You Can't Run by Hope Davis (pdf e book reader .TXT) 📕

the front walk and up the street. She was cautious to not overexert herself, she hadn’t gone for a run since before the move, but her muscles and breathing easily found their old steady rhythm. She had always loved running, it helped to clear her mind.

As she was starting to work up a sweat and breathe a little heavier, she reached down and shut off her playlist, listening to the sound of her own breathing. As she did, she observed the world around her. Would she notice if a man jumped out in front of her right now? She glanced over her shoulder. What about cars? Would she hear one if she hadn’t shut off her music? And what if both women were wearing both earbuds? How likely would they have been to hear someone approaching then?

These thoughts continued to swirl around in her head as she turned and began to make her way back to the house. She hadn’t come far, but that wasn’t the point today. As she stretched out her muscles on the front lawn, she realized that she really missed running and decided that she should definitely start again. She pulled up her RunTracker app and looked at how long her last run had been, ten miles, but it had been over a month and a half ago. She closed the app and promised herself she would run that weekend, rain or shine.

As she walked up to the front door, she noticed a car pull up behind hers on the curb. It was a red pickup with dark tinted windows. On instinct, her hand went to where her gun would normally be before she remembered that of course she didn’t have it when wearing her running clothes.

Kevin chose that moment to step out from behind the driver’s side and waved, Naya relaxed and waved back as Trevor stepped out of the passenger side. She unlocked the door and waited for the two men to make it up the steps.

“Hey, Vance invited us over.” Kevin explained.

“I assumed.” Naya replied, mock sternness on her face.

“What are you doing home during the day?” Trevor checked the clock on his phone, clearly confused to see her.

“Why? You guys doing something you wouldn’t want a cop to know about?” She raised her eyebrow and tried to display the most authoritarian cop face she could imagine.

Both men smiled as they walked into the home.

“No, just not like you is all.” Trevor replied.

Naya watched as both men headed into the living room, Kevin turning around at the last second to give her a little wink. After they had disappeared she dashed upstairs to grab her clothes and headed for the shower, she needed to get back to work. There was a serial killer to catch.

As she stepped in the shower she realized it was almost one in the afternoon and Atlas hadn’t called her about finding a body, which meant that either their guy had gotten better, or maybe he had intended to keep them longer, and Julia had been a fluke.

She washed her hair and body as quickly as humanly possible, suddenly feeling like she had been away from the office too long. Although she knew Atlas was right, they didn’t need her there all the time, even during a big case, she still couldn’t shake the feeling of duty leftover from her days in La Junta. She finished her shower spurred by this obligation and stepped into her second set of slacks. She missed the comfort of her jeans, but  she needed to get more slacks. She had only bought two pairs, and it was clear she would be working more frequently than that would be sufficient for.

She slid her gun into her holster, immediately feeling whole again, and checked the mirror to run a brush through her hair. She briefly eyed her makeup bag next to the sink. She hadn’t put on makeup in years, but for some reason she suddenly had the urge. Before she could let herself waste time with indulgences, she swung open the bathroom door, tossed her dirty clothes and wet towel to the top of the stairs and slipped into her shoes. She could deal with exploring the reason for that impulse later, for now she had a killer to catch.

“Bye Vance!” she called over her shoulder as she let herself out the door.

“Bye mom!” He called back, continuing their banter from that morning she could hear Kevin and Trevor chuckling at it. She smiled as she slid the door closed, she was grateful her brother had friends.

The drive was quick, and Naya was a bit surprised to find the precinct relatively calm when she arrived. It only occurred to her after she walked in the door that she should have called and asked if Atlas wanted coffee. She assumed he would have been there all morning, but realistically she supposed he could have gone home for a nap as well.

She pulled her badge out and swiped it in front of the time clock, she smiled as she saw the amount of overtime hours she had already accumulated in the less than two weeks since starting.

It seemed that at least money wouldn’t be a concern.

“Ah you’ve decided to grace us with your presence again. May I ask how family number two is?”

“Hi Atlas” Naya rolled her eyes as she dumped her keys on her desk and slid into her chair. “They kick you out of the conference room?”

“Nah, it was boring in there without you, so I came out here for a bit.” He twirled his pen between his fingers. It made her want to laugh, although Naya knew he was older than her, sometimes his mannerisms made her feel  he was younger. Though she supposed that men were often said to mature slower than women.

“Think of anything new?” She inquired.

“No.