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We took the stairs two at a time all the way to the third floor. My chest compressed, my heart hammering and ears drumming with the sound of ticking time. Sweat dripped down my back. The nerves were new; they’d started when I returned to work after my short maternity leave, forcing me to leave my baby with Mrs. Brewers across the street. With motherhood came the additional need to survive for my son. While I was lucky to have a wonderful nanny, she was getting more kids, and Foxy was getting sick more often.
Allie grabbed my arm before I opened the stairwell door. “Laura, please be careful. My godson needs his mom home tonight.”
“Fifty percent more police officers died in the line of duty this year than last.” The worry coasting over her eyes turned into fearlessness, but I continued anyway. “And since we’re not ready to be a statistic, you be careful as well.”
She punched me playfully on my arm, and I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “This could be your first bust.”
“Not if we keep standing here.”
Using her body, she pushed me aside and opened the stairwell door. I followed her down the hallway. After the second turn, a man entered an office. The door shut behind him, and Allie ran forward while I stood in the middle of the hall.
The black hoodie he was wearing was the same one as the homeless man’s.
“That’s his partner,” I said under my breath, but Allie had already burst through the office door. By the time I arrived, she had someone on the ground.
I turned on my heel and ran back to the stairwell. Downstairs, the foyer filled as security ushered everyone outside. I scanned the area, my eyes stopping on the homeless man leaning against a tree. He was watching the exits. I left through the side door and ran around the corner so I could come up behind him. The stretched hoodie over his wide shoulders was the same one as the attacker’s upstairs. I removed my gun and aimed at the man’s back.
“Hands up!”
His shoulders jerked as he startled.
“NYPD. Step away from the tree and put your hands up.”
He lifted his hands in slow motion, palms flat to the front and stance wide.
“Hurry up.”
“You’ve got the wrong man, officer.” His deep voice stirred fuzzy memories, but I pushed past the tingling at the back of my mind. I was going to cuff this co-conspirator, no matter what.
“Don’t fucking move.” I stepped closer. As his arms rose, his hoodie lifted above his belt, exposing a weapon. “Is that gun behind your back registered?”
I removed the gun from behind his belt, noting his tight ass.
“You’re under arrest for breaking and entering. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”
“Breaking and entering? At least make up something believable. I didn’t break in.”
The cuffs clicked, the final piece of my memory slotting into place.
Oh, my God. That voice.
The dread that someone wanted to complicate my life ran through my veins.
“Fox.” His name slipped from my tongue.
“Laura? Laura, is that you?”
His head turned with a snap of the neck, and my body went limp. The one man I’d been avoiding for two years was now standing less than a breath away from me. And the best plan my brain could come up with was to take him to the station. If they locked him away for possession, I could kill two birds with one stone: score my bust and disappear. The plan flew through my mind like a stray bullet, until the smell of him invaded my lungs, and the bullet settled near my heart.
“Fox?” His name curled along my tongue. I hadn’t spoken his real name ever, but I certainly held it close to my heart. “I mean, James? Is that you? What the fuck?”
He stood still, as if he shared my shock.
“You’re reading my mind. Uncuff me.” He twisted sideways.
“I can’t. I already read you your rights.”
“You mean, you mumbled my rights.”
