Slade sat at his desk, looked over the squad room and thought of his missing partner. Connie was not there, she was in the hospital in a coma caused by an explosion when she visited The Main Artery's owner Gustaf. It appeared the explosion concentrated on his office and destroyed his sleep chamber. Gustaf was the master vampire of the city and had many friends and just as many enemies. This explosion targeted him, but onl...

Connie wondered why Slade left so early. He usually waited until she was ready to leave, walked her to her car and said goodnight. Tonight he left, never said goodnight and was very secretive about it. She went to her locker, grabbed her workout bag and left the squad room quietly. She had a post midnight rendezvous with Gustaf, the master vampire of the city at his club The Main Artery. She headed home now where she show...

Connie sat at her desk staring at the words on her screen while shock and surprise washed across her face. She pushed the print key and printed four copies. The data was there, she read and re-read the screen in disbelief but computers do not lie. Connie took the four copies, filed three where they belonged and carried the fourth over to Slade. She silently handed the fourth copy to Slade, watched as he read it and waited...

The day was coming to a slow end, as Slade and Connie came back to the squad room. After they filled out their reports earlier, they left until their duty shift began in mid-afternoon. The weather took a downward turn with the sun blocked by dark clouds and the threat of rain. To Slade, it seemed as if every time he went to see Leona or Gustaf, the weather was foggy or rainy. At least now, Slade was back in the squad room...

I have been asked many times why I do not share some of the stories about my years in law enforcement, alas that I cannot do. Remember those of us in public service quickly develop a dark sense of humor to help us cope with the day by day drama we face, we rarely see people at their best. Then there is the whole language issue. While in earshot of the public and news media it is a strain to maintain a PC tone in our speec...

Slade and Connie headed back to the squad room. Instead of going home back to bed, they had to report on what they saw and file the appropriate paperwork. For every incident a detective covered, there was a corresponding paper trail in quadruple copies. One copy went into central files, one copy to the evidence locker by case number, one copy to squad files and one copy to the officer. It seemed like a lot of work, but it...

Slade caught up with Connie as she sauntered down the alley to the street. She was still euphoric from her first meeting with vampires. They controlled her easily and kept her out of the direct exchange between Slade and Gustaf. As far as she knew, the vampires were lovely people and could be trusted. When Slade got beside Connie, she wrapped her arm around Slade's arm and rested her head on his shoulder. Slade went along...

Slade and Connie finished with the body and scene, headed back to the car and sat inside reviewing what they had. Laid out in the car was not much stuff. There was not much room in the car with all the computers and firepower. "Let’s go back to DD's. We can spread everything out there and review it." Connie said. Her car was still there and she needed it to get home. Slade agreed, "OK, we need more coffee to stay awake to...

It was a very dark cold night, the air was heavy with rain. The alley was narrow, the cobble stone walkway glistened from newly fallen rain and continuing mist. The walls of the buildings held the sound of my heart and my shoes, as I walked slowly toward the only light. I pulled up my collar to warm my neck and protect it from the people I saw. It was a red light above a small non-descript sign that read 'The Main Artery'...

Standing on her doorstep, an armed man with blood on his hands,  he whispers he needs a place to stay- he didn't do it, but the police are on their way. She looks out, looking for neighbors, when there are none, she pulls him in,  he flashes a smile, then slices a knife, he sees the red on white, staining her porcelain skin. Her eyes dull, dying as she does, floating above her are ghosts, she joins them, he runs out the d...

As a police officer and trainer I attended many an update seminars to keep my self-defense skills sharp and to insure that I passed on the newest and proven techniques to my trainees. Female officers were rare at these classes as rolling around on the ground and trading punches were not high on their list of things to do on a weekend. These seminars are open to police officers that were thinking of holding a defensive tac...

It seems that lately I can’t get no peace, From all those so-called Grammar Police,Who for some reason think that I should care,The difference between there, they’re and their.They want to analyze everything I say,Just waiting for me to lie when I want to lay,And I really think they just do it because,They want to further some petty cause.So, what I do is I mess with there head,I write the word red when I really mean read...

“Should I start just before I shot Mr. Potato Head in the face?” I asked. “No,” Callahan replied. “Pick it up earlier than that.” “When I discovered that Santa Claus was Amish?” I asked. “Before that,” Callahan replied. And then he looked at me and made his pitch. “You know,” he said, “we’ve already wasted three days on this. Internal Affairs has better things to do than spend time on your pranks. Do us all a favor. Admit...