Part 18 (2/2)

Jack hurried to the back of the apartment with the little dog following happily behind him. He slipped out the door, as he held the dog back. He jogged to the corner of the building, making sure he kept close to it and in the shadows. While he waited, he clenched and opened his hands.

Wait. She followed me without my knowing before. She knows what she's doing. She'll let Donald get a good distance away from her before she starts to trail him. There aren't many people on the street, so she'll have to keep farther back.

Jack's head stopped scanning when he saw a woman walk down the far side of the street. He strained to see her clearly through the rain and darkness. The weather would definitely help sell his deception, but now it worked against him, hiding her as well. The woman held an opened black umbrella. She wore a black, waist-length coat, high heels, and a medium-length black skirt.

That's not really the outfit for shadowing someone.

The hairs on the back of Jack's neck rose as he swallowed. He let her get almost to the end of the block before he started forward.

No, Jack. She'll be wearing a ninja hood.

He tried to relax as he headed down the sidewalk and followed the woman.

The umbrella is going to screw her up. Limits her view. Maybe she's too focused on him.

Jack stuck his hands in his pockets as he tipped his head slightly forward against the rain.

Look like a guy heading downtown who was too stupid to bring an umbrella. Not a real stretch.

The woman's stride was steady and purposeful. He couldn't see her head, but the whole umbrella s.h.i.+fted like a giant arrow whenever she looked somewhere.

She looks like someone trying to get out of the rain. Maybe it's not her?

The woman stopped at the corner of Elderberry, the street Jack knew Donald had gone up. He could feel his chest tighten as he waited to see whether she'd turn or continue on her way. Elderberry was more of a side street. If she picked it, odds were she was following Donald. The black umbrella s.h.i.+fted on her shoulder when she looked up Elderberry. Jack forced himself to keep walking. The umbrella straightened back up as she stepped off the curb and crossed the road to continue on her way. Jack tossed his hand up.

d.a.m.n.

Just before she reached the other side of the street, she sprang forward and effortlessly leapt over a large puddle. She landed on the b.a.l.l.s of her high heels and turned left so she could continue up the road after Donald.

It is her. She jumped that puddle like Baryshnikov. She's either a dancer or martial artist. She's following him. Now I just have to try to catch Wonder Woman...great.

As Jack turned, he started to run. If he went around, with the route he sent Donald on, he'd be able to cut them off. His feet splashed in the little puddles as he flew down the street and then ducked into the alley that ended right where Donald would pa.s.s. As Jack swung into the back of the alley, he grimaced. Donald was already walking by and he was walking too fast.

He's too nervous. She's going to know something is up and back off if he doesn't slow down.

The woman walked into view on the other side of the road. When she reached the alley directly across from the one Jack was in, she turned to head straight down it.

d.a.m.n. She knows he's onto her. She's rabbiting.

Jack bolted from the shadows and sprinted across the street. He cast a quick glance and could see Donald in the distance, still walking too fast with his head down, unaware she was no longer following him. The front portions of the alleys crisscrossed downtown and were kept clean as the result of an overzealous ticketing program. However, the back ends of the alleys, through which Jack now raced headlong, were regularly used by the businesses and were lined with boxes, dumpsters, s.h.i.+pping pallets, and trash.

He turned the corner. The alley was deserted. Jack continued to sprint forward. As he approached a big green dumpster on the right, he saw a discarded high-heel shoe sticking out underneath it. He stopped and was just able to get his arms up in time to block the attack as she leaped out and swung the closed umbrella in a wide arc at his head. Jack's forearm deflected the blow, although he growled in pain as the umbrella bent around his arm. He slid to a stop and turned to glare at the woman as she slipped her jacket off her arms.

She was j.a.panese and stood around five six. As her front hand snapped into a guarded position, Jack could see the muscles in her arms clearly defined. Her skin was a pearly white; her eyes and teeth gleamed in the rain. She was uniquely attractive; her jaw and cheekbones were so angular it gave her an almost wolfish appearance.

She tossed the broken umbrella behind her, but Jack noticed her left hand stayed low and drawn back. He moved half a step toward the wall.

Take her down fast and hard. Wonder Woman kicked your a.s.s before, Jack. It doesn't matter she's a girl.

She moved the opposite way; her eyes never left his chest. Jack saw the tip of a knife in her left hand just as his foot touched the edge of a large metal trashcan.

She's faster than me. Much faster.

Jack grabbed the trashcan and heaved it at her.

I have to be meaner.

The contents of the trashcan flew out in a spray of debris. Jack lunged forward and then stopped. He thought she had only one way to go-through him-but he was wrong. She grabbed the top of the dumpster, flipped herself onto the cover and then over the side. Jack grabbed a wooden pallet, took one large step, and launched it at her.

She turned in time to see it and tried to block it, but it crashed into her and sent her sprawling backward. She groaned as she landed hard on the pavement. Jack saw the knife skitter out of her hand.

As he moved forward, he watched, amazed, as the woman scrambled to her feet. Jack started forward, but Donald suddenly ran around the corner and ran straight into her. His gun was out, but he held it low while he ran.

Donald hesitated. She didn't. She grabbed his gun hand while she elbowed him in the face. Jack stopped and drew his gun, but he was too late. She was already s.h.i.+elded behind Donald. She pressed Donald's gun into his back. Donald's hands went out, and he looked desperately at Jack while his mouth twitched.

”Easy...” Jack kept the gun pointed at the woman.

”Put down your weapon, Officer Stratton.” The woman's voice was remarkably calm.

”Not a chance. Drop the gun.”

”We want the same things, Officer.”

”Good. Start with me wanting you to put the gun down.” Jack moved forward as she moved back with Donald.

”I prefer to have this conversation some other time.”

Jack's jaw tightened, and he raised his gun a little higher. He could see her shoulder as she moved back.

It's not a good shot. No one else would take it...

”Last chance, lady.”

Donald lifted his hands up slightly and waved them. ”Don't. Please, Jack.”

”You will not shoot, Officer.”

”I will,” Replacement yelled from behind them.

The woman stopped moving. Jack stepped sideways to see Replacement with her feet, shoulder-length apart, holding a gun aimed at the woman's back.

Where the h.e.l.l did she get a stupid gun?

”You won't shoot.” The woman's eyes narrowed, as she looked first at Replacement and then back to Jack.

She's not sure of that.

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