Free To Protect and Serve by Pat Adeff

going to ruin his life, if he’s prosecuted as an adult?”  Kate was always able to cut to the chase.
                  “Probably.  It all depends on how hard the DA presses.”  Doug made eye contact with all four of the kids.
                  “Is there anything we can do?”  Christy was the one who took in every stray dog, cat, or fellow student needing help.  Nancy found a
     
    different young person sitting at her Sunday dinner table almost every week.
                  “I think he deserves everything he gets!”  Joey was hard-nosed about a lot of things, and this appeared to be another one.  Kate pushed his shoulder.
                  “Joey!  Have some compassion.  He’s younger than you!  And it sure doesn’t sound as if his parents care at all.”
                  Joey shoved his hands into his pockets and looked sullen.
                  Nancy figured that Kate would end the relationship this weekend if not sooner.  Kate didn’t tolerate inhumanity very well.
                  “Thank you for coming by.  I know that you’re probably really busy and all.”  Nancy stood and waited for the officer to head for the front door.
                  Doug grabbed the coffee cup, tilted his head back and drained it.  Nancy hadn’t noticed a man’s throat in a while.  Officer Saunders had a very nice throat, and neck, and shoulders…
                  Nancy started when Doug spoke again.
                  “Thank you for the coffee, Ms. Adams.”  He handed her the empty cup.
                  Nancy smiled at the fact that he’d emphasized the ‘Ms.’
                  As Doug walked out through the front door, he turned back to Nancy who had her hand on the doorknob.
                  “You ARE good in the kitchen.”  With that he winked, put on his sunglasses, smiled and walked out to the police unit parked at the end of Nancy’s driveway.  She could hear him say something into his lapel mike and the static reply.
                  Nancy stood there watching him until the black and white unit pulled into the street.  As he drove away, Doug waved.
                  Nancy smiled and waved back.
                  “Nice view!”
                  Nancy turned to see both Kate and Christy crowded behind her, smirking at her.
                  She shut the door, opened her mouth a couple of times, couldn’t think of anything to say, turned and walked into the kitchen to clean up.  Behind her she could hear the girls giggling.
                  “He’s cute!  Old, but cute.”  Kate followed Nancy into the kitchen and pulled a bowl out of the cupboard and filled it with cereal and milk.
                  “Better than that!  He thinks Mom’s cute, too!”  Christy chimed in while she joined Kate at the dining table for cereal.
                  “Who thinks Mom’s cute?”  Jackson entered and took the chair next to Christy helping himself to the cereal and milk.  Christy got up and got another bowl and spoon for herself while smiling at Jackson.
                  “I’m hungry, too.”  Joey exclaimed after following Jackson into the kitchen.
                  Kate appeared to be very busy with her cereal and Joey had to fend for himself.  Christy took pity on him and handed him a bowl and spoon.
                  Nancy found it disconcerting to be spoken of as though she wasn’t present, but she continued to do the dishes.  She found herself smiling while she thought of the way Doug had winked at her.  It had been a VERY long time since a male had winked at her!  In fact, she couldn’t recall Jonathan ever winking at her.  Yet here was a really good-looking guy winking and grinning at her.  It made HER grin just thinking