stop at Nicky's to pick up lunch for the two of us. I was taken aback when I saw a silver Rolls Royce parked in front of Nicky's, the engine idling. I knew who it was. What did she want with me?

I parked my car, and like a moth to a flame, I walked with purpose to the rear passenger door of the luxury sedan. The window was so heavily tinted I couldn't see inside. Jasmine came around to open the door. Sunlight glinted off her diamond studded obedience collar.

I leaned over and peered inside to see who it was. It was Lily of course.

"Sit with me," she said.

She was wearing a Western style women's business suit -- a fashionable lightweight wool skirt and jacket and a silk blouse, unbuttoned enough to show her cleavage, with immaculate hair and make-up. She looked stunning as usual. She showed me she could move effortlessly between East and West, both in style and manner, and be comfortable in both. I got in, sitting inches from her. She put her hand in my lap, not as a sexual overture, but to reassure me. I admired her flawless red painted nails.

"You're working the Andrea Hillman file," she said.

"I can't discuss what I'm working on."

I had come to expect that Lily would know everything I was doing. Her mole was a good one. I wondered who he or she was.

She sat up straight, now with her hands together in her lap. "I know DaVanna has a feud with her sister. I told you before that she's had her fun, and now I think the fun has to end. Alessandra's a good person and there's no reason to prolong her agony just for DaVanna's amusement."

I looked into her eyes, searching for a clue. "Why do you care?" I asked her.