Peter Thorne parked the cruiser in front of the sheriff's building, looked at the stone work of the fortified frontage then switched off the engine.
Peter was in Arizona working as a sheriff's deputy in an exchange scheme which was taking place between the British and American governments where law enforcement officers of both countries who were of suitable calibre could apply to their respective heads of department for inclusion in the experimental scheme.
Peter walked into the air conditioned office and looked at his fellow deputy who was in the process of getting ready to go home.
Oscar Barden was dark haired, heavily built, in his forties and looking forward to being out of the office for twenty four hours while Peter Thorne would be on duty for the next twenty four hours due to three other deputies being away on a weekend team building challenge while the sheriff himself was away on a weekend vacation.
The small town was a relatively crime free place and as everyone knew everyone else there never seemed to be any trouble except for the occasional drunk on a Friday or Saturday night so it was deemed that Peter would have an easy weekend even if it meant spending it in the sheriff's office.
Oscar Barden smiled when he saw Peter, "Hey Pete buddy, how are you? I'm sorry you've drawn the short straw and have to babysit Jesse James here but hey, I'll have a beer or two for you".
Oscar chuckled as Peter playfully poked him in the ribs and continued,
"I do feel a little guilty about leaving you here but if you do have any problems don't hesitate to call me and I'm only a phone call away".
"I don't envisage any problems Oscar". Said Peter, "But thanks, now you get on out of here before I find an incomplete report for you to finish".
"Okay buddy, see you tomorrow". Said Oscar before he turned and walked out into the dry heat to his cruiser.
Peter looked at the barred holding cell and saw Morgan Morris, the current occupant of the cell, who was being held on a charge of stealing by finding, smiling at him.
"Well then Rosie, it's just you and me". Said Morgan.
As Peter's surname was Thorne the nickname Rosie seemed to follow him.
Peter was early thirties, tall at six foot two inches, quite slender and wore his blonde hair in an almost feminine fashion, while his skin was clear and unblemished and his teeth were white and even, Peter looked after himself and much to the surprise of many a law breaker he could look after himself in the line of duty as he was an expert kick boxer.
Peter smiled at Morgan Morris and said - "Well maybe we'll have a party to pass the time as you aren't going anywhere for a while are you"?
"Oh Rosie I love your English accent, it's so soft and relaxing, how do you manage to get people to listen to you when you're making an arrest or something"?
"I mean, you've only been here a short while, everyone likes you, in fact there are a few bears who really like you! You know what I'm saying"?
"I think you're too nice a guy to be in the line of work that you're in, you've had it easy since you've been here, no trouble, no shoot outs, how would you manage if trouble kicked up? I don't think your soft English voice would stop anything Rosie, I wouldn't like to see anything happen to you man, you know what I mean"?
"Thank you for your concerns Morgan" said Peter, but I've been through a lot that you don't know about so don't judge a book by its cover".
A week or so ago, Morgan Morris had been driving along a dirt track when he saw a dark object which had been shallowly buried but was now slightly exposed, out of curiosity he reversed back to take a better look.
He moved the gritty earth with his boots and exposed what appeared to be a suitcase, with his hands he dug down to find the carrying handle and managed to get some of his fingers through the handle and pulled it out of the ground.
The case was about three foot long, two feet high and about a foot deep, it felt heavy and firm and had locks on it which would now be full of dust and grit.
Morgan couldn't open the locks so he took the suitcase home with him where he could open it and see what mysteries it held.
He didn't give a great deal of thought to the contents as he had other things on his mind, his wife had been asking him to spend some money on their house when he decided to go out and buy a new pick up, not brand new, but it cost him money that he should have spent on his house.
His wife Heather was an attractive blonde haired hour glass figured beauty who loved sex just as much as him but had now denied him any for almost two weeks since buying the new pick up.
He was horny and new that she was too which had begun to make him think that she must be getting it elsewhere, a thought in itself which made him horny, another guy shagging his woman?
He should be feeling angry but instead he felt aroused, was it desperation due to a lack of sex or were there underlying desires?
He pulled up in his drive and took the suitcase from the truck into the shade of the porch, having no feelings of finesse he got a carving knife from the house and sliced open the front of the case, he knew as soon as he began to cut open the cover that the case was full of money.
