Free Fast and Easy by Betty Womack

in the middle of washing them when the door bell chimed.
    She had arrived. Turning the glasses upside down on the counter, he hurried to let her in.
    “Carmen.” His emotions shot back and forth from zany pleasure to mind-drugging desire. “Come in.”
    She was so hot, his body tensed like a loaded bear trap. How had he been the lucky bastard to have a woman like her?
    He held out his hand to take her purse and jacket, but she’d have none of it. She jerked her arm away when he tried to pull her to him.
    “Why didn’t you tell me the redhead was a cop?”
    “Aw, fuck.” He groaned, knowing he had lied his way into knee deep shit.
    “Yes, exactly what I wanted to talk about.”
    “What about her?” Once again, his dick had gotten him in trouble. This time, it mattered.
    “I don’t know anything about her.” Carmen gazed at him in her cool steady way, not flinching, nowhere near tears. “Talk.”
    He wanted to lie, to deny knowing Stella Wells. That wouldn’t work. He had to be honest. That’s all Carmen would accept.
    “Stella has been transferred through every precinct in Kansas City.”
“And?”
    “She wants to make rank and being friendly is her way of advancing.”
    “And did she?”
    He thought Carmen would backhand him, but she only stood her ground, waiting for him to tell it all.
    “She’s fucked her way up the ranks and back down.”
    “How about Captain Genonese?”
    “Yeah.” That was a real fuck up. She wanted facts and exactly how it felt. Damn it. “A long time ago.”
    “You’re sugar coating it, Genonese.”
    He couldn’t keep his eyes off her breasts which heaved with anger.
    “It couldn’t have too long ago, or she wouldn’t have been humping your leg at the Major’s retirement party!”
    “I wasn’t with her.” His blood pressure built to the point of real anger. “Her date went to the john before you showed up.” Her fine brows shot up, and that meant she wanted more. “You turned me down as I recall. Said you were busy.”
    She headed for the door. “I’m not second best to anyone, Don.” She slapped her jacket against the door. “May I assume you were there with someone else?”
    “You may, but you’re wrong.” She wasn’t going to listen, and he was tired of defending himself. “I only went after the Major more or less insisted I show up. That’s it.”
    “Okay.” She opened the door. “I’ll see what I can do about moving Wells to your new precinct. She’s not what I want on the streets of my area.”
    “Carmen.” He yelled after her as she ran from his apartment. “Yeah, you do that. At least she doesn’t rip my ass every time I see her. Goddamn it.”

    Chapter Nine
    Carmen rested her head in her hands and rubbed her temples. The headache she had all day refused to go away. The paper work seemed to never end. Officer reports were sometimes illegible, and she hated calling them in to clarify things they had written.
    Until she learned to decipher their handwriting, she’d struggle through and okay their reports. All that added to the mountain of duties, plus town council meetings and court dates. She spent any spare time left in the day learning all she could about East patrol and the officers assigned there.
    Every one of them was a good, solid cop, all except Stella Wells. Like a fly, she never lit in one spot long enough to access her value. She’d been given several reprimands for being late and also insubordination.
    In an attempt to find a fatal flaw in the woman’s character, Carmen read Stella’s file several more times.
    She leaned back in the new, padded chair pilfered from an empty office and thought over her burning quest to dislike and drum Patrolman Wells out of the department.
    Why the hell are you so jealous of her? You’re the one that kicked Genonese loose. You screwed up again
.
    She jumped with surprise at a noisy rapping on her door. “Yes. Come in.”
    “Hey, Captain.” Detective Bill Gentry stood tall and