Page 65 of Jina

“If I had known that, I would have grabbed him,” Duncan said with a frown.

“Not your fault.” She might have included him but hadn’t expected Duncan to be there. In her experience, he mostly worked late evening and night shifts. And those were the shifts she usually came in to work out too.

She followed Duncan farther down the hall toward the exit. There was no window on the door like there was in the front, so she couldn’t see outside. As they reached the doorway, Duncan abruptly turned and jammed his hand into her side.

A hand that held a gun.

“What are you doing?” She tried to reach for her weapon, but Duncan had already removed it from her holster, an evil grin playing across his features.

“We’re taking a little ride,” he said in a harsh whisper. “Just you and me, Jina.”

Realization dawned a fraction of a second too late. Klapper wasn’t the shooter. Duncan was.

And she’d foolishly walked right into his trap.

“Where was Klapper when the gunfire went off?” Cole asked, trying to follow Mike’s timeline.

“I asked him to stay and talk to me, but he claimed he had to go. That he needed to take a shower and then hit the road because he was running late,” Mike explained. “I was about to follow him into the men’s locker room when I heard the gunfire. That’s when I went out into the main gym to tell the others to get into the locker room too.”

Cole frowned. “How much time passed between Klapper going into the locker room and the sound of gunfire?”

“Barely a minute, maybe less.”

That wasn’t nearly enough time for Klapper to have been their shooter.

“I’m sorry if I messed up,” Mike said. “I tried to get him to stick around.”

“He’s probably not our guy anyway, so don’t worry about it,” Cole assured him. He ran his frustrated hand through his hair. “Unfortunately, that only means we still have no idea who this guy is or why he wants to hurt Jina.”

“I wish you were closer to finding this guy. I’m going to lose business over this.” Mike looked depressed.

“Hey, we’ll find him.” He clapped Mike on the shoulder as Rhy, Cassidy, and Zeke approached the gym. “And once we do, there won’t be a reason for people to avoid coming here.”

“I’m not sure about that.”

He didn’t ask if Mike wasn’t sure they’d catch the guy or if the gym members would return once the danger was over.

And decided now wasn’t the time to ask.

“Did you find Jeff Klapper?” Rhy demanded.

“No, and based on Mike’s timeline, he’s not our guy.” He quickly filled the captain in on the sequence of events.

“Where’s Jina?” Zeke asked.

Cole turned to glance behind him, surprised she wasn’t there.

“I think she ducked into the female locker room,” Mike said.

“I’ll check on her.” Cassidy brushed past him.

“If Klapper isn’t our guy, then how in the world did he know you, Jina, and Grayson were on your way here?” Rhy asked with a scowl. “Something isn’t adding up.”

“I know, that’s bothering me too.” He didn’t want to put Mike in the hot seat but turned to face the gym owner. “Was there anything else unusual prior to hearing the gunfire?”

“No. I was reconciling my monthly statement for last month when you called,” Mike said. “I dropped everything to head out to find Klapper.”

Cole masked his disappointment. It wasn’t Mike’s fault. He turned back to Rhy and Zeke. “Jina and I split up as Grayson provided cover. We went through the woods all the way back around the strip mall. There was nothing back there. Unfortunately, it seems as if our perp escaped before we could get a visual.”

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