Vigilant

“Had you met that kid before? I know you have a student there.”

“His name was Oscar Alvarez. Oliver and I saw him fight. He was very talented.” Ari was surprised he fell to the Vigilante, but she supposed a gun outweighed even the most skilled hands.

“Guess the Vigilante isn’t such a good guy after all,” he said into her hair.

“No, I guess not,” she agreed. Ari pulled away and sat down. If the Vigilante wasn’t good, then what did that mean for her? The two times he’d saved her? The two different times she suspected he’d been in her room? She’d suspected Davis had been the Vigilante but now? It was impossible. Who was it? “I wonder what happened, why he used the gun.”

“Maybe he decided to finally show who he really is? Whatever he wanted to prove, the cops are all over this. He’s now considered armed and very dangerous. Their top priority.”

Ari stared at the pile of papers and files on her desk. Shanna’s was on top. She was willing to give her another chance but she had to track the girl down first. She was so close to graduation that screwing up now seemed idiotic.

“What a mess.” Ari had to admit her caseload looked more and more depressing. Hope and Shanna were missing. Maria was dead. Now Davis would have to go to another funeral. She thought about how upset and hurt he seemed yesterday.

“Hey,” Nick said, rousing her from her thoughts. “You okay?”

“Just thinking about how these kids seem to be drowning. Either running wild or being murdered on the streets. I keep trying to find a way to help, but nothing seems to work. It doesn’t matter what I do or you or Davis…we can’t save these kids.”

A line creased between Nick’s eyes. “Davis?”

“Yeah,” Ari said. She shifted around some papers on her desk. “I really should call him. He was here when it happened.”

“Here? With you?”

She fumbled around for the card with his phone number. She never saved it in her phone. That would have made it too easy. “A group of his boys came out to do a presentation for my self-defense class. Rebecca saw the video footage and called us over.” She found the card buried under a pile of messages. “If I could only find the phone.”

She rummaged around the desk. A pile of folders fell off the edge, revealing her phone. “Ah.”

“So you and this Davis guy have gotten close?”

The question startled Ari and she forced herself to act naturally. “I wouldn’t say ‘close’,” she lied. She started dialing the phone.

“You seem like you have a lot of work to do,” he said. Ari glanced up and noticed the tense line between his eyes was still there. “Can I come by tonight?”

“Sorry, I have so much junk to do today. Every day, I get further behind. But tonight sounds great.”

“I’ll bring dinner.”

“Thank you,” Ari said. Nick leaned down and gave her a kiss. Warm and soft. Something nice to hold onto for the rest of the day.

* * *

Peter waved Ari back when she entered the gym. No one was at the counter, but he and a couple of the guys took turns in the gym area pummeling the tar out of a weight bag. Loud, angry music played over the speakers, so loud it made her chest vibrate. She guessed that was one way to get out the aggression.

“I’m so sorry,” she said to Peter. “You let me know if I can do anything, okay?”

“Thanks.” He wiped the sweat off his forehead. “You looking for Davis?”

“Yes, is he here?”

“Go on back to his office. I’ll get him.”

Ari followed the familiar hallway to his office. She paused before opening the door, wondering what she was doing there. Where was this going? How did the lines between her and Davis get so muddled? Was she there as his co-worker or secret lover? Did she offer comfort with her body or a sympathetic ear?

Confused but determined, she pushed the door open. She stopped herself from sitting on the couch. After the other day, it seemed inappropriate. They’d crossed—no smashed—through the boundary lines and she had no idea what to do. “What have I done?” she muttered to herself.

Davis appeared at the office door damp and clean from a shower. He wore a dark blue long-sleeved thermal and jeans. The smell of his soap followed him into the room, masking the sweaty smell from the gym.

“You didn’t have to stop working out for me,” Ari said.