Challenge #01510-D049: One Dark Night in a Disreputable Alley
"If you get arrested, I don't know you."
"Love you too," -- OohLookShiny
Sam had to remind herself to keep watching the street. "No you don't," she said. "There's no non-vocal indicators in your general behaviour, and you have a complete lack of interest in anything I say that's not crime-scene related."
Behind her, at the distance of plausible deniability, Frank kept twiddling with the lock. "It's metaphorical love, Sanguine."
"So... a lie." Sam checked the other way without making it look like she was checking the other way. She checked her watch for verisimilitude. "And not acting."
Frank sighed. "Not... quite. We're friends. Well, at least we get along pretty well and we are a good team."
"Yeah..." Sam allowed.
"And I would be pretty upset if something bad happened to you. That's a kind of love."
The windows that could see her were shut. Sam leaned against the wall. The street was empty, as were the connecting streets. "We're breaking a whole bunch of rules with this. Anything we find is poison fruit."
"Not if we leave it where it is," said Frank. The lockpicks finally worked and the door popped open. "One anonymous tip to the hotline, and then our force has probable cause."
"It's still cheating. I'm not going in."
"Suit yourself. You'll just be alone, outside, and in the dark." This had to be the fifth time he tried to manipulate her with her fears.
"I'm not in the dark, I'm under a street light." Sam touched the keychain in her pockets that doubled as a punch dagger. "And I'm not alone."
"Just ring me if you see anyone coming by." Frank ducked into the building, using his phone as a light.
The night was silent after that, which was good, because Sam preferred the quiet. It was the sort of night that could make one believe that the entire world had gone on vacation. Somewhere, someone's dog had to bark at something. A distant, half-hearted bark. As if the dog was too tired to bother putting a good effort into it.
A cat scurried down the road, as if fleeing the site of a robbery. Sam squinted to be sure that it didn't have diamonds or someone's wallet in its teeth. Other than that, there was little other company but the buzzing of the street light. If this were television, this would be the ideal time for some implausible ninja to sneak up on her and abduct her so that Frank would have an action/adventure plotline.
Which was why Sam kept her back to the bricks and her dominant hand threaded into the kitty-knife keychain. And why she watched everywhere that an implausible ninja could be lurking.
Frank snuck up on her and nearly got stabbed. "Nothing. I locked up after myself. My hunch was a dead end."
"I keep telling you that your hunches are no more reliable than a dice roll. Can we go back to the office and work this out like I used to?"
Frank rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. I'll even put up with your thinking music."
Sam gave him a rare smile. "Sometimes, your hunches pay off, but I would prefer to have evidence to enforce it." They walked to Frank's car, and Sam dug out her ear-protectors so she could stand to ride in the ageing vehicle.
"I'm getting it fixed next week, I swear," said Frank.
"You said that last week," said Sam. "You say that every week."
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / GatorDawg]
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