Jacob stared out at the sunny house which sat in the middle of Front Street.  Nothing out of the ordinary had happened since he arrived the evening before, when the sun started its descent down the blue sky.  Normal activity occurred.  Nothing suspicious.

Now, in the early dawn of the morning, it was quiet.  As most places were at 4:00 am.

He leaned back in his chair.  His eyes focused on the front of her door.  It wasn't hard tailing her back to her home the day before.  But he wasn't prepared for how boring it would be.  So far, he pieced together that she lived alone.  He was sure of it.  There were no indicators that suggested otherwise.  He could probably snoop around as she was probably still asleep if he wanted.  But he didn't want to chance it.  If he got caught it would warrant a whole lot of trouble. Something that he didn't want to deal with.  So, he stayed put.  Trying to learn what he could from inside the car.  Which wasn't a lot.

A half hour later, the mellow door to her house opened.  The first thing he noticed was that she was looking back at him.  "Crap." He muttered under his breath as he lowered himself into his seat.  But she continued on.  Down the steps and across the street, it wasn't long before her fingers tapped against the glass.  Her face raised in a humored glow even though her short hair was still thrown about.  He sat back up in his chair and lowered the window.  Part of him coming to terms with getting caught, while the other part stirred in frustration.  

"Hi." She greeted with a smile, her hands tucked into the pits of her arms.  Hiding from the cool morning wind that now blew into his car, chilling his own skin.  "It's pretty cold out here.  Did you want to come in?"

Confusion overtook his mind, lowering his eyebrows.  She couldn't be serious.  Even if she remembered him, they still barley knew each other.  This was either a stupid decision on her part or a trap.  He looked at her closely.  She didn't seem sinister.  But then again, he wasn't expecting her to carry the mark of a liar.  "No, I just needed to pull over for a second.  I don't know where I am and was just looking for my GPS." 

She nodded her head with a skeptical look.  "Uh huh."  She didn't believe him whatsoever.  "You've been parked out here since yesterday, after you followed me home." Her arms crossed accusingly, calling his bluff.  "So, you can come inside or I can call the cops." 

He bit his tongue as he nodded.  If she called the cops, his team would make the whole ordeal go away.  But then he would have to explain himself to them, and that was a scenario he wanted to avoid if he could help it.  "Guess I'll come in."  He said, feeling like he didn't have much of a choice as he slowly opened his door. 

As they walked back up to her home, he couldn't help but internally chew himself out.  How could he have been so careless?  Of course she would notice someone following her.  She probably was always on the lookout for trouble, and now he got caught for underestimating her.  His fists clenched as they climbed the few steps that led up to her door.  He didn't understand why she was doing this?  Why wouldn't she just run, or phone the police?  Something wasn't quite adding up.  She opened the door to her home and motioned towards it.  "After you." She said with a smile.

He went in slowly.  Carefully looking around as the door behind him clicked shut.  Nothing was out of the ordinary.  Pictures hung on the wall.  Vases filled with flowers decorated the tables.  A piano sat in the corner, loose music sheets sitting on its music rack.  Nothing suspicious. 

"Can I get you a drink?  Water?  Milk?  Juice?" She asked, locking the door before heading to the kitchen.  He followed after her, carefully looking around with every step he took.  The white walls were decorated with pictures of her parents and colorful abstract paintings.  Nothing to suggest anything malicious.  At the end of the hallway he stood at the beginning of a beautiful kitchen.  An island sat in the center of the room with a couple of cups sitting on the edge of it.  She started to pour orange juice into one of the cups, before looking at him.  Her question still hovering in the air.

"No." He said coldly.

She shrugged and put the juice back in the fridge.  "Then, maybe you could tell me why you followed me home?"

His eyes narrowed slightly.  They were going to get to this question eventually.  He just wanted to be on the other end of it.  Asking her.  "Or maybe you could tell me what you know about cloud nine?"

She laughed a little and sat down at the table, her cup in hand.  "I don't think you know how this works.  I'm interrogating you." Her voice wavered as she motioned towards the chair on the other end.  "Now please, have a seat."

He came over, irritation squeezing his ego.  "Last I checked, you're not a cop, you're a counter attendant."

Her eyes rolled over to meet his.  "Last I checked, you were watching me like a creep." She held her cup between her hands.  Her face serious as she asked again.  "Why did you follow me home?"

His eyes hardened and he looked down at her arm. The root cause of his suspicions. "That's a nice tattoo you're sporting."

It was like he flipped a switch.  As soon as the words left his mouth, it felt like the room had gotten colder.  He watched her body change from confident to frozen in the course of a few milliseconds.  Her gaze averted his and her grasp tightened around the cup, and he swore that if she really wanted to it would crack and shatter under her grip.  An upset smile founded itself upon her face before she spoke next.  "That's what this is about." She folded her arms in front of herself defensively.  "So, you're a cop." She said looking up at him.

He shifted and folded his hands in front of him.  To her, he was either a cop or part of it, and he had no tattoo to prove it.  So, the cop route was the way to go, even if it wasn't entirely true.  "You can say that."

She nodded and got up, bringing her glass to the sink.  He was certain that she was going to ask him to leave.  Her whole demeanor screamed discomfort.  "If I cooperate," She paused, like she was having trouble speaking. "then will you grant me immunity?" She asked, her arms bracing herself against the sink.

He couldn't promise that. He didn't have the authority to do that. But she didn't have to know. "I guess it depends on what you can tell me." He said, his lip twitching.

"I get immunity, or you get nothing." She said sharply, barely moving a muscle.

An angry huffed escaped his throat. "Fine."

She nodded. "What did you want?" She asked turning around, her arms wrapping around herself.

He pulled out a photo from his pocket and handed it over to her. "What can you tell me about cloud nine." He asked as she took it. Her eyes closed a little as she gazed at the familiar sight." Her voice came, barely audible. His ears strained, trying to hear her.  "What did you say?"

She looked up at him.  Bearing a burden of shame.  "I created it."