As she approached the front door, one officer turned to her. “This your place?”
“Yes, I’m the owner. Any idea what happened?”
“We were just about to go in but figured we’d wait for you since your employee said you’d be here shortly. We’d prefer to use a key and open the door, so we don’t have to dodge shards of glass.” Maggie nodded wordlessly and handed over the keys.
“Give us a second to make sure the store’s empty,” said one of the officers, as the other unlocked the door.
When given the all clear, Maggie carefully crossed the threshold and almost lost it. Everything lay in shambles. All her dreams and hard work reduced to piles of garbage. Most of her inventory had been pulled from the shelves and thrown to the floor, some of it damaged, some of it salvageable.
Thank God they’d left the animals alone. They all appeared to be safely tucked into their cages going on about life without a care in the world.
When she turned to check the cash register, she realized right away what this was about.
KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!had been spray painted inbig, red letters on the wall behind the front counter. Her blood went cold. Someone knew she knew. And that someone wasn’t happy about it. She excused herself to make a phone call.
“Adam, it’s Maggie. I think they know,” she whispered, her voice small and shaky. She quickly and quietly briefed him on what had happened.
“I’ll be right there, hon. Don’t say anything to the officers until I see who we’re dealing with.”
She put two and two together. The only people that knew she had seen Manuel were police officers. Someone on the force had spilled the beans. What if it was one of these two standing right in front of her? Terror took over, and she began to hyperventilate.
One of the officers spoke, and she nearly jumped out of her skin.
“Anything missing?” He had his notebook out, ready to take notes.
Maggie took a deep breath and willed herself not to panic. “I have no idea. I’d have to look around to be sure.” She shrugged, forcing herself to sound casual. “Perhaps they wanted drugs? I keep some locked in the back, but they’re all for animals. I guess an addict wouldn’t care about that, though.”
“What’s that all about?” The other officer pointed his chin to the message on the wall.
“No idea. Maybe someone broke into the wrong place.” She changed the subject quickly. “Can we clean up?”
“Yeah, go ahead. Looks like a simple B&E. It’s not like we’re going to dust for prints or anything.” The tall, dark-haired officer seemed bored and a little put out.
Maggie pivoted to Brett and asked, “Will you call Stephanie and Jackie to see if they can come in to help? I’ll pay overtime.”
“On it.” He walked away, dialing.
“It sure looks like someone is trying to send you amessage. You don’t know who would want you to keep quiet about something?” the younger, more interested of the officers asked.
“Honestly, I have no idea what that could be about.” Maggie wished Adam would hurry and get there already. Keeping up this Pollyanna act wasn’t as easy as she thought it would be.
As if on cue, he strode through the door with someone she’d never seen before. His partner looked like a young Harry Connick, Jr. Good looking enough, but no Mitch. Maybe Mitch was sick today.
Adam walked over and hugged her. “You okay?”
His compassion overwhelmed her, and the tears welled up, threatening to overflow any second. No, she was not okay. He noticed and bent to kiss her on the cheek. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ll figure this out,” he whispered in her ear.
“You guys want us to handle this?” he asked the officers. “Maggie’s a friend of mine, and I’d be happy to do the paperwork.”
“Yeah, looks like a straightforward B&E. She says she doesn’t know what the writing on the wall is about. It’s all yours.” With that, the older officer headed for the door, leaving the younger one no choice but to follow.
“Good luck, ma’am,” he mumbled, following his partner out the broken door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Why don’t you go take a look in back, Tony? Let me know if you see anything out of place,” Adam said to his new partner.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Maggie whispered to Adam, “Where’s Mitch?” She hoped she didn’t sound too desperate.
