Falling in Love by Dusty Miller Read Free Book Online

know. I had a doob
and you smelled it, and then we ran into each other in the coffee
shop right afterwards…”
    “ Ah. Ah. So, uh. What is this about, sir?”
    “ Well.” There was a pause.
“If it’s a bad time and you’re real busy, I’m really sorry about
all this. But I just wanted to see—to speak to you. You must get a
lunch break, right?”
    What?
    “ What are we talking about
here, sir? Mister Jacobs?”
    “ Ah…I want to buy you
dinner.”
    “ Sir! Say, ah, listen,
Mark. You really can’t be doing this. Ah...” Aw, no.
    No.
    I’m a freakin’ police
officer, Mister Jacobs. I’m on freakin’ duty, Mister Jacobs.
    Not one of them guys, all machismo
and trying to prove something…not some God-damned cop groupie, or
just plain nut-case.
    “ Please? It wouldn’t hurt
anything, would it? I mean, really?”
    She stood in front of her car,
watching the tow-truck driver hooking up to the impounded vehicle,
shaking her head and wondering what in the blue blazes was up with
this one.
    The night was cold and clear and the
air was positively delicious. It was all going off now…
    “ Sir, how did you get my
number?”
    “ Well. Oh, yeah. I called
in to the station, and I told them I wanted to talk to
you.”
    “ What number did you
call?”
    “ Ah, 911. They said your
name is Laine.”
    She bared her teeth and stifled a
growl.
    “ Sir. Mister Jacobs. It is
an offence to misuse the 911 network. It is strictly for
emergencies.”
    “ Oh, yeah. Sorry about
that. I mean, I know that and everything.”
    The fines were stiff and the evidence
was all on record, in the suspect’s own voice. His phone number
would be automatically logged. He didn’t stand a chance if she
wanted to make an issue of it. It was an easy five hundred-dollar
fine.
    “ Look, Mark. You seem like
a nice guy, right?” She took a deep breath and counted to three.
“Look, Mark. I’m very flattered, and everything like that. I know
how it is.”
    Shit! Never say that. Never explain.
Never raise objections…just shut him down. Quick.
    “ Yeah, I know.” He sighed
deeply, his thoughts pregnant with unspoken meaning. “Look, I’ll
tell you what. I’ll be at the A and W restaurant on Victoria
Street. You can arrest me there, okay?”
    “ Ah, jeez.
Mark… shit. I’m
not going to arrest you.”
    Hell, no. I will be
running as hard as I can in the opposite direction.
    “ Well, so, ah…what do I
got to do then?”
His voice rose on the second last word. “No, seriously. Tell me
what I got to do and I’ll, ah, I’ll do it.”
    She smiled in spite of herself. She
shook her head.
    What a nut.
    “ Please?”
    There was a long silence over the
airwaves.
    “ Constable Barrett? Laine?
Please?”
    Argh.
    She could imagine him listening and
trying to read her thoughts. He must know what some of those
thoughts would be. He must have some idea.
    How stupid, or how desperate, could a
man possibly be?
    Two attributes she did not find
particularly attractive at the best of times, and she was at
work.
    She didn’t have the time or the
inclination for this crap.
    “ Look, I’ll buy you a
cheeseburger, okay? Come on, Constable. Be a good sport and let me
do this for you, okay? You were nice to me. I just want to show you
how I feel. Just to show my appreciation, okay? Like a…you know,
like a good citizen?”
    Oh, Lord.
    Laine stood by the side of County Road
Four and rolled her eyes to high heaven.
    She looked at her watch.
    “ Have you been drinking,
Mark?”
    “ No, Constable Barrett. I
have not been drinking. Cross my heart and hope to die.”
    Well, that was kind of a
sweet thing to say. Guys who tried to pick her up usually tried
immediately, no hesitation, right on the spot, and they were a lot
more crude as often as not. There was something different about this one
though.
    “ You’d better not be.”
Yeah, she remembered him now all right. “Have you been smoking pot,
Mark?”
    “ I’ll take the fifth on
that one, Constable.