“Brady, I just got a call about a break in on 7th street. Two-fourteen is the address. Since you’re over there, could you check it out?”
“No problem, Critos,” Brady said back to the other officer over her walkie-talkie, and then took a sharp turn on 7th. She was so close to the building, she didn’t even need to put the siren on. When she reached for the door handle, and turned, it was just as she expected… open. Inside, she thought she saw something move in the shadows out of the corner of her eye, and she drew her weapon, pointing the gun at the spot. There was no way she’d ever get a clear shot in the dark, so she stayed quiet, and reached for the light switch instead.
Justin froze behind a large filing cabinet when light filled the room. His heart pounded harshly in his chest as he squinted, trying to get used to the light. He could hear footsteps on the linoleum floor, softly padding in his direction. In haste, his eyes darted around, looking for an escape. They stopped on a door in the back of the room. It was his only chance of escape… and he couldn’t get caught. He had to go now… before the cop got any closer.
Quietly, he got up and made a break for it, praying that whoever had locked the place up had forgotten about this particular door. He stretched for the doorknob and turned it.
“Freeze!” he heard a woman’s voice yell, but Justin didn’t listen. The door popped open and he got out safely. But now, he was in a stairwell, with nowhere to go but up or down.
He opted for down, praying he could climb out of a basement window. Justin was terribly afraid of heights and would hate to scale the sides of the building. Good thing the cop didn’t know that.
The second he hid around the corner, he heard her running up the stairs… and he let out his breath. If he was lucky, maybe he could just go out the way he came. But what if there were others out there waiting to grab him?
Damn Colby for getting him this job! He’d been trapped before, but it still didn’t get any easier. At least he got the information he needed, and when he finally got out of this mess, he’d be rewarded with a big chunk of cash. Just thinking about it made him even more determined to escape. He had to move soon… before the cop realized he wasn’t upstairs, and came back down to search for him. He knew he couldn’t risk going back to the main level, so he opened the basement door and searched for a window. There was one in the far corner, but when he went to open it, he saw that the latch was rusted shut.
“Not my day,” he mumbled as he climbed up onto some boxes and broke the window with the handle of his revolver. He carefully climbed out and onto the pavement of the disgusting, urine smelling alley. He almost gagged, but regained his composure just in time to press himself against the dark wall as a light searched the area. When it was dark again, he ventured out of the alley, took off his mask and black gloves, and casually walked down the street.
“He moved so quickly!” Brady told the chief. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“It’s okay,” the chief told her, patting her on the back. “We’ll get him next time. This guy has been all over the city stealing software and he’s not going to get away with it. I want you and Pertel on the case. I’ll get you the paperwork in the morning and you two can go over it together.”
“Pertel?” Brady asked in disbelief. “He’s so new. Wouldn’t you want someone more experienced on this case?”
The chief moved a few things away from the basement window where the guy had made his escape. “That’s where you come in,” he explained to Brady. “Pertel is a good cop… he just needs a little… a little… mentorship.”
“You’re kidding me. Now I’m on babysitting duty?”
“No, I just want you to show him the ropes. He’s a smart kid. He’ll do just fine.”
Brady sighed. “Yeah, okay. I’ll take him on.”
The chief grinned at her. “I knew I could count on you, Brady.”
Officer Brady sat at a desk filled with papers. Opposite from her sat Pertel… and he looked nervous. She sighed. “Pertel, there’s no reason to be nervous about a bunch of papers,” she told him.
He looked up at her with his wide green eyes. “But, Brady, do you know about this guy?”
She put down the paper she was reading. “Of course I know about him. We’ve been chasing him for at least a year and a half. And who knows what he was doing before this.”
He still had that nervous look in his eyes. “He’s elusive,” he said.
“I wouldn’t say elusive. I saw him last night.”
Pertel obviously hadn’t heard about last night. “You saw him? Last night?”
“Well, I saw him but didn’t get a look at his face. He had a black mask over his head.” The officer just stared at her, so she shoved a few of the cases in his direction. “Read up. We need to know this guys every angle so we’re ready for the next time he strikes.”
“Yes, sir. I mean… ma’am.” He looked up at her quickly and then gazed back down at his papers. “Sorry.”
She laughed at him. “It’s okay, Pertel. Let’s just hurry this up. I could be sleeping right now.”
That same morning, around eleven o’clock, Justin went to check on his mail. He was wearing sweats when he felt a pair of hands go over his eyes.
“Guess who,” a voice behind him said.
“Well, since I’ve only met one person in this building…” Justin said with a smile. “I’m guessing you’re Adelyn.”
Adelyn removed her hands and watched as he turned around. “You’re no fun, Mr. Antisocial. Why am I the only person you’ve met?”
Justin shrugged. “I guess I’ve been busy. Besides, you’re the only person who talks to me.”
“You could try starting conversations every once in a while,” she suggested.
“How about this one. Will you come to dinner with me?”
Adelyn’s eyes widened at his bluntness. “Sure, I mean, why not? It’ll be fun! Did you have a place in mind?”
Justin took his key out of his pocket and opened his mailbox. “Actually, and this even shocks me, but I just thought of the idea off the top of my head. If there’s a place you want to go, then I’m sure it’ll be great.”
"I know of this really great Italian restaurant in St. Paul that we could go to. The drive isn’t too long.”
Justin took his mail out of the slot and grinned at her. “Sounds great. Are you free for tonight?”
“Seven o’clock?”
“Perfect. Hey, I just realized… I don’t even know your last name.”
“It’s Brady,” she told him. “Adelyn Brady.”
He smiled. “You’ve got a very pretty name.”
“Thanks,” she smiled back.
Chapter 3
Paying the Consequences
Justin {Fiction}
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I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
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