Page 22 of Jina

“Great. Let’s see it.”

The clerk led them back to a door marked employees only. There was a small office where Cole assumed the store manager worked. The kid went around to bring up the video on the computer, then stepped back. “Sorry, I have to go back out front. I’m here alone.”

“Thanks, we can manage from here.” He took a seat behind the desk, while Jina hovered nearby.

He started the video, increasing the speed so they could see what was happening without spending the entire day there. Unfortunately, the gas station was busy, so it took more time than he would have liked to slow the video for each dark SUV that came into view.

Police work was slow and tedious in general, but watching endless video with Jina hovering over his shoulder was agonizing. He tried not to be distracted by her nearness, focusing instead on trying to spot the SUV without plates with a driver that looked like Rory Glick.

There were several times of the day that no cars came into the station, but after two hours, he stopped the video and rubbed his eyes. “Maybe we should send a copy to my computer. At this rate, we’ll be here all day.”

“Let’s keep going a little while longer,” she said. “I’m sure he came by during the day before heading back at night.”

“Okay.” He resumed the video, slowing the speed when another dark SUV came into view. The Wisconsin rule about front license plates had changed; they were no longer required. Yet most of the cars he saw had them. Like this one.

Forty-five minutes later, Jina said, “There. Do you see it? That car doesn’t have a rear plate.”

He had missed it, so he backed up the video. She was right. A black Honda SUV without a rear plate sat next to the gas pump on the farthest side of the station. It was possible that there were two black Honda SUVs without license plates, but not likely. He zoomed in, but the image was blurry. And the pump itself blocked the view of the driver.

“Let’s send this to Gabe,” Jina said with excitement in her voice. When she noticed his confused look, she added, “He’s our tactical team tech expert. He’ll be able to clean this up to get a better view of the driver.”

“Okay. Let me see if I can copy a good section of video.” He might not be Gabe the tech expert, but he knew his way around computers. He was able to copy the video, sending it to his email address. When he finished, he stood. “You were right, he did come by in the daytime to scope things out.”

“Yeah, I just wish we could see his face.” Jina stretched her back. “I hope Gabe can work his magic. I’m convinced this guy has a prison record. We just need a good enough photo to use in the police database.”

“I agree.” He headed back out to the gas station. “Do you want anything before we go?”

“Nope. I’m good. Let’s head back to the strip mall.” She looked eager to get to work.

He couldn’t help but think Jina would make a good detective. His partner, Kevin Hunt, was out on paternity leave, his wife having recently delivered a baby boy. Kevin was a good cop, but Cole had secretly enjoyed working alone the past few days.

Back outside, they rounded the corner of the gas station. Thinking about the strip mall, and the possible clues they might find, it took a minute for him to notice the guy slinking behind the building.

“Look out!” His shout was cut off by the sound of gunfire. Pulling his weapon, he dropped to a knee and glanced toward Jina.

His heart about stopped in his chest when he didn’t see her.

“Jina! Are you hit?” Praying she wasn’t, he moved along the length of the SUV hoping to get a line on the gunman.

Then he heard a car engine roar to life. He bolted from his vehicle and ran toward the back of the gas station in time to see a black Honda with no license plate peeling away.

CHAPTER SIX

That had been too close. Jina had been in more dangerous situations than she could count since joining Rhy’s tactical team, but this was the first time she’d heard the whistle of a bullet and felt the rush of air as it went past her ear. She lifted her hand to her temple to check for blood.

Thankfully, she hadn’t been hit.

A flash of anger hit hard. Who was this guy? She was tired of being used as target practice. While his first attempts to hit her had gone high and wide, this one had not. Either the first attempt had been a scare tactic, or he’d honed his shooting skills since last night. Before she could move along the side of Cole’s SUV, he rounded the front end. Seeing her, he visibly relaxed. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. Was that his car I heard?” She had been slow to react, which wasn’t like her. She rose from her crouch and walked toward him. “We should have anticipated he’d come back.”

“I know.” Cole’s expression turned grim. “I didn’t think he’d take the risk in the bright light of day. The way he showed up here as if realizing we’d be trying to find him makes me wonder if he has law enforcement background.”

That possibility hadn’t occurred to her. “A cop would likely hit his target. And I also think a cop would have been smart enough not to stop for gas so close to the gym.”

“Maybe he’s an academy dropout or was injured on the job in some way.” He shrugged. “Could be his skills are rusty.”

“I don’t know why a former cop would try to kill me.” Maybe she didn’t make friends as easily as her female counterparts, but she wasn’t a bad person. There had been some fellow cops who’d spread rumors about her being cold and frigid because she hadn’t wanted to date them, but that shouldn’t cause something like this.

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