“Uh-huh,” said Dusty. He stroked his beard. “Darndest thing, that. Never seen it before now.”
Sullivan sighed and pulled out his cuffs. Buddy did the same. “You boys can sit in the back of our cars. Separately, I think.”
“You wanna call for the tow?” asked Buddy.
“Yeah. I’ll do it. You run the plate.”
The Springfields, second cousins as it happened, sat in the cruisers while calls were made and Sullivan inventoried the cart. Dusty shouted at the tow truck driver not to scratch his Ford and have some respect for his baby as it was hauled away. The men were briefly detained in holding cells awaiting transport to the regional jail. The preliminary inventory of the stolen items totaled over a thousand dollars, putting the theft into felony territory. As Dusty had a record of previous offenses, he was looking at some serious time. Rick, on the other hand, might get probation and community service.
After his shift was over, Sullivan changed out of his uniform in the locker room and returned the inventory to the Ridge. Paul wasn’t on duty, but the assistant manager took possession of the cart when Sullivan wheeled it in. He nodded to the kid, then wandered around the store to see if he could run into Ramsey.
He found her circling perilously close to the paint cans in the home improvement section. He came up behind her, bent his head, and whispered close to her ear, “I thought you were persona non grata in this area.”
Startled, Ramsey elbowed him in the gut before his identity registered.
“Oof.”
Ramsey spun around. “Oh, don’t be a baby. You have an iron belly.” She rubbed her elbow for effect. “Anyway, you shouldn’t sneak up on people.”
“I’m the wounded party here. I’m not going to apologize.”
Her mouth flattened but her lips twitched, spoiling her feigned disapproval. “I heard you caught the yahoos.”
“Uh-huh. They’re in lockup, the truck’s impounded, and I just returned the inventory. They had no idea how that shopping cart got onto their truck.” The absurdity of it still struck him sideways and he shook his head to clear it. “How long until you’re off?”
She checked her phone for the time. “Another thirty minutes.”
“There’s a movie at nine thirty at the cineplex we could catch. Dinner after.”
Ramsey wiggled her mouth from side to side as she considered his proposal. “What movie?”
“Stage Fright.”
“Scary?”
“Suspenseful.”
“All right. But that’s too late for dinner after. How about I pick up two sandwiches from the deli and a couple of sodas and we eat on the way there?”
“Sounds good. Did you come here in your truck or a cruiser?”
“Truck. It seems to be holding its own.”
“Then you can drive.”
“Because you don’t want to eat in your vehicle.”
“Exactly.”
He was tempted to kiss her and knew she wouldn’t thank him for it. “I’ll be in the coffee shop. Come and get me when you’re ready.”
27
The movie was good,suspenseful as Sullivan indicated, but not scary. A couple of times Ramsey slunk down in her recliner and watched through narrowly splayed fingers. She ignored Sullivan’s chuckle, preferring to believe it was nervous laughter.
The parking lot at the Ridge was never empty. When they returned to the store to get her car in the employee section, there were cars on either side of hers. Sullivan parked close by.
“Are you going to have nightmares?” he asked.
