Here is the first 10% of the second story included in Book One of the Cuffed series.

Stop or I’ll Shoot!

Officer Lance Yandell placed his coffee mug in his car's cup holder when his radio crackled to life. The 911 operator had a problem for Lance to solve. The 911 calls went through the local dispatch center, where the operator answered the phone and sent the police to emergencies.

"Dispatch to 109 and 106," the operator said. Lance was number 109 and his buddy, Jonathan was number 106. Whatever the dispatch center wanted, two officers needed to respond. Something serious, then.

Lance checked the time on his dashboard. 1:30 am. The local bars were still open, so maybe he had to go to a bar fight. Lance liked sorting out bar fights. "109 to dispatch," he answered. Time to find out what he needed to do.

The dispatcher continued, "Entry alarm at the Renwick Shoe Store on Columbia Avenue. The alarm company reported broken glass." A burglary! Lance liked solving burglaries too.

Renwick Shoes had been robbed before. Each time, the thieves stole expensive shoes and the money in the cash register. Sometimes criminals found robbing a particular store so easy and profitable, they returned again and again. After four break-ins in two months, the owner of the shoe store promised to install a silent alarm system. Tonight, that new alarm system may have caught a burglary in progress. Most alarm calls were false, but each needed to be checked out.

Excellent! Time to fight crime. Lance considered himself a man of action. His buddies called him "Quick Draw", because he'd size up a situation and draw his gun while the other officers were still figuring out a plan. As many times as he'd drawn his weapon, though, he'd never actually shot a person.

I've decided to publish the first 10% of each of the stories in the Cuffed series here as an example of the work. Echelon Press has contracted to bring out six books in this series, each containing two stories. The first three books are out now and are available on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and smashwords. The fourth book is due out on July 15th, 2012.

This first story tells how Bill Howe discovered his abiding fear of heights. Names, of course, have been changed to protect the ridiculous.

Out on a Beam (Cuffed, Book One)

By Bill Howe and Suzanne Rorhus

When people are scared, they call the cops. Burglar in the bedroom? Dial 9-1-1. Rabid dog ready to bite? Call 9-1-1 again. Involved in a horrible car crash, then the other driver punches your nose, takes your wallet, and steals your car? Yep, 9-1-1 once more.

Who is a cop supposed to call when she’s afraid? 9-1-1?

No way. An officer’s job is to race to the rescue in her patrol car with lights flashing and sirens blaring, then fight the criminals with courage and a nightstick. She can never show fear or the bad guys will attack and the other officers will laugh.

When Officer Kim Brunetti applied for a job as a police officer, the interviewer asked if she was afraid of guns, of huge criminals who wanted to fight dirty, or even of driving fast. The interviewer didn’t ask if she was scared of spiders, small dogs that bite ankles, or snakes. As it happened, almost every officer in Brunetti’s department was afraid of snakes, except her.

Sometimes a person doesn’t know what she’s afraid of until she meets it. Turned out Officer Brunetti was afraid of high places. Who knew? Tonight, though, Officer Brunetti was more afraid of getting her uniform dirty than anything else. She'd already changed her uniform three times, and she was hoping her fourth uniform would last the rest of her shift.