Outside the school entrance, Tom sat on the stone steps and looked about the grounds. He had caught the bad guy, so why did he feel like he had lost? He heard the doors open behind him and a moment later someone had come to sit next to him.
"Hey," Alex said.
"Hey," Tom replied, a smile creeping across his lips. "I was looking for you."
"I've moved classes," Alex explained. "Starting this Wednesday, I'm going to the college three times a week to do an advanced computer course."
"That's great," Tom beamed.
"I'm also tutoring some kids," she added. Then she asked; "How come you're here?"
"To say goodbye. I went to see the guys," Tom said, jabbing his thumb back at the school. "They were pretty mad. I guess people don't like to think they've been lied to."
He paused for a moment, wondering if he really wanted the answer to the question that was forming in his mind.
"Are you mad at me?" He asked.
She shook her head and smiled.
"So you didn't tell me your real last name," she said, with a shrug. "You can't fake the good person that you are. When we were hanging out, when we were talking; that was real."
"It was," Tom said firmly, looking her straight in the eye.
"You're still the guy who walked me home and burnt the popcorn," they both laughed and then she said; "I knew who you really were."
He stared at her, surprised. Was that a figure of speech, or was there more implied in the way she was looking at her? Then he remembered his own words to her: 'You have the world at your fingertips'. He had been beyond stupid; Alex could get inside any computer system.
"How long have you known?" He asked.
"Mmmm…" her eyes looked towards the sky, her tongue curling up and out of the corner of her mouth, as she pondered the question. "The day after we first meet," she admitted.
"That long?" Tom said in disbelief. He closed his eyes and pressed his fingers against the lids.
"Yeah," she replied.
He shook his head and let out a chuckle.
"You know," he said opening his eyes. "Hacking into police personal files is illegal. Someone who did that would get into a lot of trouble."
Alex looked at him with a perplexed expression.
"Who would do a thing like that?" She said innocently.
"Certainly not you," he replied, with a sarcastic smile. "You're just an excellent judge of character."
"Call it woman's intuition," she said with a smirk.
"I guess this is the part where you leave, huh?" She put on a booming, theatrical voice and added; "More teens to save, more mysteries to solve."
Tom laughed.
"Well Officer Hanson," she said thoughtfully. "It was nice knowing you."
She reached out to shake his hand and Tom felt like hugging her, kissing her on the cheek even, but decided it would be inappropriate. It was best to leave it like this and not dwell on things too deeply, he thought.
"Bye Alex," he said, flashing his lop-sided grin at her, and realising it was probably for the last time. "Take care."
"You too." And with that she turned and went back into the school.
THE END