“Yes, seriously,” she stated. “When I see you choking like that, all I can think of is that it’s my runners. And I’m really hoping this isn’t indicative of yet another killing.”
He lowered his hand from his throat. “I don’t think so,” he replied slowly, “but I don’t know.”
She nodded and looked at the clock. “It’s almost time to go jogging anyway. Are you still coming?”
“Of course I’m coming.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “You don’t have to. I know you couldn’t have gotten much sleep.”
“I’m coming,” he snapped.
She nodded. “Fine. Any particular reason?”
“Yeah, because, if you’re going back to the same place where that damn killer is, I want to be there.”
She glared at him. “Remember. This is what I do.”
“Remember those dead bodies? Yeah, I’m coming.”
She thought about it for a moment and said, “I’ll need to go back to my place to get my gear.”
“Okay, so get ready, and I will be dressed in a minute.”
She nodded, then went to pull her clothes from the dryer, happy that at least they were clean now. By the time she wasdressed and had her things collected, he stood at the doorway. She looked at him and frowned. “How can you get ready so fast?”
“Doesn’t take much,” he noted, “particularly not when we’re in a rush.”
She didn’t say anything, and he drove them over to her place.
As they walked in, he smiled. “I should have brought some of the leftovers here, so at least you’d have something resembling food in this place.”
“I was hoping for coffee,” she noted, “but we didn’t even think of it.”
“No, but we can grab a cup afterward.”
She nodded. “By then we’ll both be racing to get to work.”
“We could pick it up on our way, but we can hardly jog with it in our hands.”
“Nope, I’ll do without until I get to work.” She wasn’t sure how that would work for her, but, hey, she’d give it a try.
As soon as she was dressed in her running gear, they headed out and drove up to the Stanley Park jogging paths. She got out, stretched her neck, turned to face Simon. “I don’t know how you can wake up like you did.” She frowned. “Then just act like it’s all normal.”
He didn’t pretend to misunderstand what she said. “Well, this was a whole lot different than waking up from my usual visions,” he stated. “Normally I don’t get slapped back into reality.”
She glared at him. “Last one there is a rotten egg.” Then she bolted down the pathway.
He laughed and took off after her. She seemed to have some plan in mind, as she followed a pathway he hadn’t expected. But he kept himself just a hair behind her.
She tried to follow in her head the pathway that the eyewitness she’d spoken to yesterday had given her. Checkingthe time, she tried to gauge it, slowing down ever-so-slightly, so they wouldn’t arrive too early.
Finally she stopped at the top of a hill, her breathing strong and steady.
He stopped beside her and looked at her quizzically.
She whispered, “I’m thinking that, according to the schedule, he should be up and around that corner there.”
“And if he isn’t?”