She didn't. She smirked at a holding cell. Fearless. She looked at me like she recognized something.
Mine. Even if she doesn't know it yet.
The word pulses again, lower this time. More dangerous. Outside, through the glass doors, I see Pete open the passenger door for her. She hesitates before getting in. Just for a second. Her head tilts slightly. As if listening. As if aware. Then she disappears into the car. The door shuts. The vehicle pulls away. I don't move.
"She was never here, got it?"
Ramirez looks stunned, opens his mouth as if he wants to ask something, then thinks better of it. He nods before he clears his throat. "Loera will be ready in ten."
"Good."
But my attention is already elsewhere. Audra Hale. Married. Vet assistant. Clean record. Red hair like wildfire. Green eyes like something that should not be caged. I don't chase women. I don't get distracted. I don't fixate.
But something inside me just shifted. I know myself well enough to recognize the beginning of an obsession.
Three weeks later…
It's been three weeks. And something is… off. Not bad. Not exactly good either. Just strange. Like the universe tilted slightly and forgot to tell me.
"Anything yet?" Annette asks the second I answer the phone.
I tuck it between my ear and shoulder while wiping down the stainless-steel exam table at work. A golden retriever just left behind enough fur to build a second dog. "Nope."
"Seriously?"
"Nothing. No ticket. No fine. No court date. No sternly worded letter about the dangers of designer knockoffs."
"That's so weird," she sounds out of breath. She's probably on her treadmill. "Lynn got hers last week. Josie too. They both had to go in, plead it down, and pay a fine."
So I'd heard. "I know."
"And you haven't heard a thing?"
"Not a peep." I grin. "Maybe they lost me."
Annette gasps theatrically. "Oh my God. Maybe they did."
"Maybe I slipped through the cracks."
"Lucky duck."
We both giggle. It feels absurd. Like we got away with something far bigger. Making me feel years younger, like back when conspiring and sneaking behind your parents' backs was fun. Now it's more like I'm sneaking behind Pete's. He already accused Annette of being a bad influence, one I would be better off staying away from. I thought about it. I did. But for the life of me, I can't figure out why Annette would be a bad influence. It's not like we went to buy Coke and got arrested.
I gave up all my old friends long ago, because Pete had been right. Theyhadbeen a bad influence on me. But Annette? I shake my head.
Besides her having everything I've always dreamed of, she makes me feel… alive. It's good to have someone to call me, to text me with something besides a need or a request. I don't think Pete and I are going to agree on this matter.
We haven't agreed on much lately. It started the night of the purse party. He was supportive when he picked me up. Calm. Reliable. Like always. But the second we got home, something shifted.
"Go take a shower," he said, shaking his head. "You smell like… jail."
I blinked at him.Jail? And a long-forgotten part of me snickered inside my head:How would he even know what that smells like?
Still, I did it. Because I would've anyway. By the time I came back out, he was waiting.
"Did you know those parties were illegal?" he wanted to know, arms crossed. "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you even go?"
I stared at him.
