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“Thanks, Snyder,” she said. “But I don’t need you sticking your nose up the boss’ ass for me.”
“It’s my pleasure,” he said seriously. Dean wasn’t great with humor, but he worked hard, so Thalia had no problem with him.
The three of them walked out of the lobby, Lily staying close to Dean’s side until he took the anti-grav drop down to the parking garage, supposedly on his way to go running somewhere.
“Why don’t you just ask him out already?” Thalia asked Lily as they headed out of the station together.
“What if he says no?” Lily said, shaking her head.
“Oh, he’ll definitely say no. But then you’ll know, and you’ll be able to move on and stop embarrassing yourself.”
Lily made a noise like a sad puppy.
Thalia suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and looked around expecting to see some kind of danger, but there was nothing unusual.
“You really think he’ll say no?” asked Lily.
“No, I’m sure he truly believes running is a solitary activity. I’ve seen you run. He saved you from embarrassment really by not letting you go with him.”
“What should I do?”
“Move on!”
“But I like him.”
“Oh, well inthatcase, you should add some more groveling and begging to your flirting, that’s sure to attract his attention.”
“You’re mean.” There was no anger in her voice, but she looked down at her feet as she walked, looking defeated.
“I’m not trying to be mean,” Thalia said. “But you won’t be happy until you either convince him to go out with you or realize he’s not for you. I just think the second option will be quicker and less painful.”
“Love is worth fighting for,” Lily said.
Thalia wasn’t much of a romantic, and she didn’t like being made a fool. If Dean didn’t want to be with Lily, then why bother. Even if she got him to go out with her, he would just leave in the end. It was better to just not start anything in the first place.
But what did she know? She was more of a casual dater herself. She’d been in very few relationships since her divorce, and the time between relationships got longer as the years went on.
She split off from Lily, who still had a dreamy look on her face. Thalia doubted her words had had much effect on her. She walked off toward her own apartment.
For the second time, she felt a shiver down her back like someone watching her. She looked behind her. It was rush hour, and droves of people walked the streets on their way home from work. She saw a green jacket stop and hide from her sight. Hadn’t she seen that same jacket just outside the precinct?
She picked up her pace, keeping her ears and attention on what was happening behind her. She didn’t know if it was paranoia or well-honed instincts, but she did not want to go home. If she was being followed, she didn’t want to lead the person there. She’d pissed off a lot of people as a cop, and she didn’t like taking chances.
To test her theory, she needed to find a less crowded area. She walked down a narrow alley that she knew led to a dead-end except for a hole in a fence that she happened to know about. She had chased a criminal down that alley in the past and, unfortunately, had lost him.
She walked a little faster as she made her way to the back of the alley. Taking a quick look behind her to make sure no one was following, she hid around the corner of a building, her back against the fence with the hole in it in case she needed to make a quick exit. Her hand instinctively reached for her stun gun hanging from her hip.
Someone entered the alley, their footsteps echoing. She stilled, slowing down her breathing to avoid making noise.
The footsteps approached slowly, tentatively, like the person wasn’t sure they should keep going. She didn’t risk looking around the corner. She didn’t want her follower to sense the trap until it was too late.
The footsteps slowed down and stopped a short distance from her. Without second-guessing herself, she jumped out of her hiding place, aiming her stun gun at her pursuer. Before she had a chance to get a good look, a leg hit her hand with so much force that her gun flew out of her grip.
She dropped back into a fighting stance, looking around wildly and waiting for the next hit, but it didn’t come.
Instead, she saw a man’s back dressed in a dark green jacket running away from her and back toward the main street. She took off as fast as she could, remembering too late that she hadn’t picked up her stun gun.
He turned right onto the main street and out of her sight. She sprinted to the corner and found him easily. He’d had to slow down to navigate through the busy street. He was pushing people out of the way while he half-ran and half-walked away from her.
