That convo will have to wait until later.
Brambles leaps at Toper, then springboards off his back towards the open window as the tail of a cat disappears.
Fuck! He thinks the cat’s the payday.
“Brambles!” I shout as he disappears. I hear the clang of his nails on steel, then the thud of his paws fading as he clambers down the fire escape.
“What the fuck!” Toper snarls as he sits up in bed, instantly awake.
I aim my gun towards him. “Stay where you are! You are a wanted felon and I’m authorized to haul your ass to the police station.”
It’s not quite the right lines, but Toper gets the gist of it as he jumps off the bed. I think he’s about to attack me and I aim my gun harder. I’ve never pulled the trigger, but I’m allowed to if threatened with bodily harm.
However, that’s not what’s on Toper’s mind. Instead of coming towards me, he turns and throws himself through the open window much like Brambles did.
“For fuck’s sake,” I mutter as I holster my gun and climb out the window after him. I hate fire escapes because they’re always rickety, and this one is no exception as the metal protests my weight with squeaks and groans.
Toper’s got a good head start and runs pretty fast for a skinny drug addict in bare feet. Brambles is nowhere to be seen, so I can’t even use him to takedown my mark.
By the time I get to the ground, Toper’s lurched around the corner of the building and bolting down the alley where I parked my car.
Fuck and double fuck. Oscar’s right in the path of this asshole. “Stop!” I yell as I follow him around the corner.
He’s at my car, running at full speed, about to pass it on the passenger side.
Just as I cry, “Shit!” The passenger door opens and Toper bounces off it, then drops to the pavement like a rag doll.
Oscar steps out of the car and contemplates him as I come puffing up.
“What the hell are you doing!” I yell, my heart in my throat as I imagine Toper grabbing Oscar and using him as a shield.
He narrows his eyes. “Having your back.”
“I told you to stay in the car.”
“I did stay in the car! I only opened the door!”
I blow out a deep breath. Let it go, Selkie. Let it go. I’ve got the mark and the payday’s sweet, so why am I bitching about something that didn’t happen? Besides, he’s a future gang member. This is good practice for him.
So instead of harping on about it, I grudgingly say, “You did good.”
“Thanks,” he mutters. He looks down at Toper, who’s holding his guts and moaning. “Hospital or cop shop, do you think?”
I glance at Toper’s underwear. They look like they haven’t been washed in a decade. “Cop shop. I don’t want him in my car any longer than he has to be.”
Oscar points back down the alley. “I saw Brambles running after a cat. He went that way.”
I’m half tempted to leave the bastard behind, but I love him almost as much as I love Henri. Maybe even more. “I guess we better pick him up.”
I take out my cuffs and toss them to Oscar. “You caught him, you cuff him.”
His smile lights up his face and a thrill goes through me knowing I did that. Made him happy. Made him smile.
I blow it by giving him a delighted wink.
He grimaces and shakes his head. Henri would have said, ‘OK Boomer’ to emphasize how uncool I am. I say it back to her when she’s being bossy. She doesn’t like it either.
I roll Toper to his stomach and hold his arms as Oscar drops to his knees, pressing one on Toper’s head to keep him down. Then he puts on the cuffs making sure they’re tight.
