A clever hesitation. "Really?"
"You bet. We'll have a policeman guarding you."
Now, there's an interesting idea. Can I have the redhead?
He said to Dance, "Okay, I saw where he ran to. It was the back door of a building up the street. He ran inside."
"The door was unlocked? Or did he have a key?"
"Unlocked, I think. I'll show you if you want."
"That'd be very helpful. Are you through?" She nodded at the cup.
He drained the coffee. "Am now."
She flipped closed her notebook, which he'd have to remember to get from her after he was finished.
"Thanks, Agent Dance."
"You're very welcome."
As he wheeled the groceries outside, the agent paid the check. She joined him and they started up the sidewalk where he directed.
"Is it always this cold in New York in December?"
"A lot of times, yep."
"I'm freezing."
Really? You look plenty hot to me.
"Where are we going?" she asked, slowing down and looking at the street signs. She squinted against the glare. She paused and jotted in her notebook, reciting as she wrote. "The perp was recently in this location, Sherman Street in Greenwich Village." She looked around. "Went up alley between Sherman and Barrow. . . ." A glance at Vincent. "What side of the street's the alley on? North, south? I need to be accurate."
Ah, she's meticulous too.
He thought for a moment, disoriented by the hunger more than the bitter cold. "That'd be southeast."
She looked at her notebook, laughing. "Can hardly read it--the shivering. This cold is too much. I can't wait to get back to California."
And you'll be waiting a purty long time, missy . . .
They resumed walking.
"You have a family?" she asked.
"Yep. A wife and two kids."
"I have two children. Son and daughter."
Vincent nodded, wondering: How old is the daughter?
"So this's the alley?" she asked.
"Yep. There's where he ran to." Pulling the grocery cart behind him, he started into the alley that would lead to their love nest, the abandoned building. He felt a painful erection.
Vincent reached into his pocket and gripped the handle of his knife. No, he couldn't kill her. But if she fought back, he'd have to protect himself.
Slash the eyes . . .