Page 51 of Lovesick Titan

“No! Please. Really. He won’t want anything. Especially not from me. If anyone asks, you never saw me. You never saw him. It’ll all blow over in a week or two. And hey, if you can do me just one other favor?”

“Anything. Anything.”

“Don’t tellhimI was here either.”

Mal stood in a daze for several moments, not hearing whatever final exchange occurred before Danny left the shop.Dannywas the one at risk, yet here he was, putting himself on the line again—for Mal. What the hell was he thinking?

Mal hurried out of the back of the shop to head Danny off. Tailing someone in his own neighborhood was child’s play, so long as Danny didn’t lightning jump. But Danny seemed ready for a leisurely stroll.

He wore all black with a cap on his head like Mal. When Danny headed for the bakery, Mal ducked into the back of the store, moving quietly, knowing each place of business on his turf well enough to sidestep boxes and equipment without a single unwanted noise.

Until Janey came around a corner and barreled right into him.

“Oh my goodness! Mr. Cho!” she exclaimed, nearly dropping the dirty pan she’d been bringing back to the sink.

Mal reached out to keep the pan from unbalancing and brought a finger to his lips. The bell chimed over the door, a more musical sound than Rashid’s.

“Hello?” Danny called.

Janey’s eyes widened, but Mal shook his head. He wasn’t here. She hadn’t seen him. Janey pursed her lips with a confused frown but soon passed the pan to Mal and dusted her hands off on her apron.

“Coming!”

Depositing the pan in the sink behind him, Mal inched closer to the front after Janey. Danny engaged her in a similar exchange to the one Mal had already overheard, though unlike Rashid, Janey managed to force a donut on Danny—on the house.

“Is everything okay, Danny?” she asked.

“Like I said, it’s just the police—”

“I mean between you and Mr. Cho.”

“Oh…uhh…”

“Did he do something he shouldn’t have? That museum last night, they say it was him. The security guard got a good look. But I heard Zeus recovered half the stolen goods. Did something happen?”

Damn Janey and her sincere curiosity. Mal tried to peek around the doorway into the front. He could just barely make out the brim of Danny’s hat.

“It’s not that,” Danny said. “Idid something, and I’m trying to make it right. Please, don’t tell him I was here.”

“Okay. But I don’t understand. Wouldn’t you want him to know you’re trying to protect him?”

“No. Because then it becomes about me instead of him. Thank you, Janey,” Danny said and took his leave.

A new feeling of nerves and guilt andhopestirred inside of Mal. He didn’t have any answers about what he wanted or what to do next, but he knew he couldn’t let Danny out of his sight.

Without waiting for Janey to find him in the back again, Mal fled outside, following a parallel path to Danny along alleyways and side streets to see where he’d go next. They’d been in sync even before Mal caught Danny at Rashid’s. Danny was on a backwards path from Mal’s apartment too. He’d probably figured it was safest to start there to avoid running into Mal, and because Mal had taken back streets the whole way, Danny hadn’t seen him.

Now Mal continued that trend, entering the back of every business Danny stopped at. The same story played out each time between Danny and the people of the neighborhood.

Only Mrs. Pak actually asked, “You cop?” with a scrutinizing eyebrow.

“Detective.”

“And Mickey know?”

“He does. We were just a really good, reallybadidea for a while.” Danny turned to walk away, but Mrs. Pak stopped him. They were only a shelf away from Mal this time, since he’d had to slip inside the store itself to overhear them tucked back by the frozen food section.

“Anything more I can do, you say so. Mickey good boy. You good boy too.” She patted his cheek. Only then did Mal realize that Danny’s burns were gone, leaving behind a faint redness that most people wouldn’t notice.

---