The clerk stood still. He’d been down this road before. The couple on the ground remained unmoving, flat statues frozen in fear.
“Good. Now empty your pockets.” The robber frowned at the card, wallet, and keys she dropped to the ground. “Where’s your phone?”
“I dropped it back there.” She nodded to the aisle behind her.
When he glanced toward it, she made her move.
She could have punched him in the throat. But she didn’t want to kill him. She wanted answers.
With a burst of speed, she jerked his arm down while punching him in the nose. Heard the satisfying crack. He screamed in pain and fired into the floor.
His eyes watered, and he raised his hands to protect his face.
Using a move Min, another of Team Ten, had once taught her, she took advantage of the robber’s disorientation. She deadened his left shoulder and ripped the pistol from him. It skittered a few feet away. With a grim smile, she flipped him onto his back and ended the move with a classic Marine Corps foot stomp to the face.
In a calm tone, she spoke to the others. “Everyone, go to the back room and lock yourselves in. We don’t know if he’s alone. Ialready dialed 911, but another call can’t hurt. You.” She pointed at the clerk. “Duct tape, please.” She nodded to a roll near the register while shoving the robber onto his belly.
He sobbed and swore at her for breaking his nose, struggling past the snot and blood down his throat.
The clerk took a few shaky moments to rip a few strips for her, which she used to tie the robber’s hands behind his back.
The lite beer woman was crying into the phone, talking to an emergency operator while hustling toward the back with her companion.
“Thanks for saving us,” the clerk said before running for the back.
Jane had the situation in hand, but jacked up on adrenaline, she needed a few breaths before she settled. “Robbing the place?” she asked the would-be thief. “Or are you after something else?”
He didn’t answer. Just struggled against his bonds.
He had the right build for their Code Blue Killer. Been light on his feet, too. She needed to see him move to be sure, though. They’d have to go over the surveillance footage outside the store for more information. But again, why would their killer be stalking her? It didn’t make sense.
She gave him a quick pat down but found nothing in his pockets.
“Who hired you?”
Sirens sounded louder, and the flash of red and blue lights lit up the place.
“Not…hired.” He wheezed. “Wanted cash…for drugs.”
“Yeah?” She pulled up the sleeves of his scummy hoodie but didn’t see any track marks. That didn’t mean anything, yet… She looked him over and when moving his hoodie and hair from his neck, spotted a hidden tattoo at the base of his skull. Not aprison or gang tattoo. She made note of it. “What’s your drug of choice?”
He tried swearing at her, but as nasal as he’d become, he sounded like a cartoon villain.
Then the police burst through the door and robbed her of the opportunity to ask more questions.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
A good while later,after Jane had given a statement and made sure the others had recovered enough from their ordeal to go home, the officer in charge released her. “Nice work, Agent Cannon. We’ll need you to come in to sign the report first thing.” He rubbed his tired eyes. “This place has been hit four times in the last six months. I mean, come on.”
“Yeah. You’d think the criminals would learn.”
“At least management has.” He pointed his pen at the cameras on either underside of the overhang on the building. “Installed them the last time they got robbed. But it’s been three months since. I hoped not to be back here so soon.” He frowned at the back of a squad car where the perp sat, his nose bandaged by the EMTs who’d arrived not long after the cops. “Never had a violent robbery before. No guns. Just threats with knives and pipes. Ah, the good old days.”
They shared a grin. “I’ll be by first thing to sign the report. Appreciate you guys getting here so soon.” She left after checking on the clerk and the couple, who’d be just fine.
But as she drove home, she wondered just how active her imagination had become. Because that robber had known she was law enforcement.
That or he watched way too muchLaw & Order.Either way, she’d get her answers tomorrow then have a long talk with Rapp about what the heck might be going on.
