Free All of Me by Gina Sorelle Page A

my
supervisor, a childhood friend, and – oh, yeah – gay .”
    When he didn’t so much as
blink, Stella lifted her hands, sloshing wine on the table.  “So, are we done
here?  You can go back and tell your buddy you did your best, but I’m not
interested, okay?  I know he’s probably not used to hearing that, but too bad.
And tell him I’m not his type anyway.  Trust me .” 
    She opened the sliding door and
reentered the house.  Stella was furious to feel the sting of tears in the
backs of her eyelids.
    What the hell? What, is it
PMS time already?
    But she knew that wasn’t it and
it terrified her.  Unbeknownst to Officer Drazek, this had been a test
and Stella had failed.  Miserably.  It had proved she was as ignorant and weak
as ever.  No lessons learned, apparently.
    She walked straight to the
front door and opened it.  When Officer Drazek paused in her living room, still
looking at her with those deep, sad eyes, Stella almost screamed. 
    Instead, she put a hand on hip
and gestured out the door.  “Have a good night, officer.  Thanks for stopping
by.”
    Without another word, Officer
Drazek crossed her living room and walked out.  Stella slammed the door, triple
bolted it, and burst into tears.
     
    Chapter
Eight
     
    “You fine, O.D. 
You know that right?  You like a tall, tall glass of fine wine.  Why don’t you
come over here and let DeeDee show you some lovin’ like you never had before?” 
One of Cleveland’s most prolific streetwalkers, Diamond DeeDee, blew Nathan a
kiss before turning around and giving her barely covered, rather large backside
a slap. 
    “Thanks for
offering, DeeDee, but I’m not looking to fall in love tonight,” Nathan called
back.  “You being careful out there?”
    She nodded,
dislodging her long, ratty blonde wig a bit.  After a minor adjustment, she
plumped her breasts and tugged up her hemline, revealing a pistol.  “You know
DeeDee always packing.”
    “That registered?”
    DeeDee busted out
laughing.  “For sure, O.D., for sure.  You know me: law abiding and all that
shit.”
    “Don’t make me
arrest you tonight, DeeDee.  Stay out of trouble, okay?  And be safe.”
    DeeDee blew him
another kiss and sauntered down West Lafayette, the streetlights bouncing off
her silver sequined dress.
    “I’m gonna be
really pissed if she shoots someone tonight,” Nathan said more to himself than
to Danny.
    Danny scoffed.
    “What’s your
problem?”
    “If only the world
knew what a softy Officer Drazek really was.  No one would believe a cop with a
mug like that would be sending hookers off with his blessing to ply their trade
packing illegal heat.  Why?  Because ‘a tear or two’ll get you through with
O.D’…isn’t what every meth mom, Lady of Night, and hell-raising female on our
beat always says?”
    “I hate seeing
women cry.  You know it makes me crazy.  And putting people like that in jail
isn’t going to do anything but make their shitty lives even shittier.  There
are plenty of dangerous assholes to lock up…no need to pack the jails full of
homeless people, junkies, and hookers.”  Nathan shot him a look.  “And I didn’t
see you arresting her either.”
    Danny lifted his
hands.  “Hey, I agree with you.  I’m just saying people think you’re all bad
ass.  They always have, back to when we were in the system together.  I think
it’s hilarious, that’s all.”
    Nathan shrugged. 
“People always think the quiet, serious guy is a bad ass.”
    “Although the
severe beatdowns you handed out over the years have something to do with it, I
guess,” Danny said.  “More than a few broken noses and ribs and black eyes
walking around courtesy of Mr. Quiet and Serious.”
    “I hit people who
deserved it.  And I made sure people who didn’t deserve it didn’t get hit. 
Simple as that.”
    “Sounds like a
perfect police officer credo to me!”  Danny laughed.  “Hey, kept my skinny
Irish ass safe for a lot of