Mia followed them toward the front of the shop, her boots crunching over gravel.She didn’t see what Blaze was talking about until she was almost on top of it.
“Skid marks,” she said.And one of the motorcycles who’d left it had ridden up her stairs and left them on the porch as well.
“Any reason why a group of bikers would pay you a visit, Mia?”Zeke asked.
Unlike the rookie who’d been standing in her shop yesterday, she knew how to lie.Years of practice made it as easy as breathing.There were techniques they’d been taught at special ops classes that helped with the art of lying—body language, facial expressions, and making sure the lies were close enough to the truth that you didn’t forget and stumble somewhere along the way.
“Not that I can think of,” she answered.She knew she’d have to tell Zeke about the biker and the music box, but now wasn’t the time or the place.If the details were part of whatever op he was running then Blaze and the others wouldn’t know what was going on.And anything they found out could endanger a life.
She looked at Zeke and asked, “Any coincidence as to why bikers would show up and do this the same day you roll back into my life?”
“Not that I can think of,” he said, parroting her.
“We didn’t find any other breached areas,” Blaze said, heading up the short stairs to her porch.“They knew the entry point they wanted and knew how to enter.This is a reinforced steel door and at night you pull down the cage behind it for added security.”
“Yeah, but nothing is infallible,” she said.“Obviously.But it’s a time-consuming job.They had to cut through the hinges and remove the door completely.The alarm would’ve been sounding, but guys like that wouldn’t care.And they’d have the right tools on hand to be able to get in.They’d use the same blade on the pull-down cage and then walk in.There are at least eight or ten skid marks and grooves dug into the gravel of the parking lot.”
“Ballsy to draw such attention to themselves,” Lane said.
“No one is ever on this stretch of road after midnight.”
Zeke walked off toward the road and she could tell he was trying to get a better feel for how many there were, which direction they’d entered from, and hopefully, which direction they’d exited.
“They’d know Laurel Valley would be the closest responding department,” Mia said.
“And that your location gives them plenty of time,” Blaze finished for her, his look grim.“Even with patrols running, you’re fifteen minutes out on a good day.”
“This isn’t your fault.”She wanted to make sure he knew that.“It’s location and timing.I’m pretty far outside of town.By design.And even though I’m technically part of Laurel Valley, you and I both know that if I were on the other side of that hill with the other businesses, this never would’ve happened.But I’m not and there’s no easy way for emergency personnel to get here quickly.They knew they had at least twenty minutes to get the job done.”
Zeke walked back to their group and said, “They split off in each direction.Pretty typical behavior.We can assume this is the work of the Vaqueros since this is their territory.And they’re known to converge on a location, wreak havoc, and then separate so they can lie low for a while.They’re well organized and they run an intelligent operation.I’ve watched the way they work from the inside.It’s why they’ve been so successful running drugs these past years.They’re like ghosts.”
“We can try and pull identities from the security cameras,” she said, “but knowing who they are won’t help us on how to find them.Identifying them and plastering their faces on the news is like a badge of honor.”
“Might as well check out the inside,” Blaze said.“You can see if anything is missing.”
They stepped through the gaping hole where her front door had once been, and Mia had to stifle a gasp.Her heart thudded in her chest and a red haze clouded her vision.Everything was destroyed.The shelves were knocked down, the floor littered with broken glass.They’d not gotten the more expensive pieces locked behind the counter, though she could see the scratches on the bulletproof glass.
“Have you had any run-ins with the Vaqueros?”Blaze asked.
Mia stepped over glass and an electric guitar that was broken in half.“I threatened to shoot one earlier today,” she said.“I suppose he could’ve taken it personally.”
All four men stared at her with varying degrees of surprise on their faces.
“What?”she asked.“You know I’m always armed and I don’t put up with any crap in my place.”
“Maybe you could’ve mentioned it?”Zeke said.
“When would’ve been a good time?When you popped up in my shop asking for the same item the biker was, or maybe when you showed up at my apartment and kissed me senseless?You’re right, Zeke.I should’ve confessed the second you graced my doorstep.I don’t know what I was thinking?”
Ryder coughed to cover a laugh and Blaze looked down at his boots, but she could see his smile.Lane never showed much expression at all, but she knew him well enough to see that he wanted to smile.
Zeke’s jaw was clenched hard and all he said was, “Mia,” in that tone of voice that didn’t bode well.
She arched a brow and narrowed her eyes.Now wasn’t the time for him to try any macho nonsense.
“What was the biker looking for?”Blaze asked.
Mia could hear the hollowness of her own voice.“He asked for a music box.Was very specific about what kind he wanted.He said that he’d been told someone had come in and sold it to me.He offered to double my money.
