Vigilant

“Unexpected? Inappropriate?”

“Well, yes, but I was going to say amazing.”

Right.

“So, believe it or not, I came here for a reason,” Ari said. She stood up and straightened her clothes.

“Other than that? Because that was a pretty good reason if you ask me.”

“That,” she said, with a little smile, “was a nice bonus. But I have a favor to ask you.”

Davis’s legs stretched into the middle of the floor and it was all Ari could do to not to climb back in his lap. “Anything. What do you need?”

“I’ve been thinking about these murdered girls and my clients and how vulnerable they are. I want to help them protect themselves.”

He nodded. “I think that’s a great idea. What do you have in mind?”

“I’ve started a self-defense safety group for my girls. Mandatory, as part of their probation. We meet at our offices in the community room but I thought maybe you could do a demonstration of some kind. Teach them some defensive moves?”

“I’d be happy to help you with that.” He smiled at Ari and swiped at the bottom of her skirt. “Anything else?”

Yeah, she needed something else. Round two, but that wasn’t going to happen. “I think I should probably go, you know, before the kids get back.”

“That would probably be a smart idea.”

He stood up and walked her to the door, checking the hallway and the gym to make sure no one was back. The building was silent. Ari picked up her briefcase and checked her hair with her hands. Davis guided her down the hall with his hand on the small her back. She fought the urge to run at his gentle touch. So intimate. Was that okay?

“Be careful,” he said at the door.

“I will.” She pulled her keys out of her bag and the shiny silver tag caught the parking lot light.

Davis caught the tag in his fingers and rubbed his fingers over the markings. “Perfect timing,” he said.

“What?”

“Those characters. It means ‘perfect timing’. Well, they’re numbers actually.” He noticed her confused expression. “In Chinese.”

“You read Chinese?”

“Some, yeah. My mother was Chinese. She taught me a lot.”

“Oh.” What kind of message was that? ‘Perfect timing’? Before Ari could ask more, a blue van pulled up and Peter jumped out of the passenger seat before the car had come to a full stop. He flung open the back door. Boyd got out of the driver’s side and ran to help him.

“What happened?” Davis asked, rushing to the van. Boyd helped a fair-skinned boy with red hair out of the car. His face was bandaged and a splint covered his nose.

Peter’s eyes flicked to Ari and he said, “Liam fell at the park trying to do a backflip. No broken bones, but he has a concussion.”

“The hospital let him leave?” Davi

s asked.

“Yes, we just need to keep an eye on him.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Ari asked. She noticed the boy from the main fight, Alvarez, helping Peter and Boyd.

“I think we can handle it,” Davis said. He gave her a quick smile. “I’ll call you about next week, okay?”

“Sure.”