Chapter 1

Vice

Strutting her stuff, the young, petite honey blond woman moved along the dimly lit sidewalk. Clad in a mini skirt, bustier, stilettos, she moved with ease. She shivered slightly beneath the boa that was wrapped loosely around her neck and shoulders, as she leaned into the window of a silver 1968 Corvette.

She cracked her gum as she spoke. "Yeah, wad-ya want?"

The 40 something, silver haired man smiled when he caught sight of 'the goods'. "How about a date?"

She smiled. Opening the door, she slid onto the soft black leather seat. He reached for her knee. She pushed his hand away. "I don't do it in cars. I use the Mid-Town Motel, it's a few blocks down that way." He pulled away from the curb, heading in the direction she pointed. They began talking about prices, as they moved through traffic. The man spotted the motel sign and turned the corner. From no where, a cruiser pulled in front of him with it's lights flashing and another right behind him.

The young woman smiled opening her car door getting out. The man began slamming his hands against his steering wheel, as the officer tapped on the window. Opening his door, the officer jerked him out of his car. Eames quickly she moved towards a cruiser. The lead officer, Dwight, gave Eames a side look, as she sat down next to him inside. "Let's call it a night. We got five tonight, and paper work to keep us busy until quitting time."

Eames nodded. "I'm about to freeze my..." There was a light tap on her window. She looked up. Joe, her current boyfriend, was holding a khaki jacket. She opened the door and stepped out of the cruiser.

He held it up for her to put on. "You know, you can afford a little more decent jacket now."

Eames smiled. "This one has served it's purpose all these years. I like it. Why change?" She viewed her reflection in the window of the cruiser. The jacket had faded a little since she first acquired it. The name tag was no longer legible, and it was still ridiculously big on her small figure. There were some additional grease stains on the front from her days of working on cars with her brothers and dad. More repaired tears, though, not as neatly as the repairs it's previous owner had done. She touched one of the early repairs on the collar, and smiled, thinking back to that day at the shop.

Joe leaned down. "A penny for your thoughts?"

Eames shook her head. "This jacket is just perfect."

With that, she took her seat next to Dwight. Shutting her door, Joe grinned, watching the cruiser head towards downtown. There is no telling what is going through that pretty little head of hers.