Alex emerged from the bar alone and stopped on the sidewalk outside. The neighborhood was busy. She looked both ways. She checked the street for vans or suspicious cars. The area was a minefield of things she didn’t like. Groups hanging around talking, single men, couples smooching in doorways, people sitting at outdoor tables that overflowed from other bars. Any single one of these groups, or any single person within them, could be transformed into a lethal adversary at any moment. Her insides were so tightly coiled that she saw the whole architecture of the neighborhood in terms of menace. The traffic flowed the wrong way, approaching her from behind, meaning anyone could follow. She guessed that might have been by design. “Okay,” she said to herself in a whisper. “Move!” Far to her left, almost half a block away now, she saw her two cops, a duet of green uniforms moving at a quick pace. Well, no turning back now. She walked briskly. Get this over fast. Make this your own type of smash and grab.
