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Chapter 52

If Beth turnedout not to be a suspect, I wanted her on my side. That’s why I continued the investigation in half measures. I left my rental car parked on the street. Then I strolled across to the gym, walking casually in front of the big bay window to get a better look inside.

I could remember a surveillance I was on in Brooklyn about fifteen years ago. I was helping a narcotics borough unit. We’d set up on a coffee shop where an informant was supposed to meet one of the bigger heroin dealers in Brooklyn.

While I sat alone in my car, looking at the coffee shop, I noticed two men rush into a liquor store next door. It was a robbery, and people could get hurt. I knew what I had to do. I popped out of my car, and two of the local detectives followed me. The robbers were so shocked when they burst out the front door and saw us standing there that they surrendered instantly.

The funniest part to me was the fury of the narcotics detective that I would blow a drug deal for a good armed robbery arrest. Sometimes you had to question people’s priorities. Like someone who’d do anything to protect the reputation of their brother.

I walked past on the sidewalk as casually as possible to see if Beth Banks was still working out. I didn’t see any sign of her. The treadmill she’d been using was now occupied by a large hairy man in a fluorescent-orange shirt.

When I turned from the window, I felt the world tumble in front of me. Or maybe I was the one tumbling. I was on the sidewalk in an awkward sprawl. My vision went dim, my stomach heaved, and I felt like I might be having a stroke.

When my senses started to return, someone was standing directly in front of me. I looked up from my humiliating position like a dog on all fours. To make matters worse, I looked up into the stern face of Beth Banks.

As I slowly rose to my feet, I realized Beth had just kicked me in the head with her long, limber legs. Hard. It didn’t matter that I stood a head taller than her and probably weighed seventy pounds more. I was impressed.

I rubbed my temple where her foot had caught me so squarely, knowing that she had a clear shot to prolong the attack.

Beth Banks put her hands on her hips and cocked her head a little to the side. All she said was “Don’t be creepy. It’s bad enough you barged into my office. Are you going to follow me around the rest of the day? If I catch you stalking me again, I’ll break something. And it will be something you use a lot.”

The vagueness of what she was going to hurt made her threat that much scarier. She turned and walked away confidently. Even in the business suit, she was clearly fit.

I kind of liked her.

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