Page 79 of Every Step She Takes

PCTracy:I was an idiot, and I’m furious with myself. I was thinking that I could do it, and you’re obviously resourceful and capable, so you could, too. I never stopped to consider the extra danger you’d face.

LlamaGirl:As a woman.

PCTracy:Right.

LlamaGirl:I never told you what happened to me. I didn’t say it was a guy. I didn’t say what he wanted. I didn’t say anything except that I was accosted in the park.

Pause. Pause.

PCTracy:I made a presumption, and I shouldn’t have. We need to get you a safe place to stay. A hotel room. Do you trust me to handle that?

I don’t trust him to do anything right now.

LlamaGirl:You were there. When I was attacked.

PCTracy:You think I attacked you?

LlamaGirl:No, I think you came to my rescue. A guy woke me up. I got away. I’d escaped, and I was hiding, hoping he’d run past, when someone took him down. Beat the crap out of him, it sounded like.

PCTracy:Well, good. He deserved it, and I’d gladly have administered the beating, but I’ve been in my hotel room all night.

LlamaGirl:And if we met for breakfast, you wouldn’t have a mark on you?

No answer.

LlamaGirl:It was you. I know it was. You’re asking me to trust you. Can I? Really?

At least thirty seconds tick past.

PCTracy:It was me.

PCTracy:I wouldn’t have told you it was safe to sleep out of doors unless I could watch over you.

PCTracy:I wasn’t LITERALLY watching you sleep. I was just close by. I heard the guy coming. He looked like a cop. I withdrew to monitor the situation. The problem was that I couldn’t hear what he was saying to you. It looked like a police interaction… until he grabbed you.

PCTracy:I was sneaking up when you escaped. I stayed back, hoping you’d get away on your own. I knew you were hiding behind the theater after you ran, so I took him down before he reached you.

PCTracy:I’m sorry. I should have insisted you get a hotel room, one way or another. I thought I had it under control, and I did not.

LlamaGirl:You’re tracking me. You know where I am.

PCTracy:It’s not like that.

LlamaGirl:No? Where am I? Right now.

Another thirty seconds. Then he names the diner.

LlamaGirl:You bastard.

PCTracy:Yes, I know where you are, but the only time I used that information was last night.

PCTracy:Okay, I used it this morning, too, but just to be sure you were safe. I’m miles away. I swear it. I have never been within a thousand feet of you before the library yesterday.

LlamaGirl:The library?

PCTracy:It’s the IP address. If you’re on Wi-Fi, I know how to get the IP address from the messaging app we’re using. I can trace that to the location. I haven’t before yesterday, though. And I won’t do it again. If you’re worried, use cell phone data. I can’t track that.

LlamaGirl:You bastard.