Ace

SAM

               The next day, Rodriguez and I went to Mr. Graham and asked permission to go home since it was easier to work from there. Before you leave the building, though, you have to go through some sensors to see if you had any trackers on you or if you stole anything.

               After that process, we met another agent in the parking lot. Her name was Amelia.

               "Oh, hi, Amelia," I greeted.

               "Hi, Sam! When's the baby due? Do you know the gender?" she asked.

               "Oh, it's a boy, and it's due July seventh," I answered.

               "Oh, so two months away! You two must be excited!" she exclaimed.

               "Yeah, we are. It's getting dark, so we should probably head out," Rodriguez said.

               "Oh, God bless your souls, God bless you both!" she said, hugged both of us and hurried away quickly. Rodriguez and I went in the car, and he just sat there, thinking. Then he asked,

               "Don't you think that was kind of weird?"

               "What are you talking about?" I asked in return.

               "Well, for one thing, Amelia usually doesn't talk to people. She's timid and keeps to herself. For another thing, why did she hug us?" he asked, looking at me weirdly.

               "Because she's happy for us," I shrugged. "Don't be such a spy."

               "Just saying, it's a little weird," he concluded, putting the keys in the ignition.

               It was fully dark when we finally got to the part of the city where we lived. We lived in a peaceful part of the city, in a quiet neighborhood, but it was also very sketchy at night, especially since there were no lampposts because there was not a lot of traffic there. Only one lamppost lit a part of the sidewalk, next to a bench and trashcan. We hadn't reached our neighborhood yet and were still in the city when Rodriguez parked the car beside the sidewalk.

               "Why are we stopping? Is something wrong?" I asked. He looked at something through the rearview mirror. I looked, too. I saw a car pull into a parking spot beside the sidewalk, as we had done, a few cars back.

               "That car has been following us for the past hour," he said, still looking in the mirror, "And when we stopped, it stopped, too. See, look at this," he started the car back up again and the car that had parked a few cars back did the same thing. Finally, he turned off the car, and the other car did. "I'm getting out to walk," he told me.

               "Do what you want. I'm staying in the car. It's probably just a coincidence. They'll drive away soon."

               "Meet me back at the house," he instructed, got the supplies he needed, and shut the door. I switched seats and started the car. The other car did what I did.