He nodded. “Well, that’s true enough, and I’m happy to see that you won’t go crazy with it, but you know? He, on the other hand, seems pretty serious,” he stated cautiously.
“He is. Tomorrow we’ll head to the beach.”
“Good, with any luck, you’ll get the weekend off.”
“I’m supposed to get the weekend off regardless,” she stated, looking at him.
He laughed. “You know that only worksuntilwe get called.”
“But I am not on call this weekend,” she stated, with a big grin.
“Oh, shit, how did you manage that?” he muttered.
“Well, unless it’s a big case, and then we’re all called.”
“Exactly,” he noted, “but here’s hoping you get the weekend off.”
She nodded, then stood, so she could stack and box up the jogger-related files on her desk, then looked around the bullpen. “It feels odd, dissatisfying in a way, because I couldn’t do anything with the joggers’ case.”
“Let it go for a while,” Rodney said. “As soon as more information comes in, we’ll jump back on it.”
“Got it.” And, with that, she headed out.
Rather than heading straight home, she walked outside for a bit, just to clear her head and to enjoy the fresh air. She walked over to her workout gym, and, once inside, she quickly changed and walked in for her training. An hour and a half later, she was on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. “Why do I keep paying for this?”
He laughed. “You keep paying for it because it’s good for you.”
“You keep saying that,” she murmured, as she slowly got to her feet.
“You’re getting better. I’m glad to see you coming back in for more regular workouts.”
“I need it,” she admitted. “It does tend to be something that slides, and I don’t mean for it to, but circumstances in life can be hell on schedules.”
“Especially in your job,” he noted.
She nodded. “Isn’t that the truth.” Standing up now, she walked over, grabbed her towel, and wiped her face down. “And sometimes the stress is what really gets me worked up,” she murmured.
“For you, I imagine that’s a constant thing.”
“It can be, though it’s not something that I’m particularly happy about. But how do you stop stress when it eats away at you or your subconscious?”
“And again, there’s not always anything you can do about it,” he admitted. “You can only protect yourself so much.”
“I know, and then, at some point in time, it just feels like you’re a failure.” He winced at that, and she shrugged. “It’s a case that I just can’t get anywhere on.”
“I’m sorry,” he murmured.
“Me too.” She tossed him a smile and headed out. She was sorry, but it was also about what Rodney had said—as soon as new information came in, she could jump right back on it. Inthe meantime, there were other cases. As she got back to her vehicle, she hopped in and drove slowly and carefully down to Simon’s place. She wondered if a vehicle was following her, as she headed into his last block. She frowned and carefully drove on for a few more blocks to see if she could shake him. When she did manage to, it just kept her guessing. She parked outside and got out slowly, keeping an eye on what was going on around her and then walked carefully up to Simon’s. She stopped just inside the doors and looked back out.
At the lobby desk, Harry asked, “Problems?”
“I hope not,” she murmured, “but I did wonder if I was being followed.”
He immediately walked to her side. “Do you know what vehicle?”
She replied, “An older two-door hatchback, dark blue. Other than that, I couldn’t catch it.”
“Well, I can keep an eye out in case anything like that drives by.”