Page 54 of The Spy Ring

I turned away from the park and back onto the city sidewalks. Since her building faced the lake, there weren’t that many people on her side of the street. Therefore, I couldn’t help but notice her as I grew closer. She was half a block from her building heading north and I was a block away, heading south.

Just as she glanced up from digging into her purse, she saw me. I braced for the worst. Pretending she didn’t see me or making a U-turn and disappearing.

But something much worse happened. When she lifted her hand to wave at me, some guy ran up and grabbed her purse. She tugged back, and my heart pumped so fast I thought it might give me superpowers.

I don’t even remember crossing the street as I ran to her.

“Let the fuck go, bitch. Don’t make me take out my knife.” The mugger let a hand go and started to reach into his pocket. But, this happened right when I got there.

Tiffany fell back, letting go of her purse. The thief had officially stolen her purse and threatened violence, which made it okay for me to rough him up. I would have tossed him around anyway, but at least I can tell the police I was afraid he would take out his knife and did everything in my power to stop him.

The idiot didn’t count on a highly trained former secret agent to be directly behind him as he lifted the blade from his pocket. The moron turned which made it almost too easy to grab his knife-wielding arm—which I did. I wrapped my other fist so tight around his greasy ponytail I thought his scalp might bleed.

“Going somewhere, motherfucker?” I said and let go of his hair so I could punch him in the face. And the stomach. Just for good measure, I kneed him in the balls too.

The knife fell and I kicked it away, into the street.

He couldn’t run anywhere, even if I let him out of the hold I had him in. I pinned him to the ground and forced his hands behind his back. When I gazed up I found Tiffany standing there, her ponytail askew and a few other people around her.

“I called the police. Man, that was a cool takedown. Are you a cop?” One of the guy’s in a bike helmet asked.

“Something like that,” I said but focused on Tiffany, looking for any signs of injury. “You okay?”

“I’m fine. Just a scrape on my elbow,” she said but most of the color had drained from her face.

The police arrived shortly after and we explained what had happened. I informed the police that there were security cameras outside the building if they needed security footage.

Once we were done, I insisted Tiffany go to the hospital but she refused. Instead, I guided her to her apartment. Once we were inside, I told her to lie down in her room. I found her first-aid kit and cleaned up her elbow.

“What if it’s broken. I may have ninja moves but I’m no doctor,” I said with a chuckle trying to lighten her spirits.

She had been quiet coming up to her place. I was worried there was more damage than she was letting on and Tiffany might be in shock. Checking her pupils, I saw they weren’t dilated. Perhaps it was just taking a while for the situation to settle in for her.

“Thank you, Jagger. For saving me,” Tiffany said lying back on her light blue- and green-patterned bedspread.

“No need to thank me.”

Placing the first-aid kit on her small, wooden bedside table, I turned back to put my hand on hers. She was shivering. I grabbed a navy throw at the end of her bed and pulled it over her.

“What will happen?” she asked as her eyes stared at the ceiling and tears ran down her cheeks.

“They’ll lock him up. Then—”

“No, I mean here? With David?”

“What do you mean? Is he about to come home? Do you want me to tell him?”

Because I would do anything for you.

Her face crumpled as she gritted her teeth. Tiffany covered her eyes with her hand and sobbed. “I don’t know what to do? He’s everything to me. What will happen when I’m gone?”

I crawled onto the bed and pulled her into me, squeezing her trembling body.

“That’s so long from now. Don’t worry about that. Shh. It’s all right. I’m here.”

She turned and buried her face into my chest. Her arms tightened, and every tear she shed onto my black T-shirt felt like a stab to my heart. That bastard was going to pay for hurting Tiffany like this.

After a few minutes, she pulled back and looked up at me. Her face was streaked with tears and possibly some snot, so I reached over to the other bedside table and grabbed a tissue for her. She sounded like a fog horn as she blew her nose.

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