There had been a couple of nasty incidents in the park. The council had managed to keep most of the details out of the press, but they had to do something. It was decided to mount a larger police presence, but as they wanted to catch this nut job, not just scare him off, the police would have to be undercover. To ensure a large enough and constant presence, several officers were seconded from neighbouring precincts. A quiet 24/7 watch was being maintained.
It was evening when Sally took a shortcut through the park on the way home. She'd heard a few rumours going around about incidents in the park but largely discounted them. After all, it there had been anything really wrong going down it would have been all the news, wouldn't it.
Accordingly, Sally was startled but not scared when a stranger fell into step beside her, trying to strike up an acquaintance. He was not the usual sort of person you saw at the park, though for the life of her Sally couldn't say why. And he was both tenacious and inquisitive, asking who else she saw around the park and not pushing off despite several heavy hints.
There was also, Sally decided, something familiar about him. The longer they were talking, the surer she became that she'd seen him before.
"Anders!" Sally suddenly exclaimed. "You're that cop Anders. Ah, I mean you're Officer Anders, aren't you? I thought I'd seen you before."
Officer Anders laughed. "You've got me," he admitted, "but please, out of uniform, call me Andy."
"Andy Anders?" giggled Sally.
"Don't blame me," Andy protested. "I didn't name myself, you know,"
"So why are you in the park annoying me and asking me all these questions?" queried Sally.
"Just getting acquainted," said Andy evasively. "You're a very pretty girl you know, and I thought I'd like to get to know you better. A lot better," he added, running his eyes blatantly over her attractive figure.
It suddenly occurred to Sally that it was getting dark and that she didn't really know Officer Anders all that well and that he was a man. A very large man, now that she considered it.
"Ah," dithered Sally. "Well, if it's all the same to you, I think I'll pass on furthering our acquaintance for the time being."
"And if it's not all the same to me?" asked Andy, smiling.
That was not a nice smile, Sally decided, and her nervousness increased slightly. Before she could make up her mind what to say, there was an interruption. The pair of them heard a startled scream, quickly muffled, coming from deeper in the park.
Officer Anders was now all cop, his head swivelling towards the scream, and he promptly headed in that direction. Sally decided that discretion was the better part of valour and she should be heading home. Then she decided screw discretion, curiosity wins hands down and trailed along behind Andy.
The pair of them emerged on another path to find a man holding a young woman by the arm. Recognising a friend, Sally promptly spoke up.
"What are you doing with Becky, you creep. Leave her alone."
"I'm not doing anything with her," protested the man. "I just came upon her unexpectedly and she screamed."
"That doesn't explain why you're holding her by the arm," Officer Anders said, looking pointedly at where his hand was still firmly holding Becky.
"I'm a police officer," snapped the man, "and this is none of your business. Please just move along."
"Well, snap," said Andy. "So am I, but I don't remember seeing you at the station. Let's see some id, shall we? Slowly," he added as the man reached for his pocket.
"I'll need to see yours as well," the man pointed out, as he drew a wallet from his pocket.
Andy complied, reaching for his own wallet and flicking out his id.
"Officer Jaconian, I see," said Andy. "You're one of the loaners we've got in the park?"
"Yes. You can call me Jake."
Sally snorted. "Jake Jaconian?" she giggled.
"Actually, it's Michael. The Jake is just an abbreviation of my surname," said Jake dryly.
It was obvious to Andy that Jake had been intending something a little more than some casual questioning of Becky, and he decided to call him on it.
"Becky, is it," he asked, and on receiving a confirming nod he turned to Jake.
"Just what were your intentions regarding Becky," he asked. "It's not normal procedure to grab girls in the park."
Jake looked straight at him and bounced the question back.
"And just what were you intentions with that pretty little popsy you've brought to our little meeting?" he asked, insinuations plain in his voice.
Andy glared back at Jake, and then suddenly grinned.
"Well," he said, "Seeing you're so bloody interested, I'll explain.
I intended to grab Sally like this and push her forward like this so she's bending over a bench."