Page 53 of Midnight Creed

“Is that where you are?”

“That’s where I’m calling from. They remembered me and you from the other day. They’re letting me use their phone in the back room. It smells like baked goods even back here.”

“Nessie, listen.”

“Don’t worry. They don’t know what I’m doing. Hmm...there’s a window that looks out over the alley.”

“The man you were trailing. Where is he now?”

“Up the street a bit. Not far from where he took out Danny.”

“Look, Nessie, stay at the coffee shop. Order coffee and a donut. Tell them I’m on my way, and I’ll pay for it. Okay? Just stay put.”

“But he probably won’t stay put.”

“I don’t want you to get hurt. Just stay in the shop.”

“Pfft...I handled Russian oligarchs. This guy doesn’t scare me.”

“I’m on my way. I’ll meet you at the coffee shop. Don’t leave.”

“Whoa, speak of the devil. There he is! Gotta go. Looks like he’s headed up through the alley.”

“Nessie don’t leave. Nessie?”

Maggie stared at the phone’s screen.

“What’s going on?” Patrick asked.

“I think I made a mistake. A very big mistake.”

35

Washington, D.C.

Before the slippery drive to the District, Maggie called Racine. To her credit, the detective didn’t lecture her about the inaccuracy of the homeless. Instead, she simply told Maggie she was on her way.

“Don’t spook him,” Maggie warned. “If there’s suddenly an onslaught of uniforms in the area, he’ll leave. We’ll never catch him.”

“I’m not a rookie, O’Dell.”

Maggie thought Racine had been sloppy on this case since the start, but now wasn’t the time to harp on it. Racine may have been sloppy, but Maggie may have endangered an innocent homeless woman. She had a bad feeling about this.

It took an excruciating amount of time to get back into the city. Saturday night. Of course, she had to park several blocks away. This time she’d come prepared with boots, the hooded coat and warm gloves. She’d left behind everything that said FBI, except her badge and her weapon. The holster fit snug against her side, the shoulder harness almost too tight across her back.

Road crews had piled chunks of ice and snow along curbs and in-between vehicles parked on the streets. It was messy and slow going. She was almost at the coffee shop, not that it mattered. Nessie was gone.

Maggie stomped by the shop, trying to glance into the windows. The interior set too high off the ground for her to see inside. She stopped. Walked back to the other side. The coffee shop was wedged between businesses. There was no alley, or at least, no access from the front. It must run along the back of the shops.

She hurried to the end of the block, still trying to reach Racine on her cell phone. It kept going to voice message. She checked and double-checked. No messages from Racine, either. Finally, she shoved the phone deep into her pocket, angry at herself for not setting up some kind of communication system with Racine.

It was the detective’s city. Her streets. Her case. Her team. Maggie should have just let her handle this. Except for Nessie.

How could she have made such a stupid mistake?

She should have never gotten the poor woman involved. And now, she needed to at least make sure she was safe.

The narrow alley ran deep and dark. There were very few windows back here and most were also dark. A couple provided dim splashes of yellow and orange light. It wasn’t enough.