They slowed at the end of the block and peered around the building’s corner. Up ahead, two guys with a crowbar and bolt cutters were breaking into the steel overhead door at a loading dock. Anna didn’t know what was in the building; in this part of town, it was just as likely to be abandoned. Still, the guys were breaking and entering. This was exactly the kind of situation the Trinity would eat up. She sighed. Teia and the others were out and about, but not here.
“Here,” Teddy said, handing her a cell phone. She didn’t recognize it—it wasn’t his usual phone but a cheap pay-as-you-go model, the kind you could get at convenience stores.
“What’s this?” she whispered.
“Call nine-one-one.”
That plan was better than nothing. They might be little more than a neighborhood watch at this point, but at least it was something.
“And stay out of sight,” he said, before vanishing.
She stopped herself from calling out to him, gritted her teeth, and called the cops.
“Nine-one-one dispatch, what is your emergency?”
“Um, yeah, I’m at the corner of Vineland and Fifty-third, and there’s a couple of guys breaking into a building here. They’ve got crowbars and stuff and they’re wrenching the door open.”
The thunk of the paintgun firing sounded up ahead, right in front of the loading dock door. No sign of Teddy. Point-blank range, and they didn’t see him. He fired four or five shots, and all of them hit. The guys writhed and shouted, but when they turned to look for their assailant, they saw nothing. Anna saw nothing. Teddy fired another two shots, which hit, and the guys doubled over at the impact, straight in their guts. Had to hurt.
“Ma’am? Are you still there?” the dispatcher asked.
“Um, yeah. These guys? One’s white, one’s black. They’re dressed in black coats and stocking caps. And, um … they’re splattered with yellow paint. Really bright yellow paint.”
“Did you say paint?”
“Yeah. Like from a paintball gun.”
“I’m sending a patrol car to that location now. Are you in any danger?”
“No, I’m fine. I … I have to get going, bye.” She switched off the phone.
Unable to figure out who was attacking them with paintballs, the hoodlums ran. The problem was, they ran right toward her and would be on her in seconds. She turned and charged for the nearest likely hiding place—the stairwell down to a garden-level doorway. They probably wouldn’t take well to having a witness and were still hefting the crowbar and bolt cutters.
Hunched down on the concrete steps, she listened to their footsteps pound away. Much closer than she expected, a police siren howled. A patrol car, right in the neighborhood. One of the crooks cursed, and this was all going to get very exciting in a couple of minutes.
The actual pursuit and arrest happened a couple of blocks away, so Anna didn’t get to see it. If the guys were still holding their array of tools, they were sure to be taken in and charged. She imagined the stray yellow paint spatters would tell the cops exactly what door they’d been attacking.
She wanted to get out of the area entirely, but she didn’t feel like leaving her hiding space until she was absolutely sure she wouldn’t be spotted. Teddy had it easy.
Finally, a voice hissed above her. “Hey, you can come out now.”
As she tromped up the stairs, Teddy flashed into visibility. It was like switching on a TV.
He was grinning. “Wasn’t that cool?”
She handed the phone back to him. “You could have told me you had a plan.”
“I wanted it to be a surprise.”
She rolled her eyes.
“So now we have a system,” he insisted.
“That isn’t a system, it’s—” She threw up her hands and glared, because she couldn’t think of what that was. “We still need the cops to do all the work, you know?”
“You’re no fun.”
“I’m sorry I’m no fun.” She walked off. She was tired, frustrated, and she wanted to go home.