outside, bundled up in a long coat, scarf, and gloves, his silver shield glinting on his hat. My heart
skipped a nervous beat. Our steps slowed.
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"Ladies," the officer said with a nod. His voice was low and rumbling, his dark skin lined with age.
"Kindly have your IDs ready to show to the officer inside."
I glanced at Diana and saw that my own fear was reflected in her eyes. What had happened now?
"Ooookay," Shane said, whipping out her key card.
She opened the door and let us all go in ahead of her. Just inside the lobby was another officer
sitting at a small wooden table tha
t used to stand under the far window. With his shaggy brown
hair and squinty eyes darting everywhere, he reminded me of a nervous mouse. A laptop was
open on the table in front of him, and he looked at us briefly as we approached, before his eyes
darted away again.
"IDs, please," he said, holding out a skinny hand.
"What's this all about?" I asked.
He sighed, clearly irritated, and flicked his fingers. Didn't look any of us in the eye. "IDs?"
As we were fishing our wallets out of our pockets, the front door directly across from us opened
and in walked Ivy Slade. I felt all the blood rush out of my head at the sight of her, and the flutter
of fear I had felt outside returned with a vengeance. What was she doing back here? Why had they
let her go?
Ivy spotted me as she strode by, her eyes narrowed in anger. She said something under her breath
but kept right on moving to the elevator. I could hardly breathe. She was back. The stalking,
murdering bitch was back. They'd only held her for three hours. And when I got upstairs, she
would be right next door. Why had I
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even bothered going to Detective Hauer? Was this all some kind of massive joke to him?
I heard a familiar voice just as the cop at the table snatched my ID from my numb fingers to check
it against his computer file. Detective Hauer had walked through the door and was conversing with
another officer.
"Detective," I said, my voice cracking.