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“I’m going. I’ll see you around, Lyssie.”
I watch him go with Rosie at his heels. I enjoy running into him. He always brightens my day in an annoying big brother sort of way. In fact, I see him more than I see my brother.
The officer in charge at the front desk tells me my client is ready and I go back to talk to him in the small meeting room. Billy is in his early twenties but looks and acts like he’s sixteen. I get the feeling he stopped maturing right around then and has been stuck ever since.
He tells me he was just hanging out with his friends, and when he left, the cops stopped and searched him. He wants me to believe he was surprised when they found the drugs. It’s a similar story to his last arrest. Is he really that clueless? But still, I can’t help but feel sorry for him, which I try not to do with any of my clients. I don’t get a criminal vibe from him though and I want to help him. I’m just not sure I’ll be able to. I do know one thing, though—I’m not going to dump him.
After I leave the station, I walk down the street to a small restaurant that is often frequented by police officers, firemen, and first responders. It’s one of those places that has consistently good food, decent prices, and a friendly staff. The place is always busy and I don’t have a lot of time before my afternoon meeting. I spot Link sitting at a table out front.
He looks up at me. “Are you stalking me?”
I try to peer through the window. “How long is the wait?”
“Fifteen or twenty minutes.”
I check my watch. “I really wanted a taco. But I don’t have much time.”
Link holds up one of his tacos. “I’ll share.”
“I’m not going to eat your food.”
“Allyssa, sit down and eat the taco.”
I sit and take the taco from him. It has tomatoes on it, which I don’t like. As I pick them out, he grins at me.
“Still afraid of tomatoes?”
“Tomatoes don’t scare me. I just don’t like how they taste.”
“Right.” He finishes up his taco. “How’d it go with your guy? The criminal, not Mitch.”
“It went fine. He promised to try to do better.”
Link leans back in his chair. “Oh. Well, good. Let’s let him go.”
I eat a bite of my taco. “You’re jaded.”
“I’m not jaded. I just know tigers don’t change their stripes.”
“Well, I happen to believe that sometimes they do.”
He shrugs. “I guess we’ll see.”
I take a sip of his soda and ignore the frown he gives me. “Do they pay you to sit around all day and drink coffee and eat tacos?”
“Yes. They do. But not nearly enough.” When he gets a call on his radio, he gets to his feet. “Duty calls.”
“Be safe out there.”
“Thank you. I’ll see you around, kid.” He heads for his car with Rosie right behind him.
As I try not to think about how good Link looks in his uniform, my phone rings. It’s my brother Mark’s ringtone and I answer it with, “Hey, you.”
“What’s up?” he says.
“You called me.”
“Right. I have a question for you.”
