Detective Stevens pushed the roller bearing the pallet of goods down one aisle and then another as she searched for the right one so she could begin restocking the shelves. She knew it wasn’t that hard of a thing, figuring out which aisle had which products, but something inside her knew that if she ever sat down to learn the store layout that it would somehow mean she was giving up on making it back to her time.

She’d been stuck for months, and had only just finally gotten a basic identity card so she could work. She’d hoped that it would be enough, that the tax forms she filed, the lease agreement she’d signed, something would be enough for the trackers to lock onto but so far, nothing.

“Hey, D!” her manager, Monica, called out to her as she turned down yet another aisle in search of the baking goods.

Detective Stevens looked up and gave her manager a wane smile.

“It’s two more over that way,” Monica pointed and then walked off, shaking her head and wearing a bemused smile.

Everyone here who knew Detective Stevens called her D. It was because of a mistake she’d made when she was filling out the paperwork that would finally get her an ID. She was so use to filling out forms back home as ‘Detective Stevens’ that she was three letters in before she realized that she was suppose to be writing her first name, not her title. Een getting considered for an ID was hard enough, though, and she couldn’t risk losing the opportunity and so she left it as Det Stevens. Everyone called her D for simplicity.

Perhaps that was why she hadn’t been found. The agency wouldn’t be looking for a Det Stevens. She’d made a few basic digital profiles of herself using her real name in the hopes that that might be enough but, again, she had yet to be contacted or recovered.

At least her job wasn’t totally awful. Her manager was patient and had a good sense of humor. Monica liked people, generally speaking, and ran the store pretty well. Most of Detective Steven’s coworkers were similarly nice people. How she’d lucked out, especially in a retail job, she didn’t know and it was one of the few things about being stuck in this time that she didn’t complain about.

Detective Stevens finally reached the baking goods aisle and angled the roller to round the corner, being careful not to run into the shelves. Unfortunately, in paying such close attention to the shelves and her pallet, she failed to see the shopper in the aisle.

“Hey!” a startled man cried out, “Watch where—

He cut off at once when Detective Stevens met his eyes.

It was him! It was Dante Sacco, the man she’d been sent back to arrest, the man who’d somehow managed to open a temporal rift that sent her months further back in time.

Dante stood there for a moment, his face frozen between shock and fear. Detective Stevens was similarly stunned by the sudden meeting and for a moment neither moved or said anything. Then at once, they both sprang into motion; Dante trying to get away and Detective Stevens trying to grab hold of him.

“Wait!” she shouted out to him as she dove over the pallet and shopping cart that separated them. “I need you to send me back!”

The idea hadn’t even occurred to her before, but if he knew how to build a machine that could shunt her backwards in time, he should be able to make a machine that would send her back to her time. Thoughts of even trying to bring him back with her were all but forgotten.

“I thought I already did!” Dante shouted back over his shoulder at her.

He grabbed a bag of flour off the shelf and in one fluid motion, tore the top open and then threw it at her. The fine powder spread everywhere and in her surprise she inhaled deeply. Immediately her lungs and throat seized up and she fell to the floor, coughing and gagging. Her eyes burned, too, as she tried to see through the dusty cloud left in his wake but all she could make out was the hem of his coat whipping around the far end of the aisle and out of sight.

Seconds later, Monica was there, along with several other people who had come to see what the commotion was about.

D, Are you alright?” Monica asked as she knelt beside her and helped brush away some of the flour from her face. “What happened?”

It was going to take a while for Detective Stevens to regain her voice, and while she continued to cough and wheeze she used that time to think about what she was going to tell Monica. The security cameras would show that it was she, not Dante, who had initiated the chase.

“Go get some water,” Monica told one of the other employees who had joined the crowd, “and you go get a broom and start sweeping this up.” Monica added to another employee while she began to help steer Detective Stevens towards the back of the store where they could talk in private.

With the glass of water, she was finally able to speak and she chose her words carefully.

“I was suppose to meet up with him for my last job,” she told Monica and the others who had gathered to hear the explanation. “But when I got there he attacked me instead and robbed me.”

“Oh my goodness!” Monica exclaimed. “We’re going to have to call the police.”

Detective Stevens didn’t like where this was going. People were going to as questions, like what the job was, and who she was working for.

“Let’s not,” she said quickly and laid a firm hand on Monica’s arm. “I really just…I want to just forget it ever happened, okay?”

Monica met her eyes and Detective Stevens held her gaze. There was no way she could tell Monica the truth, and she could only guess at what Monica must think, but regardless she couldn’t let this go any further.

“Okay,” Monica said at last. Why don’t you take the rest of the day off though.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Detective Stevens sighed. “that sounds good.”

She could feel the stares on her back as she gathered up her coat and left. It didn’t matter what stories or explanations they made up for themselves. She didn’t care. Just knowing that Dante Sacco had stayed in the area was information enough to keep her focused. With any luck he’ll not go far and she’ll be able to find him and make him send her home.