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He laughs. “Whoa. Okay. Steer clear of Link today, got it.”
I walk off and whistle for Rosie to join me. We go to the break room and I’m pretty sure even she doesn’t want to be around me.
I rub her ears. “Sorry, girl. It’s not you. It’s me.” But of course, she already knows that.
Thankfully, we get a call and I head out across town to a disturbance at the mall. Another cruiser rolls up next to me and the two officers, whom I know, Bill and Steve, along with Rosie head inside. The suspect is running through the mall grabbing purses and easily accessible backpacks. We get a description and the direction he’s going and follow him.
Several people in our path confirm the direction and we jog through the mall, following a trail of discarded purses he’s searched and ditched. Steve stays with the stuff, while Bill and I continue looking for the perpetrator. When we spot him, I give Rosie the signal to pursue and detain. She takes off after the man.
When Bill and I catch up, Rosie has the guy backed into a corner. I call her back to me and Bill cuffs the man.
Bill smiles at Rosie. “Man. That dog knows what she’s doing.”
“Yeah. She’s the best.”
“Do you think they’d let me trade in Steve for a canine partner?”
I laugh. “You never know. You can ask.”
“I just might.”
We walk back to Steve, who’s dealing with the victims. They all want their stuff back. It takes us another hour to sort through it all and take statements from everyone. Everything is eventually accounted for and returned to its rightful owners. Bill and Steve take the thief to the station and I take Rosie to get something to eat before we leave the mall. I settle on a slice of pizza and sit at a table away from everyone else. Rosie sits next to me and eyes my pizza.
“This is bad for you, Rosie. It’ll make you fat and slow.” She whines and I toss her a pepperoni. “Now lie down.”
When I get back to the car, I get a call from dispatch sending me to the courthouse to escort a prisoner back to the jail. I don’t like escorting prisoners because they’re never ready to go. I always end up sitting around waiting for them to finish up in court. But I guess it’s better than running through the mall dodging shoppers.
I park in front of the courthouse and go up to the fourth floor. Court is still in session as I knew it would be, so I take a seat on the bench outside. When I hear a familiar voice, I look down the hallway and see Allyssa approaching with Mitch.
They don’t see me at first and I watch how Mitch subtly flirts with Allyssa. He thinks he’s clever—he’s not. He also thinks Allyssa is actually interested in what he has to say—she isn’t. She’s just being polite. I get the feeling Mitch would drop Jessica in a second if Allyssa gave him any encouragement at all, which she never will. But I still don’t like it.
She spots me and gives me a smile. I nod and stand up, telling Rosie to stay put.
Allyssa comes up to me. She starts to reach for me, then stops herself. “Hey.”
I give her a brief smile. “Allyssa.”
“What are you doing hanging out at the courthouse?”
“Playing taxi driver for an inmate.”
“Oh. Sounds like fun.”
I shake my head. “It’s not.”
Mitch seems to pick up on my sour attitude and taps Allyssa’s arm. “I’m going to go see how it’s going in chamber twelve.”
She nods and waits for him to leave, then looks at me. “Are you okay?”
I avoid looking at her. She looks great in the ivory linen suit she wears so well. “I’m fine. Just bored, I guess. What’re you here for?”
“The usual. Representing clients.”
“Of course. Because that’s what you do.”
She glances around, then takes my hand for a moment. “Link, we need to talk about the other night.”
I pull my hand away. “Yeah. Not here, though.”
