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“It’s the leather jacket, right?”

“Yes, absolutely.” She patted his arm. “Ditch it and you’ll become invisible.”

He was pretty sure she was patronising him. He frowned, which made her smile widely again.

“So why are you following me, Mr Landlord?”

She batted impossibly thick, long lashes and he wondered if they were fake.

“Curiosity. I know you don’t want me in the house. I know you’re hiding something. Probably something illegal. So I thought I’d see what you did with your day.”

“You really must have time on your hands. What exactly do you do now that you aren’t policing the city anymore?”

Actually, Jack had been wondering that recently too.

“Right now I’m pretty much focused on you, sweetheart. Why don’t you own up? You know what they say: confession is good for the soul. Get it all out in the open and we can stop this. What do you say?”

“Okay, I confess...”

His heart stopped beating. His mouth went dry.

“...that having you follow me is getting on my nerves. I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

“I’m sorry to hear that because I’m not going to quit until I know for certain what you’re up to.” He thought about it. “Or until I get you out of my house.” Another thought. “Or until you’re in prison.” He shrugged. “Whichever comes first.”

She patted his chest above his heart. The touch of her fingers, even through the cotton of his t-shirt, made him lose his place for a beat.

“That’s good to know. Has anyone ever told you that you’re completely misguided? Obviously dedicated, but definitely misguided.”

He frowned. There was a police station full of people who thought exactly that. He took a step closer to her.

“My instincts have never been wrong before,” he said. And for the first time in his life he was worried that statement might be a lie.

Her eyes went wide. She licked her lips.

“Well, aren’t you blessed. My instincts are wrong all the time.”

She blinked hard.

“Take yesterday for instance. My instincts told me to throw myself at a strange man.” She waved at the area around them. “And now I have my very own stalker.”

Jack started to say something, but Davina stepped back out into the flow of people. For a second he wasn’t quite sure what to do. Should he hang back and try to follow her again? That seemed a little stupid now, like kids playing hide and seek. Or worse – he caught sight of himself in the window – a game of ‘Where’s Wally?’ A crazy idea hit

him.

“Hold up,” he called as he jogged to catch up.

“I thought our conversation was over,” she said without looking back.

“I’ve decided to hang out with you for the day, see what my favourite tenant gets up to.”

That stopped her in her tracks. People grumbled as they moved around her.

“Are you thick? Doesn’t that defeat the point of trying to catch me doing something illegal? I’m not very well going to do anything stupid with you attached to my hip now, am I?”

She had a point.

“I know,” he said and found himself smiling again. “But at least this way I get to salvage something from the day.”