Nora Lee swerved into narrow alleyways and scuttled over trash cans. She jumped over small walls, dodged through side yards, and weaved under clothes lines. She knew the neighborhood; she’d lived here for at least six years, and her path wasn’t one just anyone could follow. But Detective Daniel Moon wasn’t just anyone. He soon lost sight of her, but his eyes caught patterns in the small streets and walkways, and without too much effort he disappeared into his own side street. After a minute or so all traces of him were gone, and Nora slowed to a stop.

The street was quiet. She ducked next to an old mailbox to catch her breath, and her fingers fumble with the buttons on her camera. She went through the pictures she’d taken, sparing each one not even half a second, before finally deciding to eject the memory card altogether. Now wasn’t the time for this. She knew she wasn’t safe yet. Her mind raced from the events she’d witnessed, and she was still thinking of what to do with the information she had. If the police didn’t catch her now, they would later. Somebody would. That was the price to pay when someone knew too much, and Nora always knew too much.

“Found you.”

She heard him before she saw him. The voice was small, distorted, but enough for Nora to turn towards it before she was trapped against the side of the mailbox. It was a mess of movement- the detective had rushed her from some hidden corner, and he stayed hunched over to block her path. She found herself pinned and didn’t have much time to think before she tumbled to the street. In seconds she had been grabbed and smacked to the asphalt, one arm awkwardly bent behind her back, and she released an inhuman screech when her camera strap slipped from her neck. The device scuttled a few feet off like a drunken crab.

“Okay, okay!” Nora panted, trying to gain some traction in the odd predicament she found herself in, “I’ll stop running, just don’t treat me so- OUCH!”

The detective was too busy catching his breath to pay attention to her complaints. He kneeled on the small of her back to keep her from squirming too much and dug around his jacket pockets for something. He realized his wallet and cigarettes were missing and cursed.

“You dropped them as soon as you started running, if that helps. Somewhere around Birch Street- heyHEYHEY! MIRANDA RIGHTS! MIRANDA RIGHTS, I NEED MY RIGHTS!!”

While she was talking, he had grabbed his handcuffs from his jean’s belt loop and snapped one end to her wrist. The metal pinched her, and she started whining.

“Why are you arresting me?? I’m innocent! I didn’t do anything wrong, I swear!”

“You’re lying.”

“Only a little bit!” Nora tried to tug her arms out of the detective’s grasp, but she didn’t have much room to move, “Look, we can talk this out without getting rough. It might not seem like it, but I’m very good at talking. I’ll tell you everything I think you should know and then we can go our separate ways. Please??”

The detective gave his answer by locking her wrist into the other cuff.

He sat down next to her and let himself rest a minute or so under the loud noises coming out of Nora’s mouth. She rolled in protest but couldn’t do much with her hands behind her back, so after a while she let her face hit the pavement and did her best to glare at the man sitting cross-legged with her, even though she couldn’t quite see him. At one point an old woman walked out of her house with her small dog to check the commotion.

“Nora. I see you’ve gotten yourself into trouble again,” she greeted.

Nora frowned.

“Hi Simona. Hi Rocky.”

Rocky trotted over on his stubby legs and started to lick her face, and Nora was helpless to stop the encounter. She gave a dry sob, too embarrassed to do anything else. Daniel sent Simona a polite nod, the only gesture he could muster while he caught his breath, and Simona greeted the scruffy detective in return.

“It must have been tough, officer. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Don’t talk to him, he’s the enemy,” Nora barked, trying to avoid the dog’s tongue.

“And you’re obnoxious. What’s the point of wreaking havoc if you get caught every time?”

Nora couldn’t say much to that. The dog finished his business with her and went on his way. Simona followed him.

“I’ll send you breakfast if they haven’t released you from your cage by morning.”

Nora sniffled.

“Thanks.”

They watched the pair turn the corner. Daniel dug for his cigarettes again out of habit- and gave a short grunt when all he could find was his lighter- before reaching over and finally grabbing the fallen camera. When it turned on, Nora let out a small sigh of relief. He found his way to the camera’s storage, and when he didn’t find anything he gave Nora a disappointed scowl. She turned her face away, acting innocent.

“…The memory card is missing.”

“Is it really?” Nora wiggled until she was properly facing him, “That’s strange, isn’t it? Let me see—”

“Where’d you hide it?” he ignored her.

“You think I had the time to hide a memory card?”

“You had the exact amount of time to hide one. Cough it up.”

Nora pursed her lips and discovered an object across the street that was suddenly a lot more interesting to look at. Her attention drifted. Frustrated, the detective reached over and pulled her shoulder so that she had no choice but to look at him. Their eyes met, and Nora was about to berate him about keeping his hands to himself when she suddenly stopped, shut her mouth, and stared.

Recognition.

“…What?” Daniel asked.

“I know you,” Nora mumbled, almost too quietly, “We’ve met before.”

They stared at each other for a long moment. Nora seemed almost in awe, as if she was trying to connect the face in front of her to one she held dearly in her heart. Daniel didn’t feel a thing. Finally, the detective couldn’t take it anymore.

“That woman was right. You are obnoxious.”

“No-!”

“Nothing’s more obnoxious than hitting on an officer that’s arresting you. You’re not cute enough, so give it a rest.

“No, you don’t understand! We’ve met!!”

Without hearing the rest of her explanation, Daniel dragged her up from the floor by her hoodie, and amidst protests, complaints, and hideous squawks, Nora was escorted to the station.