Wrong Chance by E. L. Myrieckes

Author:E. L. Myrieckes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Strebor Books

FIFTY-SEVEN

A deluge of cops gushed out of the conference room and spilled into the guts of the Justice Center. Office Raygor didn’t walk too fast or too slow. He stepped at just a smooth enough tempo to go unnoticed. The afternoon sun washed over him as he came out the building and stepped onto Ontario Avenue.

He carefully maneuvered—never a backward glance—around a growing mob of media people and eased down the avenue to his car. His police uniform was crisp and squeaked with each step. The squeaking abruptly stopped when he saw a parking ticket under the windshield wiper blade of his Infiniti M37. The meter still had two minutes to the good. Some fucking meter maid was trying to reach a quota, he thought.

He plucked the ticket from the windshield as a burst of lakefront wind blew it from his fingertips and into four-lane traffic. He watched the ticket ride the anxiety-free wind like a surfer planted her feet on a Ron Jon board and rode a crisp six-foot wave. That damn ticket could pose a serious fucking problem. He had a decision to make: chase it down, drawing attention to himself, and risk being filmed by the media thirty feet behind him or let it roll and hope the dice landed on a winner.

He slid behind the steering wheel of the Infiniti and drove away. He looked into his rearview mirror and peeled off the bushy eyebrows and mustache. At the next traffic light, Chance removed the synthetic skin from his nose and chin. “Law 25: Re-create Yourself,” he said to his reflection. Chance knew he had become a master at hiding in plain sight.

• • •

Aspen pushed into the men’s restroom as if it had “Unisex” written on the door. “Mind telling me what you came in here with a loaf of bread for?” She looked under the stalls until she saw his alligator shoes.

“Don’t talk to me when I’m about to take a dump. I’m not as young as I used to be. I gotta concentrate, Aspen.”

“In that case don’t push too hard. You might pop a blood vessel.”

“Get out. Let me take a dump in peace, would you, woman?”

“You’re embarrassed, huh?”

Hakeem said nothing.

“I spoke with my girlfriend last—”

“Does this friend of yours even have a name?” He flushed the toilet.

“It’s Phoenix Lovelace, and she wants to meet you.”

“It’s become quite obvious that you’re not going to let me use the bathroom in peace, just like you aren’t going to let this business with your friend go. I’ll go on one date and one date only with her on the strength of you when we solve this case and not a moment before.”

“One might turn into many. You might really be surprised.”

“I doubt it.” He flushed the toilet again and came out the stall with what was left of the bread.

“You know what? I don’t think I want to know what the bread is for anymore.”

“Thanks. I appreciate you not making me give up the details,” he said and crossed the room to the sinks as Aspen’s phone rang.

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