Kate and I went through the lunch line and sat at a long redwood table with Norma, Otto, Theo, and Julie.
“Will you really teach me Taekwando?” Julie asked Kate.
“Of course, Julie. You’re athletic, you shouldn’t have any trouble picking it up.” Julie had informed us that she was going to live a couple of months in San Francisco before she started veterinary school at UC Davis.
While the ladies talked, Otto asked, “Are you and Kate friends?”
I glanced at Kate, who didn’t appear to have heard the question. “Yes. We met in San Francisco, lost contact, and reconnected here.”
“She likes you,” Otto said. “I notice she keeps touching you.”
My heart pounded giddily, like I was a teenager.
Two Sheriff’s deputies approached our table. “Do you mind if we interrupt?” the woman said. Her name tag read Detective Laura Sanchez.
“Not a bit,” Kate said. “How’s it going?”
“It’s going,” the other detective said. His name tag read Detective Sergeant Dan O’Malley. He leaned across the table. “Are you US Marshal Swift?”
Kate frowned and muttered, “How can I help you?”
“Do you mind if we talk to you for a few minutes?”
“Not at all.” Kate got up and whispered to me. “So much for traveling incognito.” She followed the deputies out of the dining room.