“Stop him!” I shouted, but no one paid me much attention. I looked around for a police officer who might be directing traffic, but there weren’t any in sight. “Damn it. Someone help me!”
I ran as fast as I could with my bag slung over my shoulder. I’d been tempted to throw it down to get more speed, but then thought I might need it to smack Remy.
Running down an alleyway, I could still see him in the distance. Something made me think of Jagger-and I reached down and fingered my necklace.
My shopping bag went flying, I formed fists with my hands and used them to help me sprint down the alley. It really did pay to exercise and jog.
The walls were decorated in island graffiti with palm trees chipping off the stuccoed buildings, but it all became a blur with my speed. I guessed the doors were the backs of shops, but kept concentrating on my suspect and my breathing.
“You don’t understand, Fed!” he shouted.
I spun around to see if Tim was behind me and then realized that Remy thought I was an FBI agent. I smiled and sucked in a breath. What didn’t I understand? “Then stop and explain!”
“Ha!” he shouted and sped up.
He had a point. If I was FBI I’m sure I wouldn’t believe anything he said without some proof. Maybe he was trying to lure me into some scheme where he’d kill me.
Yikes!
I didn’t see any point in telling him that I wasn’t FBI.
Despite the pain in my lungs, I was keeping up pretty well. I shouted a few more times as if he’d stop, make a confession and turn himself in to me. Right! Instead, he led me on a long chase, and before I knew it, we were back on Front Street, weaving through traffic while horns beeped at us and drivers yelled. Soon I found myself on the water side, which was filled with people.
Another cruise ship must have recently docked.
“Excuse me,” I repeated over and over as I fought through the crowd while people gave me dirty looks. A few times I thought I saw someone that I recognized and was about to ask for some help, but then I’d get closer and even in a blur, I could see they were all strangers.
I weaved to the left and nearly knocked over a woman wearing a pink muumuu. The man next to her had on a palm-and-floral shirt. Tourists, no doubt. The lady turned so fast, she started to topple forward.
I slowed and grabbed her arm. “I’m so sor-” I let go real fast.
“Pauline Sokol! You should be ashamed of yourself, running on a crowded sidewalk like this. You nearly killed your parents.”
I stood on tiptoes to see Remy still running away. “Sorry, Mom. I didn’t nearly kill you.”
She grabbed my arm this time. “We taught you better manners than that, Pauline.”
“Yes…you did.” Remy was nearly out of sight. “Let go, Mother. I’m working!” I brushed her hand away and made sure she didn’t fall before I sprinted away. “Love you both!” I shouted over my shoulder.
“You too, Pączki,” Daddy said.
I looked up ahead. Now it seemed like a wall of people were covering the sidewalk. Damn.
“Make way!” I yelled and jumped down to the curb. Before some little car ran my feet over though, I was back on the sidewalk. “Pregnant lady coming through!” I shouted, thinking that was a great line for getting ahead of this mass of tourists.
The crowd parted like in some biblical movie and there sat Remy-atop a bright red moped. He gave me a wink, another salute and most likely in the fastest gear, sped past me. I reached out with my necklace and gave him a spray.
“Aye!” he shouted, spun the bike and fumbled to gain control.
“Stop him, someone!” I reached out to grab Remy’s arm, but he managed to overpower me.
I landed on my back, with the crowd gathering around, a few police shouting and Remy zooming off.
And my mother standing above me.
“Don’t give me that look, Harwinton. It really was Remy,” I said as Doc Pete put a few stitches in the back of my head.
I hoped I had a concussion, because each time I closed my eyes, all I could see was my mother staring down at me and wagging her finger.
Tim touched my arm and winced a few times as the doc sewed me up. “I know. We were on him.”
Oops.
Surely he wasn’t going to tell me that I blew a federal case, a murder case? Yikes.
“Oh, my head hurts so badly,” I lied, hoping Tim would find it in his FBI heart to ignore the fact that I might have ruined his case. “Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.”
He leaned near. “I’ve got seven stitches on you. So I think I win the prize for pain.”
What an agent this guy was. Even knew fake pain, or at least when a girl was trying to change the subject. Still, my head did hurt a bit. The cut was numb from the Novocain, so it wasn’t from that. I sat up with the aid of Tim, and Peter pronounced me fine.
“But you really should rest the remainder of the day, Pauline. Make sure someone wakes you up…well, you know the drill,” Doc said.
I nodded. “Ouch.”
Tim smiled. “A wise woman once told me not to shake my head after just getting a head injury.”
“Ha. Ha.” I have to go back and find my shopping bag. I threw it somewhere along the chase.
Tim leaned near, “Tell me, Pauline, what exactly were you going to do with Remy if you caught him?”
“I don’t like the way you said ‘if.’ Makes it sound as if you think it was impossible that I could catch him. You know, he thought I was a Fed.”
He chuckled. “Come on. I’ll walk you to your cabin.”
“My bag-”
He rolled his eyes. “I’ll go find it. Tell me what it looked like and where you saw it last.”
I explained on the way to the elevator and persisted with the fact that I was in top physical condition.
Tim grinned and leaned forward. His lips touched mine ever so gently as the bell rang and the door opened.
“Saved by the bell,” I teased.
He took me by the arm and led me inside. “You know, you really could have been hurt out there.”
“High school basketball. The nun coach used to drum into our brains how we should keep our heads up when we fell. Worked. I only bumped my head on the sidewalk once and not too hard.”
“I’m glad.” This time his lips remained longer. Felt better. Hotter. Or maybe it was me. Feverish already?
“Hey,” I eased back a bit. “How did you turn up on the street after I was pushed anyway?”
“Good tailing.”
Ding.
The damn door opened. Tim moved aside so I could pass. Then he put his hand on my lower back, and I felt safe. Despite the fact that Remy could be running loose in Bermuda, I felt safe with my Fed near me.
My Fed?
Was I nuts? The guy merely kissed me, and here I was referring to him as mine. Maybe my head was injured more than I thought.
And had he been tailing Remy-or me?
Tim and I reached my cabin in a few minutes. I knew Betty was on duty so I dug around in my pocket for my key. “Oh, shoot. My key was in my shopping bag.”
“Maybe your roommate is in?” He leaned forward and touched the doorknob.
“No, she isn’t.”
The handle turned in his hand. The door opened enough so I could see the chair by my bed…occupied.
Twenty
Oh…my…God!
“Er…no. Nope. My roomie. She’s…um…at-” I looked in my room again.
Maybe I was hallucinating.
Maybe my brain was permanently damaged.
Or, maybe what I saw in my room was real.
“Oh. Well, I guess…let’s see.” I looked in the crack of the door again to be make sure.
My “guest” waved at me.
I was pretty sure hallucinations didn’t wave.
I swallowed and turned to Tim.
“You all right? Maybe I should make sure you get some rest and come wake you-”
“Nope!”
He glared at me.