Without Compromise (2 page)

              Josie was on top of the building, but she knew she wasn’t safe. She ran for the edge and jumped the space between the buildings. The ductwork on the second building allowed her a hiding place. She stopped running to breathe and to peek out at her pursuer.

              He was standing on the first rooftop, looking around in confusion.

              She figured he would eventually figure out she had made the five foot jump and come after her, but he hadn’t done so yet. She opened her phone and dialed her sister.

              “What’s up? You break your leg in the fall?”

              “No,” she whispered. “He’s here.”

“Who?” Molly whispered as well.

“The guy from last night. He followed me up on a rooftop.”

              Molly was silent for a moment, “Please tell me you’re kidding me.”

              “No.”

              “Where are you?”

“I’m on a building behind yours. I don’t know what it is, but it has some flags on it.”

              Josie peered around the corner as she hung up. The man was on his phone now.

              Josie considered her options. She could see the guy clearly from her vantage point. He was lean and looked like he had just come from the gym, so he could probably clear the distance between the buildings without trying too hard. If his motive was just to give her a scare, he probably wouldn’t risk it, but if he was hiding something, he would definitely take the leap.

              There was also a good chance he was phoning the guy he had been with earlier, and there were accomplices looking for her down below. One surprised man was easy enough to evade, but she wasn’t sure she could get away from them now that they were prepared for her.

              The man on the other roof kept talking into his phone. His hand dragged through his hair in a demonstration of his frustration over the current state of affairs. He turned his back to her and she recognized her chance.

              Josie rose gingerly to a crouching position and dared a probing step on the metal sheeting of the roof. It seemed quiet enough. The next step creaked slightly. Josie froze and looked toward her pursuer. His back was still turned. She took a few small breaths and moved cautiously toward the door leading from the roof into the building.

She tried the handle; it was locked. Josie chewed her lip and crouched low. Since she was obviously not going down through the building, she was going to have to get down one of the sides.

Josie weighed her options. She had already noticed there was no fire escape leading down from her side of the building. She could go back and use the one that was on the side closest the creep who had been chasing her, but that seemed counterproductive. She stayed low and inched her way to the edge furthest from him. There was a fire escape on the building next to the one she was on, and that building was pretty close.

She looked behind her. The man had ended his call and was shoving his phone into his pocket. Josie knew he would be looking for her in earnest now. She rose, took a few steps away from the edge, and then made a running leap for the far building, not caring one whit that he had seen her.

CHAPTER THREE

Tag was shocked to see the kid jump between the two buildings. He wasn’t sure how long that jump was, but it looked like the kid cleared it easy enough. Tag watched as the kid eluded him a second time, dropping down the fire escape with the ease of a squirrel running down a tree.

              He gave up trying to reach Edna and climbed back down the fire escape on the building he was on. He reached the bottom and hurried over to the front of the building the kid had come down, but hoodie kid was gone. Tag wasn’t the least bit surprised. He ran back toward his building, trying to reach Molly again. She still didn’t answer.

              He gave up and called for backup.

              Tag hoped Molly was out for the night and wasn’t lying on her floor in a pool of blood. He was nearly back to his building when he spotted the kid, climbing back over the chain link fence.

              “NYPD!” he shouted as he ran toward the fast escaping kid, “stop where you are.”

              The kid was perched on the fence when he yelled. Tag’s command must have startled him, because he leaned precariously backward before regaining his footing and leaping to the ground on the opposite side of the fence.

              “You’re a cop?” the kid backed away from the fence, stepping lightly.

              As it was hidden by the hood, Tag couldn’t see the kid’s face clearly, but the fact that he never stopped moving told Tag the kid was nervous.

              “I am. I’m Officer Madden.”

              The kid stopped a moment, “Prove it.”

              Tag began to reach for his badge. The kid took a couple more steps backward, spun and hightailed it back down the alley. Tag couldn’t really blame him. For all the kid knew, Tag was reaching for a gun. Or maybe, the kid just hoped to get away while Tag’s attention was diverted. Tag never even got his badge from his pocket; he scaled the fence and gave chase again.

              To Tag’s surprise, the kid scrambled up the side of the building, aiming for the place he had just left – Molly’s apartment. More surprising was that, as the kid shimmied up the window sills, the hood on the ugly gray sweatshirt slipped down and revealed a full mane of dark hair.

              A girl. He had been chasing a girl all over the New York skyline.

              Tag gawked at her as she balanced precariously on the window sill and managed to open the window from where she sat. She then slipped neatly into the building and closed the window behind herself.

              He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he was going to find out. Tag ran to the front of the building and let himself in with his key, glad to see a squad car pull up as well.

              “Hey, Madden,” Pahl got out and followed him in. “What’s going on?”

              “I have no idea,” Tag admitted as he climbed the stairs and knocked on Molly’s door, “but I just chased a kid all over the neighborhood, only to see her climb into my neighbor’s window.”

              Pahl frowned, “Aren’t you on leave?”

              Madden growled, “And that means I should just let someone break into my neighbor’s apartment?”

              Pahl didn’t have time to comment.

              Molly answered the door, “Yes?”

              “Excuse me, ma’am,” Pahl spoke up first, “I’m Sergeant Pahl from the NYPD. Have you just experienced a break-in?”

              “No,” she looked a little nervous, “I didn’t, but I’m glad you’re here,” she opened the door wide and included Tag in her welcome.

              “I actually went over to your place a few minutes ago,” her eyes were wide as she looked toward her neighbor. “When you weren’t there, I was about to call the police, but then she came back.”

              Tag entered the room and looked around. It didn’t look like anyone was here now.

              “Why’d you want to see me?” Tag didn’t want to check the bedroom or bathroom without permission, but he cast a glance in that direction.

              “My sister is in trouble,” she looked between the two men.

              “What kind of trouble?” Pahl had his notebook out and was clearly putting himself in charge.

              The bathroom door opened, “Someone was chasing me.”

The woman was talking as she left the small room, but once she met Tag’s eyes, she stopped stock still.

              Tag pointed at the woman, “That’s the person who climbed out of Molly’s window – and then in again.”

              Molly frowned.

              The woman’s hoodie was now unzipped, and Tag could see she was wearing some sort of martial arts uniform below it.

He got a better look at her face now. It was pretty in a wholesome girl-next-door kind of way. She had green eyes and a little nose that turned up at the end. He couldn’t tell from his position if she had freckles, but it would make sense. She had high cheekbones which probably gave the impression of chubby cheeks when she smiled.

She was not smiling now.

              “Mol,” the woman’s voice was low.

              Molly looked to the woman in confusion.

              Tag was still trying to process all the information when the woman pulled Molly abruptly behind herself and glared at him.

              “What are you doing here?”

              His eyebrows shot to his hairline, “Don’t you think I should be asking you that?”

              Pahl interrupted, “Actually, it would be best if I asked the questions.”

              Molly giggled from behind the strange woman.

              Tag wondered if his neighbor was having a breakdown from the stress.

              “Tag,” Molly laughed as she pushed the smaller woman aside, “were you chasing her over rooftops?”

              He scowled.

              The woman’s expression changed from anger to surprise, “This is Tag? Your neighbor, Tag?”

              Molly came out from behind the woman, still laughing, “I’m sorry, Sergeant Pahl, but there has been a misunderstanding.”

              Pahl stood in indecision.

              “This is my sister, Josie,” she explained. “She called me a little bit ago to tell me she was being chased.”

              Josie was still frowning.

              Tag knew there was no way this story wasn’t going to get down to the station. He tried to mitigate the damage.

              “Uh, Sarge. It looks like they won’t need you after all.”

              Pahl still hadn’t caught on, “Why’d you think she broke in?”

              Josie shook her head, “Because I climbed in the window.”

              Pahl scowled, “Why?”

              “Because it was faster than coming in the door,” she glanced over at Tag.

              The officer walked to the window, “It’s gotta be five yards.”

              Josie walked to the window, opened it, and leapt gracefully to the ground below. She then proceeded to climb back up.

              “See?” she closed the window. “Faster.”

              Pahl blew out a breath, “Not sure how to explain this one in the report.”

              “Sorry,” Tag began walking the uniform to the door, “didn’t mean to raise a false alarm.”

              “Wait,” Pahl stopped before he got all the way out. “You said your sister was in trouble. What kind of trouble.”

              Molly grinned, “That was when, umph!”

She turned back to her sister and scowled.

              “She was just going to go over and ask Tag for something,” Josie replied. “I didn’t need the whole police force or anything,” she smiled charmingly, “but it’s nice to know you would get here so quickly if I ever did need you.”

              Pahl’s smile was tight and phony, “And the kid on the rooftop?”

              Tag shook his head, “Gone. I’ll let you know if I see that kid again.”

              Pahl looked between the three, knowing he had missed something, but he didn’t care enough to pursue it.

              The door closed and Tag found himself trapped in a room with the two sisters – one very amused, the other annoyed.

              “I’m so sorry,” he apologized as fast as he could. “It looked suspicious – you jumping out of the window.”

              “And last night?” she stood right in front of him.

              She did have freckles.

And she was really cute. Normally he would tell her so, but she didn’t appear to be the kind of girl who appreciated being told she looked cute when she was angry. He opted for the offensive approach instead.

              He pointed a finger at her, “You were the one that took off running like you were guilty.”

              “I was late to class,” she widened her eyes to indicate she thought he had a lot of nerve, questioning her.

              Tag felt his own ire rising, “You ran right into me.”

              “I’m
so
sorry,” she most certainly was not. “I didn’t realize you were so delicate.”

              He leaned a little closer, “Nobody said I was, but you were dressed like a hoodlum, racing around the building like you were afraid of getting caught, and then you took off like someone who had committed a felony.”

              Her eyes narrowed, “Or someone who was afraid of being attacked.”

              He almost had to give her that one. Almost.

“I wasn’t going to molest you,” he snapped back at her. “I thought you were a guy.”

              Josie stepped back, clearly affronted, “A guy? Do I look like a guy to you?”

              Tag felt a sliver of remorse. He hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings.

              He took a deep breath and shook his head. The shapeless dobok she wore was not flattering, and she was pretty slender, but he could still tell she had a feminine shape.

              “Um, Tag,” Molly spoke up, “maybe we had just better table this discussion. Josie has an early morning call.”

              Tag turned on his heel and left the apartment. He unlocked his own door, went in and opened the fridge door. He grabbed a beer and an apple, wishing Molly had offered him some of whatever smelled so good in her apartment.

              He twisted the cap off the bottle and threw it across the room to the garbage can as he dropped into the sofa. Not only was Tag under suspension, he had probably just made himself the laughingstock of the NYPD – and rightly so. He had chased an innocent woman around the neighborhood two nights in a row, scaring her in the process. He took a swig. If ever he needed a drink, it was tonight.

              Tag finished his apple and was considering his options for supper when a soft knock sounded on the door. He hoped it wasn’t Edna coming to ask him what all the noise was.

              It wasn’t Edna.

              “Hi,” Josie looked a little sheepish.

              He stared down at her, wondering if she was there to finish the argument, but before he could open his mouth to ask, he heard Al’s voice in the entry. The woman’s eyes widened in panic.

“May I come in?” she didn’t wait for an answer but pushed past him and closed the door behind herself.

              He stuttered backward from the impact, “I’ve had women throw themselves at me before, but this is a little more aggressive than usual.”

              She put her ear to the door and frowned like she was focusing.

              He was beginning to wonder if Molly’s sister was quite right in her head. He cleared his throat, and she looked up at him in surprise.

              “Molly told me to give you this,” she shoved a small plastic container at him.

              Tag opened the lid and peered at the contents. It was some sort of meat with potatoes and peppers.

              “Don’t worry,” her mouth curled into a wry grin, “I didn’t poison it on the way over.”

              That smirk looked so natural on her face, he had to assume it found its way there often.

“It looks good,” he carried it into the kitchen.

              “I just came over to tell you I’m sorry. I realize suspicion is a job hazard for you,” she followed him without invitation and then sat down while he microwaved his supper on a plate. “I was thinking about it, and I figured that I would have been grateful to you for helping my sister and running all over kingdom come if some thug really was breaking in here.”

              Tag turned and looked at her in surprise.

              She appeared to be uncomfortable with his scrutiny.

              “You’re a little . . .strange,” he said the first word that came to his mind.

              “Thanks,” she narrowed her eyes at him.

              The microwave beeped, and he took out the plate of food.