At the Bottom of the Bay

Chapter Three

Sofia followed Kelsey down the bluff back into town, didn't pull her hand away even as they stepped onto Main Street. Kelsey dragged her past mostly empty storefronts, and she ignored the odd stares they received from the odd owner flipping their sign to read OPEN.

With her hand in Kelsey's, Sofia wasn't able to light another cigarette, so she kept her free hand buried in the pocket of Kelsey's windbreaker. "What's his problem?" She nodded to a particularly crotchety looking man at the entrance to the farmer's market, scowling at them below the brim of his flat cap.

Kelsey kept her head down, somehow managing long strides with her short legs. "People have been a little on edge lately."

Sofia twisted to look at the man over her shoulder, caught his lip curl up derisively under his thick mustache. "Not because of me?"

Kelsey shook her head hard. "No, no, no. Nothing to do with you." She jumped back as a door flew open in front of them, stumbling back into Sofia. The woman exiting the store looked at her with shrewd, narrow eyes.

"Sorry, ma'am," Sofia said, because it was clear Kelsey wasn't going to say anything and the woman wasn't going to move.

That shrewd gaze moved to her, and the woman huffed. "Put some pants on. You look a disgrace." She tutted, glared once more at Kelsey, and moved across the street.

Sofia pressed her hand to Kelsey's shoulder, intending to shove her away, but found her fingers curling into the rough fabric of her sweater instead. "What the hell was that about?"

Kelsey tried to laugh, but it didn't sound sincere. "Who knows? Old people have such weird hang ups when it comes to propriety." She straightened up, putting on her best smile. "Come on, we're almost there."

Sofia noticed for the first time the circles under Kelsey's eyes, the lankness to her hair. She wasn't taking care of herself, probably too busy taking care of Sofia.

"She didn't seem to like you," she said.

Kelsey waved her off, leading the way through the shaded parking lot to the police station. "No one likes me."

She said it so matter-of-fact, Sofia choked on a laugh.

That had Kelsey grinning as she held the door open. "After you."

They ended up walking through at roughly the same time, Sofia refusing to release her hold on Kelsey's hand. The more obvious Sofia became with her pathetic clinging, the more pleased Kelsey looked, her little gremlin mouth twisting up at the corners in a Grinch-like smile. Sofia rolled her eyes at it.

"Hello!" Kelsey greeted the woman working the reception desk, leaning toward the small opening between the plate-glass and the counter. "Hi there!"

The receptionist glanced away from her computer screen (Sofia could see Solitaire reflected in her glasses), and frowned. "Finally, here to turn yourself in, eh?"

Kelsey stammered, laughing to cover up her embarrassment. "N-no! I'm here about a case. I mean, my case! The one I opened, not the–" a glance at Sofia, and she leaned in closer, lowering her voice. "Not the one on me."

"What did you do?" Sofia asked, because of course she could still hear her.

"Nothing!" Kelsey pushed her glasses up, a nervous gesture if ever Sofia saw one. "People in this town gossip, and of course they would pin a thing on me and..." She was floundering. She turned back to the receptionist, mouth close to the opening. "May I speak to Officer Bosco?"