What are Friends for?

I offered my hand and her father shook it firmly. Her mother just stared at me.

"Relax, Mom," she chuckled. "You're going to have to get used to him." She lifted her hand, displaying the ring. Her father grinned while her mother just stared.

"I'm sorry I can't stay, folks, but I go on duty in about an hour. I've got to get to the precinct."

Micah slid her arms around my neck and gave me a gentle kiss. "You be careful," she smiled.

"Always," I reassured her. Looking at her mother, I figured discretion was the better part of valor. It was time to leave.

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

Dave Bradford and I were assigned as partners now as we started our week on evening shift. It was his turn to drive, so I had the radio and the notepad. We'd just gotten into service when he asked, "You and Micah set a date yet?"

"No. I'm gonna leave that to her. Her parents are over at the apartment now visiting. I guess she'll work it out with them."

He nodded. "I've heard her mom is a real piece of work. You meet her?"

"If you want to call it that," I snickered. "She's about as warm as an iceberg. I didn't stick around to see what happened." I watched the traffic passing to our right and asked, "You still dating that ER nurse from Bayview?"

"Who, Linda? Yeah, but we haven't seen each other for a couple weeks now. Our schedules aren't meshing."

"That's too bad," I commiserated. "She's a nice girl."

He gave me an evil grin. "That's what you think."

The shift started out quietly, so we pulled into a convenience store for a cup of coffee. I sipped at mine while Dave flirted with the attendant. When we got back in the car, I grinned at him. "You keep it up, Lothario, and you're going to need Linda's services."

"Hey, what she don't know won't hurt her."

"No," I agreed, "but it might hurt you."

The radio squawked at us. "3315."

I picked up the mike. "3315."

"3315, County is requesting assistance, Lexington at Page. Meet with 7314."

"3315, clear. Code 8."

Dave flipped on the lights and sirens and we headed off.

We arrived to see a large man in a fight with a slightly smaller deputy. Even as they wrestled, another Sheriff's unit and another PD squad arrived. We were getting out when the guy landed a solid punch on the deputy's shoulder, knocking him to the ground.

The door of the second SO unit flew open and a tiny female wearing sergeant's stripes charged out. She grabbed the second man by the back of the shirt, lifted him and threw him into the side of the first patrol car. Even as she spun him around and handcuffed him, we could hear her hiss, "That's my husband, asshole. I'll tear you into so many pieces they'll never find them all."

The first deputy climbed to his feet and pulled the sergeant off even as police officers took the man into custody. We moved in to help. Dave reached for his shoulder mike. "Radio, 3315. Dispatch a signal 4. We have an injured deputy."

The PD officers opened the back door of the Sheriff's car and pushed the perpetrator in. Closing the door, we all turned to the male deputy.

"You okay, Jay?" I asked, looking at the wicked scrapes on the side of his face.

"Yeah," he answered, "just a little woozy. Get a wrecker, guys. Clown's DUI. Shit, what the hell did he hit me with?"

"Just a fist, from what we saw. The SO can check your dashcam later. You need to sit down." I opened the front door of his squad and guided him in. Then I turned to the sergeant and froze. Her eyes were blazing a vicious red. "Um, sarge, you okay?"

Even as she looked toward me, the eyes shifted to a soft purple. I started to think I was seeing things.

"I'm fine, Dean, thanks. Thank you for getting here so fast."

Dave and I exchanged glances. He just shook his head. "Not sure you really needed us, but glad we were close." As we spoke, other sirens became audible. In just a few moments, there were several additional squads on the scene. An ambulance pulled in less than five minutes later. The paramedics checked out Jay and decided to transport him to Bayview for observation. Possible concussion, they said. We transferred the perp to a PD unit and the SO took Kerry's squad back to the precinct.

We gave the arriving supervisor our info, then went back to our unit. We just sat there, staring at the scene through the windshield. "Jesus," I finally said, "I don't believe I saw that."

"You saw it," Dave assured me. "Now you know why they call her the demon. She's got more strength in that little body than most bodybuilders. I don't ever want to tangle with her."

"So that's Dalca?" I inquired.

"Well, used to be. It's Kerry now." He looked at me and started to chuckle.

"What?" I asked.

"You believing he actually married her?"

That got a frown from me. I shrugged. "Sure. Why not? Hell, he's a demonologist, or at least that's what he told me. Seems like a match made in heaven."

Dave chuckled. "Or in hell, maybe. Either way, I'm not so sure I'd want to get into bed with her. No telling what she might do to you. Then again, it might be a lot of fun"

It figured. I don't think Dave ever looked at a woman without cataloguing what he would or wouldn't do with her. Weren't too many things on the wouldn't side of the ledger. "Oh, for God's sake, Dave. Put us in service and let's get out of here."

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

Micah's folks were traditionalists alright. Her mom wanted a big, formal church wedding. They argued about it when the question of practicality came up. Micah finally just washed her hands of the thing and told her mom to tell us where to show up and when. That was when we both decided to have some fun with the ceremony.

Micah and her maid-of-honor (Sandy Kerry) were expected to wear traditional white gowns, but Sandy opted for red. Everyone else in the wedding party would be in dress uniforms. Dave Bradford was going to be my best man. Jay Kerry agreed to be there with his wife. I brought in a couple of friends, one of whom was a ranger and one of whom was a corrections officer. So, when we stood beside each other, the men in the wedding party were dressed in blue, blue, khaki, green and grey. The other three bride's maids were in khaki. Drove her mom absolutely nuts.

The reception almost got out of hand. Dave got a bit too aggressive putting on Micah's garter and got himself slapped. "Another inch," she warned him, "and this wedding is gonna turn into a funeral!" I just stood there and laughed. I don't know who caught the garter or her bouquet. Didn't care, either.

The dancing was fun, although I didn't get to dance with her very much. Too many others wanted a turn. There were other women who danced with me, one of whom was Sandy. I enjoyed that dance, at least until Jay cut in. "My wife, turkey," he laughed at me. "Yours is over there."

Her mother wouldn't dance with me. I wasn't worthy of her daughter. She was making sure that everyone knew it, too, until her husband told her to shut up. That got a few laughs. Saying that a cop wasn't good enough for her girl wasn't a real smart move in a room full of law enforcement officers, one of whom was the daughter in question. She pretty much disappeared after that.

My folks weren't able to make the trip from Minnesota. They were both in poor health, so we had the wedding videotaped and sent it to them. My brother came north from Florida to represent the family. He and I were very close, so that was good enough for me.

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

I mentioned earlier that Hamilton PD was a good outfit to work for. Our marriage was a good example. Most agencies would have made one of us resign, probably Micah, since she was senior. It was an underhanded way of saving a few bucks. I guess they did have a legitimate concern about emotional considerations getting in the way of professionalism. Made sense to me.

Other agencies would have made one of us transfer into a non-enforcement division; radio, admin, public relations, something like that.

Hamilton County didn't care. They called us in and congratulated us, telling us that because we were in separate departments, the intermarriage regulations didn't apply. That made it nice for us, as we did occasionally work the same shift, giving us more time off together.

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

Early that fall, a new couple moved into the apartment above us. They would become our closest friends. Mike was in electronics, working for National Developmental Electronics in Cruxton, just south of Hamilton. His wife, Cindy, was a paralegal, working at a lawyer's office, also in Cruxton. They were about the same age as us, late twenties. Mike might have been in his early thirties.

Mike was an engineer. NDE did a lot of subcontracting for the Department of Defense, so he didn't talk much about his job. He was also out of town frequently, probably once a month. When that happened, Cindy usually came down and ate with us, then we watched a movie together.

We met the day they moved in. The moving people were there most of the day. By the time they left, it was early evening. We went up and introduced ourselves, inviting them to join us for a pizza. Turned out that Cindy was as big a pizza hound as I was, so they accepted the invitation.

Of course, we took them to D'Angelo's. It was a mom-and-pop operation and they served up some terrific Sicilian pizza. Pops had a son in the Navy and a daughter working for HPD, so he offered discounts for the military and emergency services. We were already regulars and they were happy to have us bring in new customers.

Mike and Cindy loved the place. We had a great time. Mike did get a dirty look from Micah when he asked for green olives on his pizza. When we went back home, we invited them to join us the next evening to watch a movie. We usually got to do that about once a week.

Turned out that Mike and Cindy loved classic horror and sci-fi almost as much as we did. Unfortunately, Cindy teamed up with Micah on the Chick Flicks, so we got roped into those about once a month.

Micah said that I was the world's biggest flirt at times. I didn't think I was that bad. Mike laughed that Cindy was a professional tease. It wasn't long before the two of us were going at it like a cat and dog, while our spouses laughed their asses off. It was a lot of fun and it was anybody's guess as to who won. Neither of us cared.

I really liked Cindy. She wasn't as pretty as Micah, but she was cute, with shoulder-length light brown hair and light green eyes. She was slightly stockier and I'd guess she had a 34-something bust. She had an ass that could kill, and a smile that left guys drooling, me included.

I used to tease her about the pink lipstick she wore. I said it was too pale for those luscious lips. She snapped back that red was too garish, and she liked pink. Said it matched my baby pink cheeks. Didn't specify which cheeks, though.

They were trying to start a family but not having much luck. The fertility clinic they went to told them that Mike had a very low sperm count. He wasn't sterile and they could have a baby together, they just had to keep trying. It was obvious that they were frustrated.

I was working evening shift when I got a notification to call home immediately. I headed into the nearest precinct and called Micah. She told me to meet her at Bayview. Cindy was in the hospital.

I called my supervisor and got permission to head for Bayview. Micah was waiting, and we went to the Emergency Room. Mike was with Cindy and they both looked devastated.

They didn't even look at us when we said 'hi', so we looked for a doctor or nurse. Found the charge nurse almost immediately. We both stood stunned when she told us that Cindy had miscarried. We hadn't even known she was pregnant. From what the nurse told us, neither had she.

They both went into depression. Mike was actually worse than Cindy, but he recovered a little faster. It took a couple of months, but eventually Cindy got back to her cheerful, nutty self. It made us feel very good.

We were waiting for them on a movie night when they knocked and walked in. From their expressions, it didn't look like we were going to be watching anything that night. Mike had a concerned look on his face and Cindy looked frightened.

Mike told us that Cindy was being stalked. She had started getting suggestive and threatening e-mails at work, then obscene, threatening phone calls. They had changed her number, but the calls continued. They had come to us because the stalker apparently now knew her address.

We notified HPD and HSO and got the apartments placed under protective surveillance. It helped, of course, but the forces didn't have the manpower to be here all the time. We made her a key to our place and told her not to hesitate to use it, even if we weren't home.

I was watching a movie one night when Micah was working graveyard shift. It was 1:00am when the phone startled me. It was Cindy. The stalker had just called her again, and this time he had told her he was coming to get her. I told her to come down to our place immediately.

She said no. Mike was out of town and she didn't want to leave her apartment. She had called him and he told her to call us. Mike was going to come home immediately, but he couldn't possibly get here before noon.

I said okay, I would be right up. I slid into the soft sweats I always kept with me and grabbed my off-duty weapon. I was in Cindy's apartment in about three minutes.

She was dressed in a bathrobe, and it was obvious that she'd recently been in the shower. She let me in and gave me a big hug, thanking me for coming. The hug made me a little uncomfortable, as she apparently hadn't gotten dressed after the shower.

She was watching television, a horror flick I didn't recognize. I didn't hesitate when she asked me to sit down and watch it with her. Cindy didn't like guns, but she didn't say anything when I pulled the pistol out of my pocket and slid it between the cushion and the arm of the sofa.

I sat down at the end of the sofa where I could get to the revolver in about two seconds. Cindy lay down on her side, setting her head and shoulder against my chest, her left arm draped across my stomach.

This position was second nature to me, almost instinctive, as Micah and I had watched countless movies like this. I didn't realize how instinctive until I felt Cindy's hand stroking along my right arm and looked to see that I was doing the same thing to her left. Didn't seem to be any big deal, so I went back to watching the movie.

A few minutes later, Cindy started a low mewling sound, her head burrowing into my shoulder and her hand now stroking across my abdomen. I looked down to see that my hand had moved and was now brushing the side of her breast.

I pulled back quickly. "I'm sorry, Cin," I said, blushing at my error. Her response startled me.

"Why?" she snickered. "I'm not."

Just as she said that I stiffened, feeling her hand trail the length of my now very erect cock. Her snicker turned into a giggle as her head slid from my shoulder to my stomach.

I'd fantasized about Cindy a number of times, but never imagined it could happen. I never meant to cheat on Micah, but now that it was a developing reality, I couldn't stop. Her hand slipped inside my sweats and started to stroke the shaft. There was nothing I could do to stop her. I was paralyzed.

She slid out of her robe, sliding off the couch. As I had suspected, she was naked. She was pulling my sweatpants off and reaching for my briefs when I gently pushed her backwards.

"Uh uh," I told her, easing her to her back on the carpet. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

She didn't answer. She smiled at me then pulled my head to her, giving me an intensely passionate kiss. It surprised me by tasting like strawberries. New lipstick maybe?

I pulled away. "Cindy, I'm serious. Are you sure you want to do this? I don't think either of us wants to cheat on our spouses."

She looked at me with an oddly distracted expression. I wasn't sure how to read it. To my consternation, she started to cry. "Dean, Mike and I really want a baby. It doesn't seem like we can have one of our own. You're the only other man I've ever met that I'd consider having a child with. Please? I'll explain it to Micah."

"Is this why you called me up here?"

It looked like the question hurt her, but she didn't back down. She swallowed a couple times, nervously glancing at the television to avoid looking at me. "No. He really did call and threaten me. It's just that, we have so much fun together, and I like you so much, it seemed natural to me."

Micah and I had no interest in having a family, so this hadn't even occurred to me. I bit on my lip as she looked at me, her eyes almost begging. I should have walked away, but I didn't.

"Alright, Cindy. Once, for you. But if this doesn't do the trick, that's it. I won't do it again. And you're going to explain it to Micah and Mike, right?"

She bit down on her own arm. I could see her shuddering as she fought with herself. It took a minute or two, but she finally turned her eyes back to me. "Alright. A one-night stand only, and it's my idea. I'll explain it to Mike and Micah. Okay? Please?"

Normally, I spent a good deal of time with foreplay but somehow, I just couldn't get started tonight. I returned her kisses, but mine were probably rather feeble. It just didn't feel right.

Finally, she pulled back to look at me. "Please, Dean. Make love to me. I can't take much more of this." She spread her legs and reached for me, pulling me on top of her. There was no resistance as my cock slid into her. She felt wonderful; warm, soft, comfortable, welcoming. I started a slow, steady thrusting, trying to give her as much pleasure as possible. I was thinking that this was a once in a lifetime occurrence, never to be repeated. I tried to make it worthwhile for her.

We moved together, slowly pushing our hips against each other with each stroke. She locked her legs around my hips and her arms across my back. I could hear her breathing and could sense the rapid build-up in her. This wasn't going to take long.

When she came, it was soft, long and sweet. Her low moan was one of the most erotic things I had ever heard. Only moments later, I spasmed, emptying my seed into her. It may not have measured on the Richter Scale, but it was one of the most satisfying orgasms I had ever felt.

We lay together for a minute or two, not wanting to separate, but that carpet couldn't have been all that comfortable on her back. Besides, my mind was already rebelling.

I got up, pulling my sweats back on and retrieving the pistol. I don't know why, but something seemed to be telling me to keep it with me. Cindy looked at me with confusion. "You're not leaving, are you?"

"No," I assured her. "I'm just going to the bathroom. But that's it for me. Slip back into your robe."

"You want me to get dressed?"

"Only the robe," I allowed. "Please?"

She looked at me like I'd lost my mind but shrugged and reached for the robe.

I had just closed the bathroom door when I heard the sound of the front door and a muffled scream from Cindy. I was back in the living room as fast as I could get there.

The door had been opened and Cindy was backed against the far wall in the kitchen. The guy wasn't a lot bigger than her, but she was terrified.

The layout of the apartment came to our aid. The kitchen and the living room were only separated by a counter. You could easily see one from the other.

I stepped into the room and said, "Hey!"

He turned and looked at me. When he did, he moved slightly to the side of Cindy. He had a knife in his hand. Looked like some kind of hunting knife, not that I cared.

There was no "Drop the knife", "Let go of the girl", "Let's talk about this" or any of the other bullshit you see on TV and in the movies. The guy had a weapon and had Cindy by the throat.