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Hand shaking, she reached for her pepper spray while simultaneously thinking she was being ridiculous. Her vision was fading and she willed herself to breathe deeply. In and out. Keep moving forward, no one’s watching, you’re fine, just fine. She focused on the exit and calmly strode toward the stairs. Away from the eyes she couldn’t see.
“Lucy—”
She spun to face the voice and backed up at the same time, stumbling over a briefcase resting next to a businessman talking on his cell phone.
Cody Lorenzo reached out and grabbed her before she fell on her ass. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his face all cop, his eyes glancing left and right.
She pushed him back. “Were you following me?”
“I saw you get off the train. I was waiting for you because—”
“It was you.” She breathed deeply and closed her eyes, rubbing her temples until the tension retreated into a tight ball in the back of her head. At least now she could think. “Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“Watch me!”
“I didn’t mean to.”
She shook her head. It wasn’t fair to Cody, but she couldn’t shake the fear. She’d never be normal!
“I thought someone was following me. My fault,” she muttered.
He rubbed her arm. “I should have called. I just got off duty and saw your message, thought I’d take you to dinner to celebrate.”
She discreetly moved out of his reach and said, “I’m sorry, I’m meeting Patrick for dinner. Rain check?”
“Of course. Can I walk with you?”
“Isn’t it out of your way?”
“Not far.”
She relented, though didn’t feel wholly comfortable. She’d met Cody through WCF and they dated for nearly two years before she broke it off. Working with her ex-boyfriend on WCF projects was one thing; socializing with him was completely different.
He took her elbow to steer her through the Metro station and into the chill January mist. She pulled her raincoat tighter around her and tilted the collar up to shield her ears, shivering. Born and raised in San Diego, Lucy still wasn’t used to East Coast winters.
“It’ll snow tonight,” Cody said.
“And you know this because the weatherman is always right?”
“Because I was born and raised in Maryland. The first snowflake will fall before midnight.”
“You sound happy about this.”
He grinned as they crossed the street and turned left on Pennsylvania Avenue toward Georgetown. Cody looked and acted like a cop: broad-shouldered and physically fit, he moved with a swagger and arrogance that came as much from fear as from confidence. He had the Cuban good looks and manners that had Lucy’s mother singing his praises, with just enough wildness on the side that had Lucy enjoying his company. She had thought she’d loved him at one time, but she hadn’t known what love was. She only knew what love wasn’t.
It wasn’t Cody Lorenzo.
When she’d broken up with him, her family took it harder than Cody. They’d parted amicably, as friends, but Lucy knew Cody wanted to get back together. Lucy didn’t.
“Good work getting Prenter,” Cody said as they walked.
“We haven’t put him back in prison yet,” she said. “Do you think the judge will do it? They seem to be big on second, third, tenth chances these days.”
Cody grinned humorlessly. “Fifty-fifty. Though lately we’ve been having more success.”
Her stomach sank. Fifty-fifty. “If he has GHB or another drug on him, that increases our chances.”
