Си Паради - Dancing With Shadows

Leaving his thought behind, he decided to go sightseeing. After all, he was on vacation. Viglioni could wait for a while. An opportunity would present itself, and when it did, he would take act on it.

Tony and Megan were sitting at the kitchen table eating chicken salad sandwiches. In another hour Tony was due to leave for work. Megan had wanted her to stay home, but Tony had convinced her that all they did was sit around anyway and she had the next day off.

"What did the insurance company say?" Megan asked.

"They’re going to have someone look at my car today or tomorrow. Personally, I think it’s totaled." Quirking a half smile, she added, "I think we need to go car shopping soon."

Grinning Megan said, "You like that Jeep you rented don’t you?"

"Well, it is kind of nice," Tony said, nonchalantly.

Megan laughed at the disinterested look her partner was trying to get her to buy. "Uh huh. Nice enough we had to ride around in it for an hour," Megan teased.

"I didn’t hear you complaining," Tony said, her eyes twinkling.

Megan’s face turned pensive. "No. You didn’t. It was an opportunity to spend time with you, and the way things have been going lately, I’m almost afraid to let you out of my sight."

Tony felt her stomach tighten. We shouldn’t have to live like this. Reaching across the table, she placed her hand on Megan's, not saying anything.

Her thoughts turned to the accident. There were so many unanswered questions. Why had the guy in the pick up deliberately rammed her?

Was it just a drunk or a crazy? Had she just been in the wrong place at the wrong time? She might be more inclined to believe that if it hadn’t been for incident at the rapid station. How could she make Megan feel better?

Comforted by the contact, but watching her lover drift off, Megan said, "Earth to Tony." When the deep blue eyes met her own, she continued, "What are you thinking about?"

"Everything that’s been going on. It is so strange. I’ve never been prone to accidents and all of a sudden there are two in three days. Doesn’t make sense. I feel like I’m missing something. I just don’t know what," Tony said, looking at Megan.

Megan's sober expression mirrored her partner's. "I’ve been thinking about it a lot, too. When I woke up last night, I knew something was wrong. I don’t know why, but I just did."

Megan’s thoughts turned reflective. "The night you got stabbed in the flats… I remember thinking how it almost seemed like it had been deliberate." Megan paused for a moment, her face troubled by her thoughts, "We found out later it was." Squeezing Tony's hand, she said, "I feel like that now."

Tony saw the worry reflected in Megan’s eyes. What could she say? She didn’t understand it either. It was very troubling that Megan felt that way. Hopefully she was wrong and it was just the stress of the two accidents.

"Nothing else is going to happen. It was just a coincidence," Tony said, not sure she believed it, but hoping to allay Megan’s concerns.

Megan squeezed Tony’s hand, and looked into her eyes, saying, "I hope you’re right."

The phone rang. Tony let go of Megan's hand, stood up, and walked over to the phone.

Picking it up, she said, "Hello."

"Hi. Brian, here. What time do you get off tonight?"

"11pm. Why?" Tony asked, curious.

Brian thought to himself, here goes nothing. "I’m still concerned that this may not have been an accident."

"Yeah, I know. We talked about that earlier. I agree with you, but there’s not a whole lot I can do about it," Tony said, wondering why he was bringing it up again.

Plunging ahead, Brian said, "I’m going to have a patrol car follow you from the surveillance site to the garage to get your car and then home."

"Come on, Brian," Tony said, amused that Brian would even suggest such a ludicrous idea. "You got to be kidding. It was probably an isolated incident by a crazy. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Tony snorted when another thought crossed her mind, how the hell would she explain to Keith why she was being escorted around by the local cops?

Brian ignored her reaction and continued, "How about humoring me? What’s the harm?" He hadn’t expected Tony to accept the offer and knew he would have to work at it.

Megan looked at Tony while listening to her end of the conversation. Wonder what's up? She doesn’t seem very pleased whatever it is.

Tony glanced at Megan and saw the curious expression on her face. Suddenly her ego didn’t matter that much. There was something more important to consider, like Megan’s feelings. It would make her feel better, even if I think it’s ridiculous.

Wondering how she was going to explain this to the other agents, she said, "Ok. You already have the address. It’s on the report I filled out.

I’ll wait until the car shows up before leaving," Tony said.

Brian couldn't believe she'd agreed. "Good. I’ll have someone there at 11pm," he said, hanging up. He didn’t want to give her a chance to change her mind.

Tony hung up the phone and sat back down at the table. Smiling at Megan, she said, "If it makes you feel any better, Brian is going to have a patrol car follow me home tonight."

Megan felt like a tremendous weight was lifted off of her shoulders. She hadn’t known how she was going to get through the evening. She would have done nothing but worry. The relief evident by the warm smile that covered her face, she said, "It does make me feel better." The thought crossed Megan's mind that she would still worry some, until Tony was home safe that night.

Sherman sat slouched in the seat of the car, cleaning his fingernails with his knife. It wasn’t that he needed to, it was just something to pass the time. The streetlight reflected off the stainless steel Smith & Wesson 357 magnum laying on the seat next to him. It wasn’t his weapon of choice, but it would do the job. It was loaded with.38 caliber hollow points. Hollow points were such a nice invention. They go in small and come out big. Sherman smiled to himself. Wouldn’t be much left of her head once the bullet had completed its trajectory.

Sherman saw the agency car enter the garage at the same time his peripheral vision noticed a patrol car pull into a parking place across the street. Probably taking a break from patrol.

He sat up straighter and trained his eyes on the exit, waiting for his target to emerge in her new Jeep. He grinned sardonically, It was so nice of her apartment to have the parking places numbered for the tenants. Once he knew she was in the apartment, he had gone to the garage to see what vehicle was in the parking space. Leaving nothing to chance, he had doubled checked later by parking in the same space he was in now, waiting for her to arrive for her shift.

When the sienna Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited exited the garage, Sherman shifted the car into drive prepared to move in behind her once an adequate space had passed. He felt a brief flicker of surprise when the patrol car pulled in behind the Jeep. That was no coincidence. A slow smile covered his face. She was running scared. Just as he had suspected, all the rumors he heard about her over the years were exaggerated.

Shifting his car into gear, he pulled out and drove back to the hotel strangely disappointed. So this wasn't going to be such a challenge after all. Scared people make mistakes.

Tony turned on the coffee pot and took out a couple of bagels. Megan had to work today and was getting ready. Tony was supposed to meet with the insurance adjuster, but other than that had no plans. She was just glad things seemed to be getting back to normal.

She had already fed the kittens, and they were contentedly sitting next to each other meticulously cleaning themselves and occasionally each other. Tony smiled at them. It really was nice having the kittens here. They had slept on the bed with them last night, Huggy next to Megan and Velcro next to her. Huggy seemed to be the more mischievous of the two, not that Velcro wasn’t quick to join in whatever trouble her buddy found.