“This man is annoying me,” Hal said. “He’s following me, talking nonsense.”
The cop’s eyes slid up and down Michael. “That true, sir?”
The air had gone out of the younger man. He slouched sullenly, not looking at the cop, edging away from her in half-steps. “Just talking,” he said at half his previous volume. “Just talking.”
“It’s Michael, isn’t it?” the cop said. She shifted her stance to face him a little more directly. “Haven’t you been told before about bothering people, Michael?”
“No bother,” Michael said. “No trouble.” He looked over the cop’s shoulder, his lips still moving, then spun and walked away. For a moment it seemed the cop was going to follow him, but she settled for watching until he was gone around the next corner.
“I don’t think he’ll bother you again, sir,” she sai
