Guarding Red Riding Hood

by Rita Hestand

  "Congratulations." His voice sounded dull.

  He calmed his body once more, willing his brain to work, and his body to return to a state of normal. "God lady, I've only had one virgin before and with her, I could certainly tell. We were only fifteen. But you…you gave out no signals. The way you acted, talked…the way you kissed…. I had no clue."

  "I'm certainly old enough not to be. It would have been embarrassing to admit it."

  He twisted his head to look at her again, and the look of hurt on her face made his gut contract. "I wouldn't have touched you if I'd have known. I'm not that low…"

  "Then I'm glad I didn't tell you. I wanted you to take me Dan. If I hadn't, you wouldn't have."

  "I don't understand?" He looked with questions in his eyes. "I really don't understand you lady."

  She sighed, and her head went to her knees to rest as she spoke. She wasn't looking at him, she couldn't. "You don't understand. No, you wouldn't." She sighed too heavily.

  "What's that supposed to mean?" He frowned.

  She shook her head and a tear lodged in the corner of her eye. "Every teacher up at the school has had sex, even the ones younger than me. Every one of them. I lied and told them I had. I hadn't. But they would never know. My father had been so strict with me growing up. It wasn't an option. I felt left out, like I was some kind of freak because I hadn't. And then I met you, reckless, dangerous, and interesting you. You turned me on from the start, so I wanted to find out what it might be like…"

  "And so what do you think?" He asked.

  "I'm very glad you were the first." She smiled dreamily at him.

  "First not last?"

  "Well, I'm sorry, but you haven't proposed and I assume I'll meet a young man sooner or later that will, and he'll be the last." She said sweetly.

  "Oh he will?"

  "Of course. I don't plan on cheating on my husband, whoever he may be. This was sex, not making love. I'm old enough to know the difference." She raised her head proudly.

  Somehow that didn't set well with him. She made all the rules and he abided. First, not last. He didn't like that either. She was one hot little number and he didn't like the idea of her having sex with someone else. But short of marrying her himself, what could he do about it? She had him at that. A woman had bested him at his own game.

  "You were playing me?" He asked.

  "No more than you played me. Let's face it. We wanted each other. We had each other. We enjoyed it. End of story."

  "And did I live up to your expectations?" He questioned with a slight agitation to his voice.

  She leaned over and kissed his lips. "It was even better than I thought. We were attracted to each other; it was bound to happen. The only question was when."

  "Naturally you have to have a certain amount of attraction going before you have sex with someone."

  "Exactly, and we did." She smiled sweetly again. "We had sex."

  The way she said that, so cold, so unfeeling. Aggravated he got his clothes on and went into the other room. Sex. Attraction. Was that all it was to her?

  Had it meant more to him? Or had she plainly laid it out for him what he had been doing all along, seducing her?

  Was he some kind of monster that preyed on innocent girls?

  No, hell no! But he thought she knew the score. He thought she'd had sex before. He thought she was into casual sex. He had been for some time. The women he dated were into it too. But this, this defied an explanation. He felt guilt, and he shouldn't. She seduced him, on purpose.

  Since when had he gotten so easy with himself. Casual sex? Was that what he'd been doing all this time, having casual sex with women, to appease his lustfulness? My God, he had! Of course he knew why. He didn't figure his kind of life deserved much more.

  He suddenly saw himself differently and he didn't like what he saw.

  Now things were quickly changing. And he wasn't sure if he was happy about it or not.

  And yeah, he had to admit, it was sex, not making love. Suddenly he felt very dirty and a lot older. But what she was doing, wasn't wise either. She was experimenting, wanting to be one of the crowd. Wanting to educate herself in sex. They were both wrong in their thinking, and he suddenly realized that.

  He suddenly realized what he'd been missing all this time, a woman that really cared about him. God, he wanted it so badly he could taste it. Down deep, way down deep inside, he wanted what his brother Mitch had found, a real woman that loved him and cared, that's why all his affairs had been so futile. Gratification, yes. Satisfaction, no.

  Now that he knew and recognized what he was after all this time, he suddenly knew the answer. He wanted love! His eyes bugged out. Love?

  Chapter Fourteen

  Somehow he had to get his mind back in protection mode, and off the pretty lady. He had relieved the tension between them. He had educated her on seducing a man. He felt like a live wire. He hadn't read her signals right, that was for sure. She came on kind of strong, as though she knew the score, as though she'd been around a bit. But that was a huge mistake.

  He'd made a lot of mistakes in his life, but this was the first time he felt ashamed of his own actions. And yet, why should he feel ashamed, she asked for it, begged for it.

  Concentrate on your job! You don't screw your job up. And you don't come apart because you had sex with a virgin either. She didn't seem to mind, so what was the real problem?

  The problem was him! When had casual sex become his routine? When had he lost all the values he grew up with and settled for casual sex? He was settling, and he didn't like that.

  When he took this job. When he realized the chances of having a normal relationship with a woman was nil. When he realized he was living day to day with a high chance of no tomorrows. He contented himself with dating pretty girls and not thinking about permanent relationships.

  She was right, there were cops who settled down and got married. So why had he compromised his own values for the free life of casual sex and lust? Granted it had suited for a while, but he supposed he was actually growing up now and he wanted more deep down. Tony proved that. Since when did he go thinking of adopting a child.

  They both had him in a stir.

  He had to put this away. He couldn't concentrate on his job and deal with his own issues in life. This wasn't the time.

  What really got him was why he was analyzing it all now, because of one sexual encounter with this little lady who really kept upsetting his applecart. On one hand she was beautiful and smart, on another she was innocent and naïve. She was also the Senator's daughter.

  He wrestled with his conscience all night long.

  The next morning Tony and Gabby both were in a better mood. But he felt sour, and grumpy and he hadn't gotten enough sleep. He kept running his hand over his face to wake himself up. He went in the bathroom and threw cold water on his face and then dried off.

  He could smell breakfast all the way to the bathroom. He went to the table and tried to put on a normal face. They talked but both of them noticed his grumpier than usual mood. When they finished and carried the dishes to the sink, that's when a knock came at the door.

  Tension immediately rocked the room.

  Tony and Gabby immediately looked at Dan with alarm.

  Dan went into immediate protective mode. He drew his gun.

  Gabby and Tony both froze, standing in the kitchen, something between panic and fear crossed their faces.

  Dan took his shoes off and walked in his socks to the door. He peered out the peep-hole. There was a big burly man of about fifty standing at the door. Dan didn't recognize him. But he knew better than to answer it. He waited, his gun drawn, his arm reaching to let Gabby and Tony know not to make a move.

  He peeped again. The man looked a bit agitated and he restlessly paced the porch, finally, he wiped the sweat from his brow and left. He drove a black sedan; Dan couldn't get a make as it was parked some distance from the drive. As though the man had purposely parked it far away and w
alked up to the porch. He couldn't make out the license plate either. That alone alerted Dan to other possibilities.

  Gabby took her shoes off and tip toed toward him as he holstered his gun. "Did you recognize him?" She asked in a whisper.

  "No. Couldn't get a make on his car, couldn't read the license. Nothing."

  "Who would know about this place?"

  "Hoodlums, and cops are the only ones I can figure." Dan said walking back to the kitchen.

  "Could be someone from town, a city official or something, the yard hasn't been mowed in a while." Gabby rationalized.

  Dan looked at her, for a teacher she had a lot of common sense. She was right, but something told him not to relax. "You're right, it could. He was dressed rather nicely. If he knew the man that used to own the place, then he's probably crooked. But like you say, it could be someone from the city. Who knows. We won't be finding out, though. From now on, if anyone comes to the door, unless it is a badged policeman, don't answer that door. On second thought, even if it is a badged policeman don't answer it. Understand?"

  "Yeah…" they both agreed.

  "We understand."

  "Good. And let's keep these curtains drawn in all the rooms so no one can peep in. Let's check all the windows now and make sure they are locked."

  The three of them went through the house, room by room, checking windows, looking in closets, making sure everything was secure.

  Tony seemed to get a kick out of it.

  Gabby looked a bit worried.

  Uneasiness crept through Dan's whole body. He didn't like it. If only cops and robbers knew of this place, it had to be one or the other and the chances of it being a cop was nil as he hadn't said a word about a badge. Dan didn't have a lot of information about the man who owned this place except he was in prison. But his buddies could still be hanging around, or it could be part of Beaton's bunch. Either way, he had to stay on alert now. Someone either knew they were there or suspicioned it.

  "Tony, let's you and me go up in the attic and check it out." Dan instructed.

  "Okay sure."

  After an hour of checking everything, they settled out and watched some television. But Dan was not as relaxed as he looked. The idea was to look it. His mind was no longer on seducing Gabby, or watching the latest game on television. His mind centered on his job. On the precaution he would have to take from now on.

  It was no longer a game, and he knew it.

  He wished he could talk to Harry, find out what he knew, but it was too dangerous to get a hold of him. Harry wouldn't call unless everything was safe. And so he operated in the mode that everything wasn't safe. The minute he let down his guard, it could be fatal. He'd seen that with other uncover cops. One wrong move, or wrong guess, and it was over.

  After thinking about it, he called them both in the living room. "Alright, I want you both to listen. From now on, things will be really tense for me, so if I bite your head off or offend you, don't let it hurt your feelings. I'm operating in a safety mode right now. Second, no loud noises at all, televisions low, voices low, movements slow and easy like. You hear any noises you don't recognize come tell me. There are no phones here except this one, and it is my working phone. There will be no calls made. If Harry needs to reach me for any reason, he'll do the calling, but if it rings and I'm not available, say in the bathroom or something, don't answer it. As I know Harry's voice and you two don't. If it's important, he'll call back.

  "It's pretty standard procedure that they have been talking to people you both know and they have a certain amount of information. They might even know about this place. Or they might have found out from someone. It's for certain they will find out about the first place we've been sooner or later. So we have to operate as though they do know where we are. From now on, we don't turn any vents on, we don't use the fireplace, nothing that calls attention to the fact that this house has occupants, except we'll keep a small lamp on in here, the kitchen because they couldn't see that from the front of the house and in your bedroom use the small lamps on the nightstand, no overhead lights."

  Tony and Gabby nodded.

  "How long do we stay here?"

  "Until Harry gives us the heads up, or until they find us. If anyone gets in this house, both of you get under your beds and stay there. And don't come out until you hear me say so."

  They nodded.

  "Your lives could depend on whether you follow my instructions."

  He looked at them and smiled. "Sorry I have to sound a bit like Dirty Harry sometimes."

  Tony grinned. "You do a pretty good take on him."

  Dan chuckled softly. His face turned serious again. "It could get bad; I want you both to know that. And if anything, happens to me, I want you both to run like hell for cover. Get out of here and don't come back. Get in contact with Corpus Christi police and ask for Harry Graves. He'll take it from there. Understand."

  "Yes, of course."

  "Good."

  Gabby looked rather serious. "Up until now, it's all been kind of a game, but when that knock came, I was shaking."

  "I'm glad you see the more serious side of this. I hate to tell you this, but you are a Senator's daughter and at any time they could try to take you and blackmail your father too."

  "I hadn’t thought of that." Gabby's face mirrored her shock.

  "I’m afraid both your lives are at stake here, but as long as I'm alive, you'll be okay. I've been in scrapes like this before. I know what to do."

  He'd given that speech before too. He knew he wasn't invincible. But he had to make them think he was. The more they trusted his judgement, the less problems there would be.

  The calmer they were, the better.

  Dan sat on the couch and checked his gun. He wanted to be sure it was in good working order, with no surprises.

  They seemed to watch him closely.

  The longer this took, the more danger they were in. And sometimes despite all the department's efforts, the victims were used to draw the bad guys out. That meant even more danger. He couldn't warn them on what to expect, it might frighten them more.

  The longer between the calls from Harry, the worse things would get. It meant Harry and the others hadn't moved in on these thugs.

  Dan had the advantage of knowing all the dangers, that could be a plus or a minus for them all.

  "Are you going to use that gun?" Tony asked.

  "If I have to, yes."

  Tony stared at him long and hard. "Have you killed many people?"

  Dan hated that question. It wasn't a black and white question, there was a lot of gray in the question. Gray was something few understood. "A few, yes."

  "Does it bother you?"

  "Sometimes, yes. Sometimes no. Sometimes I know it's what I had to do and had no choice. Other times I wonder about it." Dan admitted.

  "Must be pretty tough being a cop."

  "Again, sometimes."

  "Don't it bother you that you could get killed?" Tony asked, very seriously.

  "We all have to die sometimes. But I have a feeling that God determines that not me."

  "Yeah, I guess you're right. I-I thought about being a cop." Tony blurted.

  Dan's head jerked up and he stared, "Yeah, why?"

  "I've seen a lot of dirt. Seen a lot of things happen in my neighborhood. Things I wanted to change, and couldn't. Maybe being a cop, I could."

  Dan studied on that statement, "Well, I'd give it a lot of thought before I committed to it, Tony. Because now days you put your life on the line all the time. Even traffic cops get their heads blown off sometimes." Dan's voice went rough and raspy. "Not that I want to paint that kind of a picture for you, but it is a very serious step. But…a good one. Especially with your kind of attitude."

  Tony nodded. "My dad wasn't exactly a good guy."

  Dan looked at him, "I guess you're right."

  "I'd like to make up for him. You know sort of right the wrongs a bit." Tony said, sitting on the couch at the other end.

>   "I know what you mean."

  "I feel kind of bad that I couldn't go to his funeral."

  "I know, and I’m sorry, Tony."

  "I'll go visit his grave later, though. He'd understand, I think."

  Dan nodded.

  "She's really a Senator's daughter?" Tony nodded toward Gabby's bedroom.

  "Yeah, she is."

  "She don't act like she's anyone special, does she?"

  "No, she doesn't. She's a pretty independent lady."

  "She's awful pretty to be a teacher."

  Dan smiled, "Yeah…"

  "You know, I never thought I'd say this, but I kind of miss school." Tony admitted.

  "Hopefully you'll be back in school soon."

  "You think someone like me could really be a cop?" Tony asked getting back on subject.

  "Sure, if that's what you really want to do. But you got plenty of time to think on it."

  Tony nodded and they watched a football game together.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Two days later he looked out the back window and saw it was snowing. Snowing? He sure hadn't expected that. Now it would be colder, and using the fireplace would be nice, but, it would also signal that there were people in the house too. He couldn't allow it.

  He turned the thermostat up and Gabby came out, her hair a tangle of a mess, but still very beautiful. He turned his attention back to the thermostat, and tried not to think about her standing there so dishelved and looking cute. She looked as though she just rolled out of bed, and the word bed sent signals to parts of his body he'd rather ignore right now.

  "It's chilly in here," she said, shivering a bit.

  "It's snowing outside." He told her.

  "Snowing!" Her mouth dropped open in surprise. "This is Texas not Montana."

  "Yeah, I just looked. We still can't use the fireplace, so I'm turning the thermostat up a bit to take the chill off. I would advise you to put more clothes on and stay warm.

  She went back into her bedroom and grabbed a robe, and some rabbit slippers. He saw the slippers and snickered.

  "Cute." He smiled.