stuff back into one of the boxes.
They were soon helping gather all the stuff together into the two boxes. Brooke called Josh back. “We’ve got the stuff. They dumped it on the side of the road. No thumb drive.”
“I’ve called an APB out on the vehicle, though they don’t have the stolen goods now. Unless they got the drive. If one of the men is Ackerson, at least we’ll have him in custody, if we can catch him.”
“Thanks. We’re headed back to the house.”
At the house, Brad and Maverick moved the boxes into the dining room and set them on the table.
They emptied the stuff out on the table, glad nothing breakable had been in the boxes. “Old keys,” she said. “Silverware. Some tintype photos. Lace. Nothing extremely valuable. And no thumb drives that I can find. Nothing they could be hidden in.”
Maverick shook his head. “Some old books, more old lace, vintage pictures.”
“You never know about pictures. They could be unimportant or pictures of someone famous. Books could be first editions, signed by an author, rare copies. The same with the tintypes.” She looked over all the items and shook her head. “I hope the thumb drive wasn’t in either of these boxes.”
“If it was, they’ll leave you alone.” Lucas pushed around the items on the table.
“Do you get your money out of this stuff?” Maverick picked up a picture and looked at the back of it.
“Yes. Always. But not always right away. Sometimes it can take years. In the meantime, I move things around so I don’t have the same merchandise sitting in the shop all the time. Though this was all free, so it will be all profit,” Brooke said.
“Now the question is, did they get the thumb drive or not?” Maverick said.
“How did they know the boxes were delivered right then?” Brooke asked.
“They could be watching the store to see if any deliveries are made,” Brad said.
“Yeah. Maybe Sarah has them on video, sitting in her shop watching the place.”
“I’m headed over to the bakery to ask her if she’d let me see the video, and I’ll take pictures of the patrons.” Brad headed out of the store.
“It would have been so easy if we’d found a bloodied knife or a gun in one of these boxes.”
Maverick pointed to the butter knives with the rest of the set of silverware.
“A little longer and sharper than that.” Brooke called Josh and told him the news.
“Make sure you stay with the guys.” Josh sounded worried, and she suspected he wanted to stop what he was doing and head straight home.
“I am. Brad went to the bakery across the street to see if anyone’s been watching the shop from there and they’ve been caught on video.”
“Good idea. We’re going in to interrogate the first of the attempted robbers now. I’ll let you know how it goes. And keep Maverick close. I’ll return as soon as I can.”
“He’s right here with me. Good luck.” Then she called Brad. “Do you see anyone who looks suspicious at the bakery?”
“I’m taking some selfies with all the delicious foods the bakery has.”
She assumed he was taking picture of the customers, pretending to take selfies.
Brad finally returned to the house and said, “Sarah was too busy with customers to ask about the security video. I figure Josh can drop by and check on it.” He showed some pictures of the patrons at the bakery shop to Brooke.
“No one who looks suspicious to me. A woman and her kids. An older couple. Two women friends. A single woman.” Brooke halfway expected to see the guy who shot her sitting in there having a piece of pie, though she suspected he wouldn’t get near her place again. Certainly not in broad daylight. “Wait.” She peered closer at the single woman. A blond in a black, fluffy angora sweater, black skinny jeans, and high heels that would kill Brooke’s arches. “She looks…familiar. I can’t place her. She might have just been in my shop recently. You know what? I’ll run over there and take a closer look at her. If I can have someone come with me.”
“I’ll go,” Brad said.
Brooke and Brad took off through the courtyard to check out the woman at the bakery. She figured she could start up a conversation with her, asking her if she still needed a particular Santa, or was it a teacup she’d been looking for? If the woman said she was mistaken and hadn’t been in her shop, Brooke