would at least have a chance to see her close up.
As soon as Brooke and Brad entered the bakery, she noticed the woman in the picture Brad had shared with her wasn’t there, but Sarah frantically waved them over.
Brooke had a bad feeling about this. She already could smell a man’s scent in the bakery—the same man who had shot her in the attic. She quickly looked at the patrons there, but he wasn’t among them.
“You’ve got to check out my security video,” Sarah said. “This woman was having coffee and pie, and then this guy comes in, and she’s angry, having a fit that he joined her here. It caught my attention, and a couple of my customers’ also. Anyway, I was about to ask them to take it outside, but I grabbed a tray to clean a couple of tables instead, in case they settled down, so I could better make out what they were saying.
“When I got close, she motioned to your shop and said to the man, ‘No thumb drive after stealing the boxes in front of God and everyone?’ That worried me because you’ve had so much trouble lately. He said, ‘How did you expect me to try to grab the boxes? And no. It wasn’t in the two boxes. Do you know if Lee really put the thumb drive in one of them?’”
“That’s the man who broke into my place and shot me,” Brooke said, chills running up her spine. “He just stole my boxes of merchandise and dumped them down the street.”
“He needs to be arrested. I’ve seen the woman in here before. The man, too, but he was with some other guy. I didn’t think much of it because they always got coffee and baked goods. They took their time eating though. One time, I noticed one of the men going into your shop. I was busy after that. The woman said to the man, ‘Your dead partner swore Lee dropped it into one of the boxes, but Pinky didn’t tell me until after they were shipped off,’” Sarah told Brooke and Brad. “I left out the swear words.
“I never thought they’d be sitting over here watching your place. I’m so sorry. He sounded surly when he said, ‘What do you want me to do about it?’ I moved to the next table and slowly picked up the used pie plates and coffee mugs. ‘Not bungle it like the last time,’ she said. ‘If I go down, you go down.’ He cast her an evil smirk and glanced at me. I hurried to move to a table farther away to clean. The two of them gave me goose bumps. I was going to call you, or your detective, but then they left, and here you are.”
“Thanks for all your help with this, though I hadn’t meant for you to get involved.”
“They involved me when they started coming here as part of their clandestine operation.” Sarah glanced back at the door leading into the kitchen. “Don’t tell Mr. Burns, or he’ll try to arrest them himself.”
Brooke gave her a hug and immediately called Josh with an update.
Chapter 26
While at the police bureau, Josh got another call from Brooke. She was excited, telling him what Sarah, the owner of the bakery, had told her and shown her on the security video.
“They’re gone now, but I recognized the man who shot me by sight and by his scent,” she said. “I thought the woman seemed familiar. I’m sure now it was the woman I saw arguing with Mr. Lee at Gulliver’s auction, though she had to be wearing a wig this time or had dyed her hair and cut it short.”
“Adam and I are on our way. The Camaro they were driving was stolen and ditched about a half mile down the road. They must have had a getaway car there, just like the night they broke into your shop and shot you.” Josh had already headed for his car, Adam hurrying after him. He was glad she hadn’t confronted the woman and the man. Who knew how that would have gone down?
“We’re headed back to the house. Brad’s with me,” Brooke said. “Sarah gave me a copy of the security video so you can look at it.”
“See you soon.”
A short while later, Josh and Adam arrived at the house. He and Adam went through the boxes Brooke had received from Phoenix, making sure no one, crooks included, had missed a thumb drive. Brooke folded