~ Angel In Disguise ~

by G. S. Binkley
xxgsb@hotmail.com
2001 Binkley

Synopsis: Angel in Disguise is about a heavenly

guide sent to protect a young detective who is in hot
pursuit of a master criminal. This fast paced love
story reveals the heart's truth if only Taylor will open
her eyes to what is right in front of her.
Sexual Content: F/F partners
Code:
L: Love between two people with kisses, embraces
and tender moments.
LS: Love scenes described in more detail, involving scenes of lovemaking.
ES: Explicit love scenes.
This story is rated: L
Fiction (Alternative) Note: This story was originally written as a screenplay.
Special Acknowledgement: For my own 'angel' she wears no disguise nor ever needs to. My
Sincere Admiration always!
Language: Caution - some language used may be offensive, however, it is only used in the
context of the situation or the character's personality.
Special thanks: Many thanks go out to Katt! Her observant eye and kind offer to edit this story
helped it flow so much better.
This is copyrighted material, 2001 Binkleyall rights reserved. It may be reproduced,
duplicated or printed for personal use only. For all other uses, please contact
xxgsb@hotmail.com

Chapter One
Taylor MacLund popped her head out of the third floor window of an old, rundown apartment
building and glanced back over her shoulder before motioning to her partner. "Hurry up. They're
getting away." Her dark brown eyes scanned the area below once again before she climbed
through the opening onto the steel fire escape. A bit of perspiration formed on the edges of her
dark straight hair but her breathing was even. The six foot thirty-two year old detective was in
excellent shape.
Her fifty-year-old partner, Duke Wright, surveyed the alley below with his steel blue eyes and
ran a calming hand over his revolver before following Taylor out the window. Duke shook his
gray head as he watched Taylor bounce down the fire escape. With his slightly taller yet thicker
frame, it wasn't as easy to negotiate the tight space on the steel ladder. A bit slower and more
cautiously he perched himself temporarily on the landing and immediately ducked his head down
as shots were fired. "You son of a bitch." He yelled and yanked his weapon out in one smooth
motion. Duke fired a couple of rounds at one of the bad guys below who had just reached his
dark sedan, jerking the driver's door open.
The young detective scrambled down the steel stairs, with gun in hand, keeping a focused eye on
the other two bad guys near the bottom of the fire escape ladder. As the two bad guys reached the
sedan, hopping in, Taylor jumped off the first floor landing, slamming onto the pavement then
tucked and rolled, coming up to fire several rounds at the getaway vehicle. "I'll get our car." The
dark haired detective yelled to her partner and then Taylor headed in the opposite direction near
the front of the alley.
Descending the last flight of stairs and once he reached the ground, Duke took a breather. "Call
back-up." The older detective yelled, now nearly out of breath. "Son of a bitch."
The getaway car ran into a dead end so the driver backed up quickly. Bending over with hands
on his knees, sucking in some much-needed oxygen, Duke heard squealing tires behind him. He
ducked down further and between his legs he saw the getaway vehicle barreling down the alley
in reverse straight at him. The older detective bolted straight up like a jack in the box then ran
like a mad dog down the narrow pathway toward the front of the alley, firing over his shoulder a
couple of times. "Son of a bitch. Son of a bitch."
Taylor swung the unmarked police car around and headed to the alley's entrance and slammed on
the brakes when she saw Duke sprinting out of the alley onto the street in front of her. "What the
hell"
Duke ran to the passenger's door, opened it and slid in. He grabbed for the radio mike but was in
too much of a hurry to close the door behind him. "You call back-up?" Not seeing a response
from his partner, Duke glared at her. "Fuck! You never call back-up."
Taylor tracked the escaping vehicle as it slid behind them, taking out several trash cans then it
slammed into a parked car, shoving it several feet backwards before it sped down the road away
from them. The dark haired detective yanked the gear in reverse and slammed the gas pedal to

the floor.
Duke tried to talk on the mike and close his door at the same time. "Station? This is 111. We
need back-up. Main and Sixth."
After swirling the police car about, Taylor careened around the corner, narrowly missing two
people and several cars. Duke held on for dear life. Taylor kept the sedan in view as both of their
cars rammed a couple of other cars, trash cans and motivating several people on the street to
move out of their way in a hurry. The sedan disappeared behind a large moving van that crossed
onto its pathway and then ducked into a small side alley. The young detective, first in her class
on expert car chases, guided her car through the narrow side street lined with parked cars on both
sides at a snail's pace trying to find the sedan. Once the police car passed the moving van, the
bad guy driver slipped the sedan out of the covert driveway, but the van moved in its way again.
Looking over his shoulder, the bad guy saw the unmarked car still heading in the wrong
direction.
Taylor and Duke frantically searched around the area looking up and down each side of the dead
end street without success until the young detective spotted the getaway car in her rear view
mirror. She slammed the car in reverse, backing up. "Behind us."
Duke shifted his body around, sticking his head out of the window as he tried to get a bead on
the bad guys. The driver of the getaway car couldn't get around the van so he flipped his car
around, heading straight for the unmarked police car. The two other bad guys in the car shot at
the unmarked car as both cars were converging on each other quickly. Numerous shots were
fired from each vehicle.
"Taylor? Ah Taylor?" Duke tried to get his partner's attention.
A feral smirk crossed Taylor's face, well aware of Duke's concern about the impending collision
until out of the corner of her eye, the young detective caught sight of a tiny ball rolling across the
street behind them in the path of the two vehicles. Taylor hit the brakes hard, flipped the gear in
drive and slammed the pedal to the metal just in time before a small head popped out from
behind a parked car. The kid was oblivious to the speeding vehicles, his only intent on his
escaping ball. Fortunately, the sedan blazed passed the small child who had first retrieved his
ball and was unharmed.
Taylor saw the dead end approaching swiftly and slammed on the brakes once again as she
turned the wheel sharply causing the car to slide sideways. Both Duke and Taylor jumped out of
the vehicle when it came to a screeching halt. But the young detective found herself trapped
between the car and the building with no escape and little room to negotiate. Her partner found
cover behind a steel trash bin.
The two passengers in the getaway car jumped out as it slowed, taking cover in and around the
nearby cars in the alley.
As shots were fired, Taylor searched for better cover away from her car. She slid near the rear of
the car but it was spewing out gas from a bullet hole. "Shit."

Duke spied his partner, seeing the young detective's predicament and tried to draw fire by
running from behind the bin further away from their car to another place of cover near an alcove.
The two bad guys took the bait as their attention was focused on the older detective. But the
driver of the getaway car was pissed that his plans had been foiled so he jammed his 9mm
submachine gun against the gas pedal, wedging it tight as he steered his car straight for the gas
leaking car Taylor was stuck behind.
"Son of a bitch." Duke saw the car heading straight for his partner. The older detective's
concerned blue eyes caught Taylor's dark brown ones in a helpless look. With knowing that he
couldn't help his partner right at that moment, Duke fired at the bad guys as they sprayed bullets
at him.
As the sedan sped toward Taylor she frantically searched for a way out. But she was boxed in.
Her only escape route was directly in the path of the oncoming vehicle. Facing her fate, in a
kneeling position, Taylor took a bead on the driver of the sedan who had pushed open his door
and was preparing to jump. Taylor fired a round at him and saw it slice into the side of the bad
guy's neck, knocking him back. Yet, the car maintained its steady progress toward her. The
young detective weighed her only option to run past the speeding car and, hopefully, escape the
fireball that was sure to engulf the whole area.
Helpless to do anything, Duke, again made eye contact with his young partner of three years
before the inevitable explosion. Taylor silently sent her partner a message in understanding
before her eyes caught some movement just behind her to the side.
Halley Lange, (Hal-lee) a young woman about five foot five inches with emerald green eyes and
short blonde hair was stooping down, half sitting on a milk crate, oblivious to all the gunfire. The
blonde calmly motioned for Taylor to come to her.
The detective cocked her head as she took in the funky hat and quirky hippie type clothes the
young woman was wearing. "Who.. what the hell are you doin' here?"
"Come here." Halley motioned again with a peaceful smile propped on her face. When the
detective stared at her, shaking her head, Halley smiled at Taylor.
Taylor glanced at the vehicle heading toward her again. Time was running out if she was going
to exercise the only option left to her other than staying put. She hesitated knowing she couldn't
leave the young woman behind and turned back around one more time. Indecision played on her
face.
With the most serene look on her face, Halley said. "It only takes a moment to make a decision."
Taylor grunted. "Yeah, but a lifetime to live with it."
Halley continued to motion for the detective. Slumping her shoulders in resignation of her soon

to be death, Taylor scrambled near Halley's position and then quite to her surprise caught a whiff
of a heavenly scent.
Duke watched his partner's head disappear further behind the car just before the speeding sedan
rammed into the gas-leaking vehicle, causing a huge explosion. Duke and the remaining two bad
guys took cover.
***********************
After back-up arrived taking the two bad guys into custody and the ambulance attendants were
placing the bad guy that Taylor had shot onto the stretcher, Duke stood quietly talking to an
uniformed police officer. "Where were you guys?"
A few flames still sizzled against the on-coming water from the fire truck as it splashed over the
charred remains of the two vehicles.
"At Main and Sixth where you said. We followed the trail you left but got stuck on the other
side of that van." The officer shrugged. Duke rubbed his temple and walked slowly toward the
smoldering vehicles but the officer tried to stop him. "Don't. It's still too hot to look."
Duke shook off the hand on his shoulder. Against the residual heat permeating the air, the older
detective sifted slowly through the debris with his feet. "It's all my fault." He mumbled. "Son of
a bitch." With unshed tears, Duke turned away from the charred remains, taking only one step
when he heard a low moan. Hopefully, he twisted around in a rush, scrambling forward as his
eyes scanned the area, searching every nook and crevice. The ever so slight movement of a big
piece of charred plywood caught his attention. Ripping the board off the ground, Duke saw his
partner lying on the ground face down. "Taylor. What the hell" Duke grabbed his partner,
turning her over and pulled Taylor up to him. Unscathed, Taylor opened her drowsy eyes.
"You're alive. You son of a bitch." He smiled broadly.
Giving his partner a thorough perusal, Duke shook his head in disbelief when he noticed only a
small bump on Taylor's head and several scrapes and bruises. Taylor's clothes were torn and
ruffled but it was apparent she had not suffered any burns.
Shaking her head, the disheveled detective advised her partner. "Stop calling me that."
Duke chuckled. "What? Alive or son of a bitch?" Again, he let out a hearty laugh, pulling his
young partner into his arms, almost squeezing Taylor to death.
"I survive the explosion only to be squeezed to death by an over excited bear of a man." Taylor
grunted. Pushing her partner back, Taylor searched around for the young woman. She got up
with her friend's help. "Where is she? Is she alright?" Concerned crossed the detective's face.
"Who? The bad guys? Took 'em away." Duke wondered how hard his partner hit her head. He
tried to get a closer look at the bump on her head but she pushed him away.
"The girl funky hat weird clothes." Taylor scanned the area thoroughly but was still a bit

unfocused and lightheaded.

Duke led her to the marked police car as Taylor, hobbling a bit, continued to look around for the
young blonde woman.
The uniformed cop stepped up and asked. "Should we be looking for someone else?"
While Taylor said 'yes', Duke countered with his 'no'. Gently pushing his partner to the car, Duke
caught the officer's attention standing behind his partner's back and motioned to the officer,
indicating the bump on Taylor's head.
Chapter Two
At the Los Angeles Police Station, the blonde Galen Starr, with a newspaper tucked under her
arm, strolled through the front lobby and up the stairs as her best friend, Debbie, walked by her
side.
The tall dark haired Debbie with dark eyes that drifted toward a couple of officers spoke to her
friend. "Hear 'bout the jewel heist last night?"
The green-eyed Galen flipped her paper from under her arm into the air, displaying the frontpage story of the theft. When Debbie looked at her friend, the paper obscured the blonde's face.
"That's over twenty.. in what? The last two years with no leads." The five foot five computer
geek said.
Grabbing the paper from Galen, the dark haired woman pointed to the picture of the manor on it.
"But did you see that mansion? Must be worth $10 million." Her dark eyes lusted for that kind of
money and lifestyle.
Shaking her head, Galen corrected her friend. "More like four times that much. That's the only
link between these robberies. Always the ultra rich."
Debbie could envision it in her head, a life of luxury. "Ya think they've got a son with a red
convertible? Red's my favorite color but I'd take blue as long as it came with a rich man." Debbie
continued to eye the picture until Galen yanked the paper back then they both turned the corner
at the top of the stairs. Debbie sighed. "Wish I was investigating that case then I'd be on the
inside. Check it out." Her dream of working as a cop was thwarted since she was slightly
colorblind.
"We're just civilians working for the police." Galen understood her friend's disappointment but at
least Debbie was able to be around the occupation she would rather have been in.
Snarling, Debbie growled. "Yeah, computer geeks. Digging through files, coming up with all the
research for the real cops so they can take all the glory." She didn't really feel that way but it was
how she dealt with her frustration.

"Come on." The longhaired blonde nudged her friend. "Let's get the list of cases they want us to
research from the squad room before we head down to the dungeon." Galen made a sharp turn to
the left, passing behind a two-foot wide pole with Debbie in tow before entering the squad room.
************************
Outside the station a marked police car pulled up in front of the building. Duke got out first then
turned to help Taylor but the young detective blew him off with an annoyed look. Duke shrugged
and leaned down to talk with the officer driving the car. "Put it on my tab."
Taylor, followed by Duke, entered the station and headed up the steps. The young detective took
two steps at a time until a sharp pain shot through her left leg. It caused a hitch in her step. Duke
watched silently as Taylor grimaced slightly in agony and yet righted herself not wanting the
other officers milling around the lobby to notice.
A tall slender built detective with broad shoulders, Jeff Maloney, and his partner, Ralph Winger,
who was slightly shorter and younger, filed past Taylor on their way to the squad room.
The thirty-three year old smart aleck detective who had seen the slight hitch in Taylor's walk spat
sarcastically to her. "You okay, little girl?"
Through clenched teeth, Taylor grinned. "Fine."
Maloney chuckled. "Heard you needed back-up. What's the matter? Couldn't pull in a few punks
stealing what was it again, Winger? Oh yeah, hood ornaments on cars?" Maloney belted out a
laugh that echoed through the halls. Winger decided to remain silent but shrugged his shoulders
at Taylor in resignation of having a smart ass for a partner. Both Maloney and Winger knew that
wasn't the case the other two detectives were working on that day.
Duke didn't hesitate telling Maloney exactly what he thought of the arrogant detective. "Fuck
head."
At the top of the stairs, Taylor stopped as she still tried to disguise her pain by pretending to wait
for her partner to catch up. Duke realized the stubborn pride in his young friend and slowed his
assent. He almost changed his mind after Maloney turned around one last time to face him.
"Got something you wanna prove, you old fart." Maloney tried to give off a threatening posture
as he addressed the senior detective.
Duke steeled himself while Winger yanked his partner back. "Maloney? Captain wants to see
us."
Duke finally reached the top of the stairs all the while glaring at Maloney in a silent challenge.
Maloney cocked his head to the side and stuck out his chin. "Yeah, we got better things to do.
Gotta see the captain and reports to file." He smirked.

Winger pushed Maloney in front of him to the squad room.

Duke mumbled but loud enough for the irascible detective to hear. "Yeah, baloney, you can file
this." Duke clenched his hand in a fist, throwing it upward while clasping his arm just above the
inside of the elbow with his other hand.
Just then Galen and Debbie stepped out of the squad room past Winger and Maloney and saw
Duke's gesture. A startled look crossed Debbie's face but Duke couldn't see the blonde's face as
she was partially hidden behind the dark haired woman's left shoulder.
Smiling impishly at the two women, Duke's shoulders slumped slightly as Taylor hobbled past
her partner, oblivious to the others nearby. "Gotta find out what happened to that girl." Taylor
mumbled.
Duke crossed in front of Galen but addressed them both. "Sorry. She's a little out of it." He
motioned toward his partner.
Galen smiled at the older detective. "Hello, Detective Wright."
Duke tipped a non-existent hat to Galen and smiled back.
As they walked further away, Debbie yanked her thumb over her shoulder. "What girl you think
she's talkin' about?"
"Probably her girlfriend." Galen said dejectedly. "I knew she'd be taken."
Debbie draped her arm over her friend's shoulder. "Then there's hope for you."
"What do you mean?" Galen was quite surprised by her friend's comment.
"The girlfriend's obviously lost. So, she'll need a replacement." Debbie was always good at
subtraction.
Rolling her green eyes in frustration, Galen stopped at the elevator then punched the down button
twice. "That's it. I'm gonna cut my hair like I've been wanting to do."
Debbie grabbed Galen by the arm. "No! Men love long hair."
"Debbie, if you haven't noticed, she's not a man." Galen informed her friend who she now
wondered if Debbie was farsighted as well.
"The way she acts who could tell. Anyway, first you snare her then cut your hair if you want."
Debbie was confident of her plan to help her friend land the elusive detective.
"If they love long hair so much, what about yours?"

Debbie ran her hand through her short locks. "My point exactly. Do I have a boyfriend?" She
smiled brightly. "Or a girlfriend for that matter."
"Neither do I." Galen resigned herself to being alone. "So I should just do what I want to do."
Looking in the steel mirrored elevator door and even with only seeing a blurred reflection back,
Debbie checked both of them out. "We are pathetic, aren't we?"
The blonde let out a light haunting laugh as they entered the elevator and descended to the
dungeon.
***********************
Taylor sat at her desk facing her partner's desk, directly opposite of her. The desks met in the
middle where a scrabble board was located. There were numerous letters on the board. Shuffling
some papers on her desk, Taylor finally leaned back. "You saw her, didn't you?" She asked her
partner with intensity.
Duke was busy punching keys on his old typewriter.
"Duke? You saw her, right?" The young detective insisted.
But her partner never looked up from his battle with the keys on the typewriter as he hunted and
pecked it to death. "Sure did. Kinda pretty, too, if you ask me. What's her name?
ShaylynRaylyn." He said absentmindedly.
Taylor scrunched her eyebrows together. "Galen? The computer geek? No, not her. The girl in
the alley. Short blonde hair, not long. She was there with me right before the explosion."
The older detective finally looked up. "I didn't see any girl " He cocked an eyebrow at his
partner. "and neither did you, okay?" He quickly scanned the room, got up and moved around
both desks to land on the edge of his partner's desk. He huddled close to Taylor. "It's that bump
on your head. Should have made you go to the hospital. Can't have people thinking that you're
seeing things." Duke touched his partner's head where the bump was then quickly stopped Taylor
from speaking with his hand before his partner could reply. Duke smiled at some detectives as
they walked passed them.
"I'm not seeing things. I saw her." Taylor insisted.
Captain Reynolds, a tall man with thinning gray hair and a bit of a protruding belly, stepped up
behind them. "Saw who?"
Duke jumped up and headed back to his desk. He plopped down before answering the fifty-five
year old captain. "Two beautiful babes chasin' us last night."

"In your dreams." The captain grunted.

Duke cocked his head to the side and smiled. "If I have to."
"What's your wife got to say about that, Duke?" Captain Reynolds raised his eyebrows.
Duke bristled up at the mention of his wife. Silently, he fiddled with several letters from the
scrabble board.
The captain turned to his young detective. "You don't look so good."
Taylor didn't look at the captain. She remained focused on the image of the blonde in her mind.
"Wanted to get these reports in."
The captain cleared his throat and put on a professional face. "About that you two don't do
anything conventional, do you?"
Holding the letters 'c', 'd', and 'o' in his hand, Duke searched the board to make a word
connection.
Taylor was the one to respond to the captain's claim as she shuffled her papers. "We get the job
done."
Scratching his neck, Reynolds reluctantly agreed. "And that's the only reason I'm not raking you
both over the carpet on your fuck up back there."
As it happened, Maloney walked up and heard the last part of the captain's words. "Fuck up?" He
chuckled. "Got that right, Captain."
The captain shot the smart-ass detective a sharp glare. "You and Winger in my office. Now.
You're perfect for the case I got in mind."
Maloney smirked at Duke and Taylor before heading off only to hear the captain finish his
sentence. " it needs a perfect fuck-up."
The smart aleck detective stopped cold in his tracks but refused to turn around. Winger who was
standing off to the side tried hard to stifle a small laugh.
Duke used the letters 'c' and 'o in his hand and placed them on the board. "Comet. Yeah, that's
worth a few points."
"You got a comment to make, Duke? Spit it out?" The captain barked then saw the older
detective was playing with the scrabble board. "Are you still playing that silly game after twenty
years?"
With a sarcastic smirk on his face, Duke said. "Comet? Heavenly body. Comment? A statement."

Shaking his head at his most frustrating detective, the captain glared at Duke. "I oughta"
But Taylor interrupted the usual bantering between captain and detective. "Did you want
something, captain?"
Turning his complete attention to Taylor, the captain started to leave but not before tossing a file
on the desk. "Yeah, they struck again last night. I suggest you two get well versed on this case."
Taylor picked up the file. "But this isn't our department."
The captain shrugged. "It is now and it's all yours. The brass have two new golden boys" He
cleared his throat when his eyes met Taylor's dark brown eyes. "girl aww, hell either way,
you're it!"
Duke protested but only slightly. "We already have several cases pending."
"Not anymore. Maloney and Winger just took possession of them." The captain left, knowing
that both Duke and Taylor would have a good laugh that Maloney was now in charge of the hood
ornament case.
Duke fell back in his chair then jumped up. "Oh, oh, oh he's gonna shit."
Taylor stood, leaned over their desks and slapped the up raised hand of her partner with her sore
wrist causing her to yelp out in pain. Shaking her hand in obvious pain, she spat. "Son of a
bitch."
"Now you're talking." Duke grinned.
Chapter Three
A dark van pulled up and stopped on the vacant street across from the Belmont Building then the
headlights were extinguished. Two silhouettes were seen in the front of the vehicle as the
passenger door opened. The lone, tall and slender form dressed completely in black, face
covered, exited the van with a coil of rope across the shoulder and a small black bag in hand.
As the driver pulled the van away, turning a corner that led around to the back of the building,
the dark figure ran across the street, taking cover near a large bush just off to the side of the front
entrance. A quick peek inside the windowed glass door revealed a lone security guard sitting at
the reception desk monitoring the equipment. Benny, the guard, saw through one of the monitors
a van drive up to the loading dock near the back of the building.
After a few minutes, the guard watched the van drive away. Shrugging his shoulders, Benny
stood up to stretch but then noticed an alarm flash on the screen of his computer. He reset the
alarm, silencing the accompanying beep and grabbed his flashlight. Benny walked directly to one
of the doors that led him to the dock area.

When the guard disappeared, the dark figure punched the keyless pad with the proper code and
entered the building unnoticed, quickly going to the security desk. Then logged onto the
computer and deleted the last computer transaction entry, showing that the front door was
accessed. After a few more keystrokes, the printer was taken off-line and the security system
started its daily updating of files, which usually happened automatically at midnight. With bag in
hand, the dark figure used the elevator for a short trip up to the fourteenth floor.
When the elevator stopped, the doors opened to the spacious lobby of Belmont and Associates.
The dark figure quickly traversed the length of the lobby to the office, punching the keyless pad
to enter.
Meanwhile near the small dock in the back, Benny rattled several doors as he passed by them.
They were all locked. He approached the door that caused the alarm, saw that it was closed and
no one was around. Grabbing the handle of the door, he shook it. He peeked through the small
glass window in the door to the outside, seeing nothing of interest or anything unusual.
When he twisted around, he heard a low moan and scratching against the door. The guard sucked
in a frightened breath before reaching for the doorknob again. Still locked, he slowly nudged his
eyes to peer out of the window. He jumped in reaction to a low screaming sound just beyond the
door. Slowly, Benny turned the knob, easing it open and looked between the crack when
something flew past his feet. The door swung open when the guard jumped back.
He trained his flashlight on the source of the noise and it came to rest on three kittens when he
noticed the mother come back for them. Stooping down, Benny tentatively reached for one of the
kittens. "Somebody drop you little guys off?" He gathered up the three kittens, shutting the door
just after the mother slipped back inside. "Come on, mama. I'll give you and your little babies
something to eat."
***********************
Removing the piece of art from the wall to reveal a small wall safe, the dark form set to work on
the keyless pad. Again, once a few buttons were pushed, it opened easily. The dark figure
scraped out all of the loose jewelry and papers, stuffing them in the small black bag.
Then the dark figure pried open the window located just behind the desk and attached the rope to
the desk leg. Taking the piece of art, the figure tied it to the other end of the rope and let it
descend slowly fifty feet from the fourteenth floor window.
From a block away the driver of the van watched the piece of art drop from the building's
window. Starting up the van, without headlights on, the driver coasted the van forward.
As the dark figure exited Belmont's office, a gloved finger punched the keyless pad again,
resetting the alarm. Bypassing the elevator, the dark form disappeared through the stairway door.
************************

Benny had the three kittens on top of the desk sipping milk while their mother had her own
bowlful on the floor. He played with them as they ate.
When the stairwell door opened slightly, the dark form snuck a quick look to see that the guard
was pre-occupied with the kittens. The figure pushed the door open further, slid through it only
to escape unnoticed out a back door of the building.
The guard failed to see on the monitor the van pull up again as it waited only moments before the
dark figure opened the passenger door and slipped in. The van disappeared into the night as the
guard happily played with the kittens.
***********************
Sitting up, Taylor pulled hard on the bar overhead, lifting one hundred pounds of weights. She
repeated this movement several times while glancing haphazardly around to the rest of the
occupants in the Los Angeles gym. Taylor's astute observations of her surroundings were bred
into her during her training for the police academy.
As an attendant pushed a small cart filled with supplies and towels across the floor, the detective
caught a glimpse of a familiar looking young woman. Taylor let loose of the bar, allowing the
weights to drop carelessly with a bang.
Another gym patron who was standing nearby asked. "You finished with that?"
Taylor got up without looking at the person. She shifted through several patrons who were just
milling around the large open room as she tried to catch up with the young woman she saw only
moments before. The dark headed detective saw the young woman from the back, dressed in
dark blue leotards with light stockings as she used a towel to dry her hair. The young woman
twisted around, butting the entrance door of the women's locker room before disappearing inside.
The brief glimpse of the woman's face wasn't enough to confirm her suspicions so Taylor headed
in the other direction. "Okay, gotta get her out of my mind."
After leaving the gym, Taylor was running on the lonely, early-morning streets of Los Angeles
as a few cars passed her by. She made an abrupt left turn and crossed the street, heading to the
viaduct bridge walkway. The young detective glanced over the railing to the highway below,
filled with passing cars. Facing back forward, Taylor slammed into something, knocking her
back against the railing.
Halley Lange, dressed in bright, fluorescent colored leotards and wearing a funky looking hat
along with pink tinted sunglasses, grabbed Taylor and jerked her back upright. "Whoa there. No
need to jump."
After a brief second to regain her composure, Taylor caught a blissful scent in the air and then
pushed Halley's hands off of her. "What are you talkin' about?"

Halley stepped back. "Life is good. You don't want to end it."
"End what? I wasn't gonna" Taylor looked over the railing before returning to look at the
blonde. "Are you nuts?" Taylor froze when she got a good look at her would-be savior. "It's
you."
"Yeah, it's me. Who else?" She flashed Taylor a heavenly smile, green eyes twinkling like stars.
Shocked at seeing the blonde, Taylor said. "You were in the alley. You saved How did you?"
Shaking a finger, the blonde stopped the detective. "A girl can't tell all her secrets."
Taylor eyeballed the blonde before her. "You look taller."
Halley kicked up her foot, revealing a roller blade attached to it. "Uhhh taller than what?"
Taylor sucked in a calming breath at the sight of young woman. "Than when I saw you at the
gym this morning."
"You did?" Halley touched the bruise on Taylor's head. "You okay?"
Shoving her hand back, Taylor started to run again. The detective didn't like it when people
played games with her.
Halley roller bladed past her then turned around to talk to Taylor while still moving backwards,
not even taking time to look where she was going. "That wasn't me at the gym."
"No?" The detective asked in disbelief. "What's up with you anyway? You spying on me or
something?"
The blonde shrugged her shoulders. "Not exactly."
Noticing that the young woman had still not looked at where she was skating, Taylor asked.
"What does that mean? Not exactly."
Halley, oblivious to anything behind her as she continued to roller blade, watched the detective
duck her head from side to side around the blonde, trying to check her pathway. "I'm here to
watch over you."
"I don't need anyone." But curiosity got the best of her so she asked. "Why?"
The blonde smiled with her vague answer. "Something to do."
"No. I mean how? How did you survive? How did I survive?" The blonde was confusing the
detective, but there was one thing she knew for sure. "No one could go through that explosion
without" Coming to the end of the viaduct, Taylor slipped in front of Halley, which

unexpectedly twisted the blonde around. The detective tried to grab at Halley's unbalanced form,
but Halley just as suddenly jerked Taylor out of the way of a passing car.
"Saved you again. That's twice now." The blonde was proud of herself. "You always get into
trouble?"
"Me?" Taylor was fuming. "You distracted me." The detective took off across the street as she
called back over her shoulder. "You're nothin' but trouble."
Halley stopped in the middle of the street briefly, smiled then headed after the detective. "To
receive trouble is to receive good fortune."
Slamming on the brakes, Taylor swung back around, bringing Halley to a screeching halt directly
in front of her. "What kind of crap are you spewing?"
Halley adjusted her pink tinted sunglasses. "Zen, actually."
"Well, I don't buy it. " Taylor glared at the blonde.
Cocking her head to the side, Halley offered a sweet smile to the detective. "Now that's the
problem."
"What are you doin' here? First, at the gym." She nodded back down the street. "Now chasing
after"
"I wasn't at the gym. Get over it." The blonde's heavenly persona was getting a bit miffed.
"Sure you were." Taylor said with confidence. "Not wearing that more.. conservative. Dark
blue stretchy things and the legs and arms were a lighter color."
Assure of herself, Halley proclaimed. "Then that proves it." The blonde glared at Taylor intently
with her hands cocked on her hips. "I wouldn't be caught alive in something like that."
A puzzled look crossed the young detective's face. Taylor rolled her eyes before closing them,
inhaling a deep breath. "Outta my way. I've gotta be someplace."
"The journey is the destination." Halley sped past Taylor before vanishing into the smog filled
morning air.
Taylor yelled after the blonde, trying to catch up. "Why'd you save me?" The detective slowed
and stared in disbelief then softly asked. "How?"

Chapter Four

Later back in the squad room, Duke flipped his partner several scrabble letters. "Here it's your
turn."
A pre-occupied Taylor looked up from the paperwork in front of her and rolled her eyes at her
older partner. "Is there a point to this?"
"You keep asking that question and I keep telling you it keeps my mind sharp." Duke gave his
partner a disbelieving glare.
Taylor reluctantly played with the letters, pushing the 'a', 'y', and 'x' around in front of her. She
surveyed the existing words on the board. "Great!" She sighed in frustration. "What am I gonna
do with these?"
Duke shot the tall brunette another incredulous look. "I gave you the best letters."
"Riiight!" Taylor's grin was accompanied by an obvious smirk.
Pretending that his partner said his last name, Duke smiled. "That's me alright."
Upon further deduction, Taylor placed the 'a', 'x' and 'y' on the board, attaching them to the
existing word gal, spelling out galaxy.
Duke's response was a loud grunt. "Shoulda kept them for myself." He checked out his own
letters, searching his mind with focused concentration on the already displayed words on the
board. Suddenly, Dude added a 'p' and 'h' to the existing word Sera.
Challenging her partner, Taylor asked. "Seraph? What's that?"
After a newspaper flew through the air, landing squarely on the scrabble board, covering it, the
captain walked up.
Nodding at their captain, Duke snickered. "Not him."
"Ha..ha." The captain crossed his arms, addressing the two detectives in his usual no-nonsense
way. "They struck again last night. Over at the Belmont Building. Jewelry, stocks and bonds
in and out. No trace."
Taylor grabbed the newspaper that showed a picture of the outside of the building with a painting
hanging from the fourteenth floor. Pointing at the picture in the paper, she noted. "That's quick.
And this?"
The captain shrugged. "A joke, my best guess. Things are heating up. They've never hit again so
soon."
The young detective tossed the paper to Duke.

Scratching his chin, the captain reasoned his decision with some distant yet founded respect. "As
unorthodox as you two are, your record is"
While Taylor was already perusing the case file, the older detective glanced up from the paper
and prompted the captain. "Go on. Spit out."
With begrudging respect, the captain continued. "excellent."
A huge grin displayed on Duke's face and he couldn't help but give his captain a hard time. "Atta
boy. I knew you could say it."
The jealous Maloney hovered near the trio since he saw the captain approach his favorite rivals
in the department.
Glancing at Taylor then Duke, the captain gave an order. "Anyway, no time off for you two. It's
a high profile case. Don't fuck it up."
When the captain bore a hole into the older detective, Duke pointed to himself, mouthing 'who
me?'
Shaking his head, the captain turned on his heels, swiftly leaving his two best detectives alone
until Maloney strolled past. Speaking loudly to his partner who followed right behind him,
Maloney smarted off. "Last case Duke was involved in of this caliber was fifteen years ago
fuckin' screwed that up to."
A bit embarrassed by his partner, Winger said nothing as he followed Maloney out the door.
"Prick!" Turning his attention back to his partner, Duke finally answered Taylor's questions. "An
angel."
Somewhat distracted by the case file she was reading, Taylor finally registered that her partner
was speaking to her. "Huh?"
"Seraph. It's an angel." Duke nodded at the words on the board.
Remembering the game, Taylor shot her partner a doubting glare.
"It is. Besides, I let you use your old girlfriend's name. Sera. So, just believe me."
As if trying to defend her dismal efforts at playing the silly game, Taylor huffed. "It's a common
name." The young detective refused to look back at her partner as she marched intently out the
door on the way to solving this big new case.
Duke reluctantly agreed. "Yeah, it is. But, not spelled that way, it ain't." He realized that Taylor
was leaving him behind. "Hey, wait for me." Duke grabbed his coat jacket, throwing it on as he

rushed to catch up with his energized partner.

***********************
Inside the luxurious office in the Belmont Building, Walter Belmont, a slightly balding yet very
distinguished looking man, pushed a button on the telephone pad. "Mary, get maintenance up
here and let me know when the police arrive."
Over the speakerphone came his secretary's voice. "They're here."
"Good." Walter stood, stretching to his full height just under 5' 10". He cranked his neck,
adjusting his tie and felt fit for a man of fifty-eight. He marched toward his office door, opened
it, allowing Duke and Taylor to enter.
Nodding, the younger detective took the lead. "Mr. Belmont. I'm Detective MacLund and my
partner, Detective Wright."
"Wright?" Walter asked.
"Right." Pointing at the safe on the wall, Duke walked over to it. "This it?" He glanced at the
painting propped up against the wall underneath the wall safe.
"Yes. They took some jewelry, a few bonds and some personal papers." In deep thought, Walter
continued. "What gets me is that stuff was worthless compared to the painting."
"How much?" Taylor was interested in the facts.
"Fifteen million." Walter answered without flinching.
Duke's eyes popped wide open. "Whew! And the other stuff?"
"It belonged to me, not the company only worth, I'd say half a million."
The keen eyes of the detective surveyed the security system on the safe. "Over fifteen mil and
you have this cheap piece of equipment to safeguard it?"
Walter swallowed hard, finally admitting. "That's I don't usually keep this much in here. That
Spencer" Pointing to the painting, Walter was interrupted.
Duke shot a very curious look at the older man. "Spencer?"
Somewhat acquainted with the artist and his work, Taylor filled in the rest. "Carroll Spencer. I
think that's called Moonrise."
Delighted to have a fellow art lover in tow, Walter said. "Why that's right? He died many years
ago." Studying the painting for a brief moment before continuing, Walter smiled. "Quite

powerful, isn't it? I purchased it for my own private collection. Had a nasty time of it, too. The
Dozier museum was adamant about getting it for themselves but I prevailed. Outbid them. Yes, I
did." He was quite pleased with himself at this point, rubbing his chin as he displayed a
victorious smile. "I was just going to have it here for a few days. You know, show a couple of
clients before I took it home where my security system is quite sophisticated. And I got the same
guy who did my home coming in to upgrade this system."
"Looks like you lucked out then." Duke gave him a tight grin.
When a knock at the door was heard, Walter said. "Come in."
Reluctantly, the security guard, Benny, entered the room. His uniform was ruffled and he looked
like he had not been to sleep yet. "You wanted to see me, Mr. Belmont?"
"Yes, yes. Detectives? This is Benny. He was on duty last night."
Taylor stepped forward. "Anything you can tell us."
"No, no. No one came in or out." It was obvious Benny was nervous.
Walter prompted his security man. "Benny, tell them about that van."
"Yeah, well, there was a van." Benny nodded.
"And?" Duke encouraged him to continue.
"It stopped near the back dock. But only for a few minutes."
Taylor scribbled something in her small notebook. "Did you get a license? Anything on your
recorders?"
"Oh, no. I erased that tape at midnight. Just like I'm supposed to." He nervously glanced at his
boss. "Right, Mr. Belmont?" He guardedly looked at his boss who reluctantly nodded his head.
"Besides, the van stopped to drop off these cute little kittens, that's all."
Duke shot his younger partner an obvious smirk.
Walter felt the need to fill in some other information. "Our security log shows no unauthorized
entries. As a matter of fact, no entries at all from the time Benny last checked my office until he
noticed that reporter outside the building collecting snapshots for their paper of my painting."
Crunching her eyebrows together, Taylor knew something wasn't right. "Nothing unusual then?
Security system working fine no glitches?"
"None." Benny piped up. "Ran its usual update at midnight like always actually it started
about twenty minutes early."

"How'd you know the van dropped off the kittens?" Duke still wasn't buying that story.
"Oh, I had an alarm on the dock door and when I opened it the mama flew right past me, leaving
three little guys." Benny shrugged. "Figured the van dropped them off."
That caught Duke's attention. "That alarm show up on your records?"
"Of course." Benny didn't like anyone doubting the security system he was in charge of at
least at night. "I cleared it before I checked it out. It's on the hard copy."
"We got everything we need here." Duke nodded at Walter and Benny before turning away.
"Taylor?" The older detective moseyed off, heading toward the door.
Taylor flipped her notebook closed. "Mr. Belmont? We'll need a list of everyone who had access
to your codes."
Walter nodded before Taylor followed her partner out the door. It was then the guard cautiously
looked at his boss. "Mr. Belmont? Am I fired?"
"No, Benny." Walter assured his trusted security man.
"Do you still want one of the kittens?"
Walter walked the guard to a side door that lead to an open hallway as Ed, the maintenance man,
walked by. "Just come in this way, Ed."
Ed followed his boss.
Walter pointed to the painting. "Could you hang that back up, please?"
************************
In the reception area outside Walter's office, a tall, raven-haired woman with crystal blue eyes
tracked the two detectives as they made their way across the reception area, out the glass doors
and into the waiting elevator. The thirty-five year old beauty produced a slight smile in
recognition.
Mary, the secretary, motioned for the woman to enter her boss's office. "You can go in now,
MissRoan."
Taking a lively step forward, the tall beauty smiled. "Just Roan." Roan strolled into the room,
spying Walter supervising the work as the maintenance man replaced the painting on the wall.
"What was that all about?"
"Ed's just putting the painting back up." Walter glanced at his friend before returning his eyes to

check and see if the painting was level.

"No. The detectives that were just here. I recognized one of them." Roan casually remarked.
With hands on his hips, Walter finally turned around. "That would be Wright. It was in all the
papers about his daughter." Walter seemed to think that she would know what he was talking
about so he didn't continue.
"So, what happened here?" Roan admired the painting on the wall but only briefly.
"Someone broke in last night and stole some of my personal stuff from the safe." Walter didn't
seem too concerned over the theft.
All too casually, Roan asked. "And left the painting?"
"Didn't you see the papers this morning?" Walter spread his arms wide. "It was hanging from
outside the window."
A small smile accompanied the waggle of her eyebrows. "I always say art should be seen."
"Gayle!" Walter chastised his friend.
"Roan." She calmly but sternly corrected him.
"I don't know why you don't go by your real name."
With a glare at her friend, Roan said in a stone cold tone. "That part of my life is dead and I want
to keep it that way."
Ignoring her, Walter rounded his desk, picking up a small card then handed it to her. "I
recommended you to a friend. He wants you to decorate his beach house. I told him about yours
and"
Roan finished his sentence with certainty. "Now he wants to see it?"
"Yes. He loved what you did to my office." Walter's tired eyes took a long moment to peruse the
classic splendor created by his friend.
With the merest smile on her face, Roan pointed out his oversight. "I didn't recommend hanging
the painting here."
"I know. If it were up to you you'd have me give it to that museum for all the world to see."
He knew it was a lost cause to argue this point with Roan so Walter stuffed his hands in his vest
pockets before continuing. "Can you help my friend or not?"
***********************

In the elevator, Duke eyed the floor indicator display. "Likely suspects?"
Taylor sucked in a deep breath. "Security's first on the list. Housekeeping, anyone that knew the
security codes." She ran her tongue over her teeth. "We need to found out what all the robberies
had in common?" She asked out loud as her mind ran down the mental list.
Duke shoved his hand in his pocket as the elevator came to a stop. "Let's give it to the girls in the
dungeon."

Chapter Five
In the police station basement, research division, Debbie chewed on her chocolate covered donut
as she tapped the return button on her keyboard with the eraser end of her pencil, scrolling
through some logs.
Galen Starr busied herself, diligently scanning a hard copy report. Seeing something interesting,
the longhaired blonde plugged in several entries into her computer then patiently waited for the
results of her search. "I've got something."
Mildly interested, Debbie looked up from her screen. "Yeah. What?" When Galen didn't say
anything, Debbie wheeled her chair around next to her friend, grabbing the hard copy away from
Galen.
But Galen diverted Debbie's attention by pointing to the screen. "Right here. Several of the stolen
items were tracked through here."
Debbie rolled her eyes. "Why are you working on that case? That's not ours" She sighed.
"We've got tons of case file to upload and"
"Debbie. Hush up for a minute." Galen scooted back in thoughtful repose. "You remember
about, I don't know a year ago. Some kids broke into that storage building on Fifth street."
Knowing she would have to hear what was on Galen's mind, Debbie nodded. "Those kids were
fifteen, sixteen"
"Um, yeah. Some of the stolen property from the jewel heists was found. The kids swore that it
came from the warehouse."
Debbie scooted back toward her desk, not making the same connection her friend did. "Galen, it
was a few trinkets"
Green eyes popped open. "Worth a half million dollars. The kids didn't even know what they had
or how much it was worth."

"And?"
"It's a lead." Galen's eyes returned to her screen. "And it's all we got. But it's something."
***********************
Duke jogged down the stairs at his home with a small bag in his hand. Noticing his wife,
Elizabeth, standing in the hallway near the living room, he slowed his descent yet continued
toward the front door. With his hand on the doorknob, he paused, not looking at his wife.
"I thought you were taking a few days off after that last case?" With arms crossed, she asked
calmly but didn't expect a response.
With his head hung low, Duke refused to look at her. After a long moment, he started to turn his
head her way but caught sight of a picture of his ten-year-old daughter on the wall next to the
door. Emotions welled up inside and before his eyes betrayed him with tears begging to be
released, Duke opened the door and left without one word spoken.
Elizabeth stood there motionless for a few moments, uncrossed her arms, stunned from his
silence before breaking down and crying.
***********************
As the afternoon sun hung low in the sky, Taylor and Duke sat in their unmarked police car idly
watching an old storage building. Several cars passed by without much attention to where they
were heading.
"Tell me again why we're here staring at some old building?"
"Because it's all we've got." Taylor's astute brown eyes never left the building in question.
Duke grunted with obvious sarcasm seeping through. "The girls in the dungeon came up with
this, did they?"
Taylor stared out her window, her head still turned away from her partner. She smiled slightly at
a familiar scent in the air.
Halley, wearing blue tinted glasses and a wild looking hat, popped up from behind the backseat.
"And that's a bad thing?"
With her eyes still on the old building, Taylor smiled as she agreed. "No. It's not a bad thing at
all."
Duke shot his partner a hard glare. "I didn't say it was."
Halley cocked her head to the side as she pursed her lips and spoke to the older detective. "Sure

you did. Someone's got a real bias against women here."

Duke didn't seem fazed by the comment until Taylor asked. "What are you doing here?"
His eyebrows crunched together, casting an odd look at his partner. "I thought I was on a stake
out."
"Not you." Taylor chanced a quick glance at him before turning to look at the smiling Halley in
the backseat. Taylor nodded at her partner to look.
Duke twisted around, seeing nothing. "Okay pal. That's it. We're heading in. You need some
rest." Duke eyed his partner carefully, seeing the concerned look on her face before adding.
"Actually, I think you need to get laid. You're just too intense."
Glancing back over her shoulder again at Halley who shrugged her shoulders, Taylor glanced
back at Duke. "How 'bout some food?"
The idea piqued her partner's interest. "Yeah, sounds good. Let's go."
Shaking her head, Taylor suggested. "I'll stay. You go. There's a little place couple blocks up
on the left."
Duke chuckled slightly. "Seriously, let's go."
"Come on, Duke. Just once do as I ask." Taylor implored her partner.
"No." Duke settled comfortably in his seat, crossing his arms. "It's your turn to go."
Halley smiled and rolled her eyes toward Duke in a playful way. "Nice partner you got there."
Taylor defended her partner. "He's a great partner. What do you mean?"
Duke stared straight ahead and remained firm in his decision. "I mean I'm not moving from this
seat."
Rolling her eyes again, Halley smirked. "He means he probably wants some pretty girl go run
and get the food for him."
"He's not like that." Taylor countered.
"Sure he is." Halley grinned at the tall, dark haired detective.
"Sure I am. I'm not moving." Duke wore a smug smile on his face.
Taylor was getting a bit aggravated at Halley's remarks toward her partner. "He's not biased
against women."

"Me?" Duke pointed to himself. "You're the one that won't have anything to do with them. I love
women."
Halley grunted. "Is girls all you two talk about?"
It was Taylor's turn to cross her arms. "I never talk about girls."
In tandem, Halley and Duke said. "And that's your problem."
Frustrated beyond measure, Taylor drew in a deep breath. "Okay, both of you shut up."
Before Duke could reply, Taylor turned her back on both of them and stared at the old building
again. She caught sight of a dark green sedan pulling up to the front of the building. "There he is
again. Second time in the last three hours. What do you make of it?"
Bored, Duke pretended to analysis the situation. "Let's see. A green sedan we see twice at some
vacant old building and the girls in the dungeon gave us a great lead about a couple of pieces of
stolen jewelry that may have come from that same building." Shaking his head, Duke glanced
out the side of his eyes to an unknown place and declared. "Drag out the cuffs and let's arrest the
sons of bitches."
Nodding toward the older detective, Halley asked Taylor. "Does he have to swear like that?"
Halley poked Taylor on the arm when she didn't respond which then caused Taylor to glare at
Duke.
"What?"
"She doesn't want you to cuss?" Taylor nodded slightly toward the backseat.
Shaking his head, Duke smiled patiently at his friend. "She doesn't want me to cuss, huh? You're
not talking about the same girl who supposedly saved you and who you saw while running the
other day, are you?"
Taylor watched closely as the green sedan backed up and turned onto another street, making a
left. "Did you see the license plate?"
"I'm not the one seeing things here." Duke raised his eyebrows in concern.
Reluctantly, Taylor turned around to face her partner and demanded in a stern tone. "Forget
about the girl. We need to focus"
Halley was taken aback by Taylor's comment. "Forget about me? I'm only here to help. Though
if I were you, I'd focus on talking with the security guard." She feigned indifference at her own
suggestion.

A smile popped up on the young detective's face. "Great idea." Taylor started the engine and
headed directly for the old warehouse.
Not quite sure what his partner was talking about, Duke decided to just go along with her for the
moment. "Glad you liked it." He scratched his neck. "Now, if I could only remember what it was
I suggested?" When the unmarked car came to a stop, Duke jumped out and followed his partner
to the main door, leaving Halley in the car.
Sighing in frustration, Halley pursed her lips together. "Not that security guard."
The security guard pushed the button, allowing access to the two detectives as he folded the
newspaper then laid it down. "New guys, huh? What do ya wanna see?" He was used to different
people showing up at all odd hours of the day and night.
"The guy our partner that was just here forgot to check something on"
When Taylor seemed at a loss, Duke picked up on her train of thought. "That last shipment, you
know."
The guard quickly headed through a couple of double doors out into a huge warehouse stacked
with row after row of metal shelves where boxes were stored on them up to the fifty foot ceiling.
"Follow me. Let's see he was checking on that delivery that came in a couple of nights ago. I
had to work a double shift that night." The guard shrugged upon remembering the shipment.
"Not much to it. Just a box." The guard pointed to an empty aisle. "This is the section here.
Know how to use a forklift?" When Duke nodded, the guard added. "Third shelf up, best I
recall."
The guard took off as Duke jumped on the forklift, starting it up, then headed down the long
aisle. Taylor rushed to catch up with it, jumping squarely on the front forks.
A short time later after the guard returned to his desk and pulled out a sandwich from his brown
paper bag, a loud bang sounded at the door. Seeing the familiar man, the guard pushed the
button, allowing the man inside.
The tall and slender Davis yanked a thumb over his shoulder. "Whose car outside?"
"Your friends." The guard answered then bit into his sandwich.
The thirty-year-old man shot the guard a surprised double take glare. "Really? Where are my
friends now?"
"Section 6." The guard said between bites. He studied his delicious sandwich for a long moment
before looking up only to find Davis long gone.
Flying through the double entryway doors to the warehouse, Davis located and jumped on an
electric cart. He headed to the same aisle where Duke and Taylor were searching through some

boxes. Davis slowed the cart. Just as Taylor reached for a small dark box, located on the third
tier, Davis fired his gun at her, causing the agile detective to duck. Duke twirled around, pulling
his weapon and fired at Davis who then jumped back on the cart.
"Son of a bitch. You alright?" Duke asked his partner. Seeing his partner nod, Duke maneuvered
the forklift backwards to the end of the aisle. As Duke swung the forklift around, Taylor hung
precariously on the forks about fifteen feet in the air. Duke shoved the forklift in forward motion.
Taylor, with gun in hand, exchanged a few rounds with Davis as he sped off in the cart. He
returned fire over his shoulder. Duke pushed the forklift to its maximum speed but it lagged
slightly behind the faster cart. Duke, with his attention on the cart in front of him, didn't see a
low hanging metal sign on a collision course with Taylor's face.
Yelling, Taylor ducked down as low as she could. "Duke! Drop the forks."
Duke had problems of his own as he had to duck in order to avoid a few of Davis' bullets,
narrowly missing him. Attempting to stand back up, Duke felt a soft touch on his hand then he
saw his own hand, as if it had a mind of its own, reach for the lift lever, pulling it down along
with the forks Taylor was standing on.
Taylor barely missed the huge sign.
Both detectives took a deep breath in relief only to feel the still moving forklift head up a small
ramp, cocking it off to the left. As it fell sideways, Taylor dove from the eight-foot high forks
into a large trash bin filled with debris. Duke jumped, tucked and rolled from the forklift,
jamming his knee on the concrete floor.
Quickly climbing out of the bin, Taylor assessed the situation. She saw Duke grabbing at his leg.
"You okay?"
Nodding his head, Duke watched as Taylor ran back to Section 6 to retrieve the box.
At the guard station, Davis calmly but purposely marched past the guard, who waved him on out
the door as the guard finished the last bite of his sandwich. Collecting the crumbs and his lunch
sack, the guard threw them into the trashcan, then wiped the area in front of him clean.
Taylor burst through the double doors with a limping older detective behind her, carrying a small
box. "Where'd he go?"
The guard pointed to the empty parking lot outside the window.
"You got a name?" Taylor demanded.
"Larry." Taylor saw the stitched name on his uniform and shook her head. "Oh, him. Ah
Davis."
"Green sedan, right?"

The security guard nodded as Duke walked out the door, concealing the small box under his arm.
Taylor followed as the guard picked up his paper and resumed reading the sports section.
Chapter Six
At the indoor police department firing range, Duke and Taylor are shooting at the targets in front
of them. There were several other police officers on either side of them in their semi-private
firing positions.
Duke emptied his automatic and reloaded. "After yesterday, I guess we need some practice. Can't
believe I missed that son of a bitch."
Only partially listening to her partner, Taylor placed several rounds in the bull's eye of her target.
Smiling, she gloated. "Speak for yourself."
Duke peeked around the partition and grimaced at his partner's expertise, then intently focused
back on his own target with determined resolve.
Taylor raised her weapon again, pointing at the target when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
Glancing around, she spied Halley, wearing green tinted glasses and a funny looking hat. Pulling
her quickly into Taylor's firing stall away from view of Duke and the few others, Taylor pressed
up against her, inhaling deeply. "What are you doing here? This is off limits." The tall detective
moved back slightly, cocking an inquisitive eyebrow but keep her hands on Halley's hips. "And,
by the way, who the hell are you?"
Raising a concerned eyebrow of her own when Taylor used a particular word in her question,
Halley shook her head. "Oh, you are way off base on that one."
"Huh?" Taylor didn't understand the young woman's comment. And when Halley refused to say
anymore, Taylor moved back a small step.
The shorthaired blonde took the detective's hand and shook it. "Halley Lange, at your service."
Taylor cocked her hands on her hips. "Okay, Halley Lange. Who are you?"
Smiling, Halley noted that the detective left out that particular word she abhorred. "Much better."
Slightly frustrated, Taylor asked. "And why do you keep popping in and out?"
"I told you I'm here to help."
The brunette shot a doubtful glance at the shorter woman.
Halley shifted her legs and crossed her arms when Taylor didn't believe her. "I lowered that lift
yesterday, didn't I?"

Curious brown eyes looked the younger woman up and down before Taylor said. "That was"
Then she remembered something her partner said in passing. "Duke did mention something
funny something touching his hand."
Halley's emerald green eyes brightened. "That was me."
With a bit of sarcastic edge in her tone, Taylor smirked. "Well, thanks. Guess I owe you." The
doubting detective still held out some reservation on that one. "But, that still doesn't explain a
few things."
Eyeing the gun on the small ledge in front of Taylor, Halley pointed to it. "Teach me."
Halley flashed Taylor a brilliant beam, causing the reluctant Taylor to smile in surrender. Taylor
took her safety glasses off and handed them to Halley. "Here." The young blonde placed the
larger safety glasses over her green tinted sunglasses and turned toward the target. Taylor rolled
her eyes before shifting Halley around to face her. Carefully, Taylor took off the safety glasses,
removed the sunglasses then replaced the safety glasses back on the shorter woman.
Smiling, Halley said. "Thanks. Now what'd I do?"
The detective picked up the loaded weapon and checked it. She placed the gun in Halley's hand,
showing her how to hold it. Taylor clasped her own hands over Halley's, placing them securely
on the weapon. "Just hold on." Sliding her hands back up Halley's arms away from the gun,
Taylor's hands came to rest on her shoulders as the detective inhaled the fragrance of her sweet
scent. "By the way, what are you wearing?"
"Clothes." Halley giggled, knowing exactly what the detective was referring to but refused to
acknowledge that fact. "Oh, you mean perfume. I'm not wearing anything."
Shaking her head, trying to withdraw from her musings about the young woman standing so
close to her, Taylor focused on the task at hand and the woman in her arms. "Now. See the
target."
Halley nodded.
"Keep your eyes on the front sights." Taylor allowed her hand to momentarily leave Halley's
shoulder in order to point to part on the weapon. "Make sure you the target is in front of it. Now,
keep steady. Breathe in and let it out just a little bit then slowly squeeze the trigger."
Halley pulled back on the trigger slowly. As it got harder to pull, she jerked the trigger, causing
the nozzle to spring upward, firing the bullet directly into the ceiling. Halley stared at the ceiling
then at the gun and finally she cocked her head around to look at her instructor. "Does this thing
come with instructions?"
************************

Silently, Taylor maneuvered the unmarked police car onto the street, leaving the firing range
parking lot. Shaking his head profusely, Duke cast several hard glances at his partner as Taylor
steadily stared forward, refusing to look at Duke.
"Five bull's eyes and one in the ceiling. I have got to get you laid." Duke couldn't help but rub
it in to his partner. He stretched back in his seat. "You're making me look bad, partner. What are
the guys at the station gonna say when they hear about" Duke's eyes glanced up as if looking
at the ceiling but didn't finish that thought. "And, I don't want to hear another word about that
girl."
With gripped hands on the steering wheel, Taylor concurred. "Fine. Let's go over the case again.
All we really know is that for the last two years there's been numerous thefts all from the filthy
rich. Except for the Belmont Corporation."
"Yeah, but that was Belmont's personal stash nothing from the business itself."
Taylor slowed at the crossroad, waiting for the green light. "And research turns up a lead at the
warehouse where some stolen property was taken about a year ago" The detective tapped the
wheel with her fingers. "And now this Davis guy"
"hiding the box in the same warehouse with the stuff stolen from Belmont. Why? Why not
fence the jewelry?" Duke spied a green sedan cross the intersection. "Hey, isn't that the same car
from the warehouse?"
Taylor immediately shifted the car in gear and charged after the sedan, making a sharp left while
Duke threw the red siren on top of the car. Davis heard the police siren and slammed his foot on
the gas pedal at the same time he jerked his own car to the left, passing into the on-coming
traffic. Several cars hurried to get out of the way of both speeding cars. Both cars whipped
around curves and other traffic, squealing tires.
The green sedan took a short cut through a gas station parking lot, located on the corner of a four
way stop, to avoid the intersection traffic. Instead of following the sedan through the lot, Taylor
crept around a few idling cars and made a right turn at the corner, slowing her pursuit of the
sedan. Memories of another time haunted her thoughts, causing the young detective to react
prudently. Duke threw his partner a surprised stare. Still maneuvering in and out of traffic while
avoiding pedestrians, Taylor began to sweat. Duke played giddy-up in his seat, trying to make
the car go faster. "Come on. He's getting away."
Yet, Taylor continued to follow the green sedan, carefully avoiding on-coming cars and at one
point allowed a small car, backing out of a drive way to pass them by, bringing the police car to a
dead stop.
Shocked, Duke glared at his partner with a stunned look before jumping out of the vehicle to
follow the sedan on foot. His run was short-lived as he saw the sedan turn another corner,
disappearing from view. "Son of a bitch." The defeated older detective slowly walked back to his

vehicle. He ducked down, looking into the vehicle through the open window. Seeing sweat
pouring off of his partner who was grasping the steering wheel as if her life depended on it, Duke
finally stood back up, falling against the car door. "I have definitely got to get her laid."
************************
Back in the squad room, Duke was busy punching the keys on his typewriter when the Captain
came up behind him. Duke didn't look up from his task.
"Did it again, didn't ya?" The captain spat sarcastically.
"Sure did." Duke grunted.
"I'm talking about the search warrant."
"Hey, we got the warrant." Duke insisted.
"In case you've forgotten, the procedure goes like this." The captain was having a hard time
controlling his frustration. "First, you get the warrant, then you go search the building."
"Exactly." Duke couldn't have agreed more.
"Don't you ever do anything by the book?"
Duke cast the captain a hard look with a slight smirk on his face before returning to the keys on
the typewriter.
Not getting a rise out of the experienced detective, the captain continued. "They finished
checking the warehouse. Didn't get anything and that guard is looking at mug shots as we speak."
The captain's eyes searched the surrounding area. "By the way, where's MacLund?"
"Sent her home." Was all Duke was willing to reveal.
************************
Pushing the cart through the grocery store aisles, Taylor turned to the fruit and vegetable section.
She grabbed a peach, tossing it in the air haphazardly as she surveyed several other pieces of
fruit. Suddenly, Halley snatched it from the air. Mildly annoyed, Taylor turned to see Halley
dressed, as usual, in funky clothes, hat and this time red-tinted sunglasses. "Back again, huh?"
Cocking a delightful eyebrow, Halley smiled. "Tough job but somebody's gotta do it."
Taylor grunted loudly in disbelief. "Where were you this afternoon when I froze?"
Turning the peach in her hand around slowly, Halley admitted. "Yeah, saw that. But you have to
believe there's a reason for everything."

Casting a definite doubtful look at the shorter woman, Taylor swiped the peach for Halley's
hand, dropped it in a plastic bag then pushed the cart down another aisle. As Taylor tossed some
junk food in the cart, Halley removed those items, replacing them with a more healthy variety.
"It's not the first time something like that happened to me, you know. Just can't seem to get past
it." Taylor was talking to Halley but acting as if she was just speaking out loud to herself.
As they walked side by side down the long aisle, Halley offered some sage advice. "Sometimes
the best way around a problem is through it."
***********************
To Duke's surprise, Taylor showed back up at the station. So, while the young detective became
consumed by the case they were working on, Duke decided he had to act fast and find his partner
a diversion. He excused himself, but Taylor never noticed his disappearance as she focused on
their case.
Sitting at her desk, Taylor was talking on the telephone. "Okay. Thanks, Ms. Starr. Just drop it in
the mail."
"No!" The firmness in Galen's voice made the detective listen closely. Then with a slight intake
of air, Galen softened her tone. "I mean, I'll bring it up right now."
Not giving it another thought, the young detective shrugged. "Whatever." Taylor replaced the
telephone as Duke tapped her on the shoulder. Taylor turned around to see a tall, beautiful
model-type woman, Tiffany, with long dark hair standing next to Duke.
"Taylor, meet Tiffany." Duke made the introductions and couldn't keep the smirk off his face at
Taylor's surprise.
Tiffany extended her slender arm, grasping Taylor's hand. "Hello."
"Hi." Taylor gave her best effort in order to be tolerable of Duke's offering as she stood. She
glanced at her partner. "What's ahh going on?"
The older detective slapped an arm around his partner, giving Taylor a surprised look and then
Duke slipped his other arm around Tiffany's waist, directing them through the door. "It's Friday
night. And my partner needs a little companionship." He waggled his eyebrows. "If you know
what I mean."
Taylor was about to protest, but Duke simply winked conspicuously at her. Just then, Galen and
Debbie, with report in hand, exited the elevator. They saw Duke push Taylor and Tiffany
together then watched them walk down the steps when Tiffany slipped her hand into Taylor's
slightly larger one. Duke turned around to see Galen and Debbie near the elevator.

"Well, hello girls?" Duke grinned. Eyeing the folder in Galen's hand, Duke walked toward them.
"That for me?"
Over Duke's shoulder, only the top of Galen's head was visible and she nodded. He took the
report from her, then she turned quickly around, pushing the elevator button as Duke headed
back to the squad room.
Debbie rushed through the closing elevator doors, joining her stunned friend. Touching the back
of her friend's shoulder lightly in comfort, Debbie tried to reassure Galen. "Now we know." She
offered hopefully.
"Know what?" The longhaired blonde stared straight ahead in gloom.
Debbie shrugged slightly. "She likes girls with dark hair."
Galen dropped her mouth open before running her tongue along her teeth then added. "And tall.
Model thin and just the opposite of me." Her friend heard the despair in Galen's voice.
Trying to remain positive, Debbie countered. "We can work with it. Trust me." Debbie lightly
ran her fingers through Galen's long blonde mane.
Chapter Seven
It was early morning while lying in bed that Roan tossed and turned in a frightful fit as she
dreamed. The scene in her mind came alive. The nightmare seemed all too real. She was running
from an unseen assailant, twisting her head around from time to time. Only seeing the assailant's
shadow, Roan made a mad dash into the darkened hallway only to come to a dead end with no
escape. Then the room began to close in on her. Roan desperately pounded against the black
walls. As the room shrank around her, she slipped to the floor, crying before letting out an earpiercing scream.
Roan bolted up in her bed from the nightmare, scared eyes wide open and breathing heavily as
sweat poured off her.
***********************
It was late Saturday morning as Galen stood at the bathroom sink with a towel draped over her
shoulders. The back of her head could be seen in the mirror. Debbie, with a bottle in hand,
waited patiently.
"Let's get the show on the road then." The blonde woman finally acquiesced to her friend's
suggestion.
Debbie lifted the bottle filled with midnight black dye and started to massage it into Galen's long
blonde locks. Closing her concerned green eyes, Galen sucked in a deep breath.

"Oh, don't worry. You'll look great in dark hair. After all, that's what she likes." Debbie
reasoned.
Watching the black messy goo saturate her hair, Galen asked an all too important question that
hampered her transformation. "What do we do about the tall part?"
Debbie nodded to the four-inch heels sitting on the vanity.
Galen picked them up, studying them intently. "You expect me to walk around the office all day
in these?"
The half-blonde, half-dark haired woman tried to turn around and face Debbie but her friend just
pushed her back around. "Be quiet. We mostly sit anyway."
Feeling bored as Debbie continued emptying the liquid on her hair, covering every last inch of
blonde, Galen reached for her favorite perfume, 'A Little Sexy', and sprayed a bit in the air.
"Would you put that away? That stuff is yesterday's news." Debbie pretended she didn't care for
the scent.
"But I like it." Galen protested. "It's my favorite." Reluctantly, Galen replaced it on the back of
the shelf. "Did you see that slinky thing she was wearing? I don't wear those kinds of clothes."
Shaking her head, Debbie squeezed the last of the goo from the bottle. "The original old-fashion
Barbie doll."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Why are you fighting me on this?" In Debbie's mind, her plan was sure to work.
"I know I dress more conservative than others but well, sometimes I do long to just let loose
and wear something oh, I don't know" A small smile crept on her face. "funky."
"Ha! You?" Debbie chuckled. "Wearing something outlandish? I don't think so."
"Hey!" Galen pouted. "It could happen."
Debbie snorted. "Yeah, on Halloween."
************************
Roan opened the door to her beach house allowing the forty-year-old Parker Jones entry. The
six-foot, handsome and charming man with short blonde hair glimpsed around briefly before his
gray eyes landed on the beautiful woman standing before him. "Wow! This is nice." His eyes
traveled the length of Roan's body and she took cautious note. "Open with lots of space." He
took a few steps deeper into the large room. "What a picturesque view of the ocean. I know now
why Walter recommended you."

"Glad you like it. I hate closed spaces." Roan added as an afterthought, careful to never reveal
too much about herself.
Walking over to a set of windows overlooking the ocean, Parker pointed to the unusual looking
windows above them. "What are these?"
"Moon windows. I have a penchant for moons. It's sort of my trademark. I always try to
incorporate them in my designs." Roan admitted only so that her potential client would know
what to expect if she designed something for him.
Parker grinned as he turned toward her. "Why don't I just buy this place? It's perfect. What do
you say?" He tried to coax her into a quick sale while jesting.
"No."
It was then a statue captured his attention. "What's this?"
Nodding, Roan explained. "A Phoenix. Mythological bird. It's my company's logo."
"Ahh yes." Parker tapped his chin with a lone finger. "Rises from its own ashes. Anyway"
He returned his sparkling eyes at Roan in an effort to charm her. "I'm sold. If you won't trade
beach houses with me maybe, we could trade" He cocked his head slightly. "some other
services."
Roan arched her left eyebrow in question, wary of the man's suggestion.
"What kind of security do you have here?"
Roan remained silent.
"I only ask because, you see, I'm in the business. My company installs security systems for the
rich and famous." He curious gray eyes searched for any signs of a security system. Seeing none,
he continued. "We just recently did a job for Walter at this home and next week we're installing
the same system at his office."
Roan noted that the installation of the new system in Walter's office would be a week too late
after the burglary. However, she remained silent and changed the subject. "What do you have in
mind for your beach house?"
Parker spread his arms wide. "Just exactly like this place." He wanted to impress the beautiful
woman but then his attention was diverted to a painting hanging in a covert alcove. He marched
forward to get a closer inspection. With more than mild disgust on his face, he said. "Except for
that. That's a little too morbid for me."
"Ahh, yes." Roan took a long moment to study the painting. It depicted bright primary colors

splashed across it with a hollow monk type figure near the center. "I call that 'Death Looking for
a Place to Sit Down'."
Realizing that she must have painted it, Parker scuffed off an insincere apology. "Oh, sorry."
Roan shrugged. "It's okay. After all, we each have our own perceptions."
"Yes, well about my beach house?" Then another thought occurred to the man. "But maybe
first you could do a den at my main home mansion actually." He corrected himself in a vain,
pompous way. "Come by this week and check it out."
Roan walked Parker to the door. He paused briefly before turning around; his interest in her was
more than professional. "Listen, I'm having a Halloween party next weekend. Why don't you
come?"
************************
Taylor walked down her apartment's hallway to the small kitchen in her boxers and tank top.
Opening the refrigerator door, she took a swig of orange juice from the carton. Replacing the
carton and seeing nothing else that interested her, she closed the door, revealing Halley who was
standing on the other side of it. Taylor jumped back in surprise, slamming her fist against her
chest. "Shit!"
Halley smirked at the detective's choice of words. "I see you're picking up your partner's nasty
habits. Are you cynical, too?" Not waiting for a response, Halley twirled around, marching into
the living room with a smirking Taylor right behind. "How'd your date go?"
With a slight edge of sarcasm dripping from her tone, Taylor said. "You tell me. You seem to
know everything about me."
Halley stared at her intently, watching the scowl on Taylor's face harden as they continued to
glare at each other until Halley arched her right eyebrow. "Why are you so intense all the time?"
"Why are you so" Taylor gave her a smart aleck grin. "happy all the time?"
Halley offered the young detective a genuine smile. "There's an old saying 'Angels fly because
they take themselves lightly'."
Bewildered as to what Halley meant, Taylor gawked at her, not backing down from her severe
stare. "What the" She stifled the word begging to be released since the small blonde had a
definite aversion to it. "does that have to do with us?"
Halley finally broke the standoff, turning around to study the FBI posters on the wall,
surrounding a dartboard. She glanced at Taylor who continued to intently watch the blonde until
Halley returned her green eyes to the posters. "Wanna tell me the story behind that?"

Taylor plopped down on the sofa, shrugging her shoulders. "I could have made something of
myself except for circumstances."
Halley's eyes found the detective and like a strong magnet pulled Taylor's eyes to meet her own.
"Circumstance does not make the man, it reveals him. James Allen."
Taylor stiffened. "You don't get it, do you?" Shaking her head furiously, Taylor continued. "It
was sorta like the other day when I froze during that car chase." The detective stood and started
to pace. "When the green sedan cut through the gas station, all I could see was flames bursting
from my car."
"And that has what to do with this?" Halley pointed to the FBI posters along with insignias and
other things associated with the FBI, filling the wall.
Taylor sat on the sofa's arm. "When I first got out of college, I tried out for the FBI. Got in, too."
A slight smile formed on her lips. "On the final day of certification, we had this amazingly tough
obstacle course to finish." A faraway look crossed her face as she remembered that fateful day. "I
was like lightning, speeding through that thing and had a perfect score going for me then"
Her eyes turned downcast. "It happened. I slipped, smacking my right arm into the concrete
wall." A deep chuckle rose. "Fuckin' broke it." Taylor chanced a glance at Halley when she
realized her choice of words. "Sorry."
"Knocking you out of the game." Halley concluded.
Shaking her head in despair, Taylor said. "No. That's just it. I finished. Broken arm and all. But
not in time." She stood. "Then I walked away, never to look back."
Halley crossed her arms in quiet understanding. "In one you persevered and in the situation you
withdrew."
"No. In one, I succeeded. The other? I failed." Taylor plopped back down on the sofa. "Ironic,
isn't it? In the light of day, it speaks volumes about the kind of gal I am."
"Character is what you are in the dark." Halley surmised.
Before Taylor could ask the blonde what the hell she was talking about, there was a loud bang
out in the hallway.
Taylor yanked her door open, falling out into the hallway. Seeing her neighbor, Darren, jerking
his wife up against their apartment door. Darren jacked his fist back, ready to swing.
"Hey!"
Darren stopped short of hitting his wife, Pam. Throwing his head around, he saw Taylor rushing
straight for him. In that brief moment, his wife was able to slip inside her apartment, locking her
husband out. Hearing the door slam, Darren banged it hard once before he ran down the hall,

then down the stairs and out the front door with Taylor hot on his heels.
Darren flew out the front door, jumping from the five-step stoop onto the sidewalk. He made a
sharp curve to the left. Running out of the building, Taylor spotted a glimpse of the fleeing man
make the turn down the alley. Taylor continued her pursuit.
Even in her bare feet, Taylor caught up with the man, leaping through the air, slamming both of
them down on the cold, concrete alley. They struggled but Taylor got the upper hand. Darren
was lying on his back as Taylor slammed her fist into the abusing husband's face several times.
"I ought to"
Angry eyes shot a glare at the detective. "What? Go ahead. Hit me again bitch. I can't fight back.
You're a cop. Gives you a lot of courage, don't it?" He spat.
With veins popping from her neck and forehead, eyes bulging with anger, Taylor wanted so
badly to kill the wife beater as her hands slowly squeezed tightly around the man's throat.
Then Halley touched her arm lightly. "Courage without conscience is a wild beast."
Sucking in a long, deep breath, Taylor lightened the grip she had around Darren's neck. The
detective swiveled her head around toward Halley. "He beats his wife. He deserves this."
Darren wondered whom the cop was talking to since he saw no one else in the alley. "You're
fuckin' crazy, you know that."
Taylor nodded over her shoulder. "Don't you see her? Right behind me."
Darren shook his head, seeing no one. An evil, feral glare crossed Taylor's dark eyes, boring a
hole in the man trapped below her. Clenching her hands tighter around Darren's neck until
Halley lightly touched her shoulder again. Reluctantly, Taylor let go and slipped off the man
who jumped up, rubbing his throat and then limped out of the alley. Sitting up, with her arms
hanging over her propped up knees, head hanging low, Taylor closed her eyes in despair.
"Maybe I am going crazy."
***********************
Duke and Taylor were perched on a couple of barstools, downing the last of the beers in front of
them. "I tell ya. I coulda killed him, Duke."
The older detective motioned for the bartender to give them another round. "Sounds like you
should have. Beating his wife. Son of a bitch."
Lowell, the bartender, slid a couple more beers in front of the slightly inebriated off-duty
detectives, then turned away.
"Lowell, Lowell" Duke belched. "Come here."

The bartender backtracked to stand across the bar from Duke.

"What do you think about a man that beats his wife? Huh? I think the son of a bitch oughta be
horse whipped." Duke sought confirmation from Lowell.
"You're right, Duke."
Grinning, the older detective agreed. "I'm always right."
Taylor nudged her partner. "And, I'm with Wright." It was an old joke shared between them and
each time it brought about a shared laugh.
Seriously, Lowell ventured a concern. "Speaking of wives how's Elizabeth?"
Duke scrunched his face at the bartender, ignoring him, he gulped half his beer down. Lowell
nodded his head, seeing that the question bothered his detective friend.
Taylor sipped her beer before she said. "She called the office today, Duke. Sounded pretty bad
off." Taylor dropped her head slightly, trying to get her partner's attention. "Wanted to talk.
Come on, why don't you go home, partner?"
Staring at the near empty glass of beer in front of him, Duke barely whispered. "There's nothing
there for me anymore."
As Duke leaned forward on the bar, Halley, wearing her usual garb, popped her head up. Taylor
immediately saw her jump off the barstool behind Duke and walked next to him. Concerned
green eyes softly gazed at the broken man, then Halley whispered into Taylor's ear. Slurring a
bit, Taylor repeated what the blonde said. "The mind can weave itself warmly in the" Taylor
leaned her ear closer to Halley's mouth as the blonde continued to whisper. "in the cocoon of
its own thoughts, and dwell a hermit anywhere." Satisfied she had repeated the saying correctly,
Taylor offered her partner a smug grin.
Duke looked at his partner. "Since when the hell you start quoting things?"
Taylor shrugged. "I just heard it from someone."
Downing the last bit of his beer, Duke sighed. "We might as well go home. We're not getting
anywhere with this fuckin' case."
************************
Several civilian and police personnel walked around the squad room dressed in their Halloween
costumes while most of the detectives refused to dress up. Duke tracked the latest trick or treater,
wearing a clown costume, cross the room to the Captain's office while Taylor's nose was buried
in her paperwork.

"We've been pushing fuckin' papers all week long and don't have anything to show for it." He
tossed the folder on the desk in frustration.
Just as frustrated, Taylor agreed. "I know. The guard at the warehouse didn't recognize any of the
mug shots."
Just then, Maloney strolled by with Winger right behind.
"Oh, don't look so fuckin' depressed boys. Winger and I are about to wrap up our cases, then
we'll give you a hand." Maloney smirked, thinking he was actually quite charming.
Duke leaned back in his swivel chair. "Oh, you catch those hood ornament punks, yet?"
Maloney glared at his rival detective. "Another case we have to clean up for ya."
"That's funny, real funny." Duke's face turned serious. "Listen, the Captain was just lookin' for
you. He's got someone important in the office he wants you to meet."
Straightening his Versace tie, Maloney flashed a wide smile. "Really?"
Winger shook his head as he followed his partner to the office.
Galen, sporting her new dark locks and wearing four-inch heels, strolled carefully toward
Taylor's desk. She had on a long slinky dress slit up the side and was wearing a black half mask
that covered her eyes. Galen handed a report to the young detective. "Here you go, Detective
MacLund. I wanted to get it to you before I left for the day. I've got a Halloween party to attend."
Duke's eyes grazed over the new and improved computer geek's look. "Wow, darling. Mind if I
come along?"
Ignoring Duke, Galen scooted a little closer to the distracted Taylor, trying to get her attention
and failing miserably. "Anything else I can get you Taylor?"
Now perusing the new report, Taylor didn't even look her way. "Nah, ahhh thanks."
Dejected, Galen strolled out of the room. A few long moments passed. "I think you got
something here" She looked up, scanned the room before her eyes came to rest on Duke.
"Where'd she go?"
Since his partner had been seeing things, Duke wasn't too sure who Taylor was talking about so
he remained quiet.
***********************
Sitting alone, Duke was perched on the barstool, oblivious to numerous other patrons dressed in

their Halloween garb. Lowell saw his long time friend's sagging shoulders.
"Go home, Duke."
Staring down with unshed tears, Duke shook his head. "I can't face it."
"Or you don't want to." Lowell countered.
************************
Numerous guests in an array of costumes were milling around the huge room at Parker Jones'
mansion. They were mingling with each other as they sipped champagne and were enjoying the
deliciously catered affair. Parker walked up to Walter Belmont, who was dressed as a ship's
captain. Extending his hand, Parker greeted his friend and client. "Walt. Glad you could come."
Walter nodded. "Parker."
Turning to the tall woman standing next to Walter, Parker eyed her delicious form covered in a
long silky strap off the shoulder black dress, cut deeply up the side, revealing a very shapely leg.
She was wearing a black half mask. The sight of this beautiful woman caused Parker's smile to
turn lascivious. "And who do we have here?"
Extending both his hands to grasp one of hers hands, Parker paused briefly as she switched the
single long stem rose from her right hand to the left before easily slipping her hand between his.
Walter shook his head. "You've already met. It's Roan."
"And what are you dressed as tonight?" Considering himself rather debonair, Parker waggled his
eyebrows. "I must say you are quite lovely."
Removing her hand from his, Roan switched the red rose back to her right hand, then traced the
tips of it against her cheek. "A muse, of course."
Trying to be seductive but it only came out limply, Parker said. "I could certainly stand to be
amused."
"Parker!" Walter scolded his rude friend.
Ignoring his friend, Parker's gray eyes remained on Roan. "I thought I had greeted all my guests
earlier. I can't believe you slipped by me. Enjoying yourself?"
"Yes, thank you."
"Roan tells me you're having her do your den. What about the beach house?" Walter was more
comfortable talking business than casual ware.

Not wanting to be bothered by Walter, he dismissed the question. "In time" Parker addressed
Roan. "I'm sorry I missed you earlier in the week when you stopped by. Maybe we could look at
the den togethernow perhaps?"
"Oh, but you can't leave all your guests. What would they think?" Roan smiled softly. "Besides,
your assistant was kind enough to let me look around."
Nearly begging, Parker touched her forearm. "But I'd love to show you the rest of my house. Let
me give you a first hand look at my security system. That way, you might be interested in
exchanging those services we talked about."
Disgusted with his friend's sexual overtures, Walter chastised him. "Parker, leave the young lady
alone."
Touching Walter's arm lightly first in reassurance that she could take care of herself, Roan then
faced Parker. "I'd love to."
Taking his arm, Parker smugly grinned at the slightly stunned businessman. Walter watched
Roan gracefully glide across the floor on the arm of his friend, past several guests and through
the double doors.
"Why don't we start at the heart of the system?"
************************
Duke slipped into his dark bedroom. The streetlight shone through the blinds, casting enough
light to see his wife lying on their bed. Quietly, he padded over to her and ducked down to gently
brush his lips against her forehead causing her to yawn, stretching her body before curling back
up. He threw off his coat, slipped out of the rest of his clothes and dropped down on the lazy boy
chair. Dead tired, he fell asleep.
************************
Parker led Roan into the security room filled with monitors and various equipment. "This is it.
My pride and joy."
"Expensive, I'm sure."
"Of course. You won't need this kind of set-up. Most systems are routed to the main computer
frame which are monitored twenty-four seven. Alarm shows up and our security and the police
are notified. Some of my clients prefer monitors throughout their homes just like I do. See?"
Parker pointed to several monitors displaying various rooms throughout the mansion.
Roan looked at several of them before her keen blue eyes came to rest on one particular color
monitor. Pointing to it, she got Parker's attention. "What's that? On the wall."

As Parker dropped down for a closer look, his eyes widen in disbelief. Quickly picking up the
telephone, he punched three digits, calling the police. Then on another telephone, he called his
own security.
***********************
Taylor pored over the hard copy report Galen had provided for her at the office, highlighting
several entries. She looked up at the computer screen, punched a few buttons then waited
patiently. Shaking her head, she scanned the hard copy again and again. Laying her paper down,
Taylor eerily felt someone was watching her. The detective twisted her neck around slowly with
eyes searching her living room when suddenly the telephone rang. She practically jumped out of
her skin. "Hello." She listened intently. "We'll be right there."
***********************
Dressed in their Halloween garb, Galen grabbed Debbie's arm. "Let's go. I've had enough."
"What? It's just getting goin'." Debbie eyed the guest filled room.
"Fine by me." She started to leave, but Debbie held her in place.
"Hey. What is it?"
Galen motioned to her costume ensemble. "This! No one noticed me as a blonde and now
everyone wants to know why I dyed my hair. I can't win." Galen sighed in frustration. "I'm
getting an inferiority complex." She only paused briefly before asking. "You coming?" Galen
marched out with a reluctant friend right behind her.
************************
Flashing red and blue lights streaked up the night sky as Taylor and Duke made their way up the
steps into the mansion. The valet service personnel waited patiently for their long night to end.
After cleaning up and packing up the excess food, the catering truck was left idle, also waiting
for the police to let them go.
The police and Parker's private security team had the guests sealed off as they waited patiently as
potential witnesses to the theft. Several guests were being interviewed. Duke and Taylor walked
past them, being met by a very upset security expert.
"Are you the detectives?" Parker demanded.
"Yeah. We talked earlier in the week. Detective Wright" Duke motioned toward his partner.
"Detective MacLund."
"I guess you can take me off the list of suspects now that this has happened." Parker smugly
suggested.

Walter walked up after seeing the two familiar detectives. "What ever do you mean? Off the list?
You? Are a suspect?"
Taylor interjected and tried to explain. "We were only following up"
Parker interrupted. "on anyone that had access to your office. And the good detectives here
found out I was redoing your security system."
Walter was confused. "But I was robbed before you put the new system in place."
It was Duke's turn to speak. "Routine. We have to check out all leads, sir." Duke shifted his
curious eyes to Parker. "Why don't you show us where they hit?"
Parker led the two detectives down a short hall through his office door as Roan walked up behind
Walter, noticing the two detectives following their hosts.
Several police officers were surveying the area, perusing the crime scene proficiently. The
adjoining door to the security room was open. Taylor took a gander through the door and
watched some more police officers searching that area.
Duke took a quick look at the wall safe, left open, and completely empty. "What'd they get?"
"Not much really. I keep some jewelry here for my wife. Cash and a few personal papers.
Everything else I keep at my office building. But they did take the painting hanging over the
safe." The irritated Parker explained.
Seriously, Duke asked. "Tell me, is it a requirement that all wall safes have a picture over them?"
Parker dismissed the detective's smart comment, offering a mock grin. "It happened between six
and midnight. My wife needed a piece of jewelry, which I got for her at six. Then when I was
showing a guest my security system. It was then I called the police."
Taylor caught Duke's attention with a grunt as she walked back toward him. "Nothin'."
Duke turned to Parker. "I'd like to talk with that guest."
Walter and Roan waited patiently as some guests were allowed to finally leave. Walking back
into the main hall with the two detectives, Parker pointed toward Walter and Roan. "Roan? The
detectives would like a word with you."
"Oh?" Roan's blue eyes were curious but smart enough to know she would be questioned.
Taylor spoke first. "Yes, ma'am. Is it Roan"
Walter interjected and confirmed. "Just Roan. Interior decorator." He said it as if all decorators

only went by one name.

"Mr. Jones says you were the one who discovered the theft." Taylor flipped open her small
notebook.
"Actually, I was just looking at a monitor he was showing me when I noticed a small door
open on the wall." Roan explained her casual observation.
Duke hovered closely; eyeing the beauty, which stirred a familiar memory, that he couldn't quite
put a fix on. Roan was still wearing her mask and holding the long stemmed red rose.
Duke chuckled. "Don't tell me you're the Lone Ranger?"
"Hardly. However, I do prefer solace to a crowd." The tall beauty confessed.
Duke rubbed his clean-shaven chin. "Seems like the wrong place to be then."
"Business." Roan said succinctly as if that explained everything.
Parker took a step closer. "Yes, she's doing some decorating for me at my beach house. If we can
come to an agreement over" He cast a lascivious look at Roan. "services."
Seemingly oblivious to the recent theft, Parker offered her an overt lecherous smile that the older
detective took quick note of before returning his eyes to Roan. Duke studied the tall, dark woman
for a long moment, then suddenly snapped his fingers and smiled. "That's it. You have the exact
same costume that one of our computer gee" Duke shifted a glance at Taylor before he
corrected himself. "girls had on. Right, Taylor?"
Taylor shot a confused look at her partner before addressing one of the nearby police officers. "I
think we have everything." She nodded to the officer before turning back to the small group.
"Unless." Taylor eyed each person. With no response, Taylor twisted around to leave when
she was drawn to a small alcove, catching a glimpse of the moon shining through a large
window.
As Duke began to follow his partner, Roan gently grabbed his arm. Sorrowful pale blue eyes
shone through the mast, resting on the older detective. "II'm sorry about your daughter."
Taken by surprise at the mention of his daughter, hurt and angry feelings rose. Duke's fuming
eyes glanced into her warm eyes, draining the pent up anger from him. Shaking his head in
consolation for the first time in years, he released some pain.
Standing at the window in the pale moonlight, Taylor pondered the case when Halley walked up
behind her as she continued to look straight ahead, inhaling deeply and simply noted. "You're
here."
"Where else would I be?" Halley posed the question she knew would not be answered.

"I just don't get it. No alarms, nothing on the tapes it's like someone appears, steals the stuff,
then disappears into thin air." Taylor noted the moon was full tonight. "I don't guess you'd know
anything about it?"
"The thief left it behind, the moon at the window." Halley revealed what she could.
Never turning around to even look at the mysterious blonde, Taylor rolled her eyes in frustration
as Duke grabbed her shoulder and led her out.
Chapter Eight
Before anyone else had arrived, Taylor was idly playing with several scrabble letters, spelling
out Halley Lange with them. Pushing them up and down, trying to make sense of the case and
the blonde's presence in her life.
Duke walked in and sat down in his chair. "Did the boys in the lab come up with anything over
the weekend?"
Disappointed, Taylor shook her head. "No. Looks like housekeeping is out. They have keys to
the homes and have the exterior security codes, but not one of them had the codes to the safes
even in the Belmont case. Which figures."
"Same goes for the computer guys." Duke crunched his eyebrows in thoughtful repose. "Out of
the twenty-three cases we've had, only ten of them used the same computer systems."
Taylor absent-mindedly studied the letters before her, oblivious to Duke's comments. She
mumbled to herself as she concentrated on the letters. "Who are you?"
A puzzled look crawled across Duke's face as he looked up at his friend, shaking his head. "One
moment you're making sense and the next moment you're making non-sense."
Startled from her musings after Duke came around to her desk, Taylor quickly scrambled some
of the letters in Halley's name then looked up at her partner, now hovering over her.
Laying a report on the side of Taylor's desk, Duke spied the letters spelling Lange, laid out
before him. Taylor watched Duke reach down and with one finger pushed the letter 'L' and
moved it behind the letter 'e', spelling 'angel'. Without fanfare, Duke moved back around to his
side of the desk, scooting up to his typewriter. "So, what's on the agenda today?"
Stunned silence was the answer.
"Taylor? You hear me." Looking up, Duke shifted his blue eyes back and forth across the room,
finding no sign of his partner.
************************

Taylor ran into her apartment, looking desperately around. Not seeing who she was looking for,
she left just as quickly.
At the gym, the young detective shuttled back and forth between several patrons. Not seeing who
she was looking for, she left in a hurry.
Taylor ran down the same street the morning she met Halley, scanning the area intently.
Finally, Taylor pulled her car into the deserted lot near the beach, shoulders slumped, she killed
the engine and got out. Like a lost soul searching for it's other half, Taylor walked the lonely
beach as the waves crashed up against her shins. Flopping down in the surf, Taylor dropped her
head against her arms, resting them on her knees. As she inhaled, Taylor caught a whiff of the
heavenly scent that always accompanied Halley, but did not look up.
Halley was wearing a stocking cap with the symbol 'wei-ji' on it and yellow colored glasses.
Refusing to look at the blonde, Taylor asked. "Why are you helping me?"
"I just am."
Getting up to face the blonde, Taylor took her hand. "You're an angel. Myangel?"
Halley nodded. "I was sent here to"
"protect me." Taylor finished.
"Yes, but mostly to help you get back in contact with" The blonde's green eyes gleamed.
"to live life, not shut it out."
"I do. I work. I'm good at it, too." Taylor adamantly assured Halley.
"But that's all you do. Ever since your parents died." The blonde angel gently said.
Taylor turned away from her, walking down the beach. Halley followed, gently pulling the
detective in her charge around to face her. "They don't want you to live your life alone."
"I have to. What I do is too dangerous." Taylor hesitated then asked. "You know my partner? His
marriage is in shambles. I know what police work does to relationships. I won't do that to
someone else." Taylor vowed to keep the promise she made to herself so long ago.
"Duke's problem stems from the death of his daughternot from his work. He lets fear hold him
hostage away from his wife and his feelings." The blonde stepped forward, closing the
distance between the two of them.
Taylor looked out to the vast ocean before making her case. "It was because he's a cop that his

daughter was killed." The detective's soft brown eyes fell on her angel. "It was before I knew
him, but I know the story."
Halley reached out, taking the tall woman's hand. "You know what Duke perceives about what
happened. It was an accident. He places all the blame on himself."
Not convinced, Taylor shook her head. "It's still too dangerous."
The detective turned away but Halley yanked Taylor's hand, forcing her to turn back around.
Pointing to her hat, Halley with determination made Taylor look at her. "You know what this
says?"
"Wei-ji."
"And do you know what it means?" Halley asked.
Taylor shrugged.
Halley took the cap off and gave it to Taylor. "Wei is danger and ji means chance or opportunity.
Together it means a crisis."
"And?" The astute detective wasn't able to put the clues offered together.
"Your job represents danger to you and this case you're working on presents an opportunity for
you to do something good. To stop these crimes, making it safe for others. Right?"
"Right." Taylor reluctantly agreed.
"And while your job is dangerous, you still have to take a chance with your life and a chance to
live your life. Only a life lived for others is a life worth living." The blonde punched Taylor's
chest with a single finger. "But, it also includes yourself."
Frustrated for the first time when the detective appeared clueless, Halley spun around. But,
Taylor held her in place. "You said my parents didn't want me to live alone" Taylor leaped at
the opportunity before her, taking a huge chance. "We could be together. You and I."
A warm, caring but forlorn look crossed the blonde's face. "I'm an angel. You must live for
others."
"But I lo" Taylor held her emotions in tact. "could live for you."
Closing her eyes, Halley breathed in deeply. "When you asked if I was your angel, I said 'yes'.
And it's true. Your guardian angel." Halley offered her next words to Taylor, spoken with
conviction. "But, you have an angel. Here in this world if you'd only look."
Taylor scrunched her eyebrows together. "What do you mean?"

"There are none so blind as those who will not see." Was Halley's only response.
Spinning away from the blonde, Taylor stood rock solid with unshed tears filling her eyes. When
Halley tried to twist her back around to face her, Taylor would not budge. "You said together it
meant crisis. How can I do what I need to do find what I want in life in the middle of a crisis?"
"Out of crisis comes tranquility." As Halley touched Taylor's shoulder gently, the tall woman
jerked it away. "The lessons are not learned in the destination but in the journey."
************************
Dejected, Taylor sat idly pushing several scrabble letters with her pencil as Duke marched in
determinedly, tapping his partner on the shoulder before crossing over to his side of his desk.
"What's going on?" Duke asked.
Taylor shrugged. "Captain wants an update."
Duke scanned the isolated room before returning his blue eyes to his young partner. "You okay?"
Concerned eyes studied the young detective. Taking a deep breath, Duke reluctantly got up.
Walking back around to perch himself on the edge of Taylor's desk, Duke nudged his partner
with his knee. "Hey. Wanna talk about it?"
"Talk about it?" Taylor snorted. "From the master of evasion?"
Duke shrugged his shoulders, realizing what she said was true. "Yeah, well. We're not talking
about my problems. So, what gives?"
Taylor tapped her pencil on the desk. "You wouldn't believe it if I told you."
"Probably not. But, go ahead anyway." The older detective was always willing to listen to his
young partner.
"It's Halley, she's a" Taylor just couldn't spit it out.
"That girl again, huh?" Duke stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "Listen, Taylor, I love ya
like a brother and I know what a big case is like. Up 'til now we've had run-of-the-mill
assignments but this one could be a real feather in your cap." Duke knew his young partner
had something to prove and from the start wanted to make a good impression. When Taylor
didn't respond, he glanced her way again and for the first time took note of the stocking cap the
dark-haired woman was wearing.
Feeling the scrutiny from her partner's eyes, Taylor swiftly took off the cap, tucking it in her lap.
Nodding his head a bit, Duke asked. "Where'd you get that?" But he was more interested in
Taylor's mood so he didn't wait for her to answer before adding. "Anyway, the stress gets to ya.

You start talking to yourself" The older partner wanted to let his young protg know that he
understood and wasn't really placing judgment on her.
Taylor nodded reluctantly, knowing that Duke really didn't understand but was doing the best he
could to help her.
"then you start to answer yourself." Duke continued, not realizing he was talking about
himself so many years ago when he had a great deal of stress in his life. "And before you know
it, it's almost like they're still there." He got this far away look in his eyes as he remembered his
daughter. "You want to believe so much" He let out a deep sigh, whispering. "they're still
alive."
Astutely recognizing her partner was talking about his deceased daughter, Taylor got up, grasped
his shoulder and pulled Duke into a hug. "It was an accident, Duke. And before you say
anything, I read the report. There was nothing you could have done."
Shaking his head adamantly, Duke forcefully pushed her back. "You don't understand. No one
does. I she"
"She ran in front of a car." Taylor wanted so much to help her partner ease some of the pain and
guilt he carried with him.
Anger swept across Duke's weathered face, as his blue eyes turned the sky's darkest shade before
a storm. "Not just a car, the getaway car. What the hell was I thinkin'?" Duke turned away.
"Some parent I am was." As if lost in the memory of that day, Duke continued without
carrying if anyone else was around.
Taylor let him continue, keeping a careful watch if others started to filter in.
"I'm on a simple shopping trip to the market." He wasn't even looking at Taylor but it appeared
as if he was talking to someone. "You see, my ten year old wanted some ice cream." The happy
look on his face turned sour. "Then out of the blue, these fuckers in ski masks come barreling in
to rob the place. And, I, oh, the great cop" He voice boomed loudly. "of all time has to go
after them leaving my kid"
"Leaving her with the clerks you knew at the store." Taylor quickly inserted.
Duke was an emotional wreck, tears welling from his eyes.
"Yeah, I left. I should have stayed with her, protected her. That was mybut, I didn't. I chased
after the bad guys and they jumped in the car. Then somehow, I get out in front of them my
gun pointed dead on." The look in his eyes showed that he was reliving that moment in time.
"Then I see my little girl come running out of the store, looking for her daddy when the sons of
bitches throw the car in reverse, running" Bent over his desk, slumped down, Duke broke
down for the first time since his daughter died. His whole body shook as he buried his head in his
hands.

Taylor watched helplessly, offering the only consolation she could. She placed a strong grip on
Duke's shoulder. "It was your duty as a cop. You stopped them. And" The young detective
emphasized this point. "you thought she was safe back in the market."
Nodding his head vehemently, Duke could only see it one way. "It was my duty as a father to
protect her. To hell with this job." Sucking in a deep yet not so calming breath, he continued.
"Ironically, my job was the only thing that kept me going these last five years. We both live for
it."
Hesitantly, Taylor suggested. "Maybe we should find something else to live for."
The captain edged up slowly to the two detectives, feeling the heavy tension in the air then
glanced at his wristwatch. He watched Taylor come back around to her desk as Duke twisted his
chair away from the captain, offering only a side profile. "So, what'd you got for me?"
Taylor took the lead, filling the captain in on their mediocre success. "Twenty-three robberies in
the last two years. Little to no evidence and the only real connection we had was that they all had
the same security and that was blown out of the water when the owner of the security
company was robbed. Again, nothing to go on."
Regaining his composure, Duke piped up. "A little too convenient for my tastes."
"Is that the only tie in?" The captain asked.
"Pretty much. We checked housekeeping, computer ties the thief is fairly selective in what he
takes jewelry, paintings"
"Damn." The captain grunted. "What's next? I hate to get the feds involved. The only reason
we're been able to keep it local is that the victims of these crimes either think what was stolen
was crap compared to their zillions or the insurance paid out the ass. But, Parker just turned up
the heat." The captain crossed his arms. "He's pissed that you were looking at his company in the
first place makes him look bad."
At first glance, Duke smelled a rat in the refined and uppity Parker. "Well, then, I guess it's our
job to make the son of a bitch look even worse."
*************************
After a quick shower and shave, Duke grabbed his jacket off the stairwell banister, slipping it on.
He started toward the door, but not before seeing his wife approach him reluctantly.
"Duke?" With sad eyes, Elizabeth continued. "We can't go on like I can't go on like this." Then
in almost a whisper, she announced. "I want a divorce."
Sad blue eyes captured the warm brown eyes of his wife that he fell in love with nearly twenty

years ago. Wanting desperately to say something, anything, Duke could only let the unspoken
words between them remain silent.
************************
A young, tall security guard, Billy, with razor short hair, looking like he was fresh out of the
military, rattled the gate of an expensive mansion on his patrol route. He slipped back into the
security car after finding nothing out of the ordinary and pulled onto the street.
A vehicle a half a block back flipped on its lights and followed the security vehicle.
As Billy languidly negotiated his vehicle, using a spotlight to check the areas along his patrol
route, the other vehicle stealthily tracked it.
************************
Taylor killed the headlights of her unmarked police car after watching Billy pull into the parking
lot of Parker Security Building. Billy got out and marched into the front entrance. Taylor
watched patiently when she suddenly sniffed a familiar scent in the air. "Bout time you got here."
Halley popped up from the backseat. Again, she was wearing funky clothes, although they are
much darker in color and wearing her usual trademark sunglasses, tinted dark blue.
Eying her, Taylor smiled. "You sure do dress the part, don't you?"
"We are on a stakeout. That's what Duke called it. Where is he?" Halley missed the caustic
tongue of the older detective.
Glancing back to the front entrance of the Parker Building, Taylor answered. "He's watching that
old storage building on Fifth." The young detective saw Billy walk out of the building, stopping
suddenly, then twisted around, and marched back in through the front doors quickly.
"Let's call him." Halley suggested, grabbing the radio mike.
Snatching it from her, Taylor shot Halley a perturbed look. "We're on radio silence unless"
Another security guard, Dave, came out of the front doors. He stared straight at Taylor's car then
made his way toward it.
"We got company." Halley announced the obvious.
"Maybe you should get out of here." Taylor suggested.
Halley snorted. "And miss all the fun."
Dave flashed his light at the car, shining the bright beam in Taylor's face.

With her window rolled down, Taylor shouted. "Hey! Could you turn that thing off?"
Dave leaned down a bit, surveying the contents of the car from a distance. "What are you doing
here?"
"Just sitting here." Taylor grunted. "Any law against that?"
Not convinced of her story, Dave stepped closer. "I thought maybe you had car trouble or
something."
Seizing an unexpected opportunity, Taylor nodded. "Actually, damn thing was overheating."
"Pop the hood. Let's take a look." Dave moved closer to the car.
"That's okay." Taylor tried to dissuade the young man from his offered assistance.
"Come on. I used to be a mechanic." Dave tapped the hood.
Sighing and with great reluctance, Taylor yanked the hood release and got out.
*************************
Duke sat patiently in his unmarked car watching the old storage building on Fifth Street. He
glanced at his watch, then picked up the short wave radio, staring at it a moment for some
unknown reason before tossing it back on the seat.
*************************
As Dave and Taylor hunched over the engine checking the coolant fluid, Billy came up behind
Taylor and smashed her over the head with a foot-long flashlight. Dropping into Billy's strong
arms, he dragged the young detective to the side of the car as Dave opened the passenger door.
Billy threw the unconscious detective inside the car.
Halley watched the two officers as Billy went around and got into the driver's seat while Dave
stood by. "What'd you do that for?"
"Shut up and follow me in one of the security cars." Billy barked.
Dave ran across the street, jumped in his vehicle and trailed Billy as the younger guard drove off
into the night.
Sitting in the car with Taylor, Halley stuck her tongue out at the driver then focused on her
young charge.
************************

Inside Trailblazer's Window Coverings and Shades Storage building, Halley paced behind the
still unconscious Taylor who was tied up in a chair, sitting near the edge of the dock as Billy and
Dave looked on.

Glancing at the unconscious detective, Billy complained. "The bitch was following me all night
long."
"Who is she?" Dave asked.
"I ran the plates, it came up restricted. Either some government schmuck or cop."
"What? Do you know how much trouble we're gonna get in?" When Billy first approached Dave
about the suspicious car outside the building, he had no idea what the younger guard had in
mind. "Let's untie her and get out of here."
Billy snorted then vowed. "No one keeps tabs on me." Billy slapped Taylor a few times, bringing
her to consciousness.
Taylor struggled to open her eyes, trying to focus in the dimly lit room.
"That's right. Wake up, girlie." Billy hit her again. Blood seeped from Taylor's mouth as her face
was smacked back and forth repeatedly.
Nervously, Dave shifted his eyes around the room and back to the door. "Billy, I'm gonna check
in." The older guard slipped out the side door.
No longer able to contain herself no matter that Taylor wished she would not interfere; Halley
spied a small cart off to the side. She shoved it up against the wall, distracting Billy from beating
Taylor as he checked out the noise. That gave Halley the time to get that short wave radio from
Taylor's car.
After finding nothing out of the ordinary, Billy turned, seeing Taylor struggling to get free.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
Halley arrived back in time to see Billy smash his fist against Taylor again, knocking the young
detective and the chair over. Taylor tried to brace herself against the fall, jamming her right fist
into the concrete floor. Halley, on her tiptoes, blew hot air against Billy's neck and ear, sending a
chill down his spine. Once again, Billy scanned the area behind him while Halley held the short
wave radio up to Taylor's mouth, pushing the button.
Taylor spat at the punk. "You son of a bitch."
***********************

Duke grabbed for the radio upon hearing his partner's strained voice. He tried to respond but
realized Taylor must have the transmit button on her radio still depressed. "Come on, Taylor.
Where are you? Let up on the key, will ya?" Duke heard crashing noises coming over the radio,
along with struggling and several grunts. Then a distorted voice came over the radio.
"What is a movie and a car and flies through the sky in the night?"
The radio went dead. Firing up the engine to his car, Duke took off, not knowing exactly where
to go. "I'm comin' Taylor hold on."
************************
Dave rushed back in, grabbing Billy by the arm before the young guard pounded into Taylor's
skull once again. Billy jerked his arm away but stood up.
"The boss wants us back now!"
"First, I'm gonna finish this piece of shit." The thug kicked Taylor in the stomach, shoving the
detective and the attached chair slightly over the edge of the dock, teetering precariously.
Taylor had the fortitude to hook her foot on the nearby rail, preventing her from falling over the
ten foot drop.
"No! I think we're in trouble here." Dave huffed. "Let's go. The boss isn't happy." Dave pushed
his reluctant partner out the door and to their car.
***********************
Duke scanned the street across from Parker Security, diligently looking for the clues that would
lead him to his partner. He knew they shouldn't have separated. He went over the faint words he
heard on the radio before it went dead. "A car, a movie and it's attached to the feet." Shaking his
head, Duke searched for the connection between the clues. "What the fuck does that mean,
Taylor? Okay, I can do this." He was determined to find his partner. "What flies through the
night?" Eyes suddenly brightened in discovery, bringing with it a happy face. "Well, fuck me,
and you too Captain twenty years of playing that silly game finally paid off." Slamming on his
brakes, Duke spun the car around, heading back in the same direction he had just come from.
***********************
Taylor was lying on her right side still tied to the chair. "Aren't you gonna help me?"
"I already did too much using the radio." Halley admitted, knowing it was against the rules.
"Some protector you are." Taylor scouted out her predicament, wondering what she was going to
do next.
Halley cocked her hands on her hips, glaring at Taylor. "We do have rules, you know."

Taylor continued to struggle, striving to upright herself. Trying desperately to hold onto the rail
with her foot, balancing herself, while she endeavored to pull herself off the ledge. Taylor
couldn't get the momentum to do so. Keeping her foot anchored to the rail so she wouldn't fall
over also prevented her from maneuvering safely back onto the dock.
Halley offered the struggling detective some sage advice. "You can't steal second with your foot
still on first."
Taylor, closing her eyes and sucking in a deep breath, tried one more time exerting all her energy
in to it. With her foot hooked on the rail, she jerked forward, then quickly set it free of the rail,
enabling her to right herself. Finally, upright and safe, she turned to Halley and said sarcastically.
"I'm glad you didn't miss all the fun."
Halley soothed Taylor's bruised face with her soft touch, gently running her fingers over the
detective's skin. Gazing at Taylor lovingly, a glimmer shone in Halley's emerald green eyes. She
heard a car door slam and announced. "Your partner's here."
Chapter Nine
It was late at night and Taylor was alone in the squad room. She was playing with the letters that
spelled out Halley Lange. Then the telephone rang, jolting her from her musings. "Detective
MacLund."
"Oh, I didn't expect anyone in at this late hour. I was going to leave you a voice mail." Galen
explained, being a bit self-conscious.
"Had some reports to finish and besides, I'm on desk duty for a couple of days." Taylor
grunted at her misfortune.
"I heard. How's the wrist?" Galen asked sincerely.
"Fine."
"How'd the lead turn out?" Galen wished she could help the detective solve the case. "You know,
the stolen jewelry from the old warehouse."
"Yeah, well, it helped some." Taylor wanted to be alone with her thoughts. "We're pretty much
coming up empty on everything except"
In the research area, located in the police station basement, Galen dropped some papers then
leaned over to pick them up. "Oh, I did find out that Belmont used the same caters about a week
before the theft that most of the other victims used."
"That's something." Taylor admitted, but it didn't perk up her mood much.

"And, it seems they all used the same valet service from time to time. Parties and such."
Frustrated, Taylor leaned back in her chair. "Listen, Miss Starr."
"Galen. Please call me Galen." The research analyst requested in a soft and soothing voice.
"Okay, Galen. Thanks for your help but we've zeroed in on the same security company they all
used." Taylor confirmed her suspicions.
"No, not all." Galen countered.
"Sure they did. We checked it out." Taylor insisted.
Galen glanced at her computer monitor. "Yes, and you're right. They do now. But, of the twentytwo cases, not counting the one at Parker Jones' place, only fourteen of the homes had the
security installed before the theft. The rest changed after they were robbed. Although, I guess
that could be the way Mr. Jones drums up business. Robbing them first." Galen said offhandedly.
For the first time in weeks, Taylor laughed.
"You have a nice laugh." Galen said softly.
"I think its more complex than that." Taylor referred to the string of thefts over the last two
years.
Standing up, Galen twisted around, perching herself on the desk. "I don't know. They only steal
from the very wealthy and are selective in what they take. Sounds like it could be a modern
day Robin Hood."
Laughing even harder and it felt good, Taylor rolled her eyes. "Maybe I should buy you lunch
someday and get you out of that dungeon."
Galen's only reply to that invitation was a smile that flowered on her tender lips.
Taylor continued to fiddle with the letters in front of her when a small hand reached forward and
pushed away the letters that spelled out Halley, leaving the letters that still spelled Lange and
mixed them up.
"Stop that." Taylor slapped at Halley's hand.
Halley smiled.
"What?" Galen asked.
"Nothing. I mean never mind." Taylor said sharper than she intended.

Disappointed, Galen sighed. "Oh."

"Guess I should let you go." Her ever-present angel was distracting the young detective.
"Wait. One more thing." Galen was reluctant but continued. "I know this will sound kinda far out
there you'll probably think I'm crazy or something"
"No, I won't. I'm the one that could tell you things that would make you think I was the crazy
one."
Halley leaned in to overhear the conversation.
"Try me." Galen was game and truly wanted to be of help.
Taylor drew in a very deep breath, realizing she was opening herself up for more criticism. "Do
you believe in angels?"
"Of course, I do. Why?" Came the quick reply.
"I mean, real ones." Taylor wanted to be sure the young woman knew exactly what she was
referring to. "You know, the ones that you, well, help you out or even see."
Halley mouthed 'who me?' much to Taylor chagrin.
"I've always believed there's a little bit of angel in all of us." Galen confessed.
"Really? I" Taylor decided to take the risk and admitted. "I've seen one." "Me, too." Galen
assured the detective.
"No. I mean, I see and talk to one, as a matter of fact, she's right here listening." Taylor knew
she was out on a limb but let go, stating the truth of it to the young woman.
With a small smile, Galen said. "Well, tell her 'hi'."
Halley waved into the telephone.
Stunned from Galen's ready acceptance of her story, Taylor asked. "And you don't' think that's
crazy?"
"No. Although, I'm not sure I'd go around telling everyone about it. People tend to make a person
feel" She chose her next word carefully. "inferior enough as it is."
Surprised, she cared so much, Taylor asked. "Is that how you feel?"
"Sometimes" Galen let out a heavy sigh. "most of the time."

Halley whispered into Taylor's ear then the detective repeated the angel's words. "No one can
make you feel inferior without your consent."
"Eleanor Roosevelt, right?" Galen thought she had heard that saying before contributed to the
former First Lady.
Taylor glanced at Halley who nodded.
"I suppose that's true though. I just wish people would like me for myself instead of having to try
and be someone else in order to attract" Galen paused. "Well"
Halley started to whisper again in her ear, but Taylor held up her hand stopping the angel.
"You're never going to find the one that you want until you become the person that you really
are. So, just be yourself, okay?"
"Thanks." Galen absorbed the safe words of the detective.
"What was it you were going to tell me?" Taylor laughed. "Now that you know I won't think
you're crazy."
"I was going over some old cases and ran across one that your partner was involved with fifteen
years ago." Galen picked up the report in front of her. "Small time hood, Pickpocket Charlie"
The research analyst heard Taylor chuckle. "He ran a little theft ring for years. It wasn't limited
to the upper end like this case, but there are similarities. They stole quite a few art pieces.
Several were by the artist Carroll Spencer."
"Our thief didn't steal the Spencer at Belmont's office. Just hung it out the window." Taylor
inserted.
Galen reached around for some more papers and got tangled in the long telephone cord. "Don't
you find that odd, though? And come to find out some of the stolen art pieces were by
Spencer."
"The reports didn't show that." Taylor grabbed for the case file.
"Right. Most of the victims gave the value amount and description but neglected to mention the
artist. They probably didn't because some of those paintings were stolen back several years
ago as a matter of fact, fifteen years ago."
"Still, what does that prove?" Taylor's keen eyes browsed over the file again for anything that
would stand out and give her the clue she needed.
"Have Duke tell you about the young courier that was sent to jail while Pickpocket Charlie
made a deal with the D.A." Galen shrugged then added. "It's just a hunch." She paused only
briefly. "Oh, and by the way, did I mention that Charlie was Carroll Spencer's brother?"
Interested, Taylor sat up straight in her chair. "And where is this Pickpocket Charlie now?"

"Dead. Three years ago." Galen had to admit.

"That eliminates him." Taylor didn't think she was any further in the investigation now than
before but was thankful for the time and effort the young research analyst gave to the case.
"Thanks, Galen, but I think we've got our man and it's Parker Jones."
"Your man may turn out to be quite a surprise." Somehow Galen was convinced there was more
to this case than just theft of the rich and famous.
"What does that mean?"
"In the dark of night, especially when our eyes are closed, we all look the same." The esoteric
comment left Taylor confused and Galen met the silence before adding. "Just thought I'd mention
it. Go home and get some sleep, Taylor. Goodnight."
"You too." Taylor pondered Galen's words as she hung up the telephone. She glanced at the
unusually quiet Halley. "You got something to say?"
Halley just shrugged her shoulders.
Referring to the research analyst, Taylor acknowledged. "She's a good kid. But, Parker Jones is
the likely suspect. Having his hoods come after me was just too much of a coincidence. And, if it
isn't Jones, then this thief is like a shadow hiding in the woodwork. So, which one is it?" The
detective pretended indifference in asking the question to the blonde.
"When faced with a fork in the road, why not try the third path?"
Not getting a straight answer like she wanted, Taylor shook her head. "Guess I could ask Duke
about it."
************************
Duke ambled in the squad room the next morning, whistling loudly. He cast a smirk at Maloney
who just turned away, sipping his coffee. Walking up to Taylor, Duke's grin expanded across his
face. "Ain't it good to be alive, partner?"
Looking up from the fifteen-year-old reports in front of her, Taylor lobbed a curious stare at her
partner.
"Oh, you didn't hear about Maloney's big bust last night." Duke nearly yelled so everyone in the
squad room could hear. "Seems he was hot on the trail of the hood ornament bandits led him
right to their headquarters." Duke chuckled. "And just before the game was about to start, they
busted into the high school locker room" He couldn't help the huge smile on his face. "That is
the 'girls' locker room. Seems the poor dears, cheerleaders they were, got caught in their skivvies.
Not a hood ornament on them, well, unless you count the" Duke made an obscene gesture in

front of his chest then tossed an impish grin at Maloney.

"Knock it off, Duke." Taylor was used to the sometimes raunchy atmosphere working with a
bunch of men brought but generally Duke held his manners in check. "Bit insensitive, don't you
think?"
The older detective laughed it off. "For Maloney? Hell, no."
"I was talking about the cheerleaders." Taylor clarified.
It was Maloney's turn to sling a smirk at Duke. Looking defeated and a bit guilty, Duke stared
for a long moment at Taylor. "You take all the fun out of it."
Wanting to change the subject, Taylor held up the file. "Tell me about Pickpocket Charlie."
"Pickpocket Charlie?" Duke eased back in his chair. "He never did like that name."
Maloney slithered over near their desks. "Yeah, Duke. Tell us about your big case. You know,
the one you fucked up."
"Takes one to know one." Duke glared at Maloney before turning to his partner. "Taylor?" The
older detective marched out with Taylor right behind.
When they reached the men's restroom, Duke jumped up on the short counter and looked
squarely at Taylor. "What'd ya wanna know?"
"What happened to the courier?" Taylor went straight to the point.
"Jail ten years." Duke shrugged.
"And Charlie gotthree?" The young detective smelled a rat.
"Sucks, huh?" Duke leaned back. "She was just a kid. Twenty-one, college art student, I think.
Anyway, she made a little money as a courier for Charlie's legit businesses. One day Charlie had
some hot stuff to move" He pursed his lips, recalling the case. "A Spencer painting. Can't just
melt something like that down. We had our first real lead and she got caught in the middle of it."
"And she had no idea." Taylor surmised.
"Bout it. Charlie cut a deal, trading information about another case the D.A. desperately needed."
Duke said, then wondered. " Why'd you wanna know?"
***********************
In Roan's office at Phoenix Designs, Davis jerked Billy across the room, forcing him down in the
chair. "Just don't say a fuckin' thing."

Davis walked over to the door, leaned against it and patiently waited. Billy glanced around the
room nervously. His anxious eyes came to rest on a painting behind the boss's desk. The picture
depicted bright primary colors splashed across it with a hollow monk type figure ascending the
silhouette stairs. Nodding to the painting, Billy glanced at Davis. "Creepy, ain't it? What's it
suppose to be anyway?"
"It's called 'Death Walks a Step Behind'." Davis grunted. "Something you should have thought
about. Where's Dave anyway?"
"Beats me." Billy was getting concerned the more he had to wait.
Roan entered the office from behind a secret door much to the surprise of Billy but not Davis. "I
ought to beat you. Do you realize how stupid that was?"
Billy's mock courage came out less than courageous when he sarcastically. "Which thing?"
Davis slapped him upside the head for his insolence.
Billy jumped up, defiantly.
"Both. Stealing from that old couple" Roan's steel blue eyes shot through the young guard,
referring to one of the clients that he was suppose to be protecting. "Not nice." She glided up to
him before he could respond. Only inches away from his face, a feral smile crossed her lips. "We
don't steal form our own. That's a line I won't cross."
Again, Billy tried to show he wasn't scared of her and said smugly. "We don't exactly protect
them either."
Two hundred-eighty degrees below Fahrenheit ice-cold blue eyes pierced through Billy, freezing
him like an icicle. "Don't let five seconds of courage ruin the rest of your life." Long moments
passed before Roan backed off, rounding her desk to stand behind it. "Your job is to follow
orders, MY orders. Jumping that young detective put us all in jeopardy."
Billy tried to justify his actions. "She was following me. What was I supposed to do?"
"Be the good little security guard I sent you to be and you weren't supposed to get Dave
involved in any of this." Roan added as an afterthought.
"But he works for you. Just like I do."
"No. She just helped him get a job." Davis clarified. "That's it. He knew nothing about this
operation until you told him that night."
Roan sat down. "Dave's whole family is here and he was going to college to become a lawyer.
Now he's in hiding at least 'til this thing blows over. Now, the question is, what am I going to
do with you?"

************************
Back in the police station men's room, Duke slipped down off the counter and faced the mirror.
He studied his face, running his fingers through his hair.
Taylor stood behind him off to the side where Duke could see here. "Galen thinks there's a
connection between our case and"
Duke swung around. "Charlie? He's dead."
"No, not exactly. But maybe there's a new ringleader. Took over the business."
"What?" Duke wasn't convinced.
"And Halley thinks we shouldn't limit our options on this case either." Taylor knew her partner
would resist this suggestion.
"Your angel thinks this had something to do with my old case?" Duke wanted clarification.
"She didn't say that. She just said we should look down all the avenues." Taylor shrugged as she
turned toward the door.
To her surprise, Duke agreed. "Well, okay then. Let's check it out." Duke marched past her to the
door, opening it.
"You mean, just like that?" Taylor was suspicious. "You're not gonna fight me on this?"
Duke sucked in a deep breath. "I don't have the energy to fight a computer geek and your angel."
He chuckled, surrendering completely. "Hell, I'd even like to meet her. Besides, all we really
have is Jones and that son of a bitch couldn't pull off a heist if his gonads depended on it."
It wasn't the best reason Taylor hoped her partner would express, but he was on board so she
took the opportunity presented.
***********************
Davis closed the door to Roan's office. "Billy's wrapped up in a few things that will tie him up
for awhile." He didn't need to give his boss the details.
Rubbing her temple, Roan closed her eyes briefly. "You know, I don't sleep well at night. Too
many walls. I can't let Dave get messed up in this. He's completely innocent." A faraway distant
look came over her, remembering something she tried desperately to keep locked away. "It's like
dj vu all over."
"Too late. He's already involved." Davis stood straighter then added as a way of assuring his

boss. "You came through it just fine though."

Roan let out a short wicked laugh that was filled with pain. "I recreated myself and not into the
image of what I could have been."
"Hey, I don't care what anybody says, boss. I like your paintings." Davis was loyal through and
through.
"Not that, Davis." Roan rubbed her temple again. "I was a pawn. All those years in prison gives a
person time to think. Like when I got out how I was going to kill my uncle for setting me up and
take over his business." Roan clearly remembered her grand plans of revenge before a pleasant
memory came to mind. "When he found out" She was thinking of her uncle, Charlie.
"Detective Wright had me convinced to turn state's evidence. My dear uncle offered another year
to his two year term just so I'd have to serve all my time with no parole."
"Bet you hated Wright for that." Davis revealed his own feelings.
"I did at first. But as I said, I had time to think. Really think about it. In the end, he was the only
one who cared about what happened to me. Not my uncle, the D.A. or anyone else. I came to
respect him. And loathed those others." She looked up at her loyal employee and friend. "The
ones we target. The movers and shakers of the world who own it or think they do."
"Then why'd we hit Belmont? I thought he was a friend of yours."
For the first time that day, Roan smiled. "An old family friend. I was going to return
itanonymously in time. And I didn't steal his painting." Roan pointed out before continuing.
"Just wanted the world to see what he was concealing" Pride filled her eyes as she visualized
the painting in her mind. "A Spencer never deserves to be hidden."
"Your work should be seen, too." Davis added.
Roan got up, studying the picture on the wall behind her desk. "It's not the caliber of a Spencer."
"But it is a Spencer."
"It could have beenonce." Roan was momentarily distracted before focusing her attention back
to the present. "Walter knew that it should've been in a museum instead of locked up in one of
his musky old rooms." Roan walked to the door, then opened it. "We've got some things to clean
up."
Chapter Ten
As Galen rode the elevator to the dungeon, she studied herself in the metal elevator door.
Running her fingers through her long dark locks, she saw a blurred vision staring back at her.
She let out a forlorn sigh then slumped her shoulders.

Unseen by Galen, Halley leaned into the research analyst's ear, sending a shiver down her spine.
The angel whispered. "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
A memory of Taylor echoing these same words flashed in her mind. When the elevator door
opened, Galen walked out.
***********************
Taylor pored over the case file as she sat on her couch. She stared at the printout from the
Belmont heist. Dismissing it after a careful perusal, she pitched it on the coffee table. Frustrated,
Taylor threw the case file on the table and slouched back on the couch, staring at the FBI wall.
The detective reached under the couch, pulling out several darts. She tossed one at the dartboard
in the center of the wall.
Suddenly she jumped up, scribbled something on several 'post its' and placed them on the
dartboard. Two of the post its read 'caters' and 'computer guys'. Taylor stepped back and aimed
carefully at the board. The detective hit the post it that said 'valet' then pitched another dart that
jabbed a post it with the word 'security' on it. Mumbling, she frowned. "That's what I thought."
From over her shoulder, a dart flew through the air with a post it attached to its point and hits the
center of the dartboard. The post it read 'the thief left it behind, the moon at the window'.
Jacking her head around, Taylor saw Halley offering an impish grin.
Smiling, Halley suggested. "Think again."
Taylor retrieved the three darts from the board, twisting back around to face it. Halley moved to
stand near the board. When Taylor cocked her arm to pitch another one, Halley refused to move.
Re-aiming, Taylor purposely tossed the dart away from her. Yet, it mysteriously landed on the
same post it that Halley had pitched. She flipped another dart at the board with the same results.
Resigned, Taylor dropped on the couch. "All right. The thief left it behind, the moon at the
window."
Halley smiled victoriously at her. Taylor just rolled her eyes when Halley approached. "Now, we
can get somewhere."
"But the thief didn't leave anything behind, he took it. And there's no sign that he used the
window. No prints. Nothing."
"You're thinking too hard, Taylor. Look at the bigger picture."
Taylor sat up and glanced at the case file in front of her again, shaking her head in frustration.
"What? What, whatwhat am I missing?"
"Like an eye that sees but cannot see itself." Halley tapped her bottom lip with a single finger.

After giving Halley an annoyed look, Taylor returned to the printout from the Belmont heist.
Grabbing the telephone, she punched in some numbers.
The voice on the other end answered. "Wright here."
"Duke, I'm picking you up."
After collecting her partner, Taylor drove to the Belmont Building. Both detectives were allowed
access by the security guard. "Hey. What brings you out this late at night?" Benny asked.
Duke hurried to the security desk and surveyed the system then hardcopy.
"Benny, you mentioned that the night someone broke in the computer started updating itself
earlier, right?" Taylor hurriedly asked.
"Yep, twenty minutes or so. Why?" Benny followed the young detective back to the security
desk.
Pointing at the computer, Duke asked. "Like it's doing now?"
Benny nodded as the older detective watched the monitor closely.
"What if someone came in now?" Taylor asked, glancing at the monitor before returning her
anxious eyes to the guard.
"It's midnight. No one's gonna come in at this time 'cept for our nightly patrol guard." Benny
explained the nightly routine.
"Just suppose, okay? What happens?" Taylor asked again.
"They'd use their code or I'd get an alarm if a door was opened." Benny shrugged then scratched
his head, flipping his ballcap back a little.
"Even while it's updating?" Taylor cocked an eyebrow.
"Yep, our new system does that." Benny proudly acknowledged.
"What about the old system?" Duke looked up, waiting for the answer.
Benny scrunched his face a bit. "I'd have to manually let them in. That system didn't read
anything while it was updating itself."
"And nothing went on the hardcopy either, right?" Taylor knew she was on to something.
"Right. Like I said though that was fixed with the new system."

Duke stood straighter as his mind mulled over the suspected scenario. "Can someone initiate the
update early for the old system?"
"Sure."
"Does this system include the wall safe in Mr. Belmont's office?"
"The old system was for the exterior doors only, but now it includes the wall safe and all the
office door keypads." Benny pointed to all the new fancy buttons on the counter.
Taylor shot her partner a knowing look. "That explains it. No alarms. Nothing."
"What about when the thief came in?" Duke was working the night's events over in his mind,
making sure he covered every detail. "There had to be an original alarm or keypad entry."
Nodding, Taylor agreed. "Yeah, but part of the hardcopy was missing."
Benny pursed his lips. "Unless they were already in the building."
"What do you mean?" The young detective asked.
"If someone had stayed after everybody else left, they could have started the update. Stole the
stuff and then left." Benny offered an explanation, trying to help the detectives. He remembered
a time when one of the employees fell asleep in their office and Benny found him.
"Was anyone here?" Duke asked the question that begged to be spoken.
"No. Everyone was gone. Billy had completed a check shortly after eleven." Benny remembered
that night the young guard was early.
"Billy?"
"He's one of the patrol guards from Parker Security."
"Huh? They didn't put their system in until after the robbery." Duke wanted to get the fact
straight.
"That's true. But, we did have their guards stop by once or twice a night." Benny slipped around
the young detective to retrieve a log of the patrol guard's names.
Duke grunted. "Funny. Parker never mentioned that."
"Where's this Billy live?" Taylor tried to scan the log.
************************

Taylor and Duke stealthily negotiated the steps leading to Billy's door. Duke whispered. "No
wonder we couldn't find him. This isn't the address on his personnel file."
Taylor chuckled. "Benny sure turned out to be a wealth of information."
At the front door, Duke glanced at his partner. "Shall I knock or you?"
"Give me a minute to get around the back." Taylor slipped off quietly into the night.
Waiting just long enough for his partner to get in place, Duke banged on the door. When Billy
heard the insistent knock, he got up then sat his beer down. He pulled the door open without
much care. "Bout time you got here." But instead of who he was expecting, Billy saw a stranger.
"Who the hell are you?" Billy started to slam the door shut.
Duke smashed Billy back onto the couch. He struggled with the younger and slightly taller man
but Billy ended up on top of Duke.
Taylor arrived in time to see her partner needing a bit of help. "What the fuck to do you think
you're doing?" Taylor kicked Billy in the stomach, knocking him off her partner. Billy tumbled
over, grabbing his middle and glared hard at the detective as he lay on the floor. Kneeling down,
the young detective slapped him across the face once.
"That's right. Wake up, pretty boy."
Guarding his face now with his hands, Billy shielded himself against any further strikes.
Removing her handgun, Taylor jabbed the barrel up against the young man's temple. "You've got
five seconds or I fuck up your life."
It didn't take Billy two beats before he was rattling off everything they wanted to know.
***********************
Roan was sitting in her office, rubbing her temple as she stared at the painting on the wall. Davis
bolted through the doorway. "They picked up Billy."
Calmly, Roan let out a relieved sigh. "Then they know everything he knows."
"What are we gonna do, boss?"
Without turning around to face him, a small diabolical smile found its way to her lips.
***********************
Driving down a side street with Duke in the passenger's seat, Taylor looked at him briefly. "I got
a call earlier from Galen and that's what she said. We still don't have any hard evidence,

but"
Duke was surprised at Taylor's revelation. "Well, fuck me. I woulda never guessed."
Halley popped up in the backseat. "No, thanks." Her faced screwed up at that thought then
referred to Galen's call. "And I can believe it."
Duke's eyes bolted wide open, then slowly turned around to see a young woman dressed in funky
clothes, an even funkier hat and wearing purple tinted glasses.
Taylor glanced over her shoulder.
"Who the fuck are you?" Duke nearly shouted.
Without any preamble, Taylor made the introductions. "Duke, meet Halley Lange. My angel."
"Stop the fucking car right now." Duke demanded.
"Must you? Cuss that is." Halley gave him her hardest stare.
Duke wasn't certain he wanted to look back over his shoulder but couldn't resist. "Fuck yes."
Then he grabbed for the steering wheel. "Stop the fucking car."
Before the wheels even stopped rolling, Duke pushed his door open, jumping out of the car.
Panting, Duke leaned over a nearby railing, trying to regain his composure after being scared by
Halley's sudden appearance.
Taylor, with Halley by her side, walked up next to the visibly upset man. Halley gently slid her
hand on his arm, patting it. "I'm sorry. I thought you wanted to meet me."
Duke edged back away from the young woman. "That was before I knew you were real." He
eyed her carefully. "You are real, aren't you?"
"Yeah, she's real." Taylor assured him.
Halley decided to concentrate on the case so Duke would get over his fright upon meeting her. "I
understand you've got your first real break in the case."
"Yeah, Billy spilled his guts and research filled in most of the missing pieces." Taylor supplied
the information since her partner was apparently tongue-tied.
"Galen, you mean." Halley wanted to place credit where it was due. "Even hiding in the dungeon
can't disguise her true worth."
Taylor nodded.

"Truth has many faces. Guess you two need to get going and bust this case wide open, huh?" She
turned to Duke, gazing warmly into his poignant blue eyes. "It's easier to live through someone
else than to become complete yourself."
A puzzled look dawned on Duke's face at hearing her words.
"Your daughter. Katie. She loves you very much and she's quite sad, too."
Concern filled his eyes. "What? What do you mean?"
Halley slid her fingers along the side of Duke's face. "She wants you and her mother to be
happy so she can be too." Kissing him lightly on the cheek, then wiping away an unshed tear
from Duke's closed eyes, Halley was gone.
************************
Standing before the mirror in her bathroom, Galen ran her fingers through her hair one more time
as Debbie silently waited behind her with scissors in hand. Galen remembered what Taylor said
to her. "Let's do it. I'm tired of being someone else. First a cut then back to my original hair
colorand this." Reaching for her favorite bottle of perfume she hadn't worn in ages, Galen
sprayed it on, filling the air and inhaled deeply.
Gritting her teeth, Debbie moved in with the scissors and took the first big cut.
Chapter Eleven
Roan was sitting comfortably in her chair when Davis allowed Taylor and Duke inside the room.
He shut the door behind them.
Sad blue eyes looked over a familiar face. "Gayle. How are ya?" The older detective asked
sincerely.
Roan smiled then got up to greet the detective. "Call me Roan. That innocent young girl you
tried to help years ago is dead, I'm afraid."
Duke took her hand in his and smiled before introducing Taylor. "This is my partner, Detective
MacLund."
"Hello, ma'am. We have some questions."
Roan eased back on the edge of her desk, motioning toward a couple of nearby chairs. Both
Taylor and Duke remain standing.
"We have one of your employees, Billy, in custody. And, he's implicated you in the robberies
over the last two years." Taylor decided to get straight to the point.

Roan crossed her arms. "And your evidence? Besides, the word of an ex-employee who probably
just wants to get back at me for firing him."
Duke shifted his hips and said with regret. "I wish that was all it was."
"We thought Jones was involved. Never even once suspected it was an interior decorator who
was the thief." Taylor admitted.
"I'm sure we're going to get to the evidence soon." Roan playfully taunted them.
Taylor cleared her throat. "We know about your uncle and your father."
That made Roan smile. "So do I. And that involved me how?"
"We'd like you to come down to the station." Duke said respectfully.
Soft blue eyes glazed over her would be savior of years ago. "You tired to help me once"
"I'm sorry it turned out that way." The sorrow in his voice was real.
Shaking her head, Roan said. "No, don't be. You were the only one who cared enough to try."
Glancing to Davis first, she turned back to Duke and asked. "Does he need to go?"
Duke nodded before Roan slowly pushed herself off the edge of the desk. As expected, Roan led
the way out the door.
***********************
Maloney and Winger were transporting Billy who was in the back of the police car. Maloney
was driving the car and huffed after glancing in the rearview mirror at the man in police custody.
"I don't know why this fuck needs special police protection."
Winger shrugged. "It's just a temporary move until they pick up his boss."
Billy snorted. "Guess your friends will get all the glory while you pricks get babysitting duty. I
saw that old detective laugh his ass off about it." Billy never could keep his mouth shut as he
continued. "I know what that feels like the bitch laughed at me, too."
"Shut up, you fuck." Maloney demanded.
"But it doesn't have to end this way." Billy knew he was getting to the detective's fragile ego and
if he played it right, he would get his chance.
"There's something I didn't tell 'em."
Maloney glanced over his shoulder with an interested look.

Shaking his head, Winger warned his greedy partner. "Forget it, Maloney."
***********************
Roan, followed by Davis, Duke and Taylor walked out onto the parking lot as a charter bus,
filled with senior citizens, negotiated through the narrow drive between Roan's office building
and the restaurant next to it. The driver of the bus pulled it up, then backed up the driveway,
edging it up against the building that formed a gauntlet down the narrow alley. The seniors
descended from the bus, heading for the restaurant.
Taylor noticed Maloney pull up with his partner and Billy in the backseat, stopping about fifty
feet away from them. "Duke. Look who's here."
Maloney got out, buttoning his jacket as he ambled toward Duke and the others. Winger got out
of the vehicle but decided to wait.
"What the fu" He glanced at Roan before returning his glaring eyes to Maloney. "hell you
doing here?"
Maloney let out an evil laugh. "Couldn't let you fuck it up. My boy" He nodded over his
shoulder at the unmarked vehicle that housed Billy. "didn't give you the full scoop on this little
charade."
"Get him outta here." Taylor ordered.
"Oh, no, not before I get to" Maloney's vulture eyes hungered over Roan's body. "interview
this beauty."
Davis stepped between his boss and the on-coming detective. Maloney punched Davis in the gut.
Duke quickly yanked Maloney back, causing the smart-ass detective to lose his balance.
"Get the fuck outta here." Duke sneered.
Maloney straightened himself, striking a threatening pose at the older detective, causing both
Winger and Taylor to move in on the two detectives.
Just then a green sedan pulled up, whipping around near Roan and Davis. Two of Roan's
henchmen jumped out of the vehicle with guns bared. The detectives pulled their weapons,
drawing a bead on Roan and her henchmen.
Billy scrambled over the backseat of the unmarked police vehicle, plopping down in the driver's
seat. Eyeing the keys in the ignition, with cuffed hands, he started the car. A feral grin crossed
his face. Jamming the gas pedal to the floor, Billy steered the vehicle straight down the narrow
drive toward the detectives along with Roan and her henchmen as targets.
Maloney and Winger, pushed by Duke, barely got out of the way of the on-coming vehicle. Roan

eyed the vehicle, seeing revenge in Billy's eyes and quickly assessed her options. If she led her
group to the right, they could possibly avoid the speeding vehicle, but it would slam into the
charter bus that still had some seniors exiting it. However, if she chose the other alternative,
Billy would miss the bus and they would be trapped with no escape.
With only a moment to make a decision, Roan glanced again to the charter bus, then back to the
evil glint in Billy's vengeful eyes. Billy tried to push his door open and jump, but the handcuffs
were tangled in the door handle.
Making her decision, Roan nodded. "This way."
One of the henchmen started to go the other way when Davis jerked him back. "We go where she
goes."
Taylor stepped out in front of the speeding vehicle. With Billy in her sights, she fired off several
rounds, trying to divert the driver. Billy ducked down as the car bore down on Taylor,
approaching steadfastly. Out of bullets, Taylor was trapped in front of the vehicle barreling down
the narrowing alley. She remembered something Halley said to her. "Sometimes the best way
around a problem is through it." Shaking her head and putting her faith in Halley's words, Taylor
ran straight at the on-coming car. She jumped on the hood, running over the top of the car as it
passed underneath her. Falling off the tail end, Taylor rolled backwards and twisted around to
see Roan's henchmen take refuge behind a small trash container.
Roan looked at Duke, blue capturing blue, as she tipped her hand to him. Facing the inevitable,
Roan took a fleeting look back at the bus, only to swirl her head around suddenly with a
surprised look on her face at something that distracted her.
Powerless to do anything, Duke watched as the speeding vehicle smashed into the trash
container, erupting in a huge explosion.
************************
Duke walked into his house, frayed and dejected with shoulders slumped until he saw his wife
standing on the steps. He stood up straighter. "I thought you'd be gone."
"I had hoped to talk first." Elizabeth said quietly.
Duke shook his head knowingly. "I didn't think you'd ever want to talk to with me again."
A small, caring smile formed on her face. "I always want to talk with you."
Duke slid down in the chair near the door.
Elizabeth took a tentative step forward. "You look like hell."
The surprised detective took stock of her chosen words. "You never swore before."

"Maybe I should have, then at least we'd have something in common."

Shaking his head, he rejected her notion. "No. Please don't. I don't want you to become like me."
"What do you want, Duke?" Elizabeth rubbed her hands nervously, hoping for some kind of sign
that she could hold on to.
Sad blue eyes embraced the warmth in his wife's eyes. Finally, unleashing the floodgate of pain
that accompanied his daughter's death, Duke barely whispered out his only desire. "You."
Without hesitation, Elizabeth crossed the floor to her husband then Duke wrapped his arms
around his wife's waist, pulling her in.
***********************
Taylor waited patiently, sitting on a rock as the waves splashed up against it. Inhaling deeply,
she closed her eyes and smiled. "I can smell you."
Halley's soft gaze fell on her charge. "It's time for me to go."
The young detective grabbed her hand, pulling Halley into a hug with the pure intention of never
letting her go.
"The flowers part when we hate to lose them"
Taylor finished. "and the weeds arrive when we hate to watch them grow."
A suspicious angelic eyebrow cocked as Halley studied Taylor for a long moment.
Taylor shrugged. "Been reading some. Although, I don't understand it."
With an impish grin, Halley encouraged her friend. "Yeah, well, gotta work on that."
"I don't think I can go on without my very own angel." Taylor admitted, then dropped her eyes
to look at the sand.
Halley lifted Taylor's chin, forcing her to look directly at her. "In a mirror's image, you'll find
your angel in disguise."
Not quite believing Halley, the scared detective sighed. "It's gonna be so hard without you."
Hugging the blonde tightly again, Taylor buried her lips along Halley's neck and inhaled deeply,
making a memory that would last forever.
"Life is as hard as you make it or as easy as you let it be." Halley whispered. And from
Taylor's consuming embrace, Halley disappeared.

Falling to the wet sand below, Taylor doubled over, aching from the void she thought would
never be filled again. Tears fell unheeded from crying eyes.
***********************
The next day Duke and Taylor sat respectively at their desks as the captain approached them.
Taylor idly played with the letters that spelled out 'Lange', pushing them around back and forth
from 'Lange' to spell 'angel'.
Not really wanting to disturb the somber duo, the captain finally spoke up. "Good job, guys. It
would have been one hell of a case to prove with what we had." He confessed. "She was good.
Damn good."
Neither Duke nor Taylor cared to look up.
"We found a warehouse full of the missing items. Don't know why she didn't fence the stuff."
The captain was puzzled by Roan's motives.
Finally, Duke said. "That wasn't what she was about."
With less than an enthusiastic care, Taylor asked. "Find any paintings by Spencer?"
The captain scanned the list in his hand. "Nope. Anyway, good job, that's four more bad guys off
the street."
Taylor's eyes shifted up in surprise. "Four?"
A uniformed police officer handed the captain a piece of paper. After reading it, he tossed it
down in front of Duke. "Thought you'd want to know Maloney and Winger are on suspension.
And here" He pitched the paper on the desk. "hot off the press. Looks like the hood
ornament bandits struck again."
Shaking his head, Duke pushed his chair back. "No, not me. I've got some vacation built up and
I'm spending it with my wife. You want it, Taylor?"
Grabbing the paper, Taylor shrugged. "Sure. Why not? I got no one." As Taylor stood up, she
glanced back down at the letters before her when a thought suddenly struck. The young detective
moved the letters again spelling a new word. The same five letters that spelled 'Lange' and 'angel'
now composed differently to spell 'Galen'.
Outside in the police station lobby, Galen and Debbie were standing near the top of the stairs,
idly chatting with several other employees just back from lunch when Taylor stormed out of the
squad room and rushed past Galen.
Taylor stopped abruptly, upon whiffing a familiar heavenly scent. Twisting around slowly,

Taylor's eyes widen in disbelief as she stared hard at the smaller woman in front of her. Standing
there was Galen sporting short blonde locks under a weird hat and wearing purple tinted
sunglasses. Galen was the spitting image of Halley.
"It's" Taylor gulped. "you."
Galen grinned. "Yeah, it's finally me. The real me."
A blazing smile spread like wildfire across Taylor's face. She stepped closer, tilting Galen's chin
up with her finger. There in that heavenly moment time stood still and a new memory was being
created as Taylor leaned in and kissed Galen chastely. It was a sweet kiss with the promise of
things to come.
"I have to go but" Taylor gazed deeply into beautiful green eyes and said. "Stay right here
don't move till I get back." The happy detective rushed out the door in hot pursuit of the hood
ornament bandits as Galen stood frozen in time waiting for her knightly princess to return.
Debbie, with a dumbstruck look on her face, couldn't believe what just took place. After all this
time of her trying to help Galen snag the young detective, all it took was Galen being herself that
did the trick. Shaking her head at the revelation, Debbie chuckled. "Who woulda guessed?"
***********************
Ten days later, a museum worker popped open a huge crate filled with over twenty paintings by
Carroll Spencer which had mysteriously shown up there. And within a matter of weeks, all of the
Spencer paintings were on display for the world to see.
THE END

Thank you for taking the time to read this story. Feedback is greatly appreciated at
xxgsb@hotmail.com Come on take the time and drop me a line. You know, I'll love it.
The sequel to this story is called 'Angel in Disguise: Rising Phoenix'. This story focuses on Roan
as she carves out a new life with the help of her own 'angel' along with Taylor and Galen. And,
don't forget Duke.
This is copyrighted material, 2001 Binkley all rights reserved. It may be reproduced,
duplicated or printed for personal use only. For all other uses, please contact
xxgsb@hotmail.com

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