Curved Blue Lines - Episode 1: A Policewoman’s Tale Read online

  I kissed her, just a brush on the cheek, moved her away and jumped down. Grabbed fresh towels to clean myself. She stayed on her knees, shaking her head. The next couple of minutes was when reality hit them.

  I needed to make the ground rules crystal.

  “Here’s a card with an address on it. You are to go there every day for the next two weeks at 6:00pm. Come at 6:02 and the deal is off. Skip a day and the deal is off. Get the sniffles and you don’t feel up to coming over, well I guess you can nurse your cold in county. Are we clear?”

  The address was a huge mansion vice had given us on loan. Used to be a kingpin’s hideout, and had plenty of room to suit Nina and my needs.

  Carmela’s eyes were wide, a trembling finger traced the edges of the card. She swallowed, palming it. “And, at the end of two weeks?”

  “Then your debt is paid.” I shrugged, unraveling a few strands of torn blonde hair from my fingers. “Fines will be cleared, though you may have to pay a small processing fee.”

  She nodded hopefully. “Okay. I can do this.”

  I stepped closer, until my uniform grazed her face. She was too slow to move, and instead chose to hold her ground, straining to look up at me with her neck twisted at a hard angle.

  Nice. I liked that view.

  “Let me impress on you the seriousness of this agreement. During this trial period if you break any other laws - if you so much as litter, two weeks will be added to your sentence. And I will have to use my belt for something other than it’s government sanctioned use.”

  “What?” She blinked and shifted, trying to look imposing on her knees in the middle of a restaurant’s bathroom floor - my cunt juices all over her face. “Are you implying you will strike me with your belt? Absolutely not.”

  “I’m telling you I will tan your ass until it glows like the stoplights you’ve been running.”

  Her mouth opened. Closed. I fixed her with my stare until she looked down and nodded.

  That settled, I moved back to the counter, slipping on my belt. Watched her in the mirror. “You are a menace, Carmela. Your speeding is dangerous. Your disregard for traffic laws is dangerous. Fines alone will not cure you from these reckless habits.”

  I turned, smoothing my hair back, straightening my uniform. “But, I will.”

  “See you tomorrow at 6pm sharp, Carmela.” I unlocked the door, leaving her kneeling on the bathroom floor.

  ~~~

  The morning was chilly but had the promise of sunshine. Nina and I were patrolling a relatively sketchy area and I shifted, having trouble keeping the anticipation of tonight from intruding on my thoughts.

  Nina paused at a stop sign, shooting a smirk at me. “Ants in your pants?”

  “Shut it. Over there, is that Willie?”

  Nina squinted and shook her head. “I didn’t get a good look at him before he ducked around the corner. It could’ve been.” She glanced at me. “You going to need Wonder Willie for this case?”

  I shrugged. “He owes me a favor.” Almost everyone in this neighborhood owes us favors; we were one of the few teams that didn’t bust for petty crimes. Instead, we saved our efforts for the big ones, the ones who made the life of everyone who lived near them miserable. Our faces and small stature made it easy for people to underestimate us and we let them. Right until the fucking metal bars closed on their surprised faces.

  Fuckers deserved it.

  “Never mind Willie - I’ll catch him later.”

  A car sped past us and pulled into the cracked driveway of a seemingly abandoned house on the corner. Three women stepped out of a little white Miata, and I nearly whistled through my teeth. They were gorgeous, out of place, but absolutely stunning. Well, the one wearing overalls didn’t seemed concerned about the neighborhood, the way she walked, surveying her surroundings, catching my eye and holding it, told me she was more than what she seemed.

  I began typing their tags into the computer and Nina grabbed my hand, wide-eyed.

  “Tessa, what the hell are you doing?”

  “What?” I’ve never seen her so spooked, and I started looking around to see if someone was coming to ambush us.

  “You don’t see that fucking black stone hanging in the window? They’re Onyx Mafia - we don’t fuck with them. Orders from way the fuck high up.”

  I gave a sigh of regret, one last glance at the women disappearing into the rundown house. Would’ve been nice to know what they’re up to.

  Oh well.

  “You want to check on the work crew?” The work crew is what we call the men and women who have ‘paid’ their dues, and are now in a probationary period. We’ve fucked them straight, but periodically we like to drop in to catch any signs of backsliding.

  Nina smile grew and she hit a exceptionally illegal U-turn. “Yeah. It’s been a few days, hasn’t it? Let’s do that.”

  One of them worked at an upscale bakery a few miles down, in the heart of the shopping district. She was old money rich, the bakery a gift from daddy and now a hobby of hers. Twelve dollars for a fucking scone seemed like pretty ridiculous prices for a hobby, but I was obviously not her intended clientele.

  She saw us and turned red, panties nearly dropping at the sight of us. Nina pretended not to notice the snooty glances as she walked past the waiting line of posturing fashion models to greet her.

  “Audrey. How are you?” Nina glanced behind her at the line of murmuring people, catching all of their eyes at once. “Do you mind, it will only be a moment?” Even plain-clothed Nina can turn on the charm, making the most entitled rich person suddenly okay with waiting their fucking turn. And by ‘turn on the charm’, I mean they hold their tongue and convince themselves it was their own idea to shut the fuck up. Because they wanted to.

  That’s my Nina.

  The murmuring cut silent. Audrey pulled out one of Nina’s favorite pastries from the display counter and handed it to her, blushing when their fingers touched. I restrained from rolling my eyes and surveyed the premises, finding an empty table near the window.

  Audrey was nice - black hair and deep blue eyes, on the curvy side, which I liked. But I also liked a little give and take with my cases, and the ones who couldn’t bring themselves to push back a bit landed in Nina’s demanding lap. And vice-versa.

  After she was caught shoplifting for the tenth time or maybe twelfth time, Audrey began escalating - scamming neighbors out of their valuables, lifting credit, cards fraud… all while continuing to blow off her court dates, and mandated therapy sessions. She thought she was going to get off easy because of her family and outright told her old caseworker to fuck himself. Brass grew tired of her shit and sicced Nina on her.

  Now, she’s tame as a lapdog, content with selling overpriced doughnuts to her fellow rich people, getting her thrills at night in our rigorous re-education program.

  I glanced outside and did a double-take. Was that my new case parking outside the establishment across from us? The yellow Porsche slid in, parallel parking and cutting off someone waiting to back into the space. Carmela stepped out, gorgeous and breezy, pointedly ignoring the driver whose spot she just stolen. She also pointedly ignored the parking meter, brushing by it without a glance as she headed into the crowded coffee shop.

  Mother. Fucker.

  A coded glance at Nina letting her know I would be outside and I headed to the car. People were edging out of my way as I crossed the street. One guy going so far as to step back onto the sidewalk and scurry his ass to the crosswalk at the end of the block.

  My jaw clenched when I saw her meter - not one fucking minute on it.

  I was leaning against her car when she came out, my arms crossed and sunglasses on.

  She dropped her coffee, the cup bursting on the ground, brown liquid flowing almost to my boot. I shifted, lowering my glasses enough to see her over them. For her to see me.

  She took two steps back, bumping into a pedestrian and nearly knocking him over.

  “Say, Excuse me.”

&n
bsp; Her confused blink infuriated me. This one needed lessons.

  I let my face reflect the extent of my pissedoffedness and she hurriedly turned, touching the older gentleman’s arm. “I am so sorry. Excuse me.”

  He nodded and I was on her before she turned around, inches from her face. Her pulse jumping when she saw me.

  “Littering. Neglecting to pay the meter. Aggressive driving. And your fucking car is parked two fucking feet from the curb.”

  She stared at me, and I pushed my glasses back to my face. “Ma’am, how many violations did I list?”

  “Four, uh, Officer.”

  I nodded, lowering my voice. “And how many weeks does that add to your sentence, Carmela?”

  She paled, lips forming a silent ‘oh’. Shook her head, stepping away from me.

  “One more step, and you are in the back of my squad car, preparing to spend the night on the government’s dime.”

  One legged birds have bigger strides than the steps she took. But she regained her previous position under my steady glare.

  “I asked you a question Ms. Carter.”

  “Four violations… “ she looked away. Looked down. “Eight weeks, Officer.”

  I nodded, breathing hard through my nose. “These are not going to be an easy ten weeks for you Carmela. In fact, I will make it my explicit fucking mission to ensure life altering difficulty.”

  She said nothing and I nodded again, whipping out my book to write her four tickets. Placed them in her trembling hands.

  “Pay the fucking fines, Carmela. I want the receipts when I see you tonight.”

  ~~~~~

  She was on time, barely - the car screeching to a halt in front of the circular driveway, Carmela literally flinging herself out the car, rushing up the steps.

  That was more like it.

  I took my time answering the door, hurried knocks getting more frantic as the clock ticked past six. When I opened it she was flustered, chest heaving, immaculate hair not so immaculate anymore.

  “There was traffic, but I’m on time.”

  My face was hard. “Of course you are on time. It is expected you will arrive on time. To do otherwise is to have erroneous expectations that I will indulge you.”

  I held her gaze. “You, Ms. Carter, will indulge me.”

  She flinched, then plastered on a big fake smile, trying to be friends. Trying to charm. She touched my arm as if she’d rehearsed it in the car.

  “Thank you for inviting me.” Her smile grew bigger and faker as I stared stones at her. “The address wasn’t on GPS, I had to rely on street signs.”

  It’s a big fucking house in the middle of nowhere. One road. She wasn’t getting brownie points for finding the place.

  I motioned her inside; letting her marvel at the size of the room, get it over with.

  She was nervously babbling about a second cousin or something that owned a house this big and I ignored her, leading her to the coatroom.

  “Alright, listen closely.” There was a wall mounted with labeled Tupperware containers, about six of them full.

  “You will arrive here every day, on time. When you do you are to place any clothing, jewelry, etc in the container with your name on it. Any and all clothing, Carmela.”

  She looked at me, back to the containers.

  I widened my stance. “Now, Carter.”

  She nodded, fingers on her blouse, hesitating.

  “If you are uneasy, please be aware none of this will be comfortable. In fact, if you are uncomfortable then I am fucking pleased because it is my primary job to make you uncomfortable as fuck.”

  Her eyes could reflect the fucking moon as wide as they were.

  I tapped my foot. “You have 30 fucking seconds Carter.”

  Her fingers flew, unbuttoning her blouse, unzipping designer slacks. Her underwear was lace and silk and went into the bin with the rest of it.

  She stood there naked and still. Expecting me to ravish her right there. Secretly wanting me to.

  She was hot, I admit. Great figure and full, fuckable mouth. She caught my look and smiled, lips parting as she raised her mouth to be kissed. I shook my head and turned. It won’t be that easy for you, Carter.

  I led her naked ass past the entryway, up one of the grand staircases. “After you have removed all outside items you will walk directly to your assigned room. You are not to explore. You are not to look for anyone. You will go to your room and you will wait.”

  We past three doors, last names engraved in silver plates on them. Her door was the fourth and I stopped next to it. “Touch it.”

  She looked like she was in a trance, realized I had given her a command and shivered. “Pardon?”

  “Touch the plaque, Carmela.”

  She did, fingers trembling as she traced the outlines of her name.

  “Here, you still have a name. In prison you have a number. Do you understand?”

  She balked, laughing as she raised her hand, smoothing the tangles of her hair. “Prison? For traffic fines?”

  I stepped closer, the badge on my uniform grazing her breast. “I’ve been checking into your activities, Carter. Traffic laws are not the only ones you’ve been violating.”

  A step back and she shook her head.

  “Embezzlement. Charges of corruption.”

  There was fear, real fear in her eyes for the first time.

  “No, it wasn’t me. They wanted me to take the fall for my boss but when he died… “ She shuddered, “The prosecutor said all the files were closed, that I wouldn’t have to face charges if I cooperated.”

  I shrugged. “I know nothing about that, Carmela. Nothing at all.”

  She stared at the door. The door to her new, obedient, law abiding life. “Open the door, Carmela.”

  She did and I nudged her in. “Kneel.”

  She was studying the decor, the fresh flowers and artwork. “What?”

  “The decorations are not for you, they are for the people who will train you. In this room, unless specifically told otherwise, you will kneel.” I smiled at her expression - she has no idea how much fun she will have on her fucking knees.

  “Standing will bring punishment.”

  Speaking of punishment. I began unbuckling my belt as she lowered to the ground, her look of disbelief almost comical.

  “You have ten lashes coming to you - do you want to be held down or will you be able to control yourself and stay still?” I tilted her head up. “I won’t hold it against you if you need to be restrained the first time.”

  She shook her head. “Please. Can I do something else? I’ll,” she lowered her voice, “I’ll do anything Officer.”

  My shoulder lifted and I took out my handcuffs. “Lay across the bed.”

  A tremble went up and down her body, even her eyelids flickering. I’d bet a nickel she was soaking wet.

  “You did agree to this, Carmela.” The cuff glinted in the light and it caught her eye. Her lips parted and she leaned into. I almost laughed - I’d knew this one would be into it. Knew it the moment I saw her hide behind that romance book, the woman tied up and hanging from a muscled farmhand’s shoulder.

  I handed her one pair of cuffs and pointed to the specially installed rails on the bed. “Make sure it’s nice and snug.”

  A couple of tries and the click sounded. I nodded approvingly, removing my belt. “Good girl.”

  Carmela’s Story

  Oh God! How did I get here?

  Panic ripped through me and I pulled at the handcuff, yanking, jabbing hard, and crying out at the hot pain shooting up my arm as my wrist bent in the handcuffs.

  “Please, Officer…” I didn’t even know her first name! This woman who was wrapping a thick leather belt around her hand, moments away from abusing me.

  I needed to get out. How do I get out of this? I can talk my way out of anything, whether or not I deserved it¸ but this woman’s icy stare sent shivers up me.

  Why didn’t I leave when I had the chance? She said I wan
ted it, that I craved it and her. She had to be wrong…

  “Spread your other arm out, Carmela.”

  Another round of shame rolled through me as I whimpered, spreading my arm out. How could I be attracted to this person. Attracted enough to let her do this to me. Yes she was gorgeous and cold, unattainable - everything I pretended to be at work, but she wasn’t my type. She certainly wasn’t at my level - probably hadn’t even been to college. Besides, I like big muscled men, like the ones in my favorite novels. And this woman had the nerve to…