Shopping is Murder (McKinley Mysteries Book 6) (9 page)

Playing A Part

JIMMY KNEW IT WAS A bad idea, but he introduced himself to the woman in the food court by offering up a couple napkins. It was when she wiped her jacket that he noticed the ring he had missed before—and it wasn
’t just any ring, it was one she wore on an important finger.

He should
have known better than to allow himself to explore the mental folly that she could have been the one for him. After all, he had romance in his life at one time and he had given up on that notion when Clara left.

He shook the nonsense aside. There was more to life than love and romance, and he was on this planet to prove that theory. They say everyone has a soul purpose. Apparently his involved wandering about in solitude.

Groovin
’ Beat wasn’t so groovin’ at this time of the day. The only ones in the store were employees—a man of about twenty, a girl of about the same age, and a man in his thirties.

Jimmy addressed the older man. “Are you the manager?”

The redheaded man gave Jimmy a once over.
“I am. Max is the name.”

Not that he needed to make that announcement—his nametag did it for him.

“I need to talk with you in private,” Jimmy said.

The twenty-something man moved over to them with confusion pressing down his brows. His tag read Collin.
“Are you here about the camera footage?”

“I am.”

Collin settled his focus on Jimmy.
“Who are you? There wa—”

“I’m Jarvis.” Jimmy managed not to showcase the smile that threatened to show through. The name just came to him. Maybe he had watched
Iron Man
one too many times. Collin kept his eyes on him and everything clicked together. The kid was hoping to see Sara. “You were expecting someone else?”

Collin
’s face flushed. The manager, Max, crossed his arms and an eyebrow shot up. He leveled a gaze on his employee.

“Yeah, kinda. You still haven’t answered as to why you’re here.”

“Doesn’t matter, other than to say I have the badge.” Jimmy pulled it out quick, cupping it in his hand so his number was covered.

“Oh.”

Jimmy was able to hold back any visible signs of his amusement.

Max put his hands on his hips, his expression one of taking no nonsense. “Collin told me that two people came in yesterday wanting to see the camera footage. It’s in relation to the dead guy.”

The manager really had a way of phrasing things delicately. Jimmy let that part slide.
“Sounds about right. Now, if I could see that footage.”

Max strengthened his stance, as if sizing up his competition.
“Not so fast. I assume you have a warrant.”

“Why would I?”

Max
’s demeanor paled and his presence shrunk. Jimmy could get used to the role playing and he was starting to see why Sean and Sara loved operating outside of the confines of the law. Now all he needed was a wealthy benefactor to step in. A portion of him wondered if he’d keep at the crime solving if he had a real choice, though.

Seconds passed with Jimmy holding the silence. The three of them stood in circle formation in the middle of the store.

Finally, Max spoke.
“Fine. You can watch the video—here. It doesn’t leave the store and you don’t watch it without me. Acceptable?”

Jimmy nodded. If he spoke, his voice would reveal how he felt. The manager had laid out the terms, wording things in an effort to sound
in charge
, but his closing question revealed weakness.

“All right then, this way,” Max said.

“Actually, Max,” Collin began. His boss turned to face him and he continued. “If it’s all right with you, I’m going to call it a day. I’m not feeling so hot.”

“So you plead with me to get the shift today and now you’re begging off? Am I understanding this correctly?”

“I’m sorry. It must have been something I ate for breakfast.” Collin rubbed at his stomach, and Jimmy fought to not roll his eyes.

Betrayed By An Eagle

SEAN AND SARA REMAINED IN the food court to wait on Jimmy.

“What is taking him so long? If I have one more coffee—”

“You’re complaining about too much coffee? Wait a minute,” Sean rooted for his phone, “let me record this.”

She angled her head. “Please, darling, no.”

Jimmy came over to them, but Sean didn
’t see anything in his hands. Of course, he could have tucked it in a pocket.

“Do you have the footage?”

Jimmy shook his head and took a seat.

“Did they let you watch it at least?” Sara asked. Her long nails dug into the cardboard cup deep enough to leave impressions.

Sean reached for one hand. The way she released her grip on the cup, she must have picked up on what she had been doing.

“What did you see?”

“I saw our victim.”

“Victim? So you’re with us on this now? You don’t think he jumped or that it was some sort of accident?”

“Not at all. Someone placed a CD case on the store’s shelf. Our victim picked it up. The one who put it there wasn’t a pro by any means, but they kept watching over their shoulder like they knew they were being taped.”

“They? A man or woman?” Sean asked.

“A man.”

Sara wiped her brow. The coffee must have been making her warm.
“Anything stand out about him?”

“Not a lot. He had an average face, but when he reached out to place the case, there was a tattoo on the top of his wrist.”

Something was pressing in the back of Sean
’s mind, like he should know the correlation. Why did the thought of a tattoo strike him as something that was important? Then he remembered. He let go of Sara’s hand and leaned toward Jimmy. “Was it an eagle with spread wings?”

“How did you know?”

Sara
’s eyes lit up and she slapped Sean on the arm. Sean laughed. She definitely needed to lay off the caffeine.

“I take it that the two of you know who this is?” Jimmy asked.

Both of them nodded.

“He was in the room where everyone was giving their statements,” Sean said.

“All right, so now all we have to do is ask the officers if they remember anyone fitting that description.”

“You said he kept looking over his shoulder?” Sara asked.

“I did.”

“That tells me our guy doesn’t have a record. Although he thought he was being taped, he wasn’t too worried about being identified. If he was, he wouldn’t have kept facing the camera. He would have avoided it.”

“That was my thought. Another possibility is he didn’t think the investigation would go this far. You know what it’s like sometimes. The caseload is heavy and, while finding the truth—justice and all that—is important, sometimes it can be superseded by the powers that be in a rush to close a case.”

“I don’t miss that.” Sara’s voice was low as she made her feelings known.

“It is, sadly, one of the aspects I dislike myself.”

Sean wasn
’t going to watch while Jimmy beat himself up, as if he were a bad cop. The man was anything but. He was committed to the job and to the people of the community. It was time for a diversion. “So, this guy in the video planted the CD, and Jerrod came in after.”

“Yep, twenty-one minutes later according to the timestamp.”

“All right, talk to the officers and let us know a name and where we can find the guy.” Sean motioned to get up but stopped when Jimmy spoke.

“There’s another thing. Sara, there was one guy who was really disappointed that it was me and not you. In fact, it wasn’t even supposed to be his day to work, and when he found out you weren’t coming, he went home, claiming he was sick.”

“Ah, isn’t that too bad. I hope Collin feels better soon.” Sara smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind an ear.

Sean wrapped his arm around her and planted a kiss on her cheek.
“I can’t say as I blame the poor guy. You were probably the highlight of his week—heck, his month, his year. You are the highlight of my life.”

Making The Introduction

JIMMY SPOKE TO THE OFFICERS who had taken the statements, in hopes of finding their average-looking man with an eagle tattoo. It didn’t take long to get their answer. His name was Andres Malone.

Sean and Sara were outside his rental townhouse, but it had almost been the three of them.
Somehow, Sean had managed to win the debate with Jimmy as to whether he would join them or not. While Jimmy had claimed it was a police matter, Sean had pointed out that they had technically ruled on the case.

Jimmy had countered with “And since when do you think like a politician?” But reality had been etched in his face. Turning around and actively investigating a closed case wouldn’t make a good impression on either the media or the higher-ups. He had let out a deep sigh then, and added his words of caution. “I’d feel better if you had a gun.”

“Jimmy, wasn’t the point of having one never to use it?” Sara had smiled at him, which worked to soften his expression and turn him into malleable clay.

Sean didn’t have any doubt as to why Sara got away with a lot more than he did when they reported to Jimmy—her smile could melt the arctic, let alone men’s hearts.

“Just promise me no one dies today.”

“We promise,” Sean answered on the behalf of both of them.

They had been delayed a few more seconds, but then Jimmy had handed over the information.

Sean glanced over at Sara now, to see if she was ready to go.

She closed the visor mirror. “You have to admit, there’s a bit of security that comes with having a gun.”

“But it can also create a situation that doesn’t need to be there. This way we don’t approach Andres as a threat. He’ll view us as average citizens.”
Sean hoped Andres didn’t recognize them from the conference room at the mall.

“I just wonder how he got messed up in all this. Jimmy confirmed he doesn’t have a record.”

“That could just mean that he hasn’t gotten caught yet.”

They rang the doorbell and waited. There weren
’t any sounds coming from inside, and it had Sean wondering if they should have headed to Andres’ work instead. No sooner had the thought gone through his mind and he heard the creaking of the floor boards—someone was approaching the door.

The curtain in the front window was pushed back. A man happened to catch eyes with Sean and quickly pulled out of view.

The deadbolt
clunked
and the door opened.

“Who are you?” His eyes traveled over Sean but lingered on Sara.

Due to his interest in her, she answered.
“I’m Sara, and this is my husband, Sean.”

“You’re married? To him?”

Sean stiffened.
“We’re looking for Andres Malone.”

“Why?”

“It’s a private matter we’d like to discuss with him,” Sara said.

The man’s eyes darted from Sara to Sean.

Sean noticed the tattoo on his wrist as he held the door.
“Seems we found him, Sara.”

“Still doesn’t explain why you’re on my front step. You’re not cops and I ain’t done nothing wrong.” Andres shifted to the left, then to the right, to see past them.

“Can we come in?”

“I don’t think—” Andres launched himself out the door, springing down the steps two at a time.

Sean pounced on him, pinning Andres to the walkway.

“Get off me.” Andres struggled beneath Sean’s weight, but when he must have sensed his efforts were futile, he stopped moving. “Fine. I’ll talk to you.”