“I wasn’t going to eat it. I couldn’t imagine the germs. I picked up my yoga mat and walked over to the nearest bench and set the sandwich on it. I have no idea if the kid came back for the food or if he was done, but I was done. And the weirdest part was, I went back to the park at the end of the week, and the same kid was there. He asked me where I put his sandwich.”
“You’re kidding me,” Garnet said.
She shook her head. “No. The kid wanted his sandwich.”
“That’s odd. Then again, I was a strange little kid.”
“Oh really?” Ansley asked. “I tried so hard to be normal.”
“I finished college when I was fifteen. By the time I was eighteen, I had a doctorate, and then I had a job.”
“Wow. I’m impressed.”
Garnet shrugged. “It was easy. Besides, math was my safe space, and computer programming fit right in with math.”
Ansley laughed. “I can do math, but I feel like it’s a dangerous place for both me and math when we’re together.”
Garnet chuckled. “I understand. I feel like me and makeup is a dangerous combination.”
The patio door opened, and the guys stepped in. Link moved to Ansley and kissed her cheek. “You two look happy.”
“We were just chatting about that kid at the park.”
Link rolled his eyes. “What bugs me is that the parents never came over and talked to you. They just let him give food to a stranger.”
“I doubt they even noticed he’d given me the sandwich,” Ansley said.
Garnet shook her head. “If I ever have kids, which I don’t really think I will, I’d never let them hand their food off to a stranger. I’ve watched too many crime documentaries.”
Ansley leaned in. “Oh, you watch crime shows.”
Link clicked his tongue. “I tell you not to watch that stuff. It gives you nightmares.”
“Yeah, but at least I know what to watch for.”
Link rolled his eyes. “It’s totally unrealistic that crime happens that much.”
Brady burst out laughing, and Link turned to him and frowned.
“What are you laughing at?” Link asked.
“Unrealistic with the shit we see on our job. Those shows are totally realistic. I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often,” Brady said.
“It probably does, and we just don’t know it. I have this theory that more people are murdered than we think,” Garnet said.
Ansley nodded. “I agree. I think a lot more people are violent and aggressive in a bad way than we even know.”
Link sighed. “You’re probably right. I just want to think better of people.”
The timer rang, and Ansley turned toward the oven, but Link moved in fast, putting on the oven gloves. “I’ve got it,” he said.
They dished up food and sat around the table, chatting about the neighborhood and the weather. The subject of Garnet living there came up, and Ansley asked her if she liked yoga.
“I’ve never really done yoga.”
“I have an extra mat. We could do it here in the house. I understand you’re trying to stay out of the public eye for a while,” Ansley said.
She nodded. “I’m not sure how long, but it’s better safe than sorry.”
