EXTRACT FOR
Dogging the Law
(Giselle Renarde)

Even in the darkness, he could see her eyes bulging.  



He tapped at the window, gentle but firm.  



Rolling it down, she asked, "Is there a problem, officer?"



"I was about to ask you the same thing. You haven't broken down, I hope?"



"No, no."  She shook her head.  "The car's working just fine, just fine and dandy."



When she said nothing further, he remarked, "Well then, I must say, I'm wondering what a nice lady like you's doing out in a nasty park like this in the middle of the night."



"I... oh... I..."  She stared unapologetically at his badge, which gleamed in his cruiser's headlights. 



"Ma'am, this place is crawling with lowlifes who wouldn't think twice before stealing a nice lady's innocence."



"Oh."  Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the steering wheel.  "I'm sorry, officer. I swear I didn't know."



Cocking his head, he squinted at her.  He wasn't so sure she was telling the truth. "Maybe you're waiting for someone?"



"Waiting for someone? Hahaha..." Her laughter sounded nervous and forced. She gripped the wheel tighter.  "No. Me? No, I'm not... hahaha... waiting for someone..."



"Hmm."  He pushed his top lip up with his bottom one, letting his thick moustache scratch the bottom of his nose.  "Only, some nice ladies come down here to meet their secret lovers while their husbands are, oh, say, putting in a little shift work up at the factory."



"Me? No. Lover? No, not me. No."



He hooked his thumbs through his belt loops, rocking from his heels to the balls of his feet. He always liked the way his holster thwacked his thigh when he did that. The weight of his weapon aroused him far more than it should, and he wondered if the woman in the car took notice.



"I'm not meeting anybody," she said, and when her gaze drizzled down the dark surface of his uniform, her cheeks blazed.  "I promise. I swear. I'm not lying to you, officer."