Rogue Alliance (9 page)

             
Still, she
couldn’t help herself. She slowly reviewed the selections of generic and name brand aspirins but kept an eye at the slanted mirror which bordered the entire
length of the ceiling. Sure as shit, she watched the girl slip three different items into her bag then head toward the front of the store.

             
Shyla hesitated for a second. She knew the girl would likely pay for an item then try to sneak out the front door with the rest in her bag. The woma
n at the counter couldn’t give a rip
.

             
Shyla
stepped up to the register and paid f
or her bottle of aspirin. S
he walked out the front door and slipped around the corner
out of the vision of the camera
. T
here were no cars
in the lot. T
he girl had probably
walked. The other
side of the
building was directly next to the side of steep hill. The only way for the girl to go was around the corner and then up the sidewalk.

             
Shyla’s
head pulsated as her pulse quickened. Why the hell was she worrying about a punk teenage kid stealing some make-up?

             
When the girl walked out, Shyla
reached out and snagged her by the arm.
The girl gave a pathetic squeal and tried to break free. Shyla tightened her grip and firmly pressed the girl up against the brick wall.

             
The girl’s eyes widened
.

             
“Let
me go or I’ll scream right now,” she said, “l
et me go.”

             
“Go, ahead. Scream. The cops will come and see that I’ve just caught someone stealing.”

             
The girl stopped squirming. Her eyes darted around and her chest heaved up and down. Shyla could feel her fear.

             
“What are you talki
ng about? I didn’t steal nothin’
.”

             
“The hell you didn’t. I saw you put at least three items in your purse on aisle 12. All we have to do is go inside and ask to see the video
footage. They may not look at their footage
much in a town like this, but trust me
,
it’ll
be there if we ask
.”

             
The girl panicked and put all of her strength into trying to free herself from Shyla’s gri
p. She grunted and strained.
Shyla was surprised at how strong the girl was. But s
he held firm and shoved her
back against the wall.

             
“Jesus, okay, okay. I stole the damn make-up. What do you want from me? You want me to give it back? Fine
.
I’ll give it back.”

             
Shyla held tight.

             
“I just want to talk to you for second
,
okay. If I let go, I don’t want you to run off. I’ll catch you
again
before you hit the sidewalk. You understand?”

             
The girl glanced toward the sidewalk and back again, clearly thinking over her options.

             
“I understand
,
”
she said.

             
Shyla slowly loosened her grip. When she was sure the girl wasn’t going to try to bolt
she stepped a half a step back and took a closer look
. She
had on thick, dark
eye
make-up and pink blush on her
round cheeks. Her lips were painted dark red and set in a frown. She was much younger than Shyla had initially guessed
- too young to be out in the middle of the night engaging in illegal activities.

             
“How old are you?”
Shyla asked.

             
“Bite me, lady. I don’t have to tell you shit. If you want me to give back the stuff fine, but I don’t got to tell you nothin’.”

             
Shyla crossed her arms and stood her ground.

             
The
girl’s
frown turned to
exasperation.

             
“Fine,” she said,
“
I’m thirteen
. Who cares? Who in the hell are you?”

             
“M
y name’s Shyla. I just moved to town. Well…I lived here a long time ago. But

I just move back this week.”

             
The girl looked like she could
n’t
care less.

             
“Anyway, I saw you steal that stuff and I thought I’d better warn you against stealing. You might be able to get away with it for a while
,
but eventually you’ll get caught. Wh
en you caught, you’ll go to juvie
. The more times you get caught, the more time you’ll earn
behind bars.
Next thing you know, you’ll have a record and won’t be able to get a job. That means you’ll be hungry and homeless. You want that?”

             
The girl stared at her
,
dumbstruck.

             
“Are you kidding me
with this
? You’re giving me a lecture
on my future. Damn, lady, you are
crazy.”

             
Shyla resisted the urge to giggle. She probably did seem a bit crazy. She probably even looked crazy; all hung-over and in her sweats and ball cap.

             
“Well, crazy or not, I saw you swipe that stuff. I guess I don’t expect you to take it back. I don’t want to cause a big scene and have the cops out here but I better not catch you stealing again.
I live close
by
and believe me
I
can smell theft from a mile away
. Now go home. It’s late.”

             
Shyla stepped back to let the gir
l pass freely. The girl gave
a cautious look.
             
“You’re going to let me keep the stuff.
All this was just for a warning.
Wow, lady, you are nuts.”

             
She shrugged her shoulders.

             
“Suit yourself. See ya around,”
she
said, sauntering
off.

             
Shyla watched her go and figured she’d be swiping from the Dollar store on the other side of town or at her closest mini-mart by tomorrow.

             
She realized her queasy stomach had settled and her headache was now a dull drone. Maybe the combination of fresh air and mild excitement had done her system good.

TEN

             
“So
,
are you settling in okay?”

             
Shyla held the phone to her ear with her shoulder as she stirred the canned soup on the stove and talked with Eli Straton.

             
“As good as can be expected, I guess. Hal’s great and I’m not real sure what to make of Shawn and Jason yet. They
have done a lot on their end
here
though so I got to give ‘em credit for that.”

             
“Now, see there, I told you they’d be fine. So what
’s
you’re next move?”

             
Shyla
sipped on the soup and burned her tongue.

             
“
Ouch…
Well
,
apparently
,
Victor skeet shoots at a range in town every Saturday morning. I’m going to make myself available and see what happens.”

             
“Good, good, that should do fine. Remember:
we want activity, names, links;
whatever you can get.
When you visit his place, and I know eventually you will, tap his lines. These are the details that are going to get us our leads.”

             
They were details that Shyla had gone over and over again in her mind.

             
“
Yeah, yeah,” she said, “
h
ey, has there been any word on that lead I had with Frank the Crank on the Circo case?”

             
“Yeah, actually, the guy finally started talking, says he was meeting Frank because Ricardo recommended him for work on that side of town.”

             
Shyla slammed down the spoon on the counter top.

             
“I knew it.
Ricardo is linked to Victor somehow. Frank is one of Victor’s long-term
guys.
I bet you anything that Ricardo is working for Victor and recommended his buddy, so Frank goes and makes the meeting to establish pick up of goods.
I knew eventually we’d start linking a
ll these small time turds to Victor
.
No one ever listens to me.”

             
“Settle down, Shyla, we do listen to you. It’s jus
t
t
hat
you’re so damn gung ho about it and the rest of us know that it’s
not
as easy as putting one, two, three
,
together.
”

             
“No,
” she sighed,
“
but making these links, these connections
,
is a damn good start. Has there been anything else on that Jane Doe who was found with the pig swill?”

             
“Not
yet
,
but we’ll have something soon, I’m sure.”

             
“Okay,
” Shyla said,
“
well let me know.”

             
“
Will do. G
ood luck with your skeet shooting on Saturday.”

             
“Thanks, I’m gonna need it. Let’s just hope this guy likes socially inept chicks who’ve got nothing better to do than hang around with a bunch of dudes shooting their guns.”

             
Eli’s
robust laugh filled her right ear.

             
“You underestimate yourself, Shyla.
”

*

             
Shyla arrived at the skeet range early.
Shawn had said that Victor typically met his friends around ten and she wanted to watch him for a bit before she made her move.

She’d never been to a skeet range before, so it was new to her. But she was an excellent shot so she’d definitely have to keep that little talent under wraps. She’d never shot p
oorly on purpose before so it w
ould prove to be interesting.

             
Normally
,
she would have dressed in ratty jeans and a worn t-shirt. But seeing as she wanted to draw Victor’s attention, she
’d
decided on jeans which flattered her
figure and a cute, white, button down shirt. She kept the first button open to accentuate her chest and perked up the collar just enough to be flirty. Her chestnut hair was tied back as usual, but she
’d
applied a clear gloss to her lips.

             
She was talking with an instructor when Victor and his crew showed up. They set up at the station just twenty feet down from her. She listened to the instructor but kept Victor in her periphery. She knew he and his friends were already looking her direction. Of course she would draw attention. S
he wasn’t the only female there - t
here was one with her husb
and on the far end of the field - b
ut she was the only one there alone.
And she knew that she wasn’t drop dead gorgeous, but she’d been known to turn a head or two.

             
“You want to hold it tight to your shoulder, like this.
If you don’t you’ll be on your butt and you’ll have a nice sized bruise on your shoulder. You understand?
”

             
Shyla turned toward Chad, her instructor.

             
“
Yeah, okay. I understand. Tight to my shoulder.”