Scarlet Boa

The call had come in at 11:08 p.m., a 10-78, officer needs assistance. Officer Jessie Sutcliffe was just a block away and was on scene within seconds.

She leaned in the open window of the squad issuing the call, the wide beam of her flashlight playing over the body in the front seat. As a trained observer, she knew the importance of noting every detail, and she was careful to make sure she missed nothing, especially not at this crime scene.

The body was that of a well-developed adult male. The right hand was cuffed to the steering wheel. The head was facing the other way, so Jessie couldn't examine it for wounds, but she recognized the victim as Officer Mike Hamilton. Jessie shone her light over the rest of the body, checking for obvious signs of injury. As the beam inched down toward the lower section of the torso, Mike groaned and looked up at Jessie, squinting against the strong light.

"God, Jess, do you have to do this?"

"Mike, you know I have to do this by the book. Officer involved cases always go strictly . . ."

"Jess," he interrupted, "can't you just, you know, let it slide a little? Just this time? Please?" Mike pleaded.

Jessie grinned. "Nope. Sorry, Mike. It's by the book or not at all." She continued her careful examination of Mike's body, playing the light down over his lower extremities. "Uh, Mike?"

"What?" he snapped, growing more uncomfortable by the second.

"Want to tell me what happened to your pants?" She kept the light trained on his naked thighs. Nice, she thought. Very nice.

Mike squirmed under her scrutiny. "Put that damn thing down," he ordered her.

"Nope."

"You're enjoying this," he accused.

"Yep." Jessie turned another dazzling grin on him. Jessie had been planning this for months, ever since she'd joined the Morriston Police Department. Her very first night on the job, Mike had led her to believe that there were separate locker rooms for male and female officers. She'd been stunned when he'd walked into what she later learned was the unisex locker room as she was changing before her shift. Jessie had been all but naked, clad only in a satin thong and a lacy see-through bra. Mike had seen through it, all right, and had taken his time looking, too. Later, he'd apologized, saying he'd never thought he'd catch her so—well, out of uniform—but the damage had been done, and Jessie began plotting to get even ever since. She'd managed to talk some of the other officers into helping her, and tonight, they'd lured him to this secluded location, robbed him of his pants, cuffed him to his squad, then conveniently fled the scene so Jessie could respond to the call. Oh, yeah, she was enjoying this. Revenge was sweet.

"Nice undies, Mike," she said. "Although I thought you were more of a boxers-type of guy. But the tighty-whities? They work on you."

Mike groaned.