Joy to the Wolves (Red Wolf #1) - Terry Spear Page 0,65
the place and wounding you. The police’s official statement is that the two men are armed and dangerous. Sierra delivered the sketches to the police station, and they’ve sent them out everywhere so everyone will be on the lookout for the other man. Not only that, but a photo of the dead guy has been circulated, asking if anyone can identify who he was. That might be quicker than getting the DNA evidence back.”
“That makes sense. If the man who’s still alive is reading it, I hope he’s scared and doesn’t try breaking in again. Are you going to check on the other shops’ security videos?”
“Yeah. You call me about anything that doesn’t feel right while I’m down the street. I mean it.”
She smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I don’t know. You’re a cop, sure, but you seem to be taking this awfully personally.”
“A detective.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her. “And I am taking this personally.”
She kissed him back, taking advantage of the kiss and caressing his tongue with hers.
When the kiss ended, both of them panting and wanting more, she sighed, and they went to the kitchen where Josh offered to make the cocoa while she warmed up the scones.
Once they were done, she said, “Thanks for helping, Josh. I’ve got to open the door for the customers.”
“I’ll go with you.” He kissed her mouth again and waited while she flipped her sign from Closed to Open. Then he left the shop while she let her customers in.
“Are the reindeer here today?” one of the ladies asked.
Josh smiled and headed across the street.
* * *
Heading first to the bakery, Josh figured checking out the other shops’ security videos wouldn’t take too long, and he was glad the shop owners were all too eager to help catch the man who shot up Brooke’s attic.
“When we heard all the shooting, my husband and I were worried because the light was on in the attic and we were afraid she was up there,” Sarah said. “We learned about the breakage inside her shop later. Our home is behind the bakery, so we didn’t hear any of that. But the gunshots? Yes. We called the police right away. Melvin wanted to go help her, but he’s got a bum leg from fighting in Iraq. I told him he’d just get shot anyway. It was horrible that she was hurt.”
“It was. I’m glad you left it to the police, ma’am,” Josh said, watching the security video. He was afraid any confrontation with the intruders might have turned tragic if Mr. Burns had tried to stop them.
“Do you think the two things are connected? The robbers and the day when the DEA and the SWAT team showed up?” she asked.
“Might or might not be.”
“Maybe she is just having a week of bad luck. My grandmother used to say we had to throw a pinch of salt over our shoulder to blind the devil and then good luck would follow.”
Josh smiled. He was half listening to her but mostly concentrating on the video showing the people hanging around Brooke’s shop all that day. Most of her customers had been women while he was there, a few men, but he saw only the one suspect who arrived to carry the box into the shop for Brooke earlier. Which seemed off to him. If he’d been looking for a box being shipped to her place, maybe that was why he hurried to carry the one in for her that had just been delivered. To see if it was the one they’d wanted.
“I heard you were staying with her. As her police detail?”
“Uh, yeah. Since she’s on her own and the man who’s still alive might come back.”
“Oh no. I sure hope you catch him. It was just fortunate the other one cut himself on the window and died. Served him right.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Josh left the bakery with a copy of the video and called Brooke on the way to the next shop he wanted to visit. “Is everything all right over there?”
“Yeah. How’s it going there?”
“I talked to the owner of the bakery across the street. I’m headed to the Christmas shop next since the men ran that direction. I was hoping we could get some facial recognition shots of the men to see if we missed anything. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Busy, but everything’s fine.”
“Good. I’ll keep reviewing the shops’ security videos then and check back in