“Yeah. But let’s not put the cart before the horse, kiddo. It’s fine if you want to reach out about possibly needing one, but let’s see if they accept the offer first.”
Shaun’s gaze ran over the strip mall like he did every morning when he came to work. An old habit from when he first started buying beat up strip malls and updating them.
While he was an exterminator, and he had a decent business of it, it wasn’t where his money came from.
Heather had been a property manager before she got sick, and together they’d bought a couple of strip malls around Barrum and fixed them up. She managed the properties. When Lita needed a job while she was in college, Heather brought her in to assist her. Now Lita managed the company and handled the minutia of the properties for him, like rent and repairs.
That suited him just fine. He was happier being a silent owner. Renovating and being a handyman if need be.
Something caught his eye as the sun got brighter in the sky, and he stopped in the middle of the parking lot.
Something not right.
“Lita?”
“Yeah?”
He started walking faster toward the property and figured out what he’d seen.
Not good.
“Before you call them, do me a favor and call Barrum Police. Have them send a car down to the strip mall.”
“What’s going on, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he said, staring at the salon. “Someone’s vandalized the storefronts.”
“Which stores? I can call the owners.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Shaun said. “You just get the police over here so we can file a report.”
“Gotcha. Anything else?”
“Not that I can think of. You do what you do, kiddo.”
“I’ll have the police down there ASAP.”
Shaun nodded and walked over to the salon.
The salon had been tagged hard.
On the glass.
The concrete.
The door.
He looked up and down the sidewalk.
The damage was just the salon. No other shops had been vandalized.
Shaun pulled up Winter’s number.
Well, shit.
18
Sweat ran down my brow.
