On the Thief's Path (Esther Zhi Series Two Book 3) by Matthew Paisley

Author:Matthew Paisley [Paisley, Matthew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-09-12T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Three

“What?” Esther stopped walking so sharply that Dakota collided into the back of her. They stumbled away from each other, with Esther looking back in alarm. It seemed Dakota was unable to lift her eyes to meet hers. She was staring at the floor intently instead. “She shot someone? I don’t understand.”

“Well, in America, police are allowed to carry guns, if you remember,” Dakota said tightly, walking around Esther to continue looking at the Egyptian displays. Esther hurried on behind her as they passed from one room to another. This one was darker than the last, with the windows covered in black-out shutters. The tiny amount of light that was in the room came from the minuscule LED lights in the glass boxes of antiquities.

Dakota stopped walking on the other side of one of the boxes, hovering over it so that her face was lit by the yellow light upwards. It made her cheekbones appear more hollowed out.

“What happened?” Esther asked, aware that Dakota stayed focused on what was in the case instead.

“To this day, I’m not really sure,” she said quietly before lifting her gaze to meet Esther’s. “I was around your age. Just a cop on the street. This was long before I went to the UK. Darcey and I worked together. Partners in New York City.”

“I thought you started your career in the UK?” Esther said quietly, aware that most tourists around them were quiet, all staring into the display cabinets without saying very much. Dakota seemed to take the unspoken hint and lowered her voice too.

“I became a detective in the UK,” she explained. “In New York, I was just a traffic cop.” She shifted between her feet a few times and looked down into the case again. “One day, a shooting came through on the radio. We were the closest car, so we went together to attend. Unlike in the UK, we’re all trained to carry guns.”

The mere mention of the difference in the systems made Esther’s palms clammy. She was glad that her home had no such rules, but the stress Dakota kept giving to this particular detail was a reminder of just how this story was going to end.

“In Central Park, we found a man with his gun trained on another,” Dakota went on. Her words were coming quickly now, jumbling together. “He hadn’t shot anyone yet, just a tree nearby in warning. It had scattered people. Most people fled the park completely, others were hiding, but the man he was pointing the gun at was just frozen to the spot.

“I know what I saw that day,” she murmured quietly, still staring into the case. “I was first out of the car and Darcey followed. The shooter’s hands were shaking. He was a mess, his whole body was trembling, his skin pale, his eyes darting everywhere. I don’t think he wanted to shoot. Not really.”

“How could you be so sure?” Esther asked carefully.

“I spoke to him,” Dakota said, her spine stiffening. “I was trying to persuade him to put the gun down.

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