gotten her fixed up with Eric in the first place. It had been through Barry, though not directly—a friend of a friend of a friend. Adele’d had such a broken heart, I’d foolishly tried to help mend it. I should have realized things with Adele tended to boomerang.
Adele was out the door in a flash. Mrs. Shedd almost wobbled in the wake of her whirlwind exit. “Is it my imagination or is Adele even more full of herself than usual?” my boss said. It seemed to be a rhetorical question because my boss didn’t wait for an answer, but checked out the front of the store. Her gaze stopped on the junior high boys in gangster outfits who’d been joined by some look-alikes, all of whom were hanging out in the magazine section. They were jostling each other, jumping around and generally being a nuisance.
“Should we ask them to leave?” I said, but Mrs. Shedd shook her head.
“I had Joshua try that when they came in before. Or I think it was them. With those outfits, they all look the same. One of them said his father was a lawyer and he’d be all over us for discrimination because they were customers. He showed Joshua he was buying a chocolate bar and a graphic novel.” Mrs. Shedd told me to keep a watch on them anyway.
I wanted to push whatever was happening down the street out of my mind and headed back to the customer service booth. I was glad there were people waiting.
An author interested in having a launch party at the bookstore had just walked away, when Adele returned. It wasn’t a silent entrance, either. “It’s just terrible. Oh, the humanity of it all,” she said in her loud voice. As she went through the store, the loudness of her voice and her repeating about how horrible it was, attracted the attention of the shoppers and they began to follow her like she was the Pied Piper. Adele snuck a look over her shoulder at the crowd she’d gathered. When they reached an open area, she turned, ready to hold court.
I fought the urge to join the gathering. I did and didn’t want to know what happened. As long as I didn’t know anything about Kelly for sure, I didn’t have to get upset. And there was something else. I’m not proud to admit it, but being in her audience would give Adele the upper hand.
It became a nonissue anyway, because Mrs. Shedd rushed up to the customer service booth and grabbed my arm. Two of the junior gangsters were heading toward the door. Even from here I could see they’d stuck some magazines under their shirts. One of them darted toward the table with the e-readers and grabbed one before rejoining his friend.
“Do something, Molly,” Mrs. Shedd said. “I don’t care if their father is a lawyer.” They were local kids and I knew it was more about the thrill than the actual stuff they’d taken. I ran up behind them and grabbed them both by the back of their shirts.
“Hey, lady, back off,” one of them said and tried to squirm away from my grasp. I managed to transfer my hold so I had a grasp on each of their arms, but I was definitely struggling. One of them had started kicking backward toward my shin. I glanced around hoping for some help. The front door opened and Barry came through. I felt a sense of relief, knowing his cop instinct would kick in instantaneously and he’d step in.
But instead, he seemed to freeze before looking away. The boys were about to pull free when North Adams came in behind Barry and tried to help. A moment later, Joshua Royal came into the store and joined in.
When I looked up Barry was gone.
The star of L.A. 911 became Detective Jake Blake and used his authority voice to try to scare the boys with threats of arrest and prison. Mr. Royal got the kids to hand over the e-readers and magazines and gave them a stern warning before letting them go.
The customers all missed the incident because Adele still had their attention. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, just the rise and fall of her voice, with an occasional gasp from the small crowd.
“Molly,” a voice called from behind me. I turned and Dinah rushed toward me. I knew she hadn’t been home when the chaos had erupted on her street, but still I was relieved