Author's Note: Hi, I'm back with Chapter Four. First off, a big shout-out to skyefire for her reviews (although brief.) I wish there were more people on this site who are reading and even taking an interest, but it seems that there are only me and her (as well as a few non-members) who remember this cartoon. I would've posted the site here, but it didn't show up on the editing space in the Document Manager! Those readers who don't have it will have to e-mail me for it. There's a wealth of information, audio and video on the site. Educate yourselves on this awesome masterpiece of a cartoon.

Yeah, so I know the opening scene may sound meaningless and veering away from the central plot, but I felt it was important for you readers to see the "professional career" side of Valerie Boston. If you feel, however, that this is unnecessary, or if there are some things in the opening scene that need to be changed, please leave suggestions in your review.

Also, I'm going to need something for research in future chapters. In the C.O.P.S. cartoon serial, there is an episode called "The Case of Mace's Romance," where Mace apparently has a romance with the jewel thief of Big Boss' cohorts, Nightshade. I've never seen this episode, it's not available on the fansite, and I've had considerable trouble trying to download it on Kazaa Lite. If any of you readers know anything detailed about this episode, or have it downloaded on your computer, please e-mail me (it's in my bio) with the info and/or video clip. I've read some things about this, and I thought it'd be perfect to work into my story.

And one more thing. I got a little bit confused with some of the family names of some of the C.O.P.S., specifically Barricade and Bullseye, and perhaps Mace. For example, on the Internet Movie Database site, Barricade is known as Stanley Hide, and Bullseye is known as Hugh Forward. However, on sites like "80s Cartoons Central" and the moved "Yesterdayland," Barricade is Stanley Bach, whereas Bullseye's real name is not revealed. GeoCities' "Cartoon Resource" site confirmed Barricade's last name as Bach, too but Bullseye's last name there is Sikorsky. The C.O.P.S. fansite confirms Barricade as Stanley Bach, and Bullseye as Hugh Forward. Though Sundown's real name is not mentioned in any of the cast lists on any cartoon site advertising this show, I read a comment on this site, Retro Junk, that his real name is Walker Calhoon (though it's "Calhoun" according to my spelling check; I'll have to leave a comment with this correction.) What the heck is going on here? If anyone has the confirmed correct information on this matter, please leave it in your review or e-mail me. I feel that we, as fans of the show, may have to e-mail some corrections to some sources. Also, I feel I may have to do some name changing this chapter at the displeasure of this site.

Anyway, that's all I have to get off my chest. Read, review and enjoy.

Chapter 4

During a meeting with Evie Cosmetics and Beauty Products – one of Lancer and Sussex's best clients – the following Monday morning, Valerie was discussing a display of magazine advertisements for a new perfume called Season's Passions, which she created with Michelle Hartman and Margo Kellogg. Each consisted of a romantic couple dressed for, and in the outdoor setting of, each of the four seasons. Each male model was sniffing the woman's neck, where she was wearing the perfume. All the pictures were drawn and colored to give a "romance novel" feel. Each ad had the slogan, "Now get passionate about…" followed by the season matching the picture.

Valerie came up with the idea herself. It was her first project while working in Empire City, and she spent the whole first week on it. She described each ad with a feeling of pride. She liked the spring and summer advertisements best, because of the water imagery and the shirtless male models. She knew the clients would approve of those easily; nothing sold beauty like romantic sexual passions. She was now describing the autumn advertisement, the last one in the display.

"Here, we have the autumn lovers standing up to their ankles in red, orange, yellow and gold leaves," she explained. "Around them, more leaves continue to fall, and we see some trees that are showing bare branches in the background. Now, with the weather cooler, I've dressed the man in a blue long-sleeved work shirt, unbuttoned to the stomach to enhance the sexiness, and brown jeans. The woman is wearing a long-sleeve blouse and a navy skirt with twelve yards of billowing fabric, reminiscent of what Southern belles wore during the Confederate Era. But notice among the trees, the leaves, and the lovers, is the gray overcast sky. Now, as we all know, gray overcasts in the autumn means the weather is definitely getting cooler, and may even signify the first snowfall. This, combined with the clothing, gives off the illusion of the crisp scent that the autumn perfume provides."

Before she could ask if there were any questions, Helen Neale Quinette, president of Evie Cosmetics, and several of her associates from marketing, started talking. They were indulged in the paper copies of the ads. They were saying things about women still loving romance novels, and how the pictures looked less trashy than what people are used to seeing. Valerie, Michelle and Margo were leaning forward to listen to their comments.

Their boss, Chris Lancer, looked at Valerie with approval. She had been preparing to give the conclusion of her presentation, but Mr. Lancer's expression told her to end it now. It looked as if they were going to approve without it.

"So, what do you ladies think?" he grinned.

"In our professional opinion," Quinette began, "the advertisements themed around the seasons will be enough to capture the consumer's eye. Seeing these lovers in passion, complete with these attractive and appropriate fashions, will have our consumers fall into romantic fantasy, and indulge them into the product. It seems as if Ms. Boston, Ms. Hartman and Ms. Kellogg have captured the theme of the perfume very well."

The clients stood up and shook hands with Mr. Lancer, Valerie and her team. "We will take these back to our corporation, and have a vote among our staff. Thank you, Mr. Lancer. Thank you, ladies. We will give you a call back at the end of the day with our final answer." The clients left and the meeting was concluded.

Mr. Lancer went up to Valerie and smiled. "Excellent effort, Valerie," he said. "I can see why they transferred you here. You should be commended for your first assignment."

"Thank you, sir," she replied.

Back in Valerie's office, she, Michelle and Margo were talking about the display, set up in front of her desk. She was pointing out some interesting things about it. Valerie was especially interested in the man they drew for the summer ad.

"How did you come up with giving that guy a military style crew-cut, a thick moustache, and a shitload of hair on his chest?" she asked Michelle. "I swear, those marketing girls were drooling all over it as I explained that summer ad."

"It was part of your goal, silly," Michelle laughed. "Sex appeal without all the trash. I thought a hairy, yet clean look would eliminate all the clichés I've seen on most of the romantic trash they sell."

Valerie was studying all the men in the ads. "You know, I'm just thinking aloud," she said, "but those male models actually look like some men that I just met last weekend." She concentrated on the summer man. His facial features and body mass reminded her of Sundown, with a little bit of Mace thrown in. She thought, Sundown would probably look like that if he'd joined the military instead of the police force. Both the spring and autumn models looked like Hardtop to her, with their light brown hair and boyish-looking faces. Except the autumn man would resemble him more if Hardtop had aged ten years. She couldn't really tell with the winter model, however. He was wearing what looked like Sundown's cowboy hat. She studied his face. It looked like he had Longarm's chin, lips and blue eyes, and Blackbelt's nose, cheeks and black brows. She wanted to show this to Cindy and Elise come lunchtime.

Underneath the "corporate dynamo" exterior, Valerie knew she wanted some of the male C.O.P.S.. She thought back to the picnic. Mace, Sundown and Barricade looked expressively gorgeous to her; why else would she give them Rhonda's number, other than because they asked for it? Hardtop was cute, but a bit young for her – at least five years her junior, she guessed. She never could see herself in love with a younger man. She never understood the dating trend of older women and younger men, anyway. Still, she'd give him a chance, then if she didn't want another date because of the age matter, she'd tell him. Bulletproof had to be in his late forties – a bit too old for her. Besides, based on what Elise told her, it seemed he would love his police work more than her. Plus, what if her family didn't approve of an interracial romance? As for Highway, Bowzer and Bullseye, again, cute but not as visually appealing as the men she gave her number to. Maybe if they acted romantic and sexy when and if they called her…

Her biggest question was, how would they all treat Jeremy? That would be her decision factor.

Suddenly, she saw Margo standing in front of her, snapping her fingers. Margo said, "Are you okay, Valerie? You were off in your own world for a while there. You're not usually like this during working hours."

"Perhaps somebody in this office is in love?" Michelle suggested, grinning.

"Come on," Valerie sneered. "I'm a professional career woman. Even if I were in love, I wouldn't be discussing it with others on company time."

Suddenly, they heard a perky voice say, "Did I hear somebody say something about being in love?" They saw Teresa Laird, the chief secretary, walk into her office, paper-clipped sheets in hand. Everyone at the agency knew she was the worst gossip, including Valerie – when she got to know her. If she overheard people mentioning love, she'd tell them unsolicited stories and advice on the subject.

Valerie sighed harshly. "Especially not to certain parties who shall remain nameless." She glared at Teresa. "Teresa, when will you learn to knock before you enter?"

Instead of answering, Teresa said, "Girls, you know how Oscar Lombard from accounting just got back from his honeymoon with his new wife, Annette, in Florida last week? Well, he was going through his honeymoon pictures yesterday, and you won't believe what he found."

"Like we even care right now," Valerie mused.

Teresa ignored her and said, "A vertical eight-by eleven photo of the new Missus and about ten shirtless firefighters. You see, she made some friends with some party girls in her age group the first day of the honeymoon. Lo and behold, there was a firefighter calendar competition going on at some hot-spot the first weekend they were there. Oscar never told me much about what went on there, but from the way he went on, Annette must have had one hell of a time."

Valerie rolled her eyes and rubbed her stomach, convincing herself she was going to be sick. Teresa never came to her with anything interesting, just stories about who was dating whom, relationship breakups, and who was sleeping with whom. So far, Valerie had worked very hard to be accepted in Empire City, just as hard as she did back in Parrish. She hated Teresa bothering her with non-work-related news during company time.

Teresa had gotten to the part where Annette was, "proudly displaying her new catches on their mantle," when Valerie slammed on her desk.

"Jesus, Teresa!" she screamed. "Look, I don't mean to get uptight, but could this not wait until lunch?"

"Well, I tried calling you, Val, but your sister said you were busy," Teresa said.

"I was working on my speech for Evie about those ads that we all did!" Valerie focused on the papers in Teresa's hand. "And speaking of which, is that the new assignment from Mr. Sussex for me?"

"It is." Teresa adjusted her wire-thin glasses and smoothed back her long brunette hair. "Pretty and Plump, the plus-size boutique, wants a commercial advertising their new summer line, ASAP. You may want to run this by the video guys."

Valerie examined the hair as she turned to walk out. If she wore that hair in a bun, she thought, she'd be even more of a bitch than she is right now. She always thought that whenever she had to listen to her meaningless gossip.

When she was gone, Michelle said to Valerie, "Don't worry, I wasn't listening much, either."

"Effective secretary, my ass," Margo agreed. "The bosses ought to give her more work. No wonder Cindy and Elise keep complaining."

Meanwhile, at C.O.P.S. headquarters, Mace, Sundown and Barricade were sitting at their desks, lost in their daydreams. Ever since they saw Valerie at the police picnic two days earlier, they couldn't stop thinking of her. Neither did the other male C.O.P.S., except for Longarm, Blackbelt and Bulletproof, but at least they were trying to keep focused on a case.

Apparently, there was a conspiracy of teenagers and pre-teens mysteriously going from model to wild in instances, in a "Jekyll and Hyde" kind of way. Anonymous tips stated that a mysterious stranger had been giving school office staff copies of an audio cassette tape to play over their loudspeakers. On them was a cackling "mad scientist" voice hypnotizing the kids to leave school to go commit robberies, and to worship the C.O.P.S.' arch nemesis, the Big Boss. They had already suspected Big Boss' mad scientist henchman, Dr. Badvibes, to be the voice. But who was giving them the audio tapes?

Bulletproof and Blackbelt walked up to the three daydreamers. Blackbelt took a manila folder full of documents from Bulletproof, and slammed it on Sundown's desk.

"Rise and shine, sleepyheads," they yelled loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Mace, Sundown and Barricade awoke to the FBI agent and the martial arts expert glaring at them hard. Blackbelt was shaking his head.

"Geez, you guys," he mused. "Are you still fantasizing about that woman who was picking up Tyler's new friend at the picnic Saturday?"

"Sorry, Blackbelt, Bulletproof, but we can't help it," Sundown said. "Miss Valerie is so beautiful. I swear, there's got to be holes in the floor of heaven for her to fall through, and land right here on Earth. Whatever possessed that blasted husband of hers to git rid of her?"

"Actually, Cindy said that she divorced him," Blackbelt said. "It was all about Jeremy. He was abusive and unloving towards the kid from the first moment he saw him, and criticized her discipline techniques, and she finally had enough. Or so, that's what she told me."

Barricade frowned. "Good God, that poor Jeremy," he commented. "I'll bet you I could be a better father to him than that jerk – and I don't know much about kids."

"And what would you do with the kid, Barricade?" Mace asked. "Why, I'd be taking him to the gym as often as possible, and I'd also take him back to wherever he came from to confront his dad. Abusive, was he? I'd show him how a real man hits."

Sundown laughed at him. "Listen to y'self, Mace!" he replied. "You'd take him to the gym as often as possible? How would that benefit him, Bubba Beefcake? Don't y'all remember him from the picnic? Why, when all of us got Miss Valerie's number, I noticed he looked like a string bean. And he couldn't've been any taller than four and a half feet. Standing at them tables, it looked like his head just popped up!"

At the fax machine nearby, Mirage had picked up more reports. She overheard the conversation and became annoyed. She walked up to them and said, "How can you guys just stand around and talk about that Valerie woman when were in the middle of a case?" She gave Bulletproof the first report. "This just came from Purple Mountain High School. The principal had reported about thirty kids leaving during third period, and stealing staff members' vehicles." Then, the second report. "And this just came from Cyborg Center, that about five thousand dollars worth of merchandise has been stolen. Items include computers and laptops, packages of CD's and cases, and DVD movies."

Bulletproof re-read the reports. "It must be the kids who left that school who committed the Cyborg Center robbery," he declared. "I smell another hypnotic tape." He looked at Blackbelt and Sundown. "Blackbelt, I want you to go down to the Purple Mountain High School to get information on who left and what caused them to leave. Sundown, I want you to go to the computer store and get the identities of the thieves."

"Yes, sir!" they chorused, and left the headquarters immediately.

It was two-thirty that afternoon. Valerie was discussing concept ideas for the "Pretty and Plump" commercial with Matt Lynch, from the video department when suddenly, she heard her cell phone ringing. She excused herself to answer it. "Hello?"

"Aunt Valerie?" the voice said. "This is Drew!" Her fourteen-year-old nephew, her sister Karen's son. "Listen, I'm at the Empire City General Hospital. You need to get over here right away. Big brother Sheldon's just got banged up by this group of hypnotic kids when we tried to stop another robbery."

"Sweet Jesus, Drew!" she sighed. "Why'd you two get involved in the first place?"

"Sheldon said it was another one of those goddamn tapes, telling the kids to do that Big Boss' bidding," Drew explained. "My gym class was playing tennis outside, and we saw this whole bunch of kids leaving just as we were coming in. There must have been two hundred kids. Some were walking, some were carpooling in their own cars, others were stealing anything they could find with wheels. Our principal, Mr. Knutt, recruited some people to help him put a stop to this…"

"Drew, you can explain this to me when I get there," she insisted. "Did you already call your Dad?"

"Mr. Knutt just reported Sheldon at the front desk, and the lady just got off the phone with Dad. He should be on his way here right now," he answered. "I'll see you in a few minutes, all right?"

"Yeah, of course, sure, I'll be there. Just stay there until your father arrives. See you." She hung up and said to Matt, "Listen, I just got word that my nephew's been hurt, and I have to be at the hospital. Look over those concepts, and I'll be back in an hour." She left his office. On her way out, she ran into her other boss, George Sussex. She explained the situation to him, and requested, "I must leave for a bit to visit in the hospital." Mr. Sussex, shocked by what she told him, granted the request.

Almost ten minutes later, Valerie met her brother-in-law, Bart, in the hospital parking lot. She said to him, "I just got the call from Drew. What's this I hear about tapes hypnotizing kids to leave school and steal? He said he and Sheldon were trying to stop them."

"It's the second tape that came to their school in a week," Bart explained. "Their first one was just this Thursday. Luckily, Sheldon was outside for gym class when it happened, and Drew was on a class field trip to Washington DC."

"Did you call Karen home from Brazil?"

"I did, and she's taking the first available flight. She was in so much shock and grief when I told her."

They met Drew, and the school principal, Mr. Knutt, at the reception desk. Bart looked at Mr. Knutt and asked, "Is Sheldon all right? How badly hurt is he?"

"He got beaten up repeatedly by the kids who were robbing the Brentwood Department Store at St. Charles' Place," Mr. Knutt replied. "He has a moderate head concussion, cracked ribs and bleeding gashes on some areas of his body. He's unconscious. He may have to stay here until the school year is over, and probably miss final exams."

"Didn't anybody call the police?" Valerie asked.

"I felt it was my duty as principal to control the students the best I could," Mr. Knutt said. "When I couldn't do it anymore, that's when I called in the cavalry."

Valerie looked at Drew and said, "Drew, I want you to explain something to me. You said these tapes were telling everyone to steal stuff for a Big Boss. Just who or what is this Big Boss that everyone's doing this for?"

Drew looked at her as if she'd been living in a third-world country. "You mean you don't know?" he asked

"Drew!" his father said. "We never discussed the city's crime wave when Aunt Valerie visited us in the past. And you know she just moved here."

He cleared his throat and told her, "Big Boss, as this dude prefers to be known, is the most widely-recognized crime boss here in Empire City. He's been creating problems for us ever since he first came here a few years ago. And he hires the most talented criminals from all over the country to help do his dirty work. Karen and I have seen them around, and we warned our kids not to get involved with them. Right, Drew?"

"Right, Dad." Drew answered.

"Anyway," Bart said to Valerie, "these guys have the attitudes of gangsters from the Prohibition Era, right around Capone's time. Fedoras with trench coats, big pants with suspenders, fancy suits and other fashions that went out of style. And we've overheard them talk like that, too. So did Rhonda and Richard. These goons' accents practically screamed 1920's Chicago, no pun intended. I swear, if that Big Boss didn't brag on the TV about those gadgets he uses for his deeds, I would've thought of him as an anti-tech!" He took a deep breath to keep from rambling too much. "Well, thank God there's this team of specialists, C.O.P.S., who are helping the police put an end this mess. Have you ever met any of them, Valerie?"

Before she could answer, two uniformed police officers – neither of them from Bulletproof's team – entered the hospital to ask some questions about the incident at St. Charles' Place, and Sheldon's condition.

Mr. Knutt explained, "The students who got hypnotized became violent when my recruits and I tried to intervene. Two of my recruits, Julie Jacobsen and Deangela Gregory, are in the infirmary now, being treated for minor injuries. Drew here, managed to escape unharmed. But his brother, Sheldon, has just been admitted with a head concussion. He may be in here until the start of summer vacation."

Valerie told Bart, "I have to get back to work now." He nodded and she left. She didn't want to be at the hospital anymore. She was worried about Sheldon, worried for Karen. She was picturing her sitting at the airport in Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paulo, or wherever she was in Brazil, sobbing as she begged for tickets for the next flight to Empire City. She wondered where Polly was, if she was at home, or out running errands with Jeremy. I should've asked Bart if he tried to contact Mother, she thought. He's her grandson, too, after all. She couldn't concentrate on her driving. She slammed on her brakes, noticing she almost drove through a red light.

When she returned to Lancer and Sussex, Teresa greeted her and said, "Valerie, are you okay? Mr. Sussex said you had some kind of family emergency." She had a nonchalant look, nothing that even suggested any sympathy. Typical of her, she thought.

"Yeah, my nephew got attacked while stopping an impromptu raid of students at that St. Charles' Place mall," Valerie replied. "You really wouldn't be interested."

"Well, Mr. Lancer sent me to get you," Teresa said, "and when Matt told me you'd left, I was desperate to find out where you were. You know those magazine ads you worked on for Evie? Lancer got the call, and they've been approved for distribution."

It was as if Valerie had suddenly forgotten her family emergency. "Really? Oh my God, that's wonderful! I knew Ms. Quinette would go for them!" She was feeling very good, her first assignment in Empire City a success.

"Oh, I can't wait to tell Rhonda and the others when I get home!" she cried. "I can't wait to tell Karen when she gets home! I have to tell Michelle and Margo; where are they?"

"In their offices," Teresa replied, and Valerie walked away fairly quickly.

On her way to pick up Jeremy, Valerie was thinking about Nicole and Caleb. Had the staff at their schools ever had to deal with these hypnotic tapes? Neither of them had mentioned anything about it to her. If they told their parents, then Rhonda and Richard certainly didn't relay it. Why, until she got that call about Sheldon, she never knew this case was even happening. And she wasn't the type to involve herself with the news; she thought it was too depressing. Still, she thought she should ask them about it.

Her thinking changed to dinner when she drove back to Rhonda's house. She said, "Guess what, Jeremy? Remember those ads I was working on all last week? Those ones about the seasons?"

"Yes, Mom," he answered. "How did… everyone… like them?"

"They thought they were the best things I ever did," she answered, smiling. "They agreed to take them, and we'll be seeing them in all kinds of magazines."

Jeremy cheered. "That's great, Mom!"

"I'm thinking of maybe taking everyone out for dinner, maybe Chinese or pizza," she suggested. "To celebrate my first successful work here in Empire City."

"Chinese," Jeremy said. "I want… Chinese. I just hope… Uncle Richard… isn't planning… to cook… anything."

"I'll be sure to tell him. And we need to hear what your aunt and cousins want. But nothing beyond that, okay? I have a script for a TV commercial that's due tomorrow." Jeremy agreed.

As they walked inside, Valerie called, "Richard, I hope you're not starting any strange meals! I want to take everyone out for dinner as soon as Rhonda gets home from work!"

Richard met her in the front hall. "I take it we had a really good day at work?" he assumed.

"Well, it was almost perfect," she said. She told him about the meeting she had concerning her first advertisement job, and how their clients approved it for distribution. Then, she told him about Drew's phone call, the tapes, and what happened to Sheldon.

She was about to ask where Nicole and Caleb were, when she saw them standing at the kitchen archway. She knew both of them had heard; they looked horrified and worried for their cousin. Jeremy looked confused.

She motioned for Nicole and Caleb to sit with her at the table. Before she could say anything, Nicole asked, "Is Sheldon going to be okay? Aunt Karen and Uncle Bart must be freaking out."

Valerie nodded. "Aunt Karen is going to try to fly home tonight, or maybe tomorrow morning," she said. "Listen, have either of you heard anything about audio cassette tapes encouraging kids to leave school to steal."

"Our principal announced this over the speakers Friday morning," Nicole answered. "They must've played it over a tape recorder before they trashed it. Then, he told us about the 'questionable material' on the tape, and to be on the lookout for anyone suspicious coming through the front doors, and report anything shady to the office. You must've been at work when I told Daddy."

"She told me as soon as she came home," Richard added.

"My school's never gotten anything yet," Caleb said, "but we had an emergency assembly about it this morning. Our vice-principal told us about the crimes that all these kids were committing, and all because they were in a hypnotic trance and stuff. I knew it had to be that Big Boss guy behind this. I knew it from the moment I learned about this. Isn't he always behind the bad stuff that happens here? They told us they will do something about it if they ever get one of those tapes."

Valerie nodded. "Well, I'm glad that your schools are taking evasive action towards this. And Nicole, it's good to know that you know what to do in an event like this. At least I won't have to worry about you and your peers."

"Thanks," Nicole said. "Oh, and by the way, congratulations on your first successful project here."

Valerie told them her dinner plans, and they both yelled out, "PIZZA!"

"I don't care, really," Richard said. "I like both pizza and Chinese food. That Marigold Room on Bickleson has pizza, fried chicken and fries in their dinner buffet. Maybe we can tell Rhonda when she gets home."

When Rhonda came home, she saw her family sitting in the kitchen, and no dinner being prepared. She threw her briefcase on a nearby chair and called, "It's five-thirty and nobody has started dinner yet!"

Richard smiled and said, "Rhonda, leave your coat on. Valerie's taking us out for dinner tonight. Those magazine ads she was working on last week, her first assignment – her clients just bought them."

Rhonda smiled at her sister. "That's wonderful, Valerie. But I hope we won't be doing this for every acceptance you have here. With your talent, it could get a mite expensive."

Valerie laughed. "Certainly not. Maybe in a couple months, when I get a pay raise." She took a breath. "So what do you say to the Marigold Room? Your kids want pizza and Jeremy wants Chinese. Their buffet has both."

"Actually, a few of my co-workers told me about this new buffet place on Sixth and Larose, Family Choices," Rhonda suggested. "Theirs is the largest – at least one hundred items."

"Actually, that's a better idea," Valerie said, and all the children nodded.

When they came back an hour later, Valerie took her laptop and briefcase to the dining room. She was starting work on her commercial script for "Pretty and Plump." She'd gone over a sheet of concept ideas – ranging from a fashion show, to a get-together barbeque, to a camping trip for twenty people – with Nicole and Caleb. They suggested the fashion show, and Nicole added, "It should be outdoors during the daytime, with a really cool-looking runway. Play techno music in the background throughout filming. And for irony, skinny models in the audience, to admire all the plus-sized fashions worn by all the beautiful, big people. If you can show that even skinny people like these fashions, it will probably get the customers buying."

Valerie liked this idea. She booted up her word processor, and took an envelope out of her briefcase. It contained pictures of clothes she was supposed to use in her commercial. She set aside a CD for song selections, and would ask Nicole to help her choose the music. She started typing.

She completed the first page when the phone rang. Caleb answered it. He asked who was calling, and seconds later, he said, "Mace? You mean Mace from C.O.P.S.? The same Mace from the police picnic? Wow, how awesome!"

Valerie was startled. She never expected Mace to call her while she was working. Her thinking suddenly shifted from her assignment to the phone call. She was finished her presentation speech for Evie the night before; why didn't he call then? She knew he would be asking her out.

She heard Caleb said, "Yeah, Mace, she's right here. Aunt Valerie, phone for you!"

She suddenly became nervous on her way to the kitchen. She took the phone and read the caller ID on it. It read, C. Howards. "Hello?"

"Valerie, sweetheart, this is Mace," he replied. His voice sounded so gravely on the phone, she noted. Is that supposed to be sexy? she thought. But she couldn't see his face. The video screen built in wasn't working.

"Mace, what a surprise," she replied, trying not to sound nervous. "But what's this C. Howards I see on the caller ID?"

"Oh, so you figured out Mace is my code name, did you?" he said. "My real name is Colt."

"Colt?" she repeated. "Oh, that name sounds sexy." She decided to put a little sultriness in her voice.

"Yeah, well, I think you're beautiful, too," he replied. "I was thinking about you all day yesterday and today. Finally, I decided to come out with it and call you."

"Well, that was sweet."

"Valerie, you sound a bit nervous. Did I call at a bad time?"

"No, it's just that your call came unexpectedly. Actually, you called me in the middle of an assignment."

"Oh, God, I'm so sorry, baby."

Baby? How was she supposed to respond to that? She decided to ignore it. "It's nothing, really. I'm just writing a script for a 45-second TV commercial. It shouldn't take me more than an hour."

"Well, I just called to see if you were available this Friday night. I'm thinking maybe dinner at Vivaldi Florentine. They've got the best Italian food there is. Then, I'm thinking maybe we could to the recreation centre downtown, and reserve an indoor pool for just the two of us, then back to my place for a movie. What do you say?"

"Indoor pool?" she repeated. Great, he wants to have sex with me on the first date, she thought. But she knew this was the perfect idea. "Sure, I'll go with swimming. Sure beats that old cliché of dinner and a movie."

"Great, so I'll pick you up at around six? What's your address?"

"906 Ravenell Street. Actually, why don't I just meet you at the restaurant, just in case you might not find my street."

"Sure, that'll be good. See you then, baby."

Baby. She heard the phone click off, and shuddered as she hung up. She wondered how strong Mace planned to come on to her that night. She went back to her laptop, forcing herself to continue with her script.

Halfway through the second page, the phone rang again. Rhonda answered it this time.

"She's rather busy, may I ask who's calling?" she asked the caller. "Can I take a message, or do you want to talk to her now?… All right, as you wish." She went to the dining room. "Valerie, telephone."

"Who is it?" Valerie asked.

"He calls himself Barricade, but it says S. Hide on the ID," Rhonda answered.

Valerie went to the phone. She saw the caller ID confirmed Rhonda's truth. "Hello? Is this Barricade? This is Valerie."

"Hi," Barricade responded. "This might sound a little crazy, but I've been thinking about you this whole weekend. Even when I was working, I was always dreaming of your beautiful blonde locks and that sweet, innocent face of yours."

Valerie giggled and said, "That's so sweet. But, uh, you haven't told me your real first name yet. I mean, Barricade is obviously another code name, just like Mace. I take it you're the S. Hide on the caller ID."

"That's right," Barricade replied. "The real name's Stan."

"Stan?" she repeated. "Stanley? Wow, that sounds so manly, so heroic." Deep down, she wanted to add, "And so bloody ancient, too. Wasn't 'Stanley' popular for newborn sons back in the Prohibition and Depression Eras?"

But she didn't want to make him feel old. Remembering his looks, he had to be at least in his early forties, she guessed. So instead, she said, "You know, I don't usually say this to men over the phone, but you sound rather sensual and sexy."

Barricade was surprised to hear that. "Why thank you, sweet lady," he replied. "You sound just perfect over the phone, too."

He cleared his throat and said, "Listen, I just checked my schedule, and I'm free Saturday afternoon. I was thinking maybe I could take you back to the park where we had that picnic, and we could take a stroll for real. You can bring Jeremy along, too. Then later, we can spend an hour at the zoo. He'll love that. I'll pick you up around noon?"

"Well, there's a commercial I'm assigned to do for a clothing store for this week," she told him, "but I can check my calendar." She excused herself to get her weekly appointment calendar. She opened it to the current week and checked the space marked Saturday. She had nothing written, so she wrote Barricade in for that day, as she did Mace for the day before.

"If my agency's video department plans to shoot this commercial on Saturday," she said, "pray that I'm not in charge of production, okay? I'm determined to keep this date." She sighed. "Oh, what am I saying? By the time we get the casting and set designs done for this thing, we'll probably be shooting on Monday."

Barricade laughed. "I would love to hear more about your work. Maybe we can discuss it over lunch at the park?"

"Love to," she replied. She gave him Rhonda's address and said, "I hope you're able to find it."

"Ravenall Street?" Barricade said. "I remember patrolling that neighborhood long ago, as a rookie cop. Hope my memory doesn't fail me. I don't want to get lost."

"I hope not either," Valerie laughed. "I don't like being stood up. See you Saturday."

"See you, darling," he said, and they hung up.

Valerie danced back into the dining room. She saw Rhonda and Richard watching a movie in the living room. She said, "Rhonda, what do you say we save the house hunting for Sunday afternoon? Remember those policemen that Cindy and Elise introduced to me at the picnic? I have a date with one of them Saturday afternoon."

"Let me guess, is it Barricade?" Rhonda asked. "Don't think I didn't hear you talking like that, all sexy-like."

"Barricade was the one being sexy, sis," Valerie corrected. "And he did it so well. You should have heard his voice. He had me swept off my feet, let me tell you! If he kisses on the first date, I won't be surprised if it's long and lustrous."

She continued typing up her script, and was almost finished the second page when the phone rang again. She got up and announced, "I'll get it this time! I think I know who it is." If she had given Barricade, Mace and Sundown her temporary number, and Mace and Barricade had already confirmed dates with her, then she was starting to sense a pattern. This time, the caller ID read W. Calhoun.

She answered, and heard the caller's Texan twang in his voice. "Hello. May I speak with Miss Valerie, please?"

"Sundown, is this you?" she asked. "Because I remember you calling me 'Miss Valerie' shortly before I gave you my number. And another thing, you can drop the 'Miss' part and just call me 'Valerie.' This isn't a western movie. Oh, and one more thing, about this W. Calhoun on the ID…"

"You've figgered it out, didn't you?" Sundown guessed. "Sundown's a code name that Bulletproof gave me when I joined C.O.P.S.. The real name's Walker, but you can call me Sundown. I actually prefer that."

"All right, Walker," Valerie answered. She snickered, then started laughing. "Walker! Now, 'Walker' as a last name, I can understand. 'Walker' as a first name, now that's fucking weird. You know, I think I will call you Sundown. It sure sounds sexier than Walker!" She laughed again.

Sundown sounded displeased. "'Fuckin' weird?'" he repeated. "Now, Valerie, that ain't no way for a lady to talk!"

She suddenly became embarrassed. "Sorry," she muttered. "I guess you're a stickler on gentlemanlike behavior around ladies. You originated from the South, didn't you?"

"Sure did," he answered. "I came from Texas, and us Texan boys were brought up to have respect for ladies. I know you're gonna love me. I know exactly how to treat a lady right. Especially one as stunningly beautiful as you. Ooh, but I just couldn't git you out of my head since the day we met."

Valerie blushed so much, her cheeks looked like fresh roses. "Why, thank you," she said. "I never knew authority figures like you were so romantic."

"Hey, helpin' and carin' for others is part of our line of work," Sundown replied. "But enough chit-chat. I'm thinkin' you an' me, this Saturday evenin'. Picnic dinner on the beach, and we can watch the sunset, then a night a ballroom dancin' What d'ya say?"

"I'd love to," Valerie replied, surprised. "I've definitely got nothing Saturday night. Hold on." She re-opened her calendar, found the page with Mace and Barricade's dates and wrote Sundown in on Saturday. "What time should we meet?"

"How's seven sound for ya?" Sundown asked.

"Seven sounds great," she answered, writing the time in. "Will you be picking me up, or do you want me to drive to the shore so you can meet me there?"

"I wanna meet you there," he answered. "I promise you, Valerie, my dramatic entrance will have you drawn to me. Believe me, we'll be makin' sweet love as the sun goes down, just you an' me."

Valerie couldn't believe Sundown's last proposal. Another policeman who wanted sex on the first date, though Sundown sounded a bit classier about it than Mace. She tried to think of something nice to say. Finally, she said, "Sundown, if you're as romantic as you sound on this phone…"

"Then you'll realize I'm a man of my word," he replied. "Can't wait to see ya." He said goodbye and hung up.

Valerie slowly hung up her phone. She felt like ice cream melting in the summer warmth. Sundown's promises and telephone etiquette made her think there could be a passionate, romantic future for her with him. She was picturing him on the cover of those western-based romance books, bare-chested in a white cowboy hat and boot-cut jeans, practicing his gun-slinging in the beautifully-colored sunset.

She found herself sitting on the floor, moaning in ecstasy and calling Sundown's name. Rhonda and Richard went to the kitchen to see her. Rhonda picked her up and asked, "Are you okay, Valerie?"

"I'm better than okay," Valerie replied. "I'm in heaven. Sundown just called me. He wants to have a beach picnic with me Saturday evening, following by lovemaking in the sunset. And to top it all off, in case I never told you, I'm also going out with Mace Friday night."

"Shit, Valerie!" Rhonda blurted. "Three dates with three different men all in one weekend. You're going to have one hell of a reputation come Monday morning. Trust me, it'll be the worst Monday of your life."

She and her husband picked Valerie and took her back to dining room. Rhonda sat her back down while Richard splashed some cold water on her face. When she was revived, she looked at her laptop, her commercial script, and started working on it again.

Okay, if you think the phone conversations were hot this chapter, I promise the dates will get even hotter. Look for an update soon. Thanks!