Damn, it couldn’t be Horatio—or, rather, Lug Nut. But he looked exactly like him. And he sounded like him, too, with that deep, harsh voice. But that was impossible. Lug Nut was in jail.
Had he escaped already? They couldn’t have let him go. But who was this guy? Lug Nut had to have a brother. In fact, this guy could be his twin. But why was he gesturing and yelling so angrily at me? He didn’t know me! Did he? Had he seen me coming out of the viewing room after identifying his brother?
Had he and his brother been spying on me? The thought made my head spin. But how else would he know who I was?
I stared dumbly for a few more seconds until I realized he was checking the traffic, too. Was he waiting for a break so he could cross the street and— What? Threaten me? Kill me?
Damn it! I turned and ran up the sidewalk, back to the crosswalk directly in front of the steps leading up to the Hall of Justice. But Lug Nut—or whoever he was—kept pace with me on the other side of the busy street. I couldn’t believe it. He was standing right in front of police headquarters, threatening me, blocking my access. So how was I supposed to get from here back into the building without running right into him?
I looked around for a cop. We were directly in front of police headquarters, for God’s sake. Where was a cop when you needed one?
At that very moment, a cop car approached the intersection and stopped to allow me to cross in front of him. I rushed around to the driver’s side of the car and the cop rolled down his window.
“Can you help me?” I asked, pointing toward my tormentor. “That man over there in the black T-shirt is following me.”
“The big one?” he said.
“Yes. I’ve been trying to get into the building to talk to the police but I’m afraid to go near him.”
The two cops in the car stared directly at Lug Nut’s twin. He stared back for a long moment, and if looks could kill, I would have dropped dead. After another few seconds, he shook his head in disgust, uttered some rude words I couldn’t hear, and stomped off in the opposite direction.
The police officer driving the car gazed up at me. “Do you want us to go after him?”
Yes, please! I thought, but I couldn’t ask them to do it. “He hasn’t actually done anything yet,” I admitted, glancing back at the hulk retreating from sight. “He was just trying to frighten me.”
“If you want to file a restraining order, you can get the forms online and file them at the McAllister Street courthouse over at the Civic Center.”
“Okay, thanks,” I said, smiling tightly. I knew I could probably file some kind of protective order against him, but he looked too vicious to care. To him, it would just be a piece of paper, no matter how legal it was. Besides, I didn’t even know his name! So how was I supposed to keep this guy from coming near me?
With the path cleared, I scurried across the street and raced up the stairs. A woman was exiting the building as I approached, so I grabbed the door and slipped inside.
I stared out at the street and was shocked to see that the Lug Nut twin had already reappeared. The police stare-down hadn’t frightened him away. He was on the other side of the street now, just standing there as plain as day, studying the trio of massive glass doors leading to the Hall of Justice. As he stood there, he lit up a cigarette and lazily blew out a lungful of smoke. His calmness unnerved me.
Watching him carefully, I could detect subtle differences between him and his brother—or twin, or whatever his relationship was with Lug Nut. This guy’s head was bullet-shaped instead of round. He looked slightly older, more hardened, and more in control of his emotions, if barely.
The hazy sky cast enough light to reflect off the glazed windows of the glass doors, blocking any outsider’s view inside. I knew he couldn’t see me, but it still freaked me out to see him staring my way.
He was waiting for me. There had to be a back exit somewhere. I wasn’t about to give him a chance to hurt me like his brother had.
My whole body shook with fear. I needed to find Inspector Lee and tell her about this new threat. But first I pulled out my phone and snapped a few photos through the glass. I zoomed in for a close-up but the shot came out a little blurry because the big jerk kept moving back and forth along the sidewalk, watching and waiting. So instead of a photograph, I switched the camera to video and recorded his moves for about fifteen seconds. This was something I could show Inspector Lee.
My phone buzzed in my hand, causing me to jolt before I came to my senses and answered the call.
“Derek,” I said. “Thank goodness it’s you.”
“What’s wrong?” he said. “Where are you?”
“I’m still at the Hall of Justice. I identified the attacker from the lineup and he’s in jail now, so that’s done. But . . .” How could I explain this? “Derek, the guy who attacked me must have a twin brother.” I briefly explained how I had been followed to my car by yet another big, mean-looking guy and how I had managed to evade him—for the moment.
“You’re inside the Hall of Justice right now?”
“Yes.”