Page 27 of Jina

“One down and two more to go,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “I’d rather stake out a crime scene than spend my days staring at a computer.”

He could understand that Jina was a woman of action, not one for sitting and painstakingly reviewing evidence. “It’s not glamorous. Let’s try Rinko first.”

“Okay. But we might need food. I can’t believe I’m saying this after Rosie’s huge breakfast, but I’m hungry.”

“I can throw in a pizza,” he offered, surprised by the late afternoon hour. It hadn’t seemed like they’d been working for so long, but they’d gotten a late start thanks to the fire followed by breakfast, then the gas station shooting. Especially the ridiculously long interview with the Brookland detectives. “Do you like your pizza loaded with the works?”

“Yes.” She grabbed her phone from the charger. “I’m texting my teammates. I’m sure they’ll be able to meet us at the strip mall later.”

“I don’t like that plan.” He reached for the freezer, then stopped when he glanced through the small kitchen window in time to see a black vehicle driving past his house. “Jina? Is that the Honda?”

“Where?” She jumped from her seat to join him. “I can’t tell if there’s a license plate or not. Let’s head outside, we’ll know for sure it’s the shooter if he drives past your house again.”

“Okay.” He prayed he was overreacting. He gestured to the back door. “We’ll split up, taking each side of the house.”

“I’ll go right, you go left,” she said with a nod.

He went out first, taking the left-hand side of his house, leaving her to go along the other side. His neighbors were relatively close, and he suspected Ida Potter would be watching out her window. The only good part about Ida’s nosiness was that she wouldn’t hesitate to call the police if things went sideways.

Once he was in a position where he could see the road, he hunkered down to wait. His patience was soon rewarded. The black Honda appeared from the same direction it had taken before, as if the driver had simply gone around the block.

“Stop! Police!” Hearing Jina’s shout, he quickly ran out from his hiding spot. The driver of the SUV hit the gas, speeding away like the coward he was.

This time, he had noticed the driver was white and wore a black ball cap. But the worst part was that the shooter knew where he lived.

He needed to get Jina out of there ASAP.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Jina sprinted toward the disappearing car, despite knowing it was a useless endeavor. The black Honda careened around the corner at a dangerously fast rate of speed, and while she cut through lawns, it was no use.

The Honda disappeared from her line of sight.

Swallowing a curse—giving up swearing had never been so difficult—she bent at the waist to catch her breath. What was up with this guy? Why risk driving by Cole’s house in broad daylight?

Then she straightened, realizing the shooter shouldn’t have known where Cole lived in the first place. Not good. She turned to jog back as Cole headed toward her.

“Did you get a look at him?”

“No. Although Gabe was right about the ball cap.” She hurried forward. “I’d like to know how he found your address.”

“Me too.” He scowled. “Let’s go. We can’t stay here.”

She hated to admit he was right. Using Cole’s home to set herself up as bait wouldn’t work. Mr. Glen’s duplex had already been damaged, she didn’t want to add Cole’s house to the mix. Especially since he had neighbors on each side.

Besides, the shooter should know they wouldn’t stay now that they’d seen him.

“Fine, let me get my phone.” She wasn’t leaving it behind this time.

Cole disappeared into his bedroom, likely to pack a bag. She was glad she still had hers in his vehicle. Tucking the phone into her pocket, she watched the street out front to make sure the black Honda didn’t double back.

This perp was not acting like the typical shooter. Not just because he’d set fire to Mr. Glen’s duplex, but all this driving around, firing at them in the middle of the day? It was almost as if this guy had a sense of urgency driving him to violence.

Why, she couldn’t imagine. Criminal profiling was not her strong suit. She preferred to aim and shoot.

She’d been tempted to fire at the SUV but had held back. Mostly because shooting a moving vehicle wasn’t as easy as it looked on TV. And neither was shooting and hitting what you were aiming at while running.

The most important reason, though, was not having probable cause. The driver had only gone past the house twice. That wasn’t a crime. She couldn’t take out a perp’s vehicle because he might commit a crime. No matter how much she wanted to.

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