full of worry lines. He was standing in the middle of all the commotion, kept safely away from the fortune teller. “Why did you run off like that? Why are there police here?”
The police officers in question eyed her with a mixture of desire and curiosity. One of them, a tall man with short-cropped blond hair, asked, “Do you know this man, ma’am?”
“He’s my fiancé!” She responded.
“I was chasing after that old bat,” said Rhett to Tula. “I don’t know if you noticed, but she was getting her stuff into the van and running off. There was some guy in the back that the police found, too.”
Tula looked over and saw a lanky teenager with frizzy black hair. He had the same eyeliner on that the fortune teller did, and had a depressingly guilty expression on his face.
“Was the ring found?” Tula asked. “Are you getting arrested.”
“ A ring, you say?” The black police officer inquired of her.
“Yes!” Tula responded. “Was it found? This woman played a trick on me to steal it away. I don’t even know how she managed to get it off my finger, but by the time we walked away, we realized that she had taken it.”
“What does the ring look like?” The officer asked.
Giddy with excitement, Tula responded. “It’s got a round ruby in the center with a diamond halo. Inside is our names—it’s inscribed with ‘Rhett and Tula forever.’”
“Well, you’re in luck because we shook her down and found something like that, along with a lot of other junk.” The officer turned to one of the other men and produced the jewelry between the tips of his fingers. Tula jumped up in delight, taking it back to place firmly on her finger.
An officer with brown hair and dark sunglasses mentioned, “This woman has been around for a while. We let her out and she goes right back to her same old song and dance. Every few months we hear about tourists who have been tricked out of their valuables. You’re both very lucky that you got them back. If she hadn’t been tracked down, the ring would have likely been lost forever. There’s a chance we could have found it at a pawn shop, but no guarantee.”
“Do you guys need me to stay for questioning?” Rhett asked. “There were people who saw me… stopping her.”
The black cop waved him off. “Don’t even worry about it. It’s not like she hasn’t been caught before for the exact same thing. Enjoy your Valentine’s Day in San Francisco.”
Rhett went to Tula, and they joined in an embrace. Kisses were shared, and the cops smiled as they looked on at the happy couple. As Rhett and Tula walked away back towards the Ferry Building, their emotions were sky high with happiness.
“I can’t believe that you caught her!” Said Tula, hugging his arm tightly. “I thought that the ring was good as gone.”
“Me too,” responded Rhett. “I mean, I would have been more than happy to buy you another one. But when I saw her, something just bubbled up inside of me. I had to stop her.”
“My strong, sexy man,” stated Tula with a saucy smile.
Rhett looked down at her and felt himself blush.
“I’m so turned on right now after all that. But unfortunately, I’m also really hungry. We haven’t eaten since we woke up this morning.”
His stomach gurgled at the mention of food. After the high adrenaline, the last thing on his mind was having sex. He wanted nothing more than to dig into a nice meal and relax on a lawn somewhere.
“We’ll find somewhere in the Ferry Building to eat,” said Rhett. “Then maybe we’ll watch the boats come in and leave the pier. Does that sound nice to you?”
“Uh huh, of course. I can’t wait to see what it’s like inside.”
Tula very much enjoyed her trip inside the Ferry Building. There was a giant selection concerning food, and she had so much fun looking at all the different little shops that she couldn’t decide on where they would eat. Eventually they settled on waiting in line for a
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