Living in West Hollywood was something akin to living in a trailer park on the east coast but at least the people were humble. The stuffy assed motherfuckers with the groomed lawns and imported fountains who lived in the hills were inaccessible. So inaccessible that they reported what they deemed to be suspicious behavior often, such as a car that wasn't priced over fifty grand driving through the neighborhood. The job wasn't all murders and drug deals. In fact, on an average day the barking dog calls outnumbered everything else. Landing a gig in the homicide division saved doing a shitload of beat cop paperwork and god knew Bud hated paperwork.

He and Stens ended their tour just as the tops of the palms reflected the first rays of sunlight on their fronds and ole sol crept up over the hills. Bud was bone tired. Stensland wasn't a bad guy but he was a lazy ass shit. Bud covered for him out of loyalty for one thing, but the elder of the two was a year and a half from his retirement and he had the complacent attitude that a lot of cops develop at that time. He just wanted to get it all over with so he could move away to someplace where it rained once in a while.

"Hey White. You asked me questions once so I'm gonna ask you one. How'd you meet this broad you're shacked up with? You arrest her for something or what?"

If it was anyone else but Stens Bud would have beat the piss out of him for referring to her as a broad, but he let the indiscretion slide with barely a twitch of muscle.

"She ain't no broad Stens she's a woman and I almost arrested her. Me and Jefferies caught her prowling outside of a Brentwood residence trying to get some pictures of a guy in an insurance fraud thing. He was wearing a neck brace and dancing the tango with one of his kid's teachers. My girl, she's a PI, a real honest to goodness private eye." To be honest she thrashed the stereotype of the PI, the usual middle aged male who was emotionally crippled and nursing a penchant for booze and floozies, a bit like the municipal detectives without a health plan.

"You're fucking kidding me? The lady is a private dick? What's that make you the private dick of a private dick?"

"Stens, if you say dick one more time I'm gonna start worrying about you."

"Okay White. I'll say pussy. Does that make you feel better?"

"No Dick. Let's just call it a night, huh, before you piss me off."

Stens patted Bud on the cheek. "Aw partner, you know you could never be pissed off at me. You love me remember?"

"Yeah, yeah that's right pal. You're haunting my dreams. Go the hell home wouldja?"

"Yeah, you too White, go home to your warm bed."

w

Lonnie Brannigan moved to California six months ago. Like most woman who aspired she found the glass ceiling in the LAPD to be a little too thick for her liking. In the Big Apple she could manage to at least walk a beat, but all the LA department had to offer was a driver's license for a desk and a too tight uniform. The winds of change were blowing but for now she needed to eat and playing V. I. Warshawski wasn't all that bad. There were plenty of insurance cases to go around and an occasional bail jumper to sate her need to play in the adrenaline charged game of cat and mouse it offered. The philandering husband cases were her specialty though. Woman seemed to trust another woman to …let's say not hide the facts. It was on one such case where she stumbled across an LA cop by the name of Bud White, an interesting combo case of a guy who faked a back injury and started an affair at the same time. Take one nosey neighbor and throw in an aggressive investigator sneaking around in the bushes of a regular love nest and you get a call to the watch sergeant about a trespasser. It took her a half hour to explain to Bud White that she was indeed on the job. Maybe she gave in to his offer of dinner just to tip the scales in her favor but it didn't take her long to realize her decision to do so was the best one she'd made all year. Within a couple of weeks he was winding his way to her place in West Holly after work in lieu of his manly man apartment.

She'd set her alarm this morning knowing he'd be there the moment he got off shift. Bud may come in dog tired but he'd still be feeling the effects of last night's phone call. She sure as hell was.

Lonnie was standing in front of the coffee maker watching the first trickle of the brew drain into the pot. She didn't hear the door but she did hear his keys hit the table when he tossed them. Smiling, she turned slowly and there he was.

"Hi," she said in her pneumatic way as he stood in the door frame. Sometimes she didn't notice what a big guy he was, but standing there in the portal reminded her. He filled the space with his broad shoulders as he cocked an arm to lean. Raising a finger to his lips he shushed her. Bud moved up to her and brushed her hair back with his fingertips. He tilted her head up and purchased her mouth with his. It was by no means a soft gentle kiss but he didn't demand either. Lowering his hands to her bottom he clenched the silk material of her robe before tightening his arms to turn and lift her, seating her on the table. Big gentle hands slid the material up her thighs. They didn't speak; they didn't have to as she undid his belt. There was no question about the chemistry between them as he spread her legs and pulled her toward the edge of the table. She used her bare feet to push his trousers down over his hips and he took advantage of her position, stroking her belly with the backs of his knuckles before stabbing a finger into her. She squirmed and her eyes were drawn at once to what sprung free as she used her toes to shove his shorts down. The loss of his tickling finger was minimal when it was replaced by big bad Bud. The moment he entered her, the clutch was depressed and gears shifted so fast two early morning trash collectors nudged each other from outside hearing the couple's inhibitions fly out the door. Lonnie was a noisy fuck no doubt and Bud reveled in it. They made love fast and hard right there on the kitchen table and before the two dawdling trash men got half way down the block the sated couple would be sitting at the same table having coffee.

"H," Bud finally spoke as she set a steaming mug in front of him. He reached up and wound a hand in her hair to pull her down for another kiss. This one was affectionate.

"Welcome home," she replied as the kiss broke. She planted one more on his brow before setting herself down across from him.

"Rough night baby?"

"Yeah. I had to work half of it with a raging hard on thanks to you."

"I hope I've rectified it."

"You have, for the time being."

"Good. You really need to get some sleep."

"Are you working today Lonnie?"

"Yeah, I have to meet up with a client for a late lunch. Its one of those marital cases but this time my client is a guy. There's money involved and he seems to think his fiancée is cheating on him. He wants to …nip it in the bud before the vows…" she giggled "…so to speak."

"Hm, lunch with another guy huh? Should I be jealous?"

"You know it's just my job. This guy, he thinks his prospective is messing around with a cop. Maybe you could help me with this case Bud."

"Lonnie, you know I'm not going to sing about anything like that. "

"I know Bud. I shouldn't have asked. That's what I love about you Bud. You're no snitch."

"Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Love me?"

"Yeah baby. I do, for a lot of reasons. I love you so much I think I'll feed you then put you to bed before I shower up and get ready."

"Promises, promises, by the way, I was thinking that Stens and I would stop by later. We're working in the area and I'd like for you to meet him and besides, it would be nice to have something home cooked for a change. He doesn't get that often you know?"

"That'd be great Bud. I'll be home early enough to fix something nice. Lasagna!"

"Thank you honey, he'll appreciate it and so will I."

Later that afternoon Lonnie strolled into one of the restaurants at the Beverly Hilton hotel. The client she was meeting had a house in the hills and she was beginning to wonder why he chose her since he could have paid any price for an already established PI. Lonnie was the new kid on the block and though word of mouth was helping to fill up her schedule she still had a long way to go.

She told the maitre'd who she was and he promptly led her to a table off to the side. The client's back was turned toward her as she approached but she could see he was wearing a top of the line Italian suit and his hair was expertly coifed and lacquered into position, bulletproof by her reckoning. He stood as the man announced her arrival.

"Miss Brannigan?"

"Yes and you must be Mister Archer." She extended her hand to him and he took it grasping firmly. Good, he was treating her as an equal right off the bat.

"Sit down, please. Can I order something for you, a glass of wine perhaps?"

"Yes, sir that would be nice. Thank you."

He snapped his finger to the sommelier and the young man nodded then scurried away to fetch a pre-ordered bottle.

"Let's get down to business then. " She studied her client as she spoke. It was hard to miss the size of the diamond in the ring he wore on his right hand. By the cut of it she would guess he was from new money and this is probably why Armand Archers contracted her services. Anyone who could accumulate a fortune on his own would be well versed in the precautions that were necessary to keep it.

"I have the information your secretary gave me. Your fiancées name and address along with a description of her car. I'm to ascertain whether this assumption that she has a...close friend of the male persuasion on the side is a fact or not, right?"

"Yes. I know it sounds like a simple case but there are some circumstances surround it that may present a problem. You see Angel, my Angel, is from a middle-class family. We met, hit it off and I asked her to marry me but I can't go through with it unless I'm sure her intentions are, shall we say, honorable. It wouldn't be the first time I've fallen into a gold diggers trap. "

"I have to ask you one question Mister Archer. Maybe it's my middle class upbringing speaking here but do you love her?"

"Miss Brannigan, if I didn't love her I wouldn't be doing this. I'd rather have my heart broken now while I can still get out with my shirt then later on down the road."

"I guess I understand. So you say you suspect her of having an affair with a police officer. Do you have name on him?"

"No I don't but I do have a picture of him. " Picking up a manila envelope from the table he pulled a photo out and handed it to her. She examined it closely.

"He's not much of a looker. " She flipped the picture over to see if there was anything written on the back of it. "Where did you get this?"

"A friend saw her at a late night diner and snapped it. I know it's just a Polaroid and not very clear but it was enough to spark suspicion. My friend said it appeared to her that they were a little too close for comfort."

"How did your friend know he was a cop?"

"She said he was wearing a badge and a gun. She saw it when he took his jacket off."

Lonnie sat with Archer for another forty five minutes hoping that she'd be able to get back to her house before Bud left for his shift. She'd have no such luck after stopping for the lasagna ingredients and what not, but Bud did leave her a note that said he and Stens would be by around 2130 hours for their dinner break. It took some fancy footwork to pull off the Donna Reed and have everything ready by then, but she managed. By the time the men came through the front door she was dressed in a pair of jeans and a nice sweater. The house smelled of the bubbling lasagna and she'd managed to put a salad together and to have a pot of coffee ready for them. Bud led his partner through the door and Lonnie was standing there to meet them with a big welcoming smile. She kissed Bud and turned to offer her hand to his partner. It took every bit of talent she had not to show surprise as her eyes met those of the man in the photograph that Archer had given him.

"Officer Stensland, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've heard so much about you."

"It's Dick. You can call me Dick and I haven't heard much about you. It seems White here has been keeping you a secret, but I can see now why he's been in a hurry to get home. You're a fine looking bro…woman, a real life angel."

"Why thank you….Dick."

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