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I logged off the computer and scrambled, nearly tipping over my chair in the process, to check all the USB ports on all the terminals. Then, I checked all the desks. I checked the floor all around me and panicked some more.
Trying to calm my frantic pulse, I bolted to the front desk, interrupting the librarian there with another customer as I demanded, “Did you see a flashdrive? I lost it yesterday. Has anyone turned it in?”
The librarian frowned and shook her head. “No, miss. Are you sure you didn’t just misplace it?”
I thoroughly checked all my jeans pockets and my jacket pockets, pulling out my crushed sandwich and tossing it on the desk in the process, failing to notice or care that the customer the librarian had been helping was looking at me the way he would if I was barking like a dog.
“Maybe it’s at home,” I said desperately, not finding the flashdrive. The librarian nodded urgently, clearly trying to get me out of the building, and I sprinted out the double doors, running down the street back towards my apartment building. People on the sidewalk gave me dirty looks and shouted as I ran into them, but I hardly noticed. I needed to find that flashdrive.
The muscles in my stomach and sides were already burning when I reached the building. By the time I had dashed up the stairs to the third floor, my entire torso was cramping up and the muscles were quivering with strain. At my apartment door, I struggled to fish my keys out of my pocket, then, as I made to push them into the lock, cried out in pain and crumpled to the filthy hallway carpeting. The flooring in various parts of the building reeked of vomit or urine, this spot included, but I didn’t even notice it through the pain in my stomach. Tears came to my eyes and I blinked hard to force them back. Pulling myself shakily to my feet, I unlocked the door and limped in, massaging the cramps out of my muscles with my fingers and knuckles. The pain eased slightly and I began to frantically search the apartment as I had the library. After nearly an hour of endless searching and no success, I had to choke back tears again, this time at the prospect of having truly lost my flashdrive and everything on it for good. When I had finally regained my composure, I racked my brain and settled on Starbucks. The flashdrive had surely fallen out of my pocket while I was working.
I dashed back out of the apartment, pausing to lock the door again and jam the key in my front jeans pocket, then bolted down the stairs. The muscles in my stomach that had flared up earlier began to scream at me in protest once again and by the time I reached the front door of the building, I was grimacing in pain.
I rubbed my stomach muscles under my jean jacket, trying to will away the cramping and agony. As I was focusing on ridding myself of the pain, I slipped through the doors of the building and immediately slid on the freshly-formed ice. For a fraction of a second, panic flooded my veins and I thought I was surely going to break a bone when I hit the pavement, but a set of strong arms latched around my shoulders and steadied me. When my feet were firmly on solid pavement and my heart rate had slowed, I disentangled myself from the stranger’s arms and turned to thank them, only to find that it was not a stranger at all. I jumped in shock and nearly slipped on the ice again.
Frost held up his hands in surrender and apology. “I didn’t mean to…startle you. Sorry,” he stammered. Clearly, this wasn’t the meeting he’d planned, which made me wonder exactly what he had planned.
I blinked and my thoughts cleared, paving the way for annoyance and disgust. “What are you doing here?” I asked bluntly. “You are stalking me, aren’t you?”
Frost winced. “‘Stalking’ is a strong word.” He held up a finger to ask me to wait and I frowned at him incredulously. After a moment of rifling through the pocket of his leather jacket, he produced my flashdrive. My eyes went wide and I snatched it from his hand, then took a step away protectively. “What were you doing with that? I was in a panic looking for it! My life is on that flashdrive!” I snapped at him, accusing him with my eyes.
He smiled slightly, his eyes sparkling teasingly as he slid his hands into his jeans pockets. “You left the library so fast yesterday that I couldn’t catch up to you to give it to you. You left it in the USB port.”
“I…” I hesitated. The terror of losing my flashdrive had quickly subsided into relief and alternate confusion. “How did you find me here?”
Frost raised an eyebrow and the corners of his mouth curled into a gentle smile. “Poe, your full name was on each document on there. I used a phonebook.”
My jaw dropped in alarm. “Youread my work?!”
He rolled his eyes at the tone. “Calm down, will you? This isn’t that ridiculous. And I did not read it; I knew you’d be offended and self-conscious, so I just looked for your name. Would it have really been better if I used the police database to look you up?”
Feeling a little less violated, I decided to let him turn this into a full-blown conversation. “Why do you have access to the police database?” I asked skeptically.
“Because I’m a cop,” he answered with a broad grin. “I have connections.”
A cop? My guard instantly went up again. I knew I was in the database and that he could read my whole life story by looking my name up. At the click of a button, this man who seemed strangely interested in me and was quite possibly stalking me could read all my darkest secrets. “What kind of cop?”
“Homicide detective.” Frost seemed to sense my renewed coldness and his sense of humor began to melt into concern. He looked down at the ice awkwardly. “Um…this isn’t something I normally do. I hope you realize that. I’m a detective, not a stalker or a player. I don’t mean to upset or scare you.” I winced and turned away from him, clutching at my cramping muscles. As I faced away from him, I let my features contort in pain and gritted my teeth, trying desperately not to scream at what felt like serrated knifes being drilled into my torso. “I looked up your address to return your flashdrive. I was hoping for more, but I can leave if you want me to. You won’t hear from me again,” Frost continued to assure me, his voice embarrassed and uncomfortable. I wasn’t listening anymore, though. I was too busy calculating whether I could walk to the restaurant for work, much less make it through my whole shift. Hell, I’d have a hard enough time getting back upstairs to my apartment on the third floor. Suddenly, I felt the slightest weight of his hand on my shoulder and I grimaced. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” I hissed through my teeth. “I’m fine. Please go.”
He didn’t, though. He remained there, his hand gentle on my shoulder, his breathing tight with concern. “Look at me.” I shook my head mechanically, trying to swallow the agony even as I attempted to fake normalcy. “Please, are you okay?” He stepped around me to meet my gaze and his hand tightened on my shoulder in alarm. “Poe…”
“I’m fine,” I hissed again, trying to compose myself and ignore the worry in his expression. “Just…a stomachache.”
“You didn’t even react when you poured scalding coffee on your hands. If this is causing you this much pain, it’s not normal. You should get to a hospital.”
I swallowed hard and met his ice-blue eyes coldly. “It’s normal for me and I do not go to hospitals for anything.”
“Just tell me what I can do, then.”
I was about to snap at him again and tell him to go away, but then I hesitated. I needed to get up to my apartment, but I was fairly certain I could not get to the staircase in my condition, much less up three flights of it. It would be as simple for me to climb Mount Everest. I needed help. “Fine. Help me get upstairs to my apartment.”
Frost kept his hand tight on my shoulder as we entered the building. I was still walking fairly normally when we reached the stairwell, clutching my stomach and hissing in pain, but upright and moving forward of my own volition. At the base of the stairs, Frost paused to ask me, “What floor?”
“Third,” I moaned, gritting my teeth.
He looked down at me in renewed concern. “Isn’t there an elevator or something?”
