Hide.
13
The warm shower brought her slowly alert. Drying off, Emily wrapped a towel around herself and stepped out to get some clothes. She was greeted by her father's wide yawn. "Did you sleep all right?" he asked.
"Okay, I guess. I don't remember much."
"Yeah. You nearly fell asleep at check-in."
Emily made a face at him. She picked up her clothes and started back to the bathroom.
Eric held up a hand. "I need to go in there. You can dress out here."
Twenty minutes later they were standing out front looking about for a breakfast place. They finally settled on a deli nearby. Choosing was easy. The other restaurants they could see were closed, most for good.
The meal went quietly, the food rather good. Emily figured they were both busy inside their own heads, wondering what today would bring.
A part of her was the anger. She guessed it always would be. A part was frightened. Sure, Darlene Jacobs had said Hardy wasn't the most dangerous of types. Sure, his profile indicated he likely might run from danger. But maybe the assumptions were wrong. Records may show not a single EOR had been killed by a fugitive, but some had been hurt. And there was always that first time. And he had killed.
Then there was that other part of her, the one that frightened her about herself: the eagerness, thrilled with the prospect of this hunt. Not a hunt of an animal. She and her brother shared an abhorrence of hurting animals. But humans were different, especially one that needed to be hunted and knew he was hunted. That made the difference. That made this strange side of her exhilarated.
She had touched this side of her personality before. A tip of it always surfaced whenever she felt near to a discovery. She never dreamt it capable of such depth of feeling, hadn't known it could go in this direction. This must be what her father meant. She resolved not to discuss it with him. Better to not worry him more. She also resolved to keep this maverick inside herself under control.
Back in their room, Eric called home. It was short and to the point.
Hanging up, he said, "Bless that Andrea. Bob gave me a fine sister-in-law when he married her."
Emily looked up questioningly.
"He said she had found a place for Anthony to stay so we can use the house when we get back. She thinks of everything. He said she was even going to prepare a room where we can put Hardy should we bring him back instead of killing him right away."
"Why the hell should we do that?"
"Who knows what's ever going to happen in any given event." Eric shrugged. "I don't expect to keep him alive. Do you?"
"You know how I feel."
"Yeah. Andrea is just being thorough, as usual." Eric glanced around the room, noticed she had already packed everything. "Ready?"
Emily nodded.
Driving into Philly-proper they discovered that signs for stops, yields, street names and other important information, were all but non-existent. The paint denoting lanes was nearly as rare. Twice they almost collided with some cursing local and had to stop for directions once, even with the GPS. Traffic was worse here than anywhere they'd been, except, maybe, southeast Asia or India. Police Administration turned out to be in an old building made of twin circular wings connected by an inward-curving center.
Parking was another matter. Eric finally found a spot four blocks away.
A light, cold rain started as they got out. Emily retrieved the umbrella from the back seat and opened it.
Looking around as they walked, she got impressions of gray sky, gray and brown buildings, and gray- and black-cloaked people. Not-too-harsh nasal accents assaulted her ears from open shops and street vendors. And, softer, often sounding embarrassed, pleas in a variety of accents from ragged people along the sidewalks.
And the cold. Eric had warned her, and she had dressed warmly, but three months in the
13
The warm shower brought her slowly alert. Drying off, Emily wrapped a towel around herself and stepped out to get some clothes. She was greeted by her father's wide yawn. "Did you sleep all right?" he asked.
"Okay, I guess. I don't remember much."
"Yeah. You nearly fell asleep at check-in."
Emily made a face at him. She picked up her clothes and started back to the bathroom.
Eric held up a hand. "I need to go in there. You can dress out here."
Twenty minutes later they were standing out front looking about for a breakfast place. They finally settled on a deli nearby. Choosing was easy. The other restaurants they could see were closed, most for good.
The meal went quietly, the food rather good. Emily figured they were both busy inside their own heads, wondering what today would bring.
A part of her was the anger. She guessed it always would be. A part was frightened. Sure, Darlene Jacobs had said Hardy wasn't the most dangerous of types. Sure, his profile indicated he likely might run from danger. But maybe the assumptions were wrong. Records may show not a single EOR had been killed by a fugitive, but some had been hurt. And there was always that first time. And he had killed.
Then there was that other part of her, the one that frightened her about herself: the eagerness, thrilled with the prospect of this hunt. Not a hunt of an animal. She and her brother shared an abhorrence of hurting animals. But humans were different, especially one that needed to be hunted and knew he was hunted. That made the difference. That made this strange side of her exhilarated.
She had touched this side of her personality before. A tip of it always surfaced whenever she felt near to a discovery. She never dreamt it capable of such depth of feeling, hadn't known it could go in this direction. This must be what her father meant. She resolved not to discuss it with him. Better to not worry him more. She also resolved to keep this maverick inside herself under control.
Back in their room, Eric called home. It was short and to the point.
Hanging up, he said, "Bless that Andrea. Bob gave me a fine sister-in-law when he married her."
Emily looked up questioningly.
"He said she had found a place for Anthony to stay so we can use the house when we get back. She thinks of everything. He said she was even going to prepare a room where we can put Hardy should we bring him back instead of killing him right away."
"Why the hell should we do that?"
"Who knows what's ever going to happen in any given event." Eric shrugged. "I don't expect to keep him alive. Do you?"
"You know how I feel."
"Yeah. Andrea is just being thorough, as usual." Eric glanced around the room, noticed she had already packed everything. "Ready?"
Emily nodded.
Driving into Philly-proper they discovered that signs for stops, yields, street names and other important information, were all but non-existent. The paint denoting lanes was nearly as rare. Twice they almost collided with some cursing local and had to stop for directions once, even with the GPS. Traffic was worse here than anywhere they'd been, except, maybe, southeast Asia or India. Police Administration turned out to be in an old building made of twin circular wings connected by an inward-curving center.
Parking was another matter. Eric finally found a spot four blocks away.
A light, cold rain started as they got out. Emily retrieved the umbrella from the back seat and opened it.
Looking around as they walked, she got impressions of gray sky, gray and brown buildings, and gray- and black-cloaked people. Not-too-harsh nasal accents assaulted her ears from open shops and street vendors. And, softer, often sounding embarrassed, pleas in a variety of accents from ragged people along the sidewalks.
And the cold. Eric had warned her, and she had dressed warmly, but three months in the
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