Free Fall Into Me by Linda Winfree

his radio as it squawked with a transmission between Steve Monroe and dispatch. “Why?”
    “Just wondering.” Chris shrugged and Troy Lee got the impression the K-9 officer was sizing him up behind the dark lenses. “You know, if that was awkward, with her and Cookie’s past.”
    A one-night stand, Angel had called it. Was that a “past”? Besides, Cookie was completely wrapped up in Tori Calvert, so Troy Lee didn’t really see him as either competition or an issue where Angel was concerned. Somehow he doubted she’d been thinking of his commanding officer either when he’d kissed her the night before. He could still taste her, feel her fingers buried in his hair, hear the breathless quality of her voice.
    Keeping his hands off her while they watched a movie this evening was going to be a bitch.
    “Earth to Troy Lee.” Chris waved.
    Troy Lee blinked at him. “What?”
    “I asked if it was awkward.”
    Probably not as awkward as Chris being the center of recent speculation around the department about his sexuality, although he seemed to take it in stride, had even made offhand jokes about it during their morning runs. Troy Lee shrugged. “No. It’s not awkward.”
    Chris nodded. “Good.”
    Troy Lee twisted his arm to check his watch. Forty-five minutes. One more circle through town, checking the ins and outs, and he was done. Another two hours after that—time for a shower, maybe a run and to pick up DVDs from Video Central—and he could show up on Angel’s doorstep. He gunned the motor and reached for the gearshift. “I’m outta here. Gonna make one more round before I sign off.”
    “Yeah, me too.” Chris started his unit. “Later.”
    He was mere minutes away, a mile or two from town, when dispatch requested available units to respond to a disturbance at the strip mall that held the video store, a sandwich shop and an insurance office. He waited ten seconds, hoping despite his earlier desire for something to do that Chris would pick this one up. It just sounded like the kind of call that would end up making him late for his date with Angel. No reply was forthcoming from Chris and he reached for the mike with a muttered oath.
    “10-4, Chandler, C-13 en route.”
    He pressed harder on the accelerator, the police package responding with a low growl and a spurt of speed and power. Less than three minutes later, he pulled into the parking lot. His stomach clenched on a wave of dread and adrenaline as he spotted the ancient blue Ford parked sideways across the parking spots at the front of the video store. Oh fuck, the Stinsons. Just what he needed. Jed Stinson was a mean drunk and always wanted to do everything the hard way. Having his wife leave him and get a restraining order only made him madder and meaner.
    Damn it, Troy Lee had known this was coming, ever since Maggie had taken the job working the register at the video place. Once Jed found out how to contact her, it wasn’t like the son of a bitch would leave her alone.
    Troy Lee cruised to a halt just beyond the tail of Jed’s truck, called in his arrival and, as an afterthought, asked dispatch to phone Tori Calvert, who’d been walking Maggie through the delicate, dangerous process of separating herself from the abusive relationship. With a request for backup, he settled his hat on his head and exited the car.
    “Mr. Stinson.” He nodded at the whipcord-lean man lounging against the hood of the Ford, arms crossed over his chest. Through the store’s front glass, Troy Lee glimpsed Maggie’s pale, frightened face, phone pressed to her ear. He motioned toward his unit. “Step over here with me a minute.”
    With one last malevolent glare at the front of the store, Jed complied, although his body language remained fidgety and angry. Troy Lee examined him—bloodshot eyes, wrinkled clothes, unshaven jaw. The untucked shirt offered concealment of a weapon, and Troy Lee knew from experience the man carried a hunting knife. “How much have you