Page 45 of Wolfish
“Okay, sounds good. I’ll call you before then.”
He looked tired, and she figured he would sleep for a while. She kissed him just as Peter arrived. “Rest.”
“I will.”
Then she left with Peter, but he got a call on Bluetooth. “Yeah, what’s up?”
“We had a Blue Ford Mustang stolen, belonging to Mrs. Hastings. We put out a BOLO on it.”
“Have the alert roster notified that the brothers who shot Daniel are most likely responsible for the theft of Mrs. Hasting’s car. They’re armed and dangerous. Do not approach them without backup if you see her car,” Peter said.
When he finished the call, Selena asked, “Do you think they’ll leave town now?”
“They might. But they may just stay here because they don’t think we have the force to apprehend them. Everyone will be looking for them. They don’t realize it’s not just our sheriff’s department, but all of us in Silver Town. They’ll get caught.”
She didn’t know why they would stay in the area though. They’d already threatened her and looked for the file, but hadn’t found their father’s. So they could still be after that.
“What if I give them the file?” she asked Peter.
“What?”
“The brothers want their dad’s file. What if I leave it for them somewhere so they can take the file with them? I’ve also got it in the Cloud. The information isn’t going to help them with their father’s case.”
“We can’t let them go after they’d tried to kill Daniel and after they had transported a couple of skeletons in their vehicle, stolen vehicles, and everything else.”
“Of course not. The file will be the bait. If they destroy the files, I have a backup. But they need to be caught and charged with multiple crimes.”
“How would we get the word out to them? We’ve tried tracking their phones, but they must have them turned off.” Peter parked in front of her shop.
They both got out of his vehicle, she unlocked the shop, and they went inside.
“Besides, though they’re amateurs at all of this, if you were able to tell them you would give them the file, I’m sure they’ll suspect it’s a setup.”
“True. I just wondered if offering to give them the file would be the end of it.” Selena put the open sign out for customers. Then she made a sign for the window listing the shop's hours. She would need to have lunch coverage and someone at the shop when she needed to leave for any reason. If she had an active following, she had to have reliable hours.
Peter was in the back of the shop on his phone, coordinating efforts to pursue the three brothers.
Selena called Silva. “Hey, it’s me, Selena. Do you know of anyone who could cover my shop when I have to leave?”
“I used a lady named Trish Walker, but she didn’t want to work full-time, so I ended up hiring a couple of other ladies. Trish likes part-time jobs, and she’s an excellent employee. If she isn’t available, post an ad in the paper about what you’re looking for. Part-time help?”
“Right. Okay, thanks.”
“Brett will help you with an ad if she doesn’t work out.” Silva gave her Trish’s phone number and email address.
Selena got some customers. “Thanks, got to go.” They ended the call. “Can I help you with anything?”
“We’re just looking to see what you have at the new shop.” The woman and her friends looked like they’d been hiking, wearing hiking boots and cargo pants, sweaters and jackets, and must have come into town to shop a bit. They were human, so they were not local.
Then some more customers arrived, same thing, human, probably enjoying the fall scenery around Silver Town and the hiking trails.
“Have you had trouble here?” one of the women asked, pointing toward Peter, wearing his sheriff’s uniform.
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Great. Selena didn’t want to explain to customers that the sheriff had to protect her shop because she could be in danger, which meant they could be in peril while they shopped there.
“No trouble,” Peter said to the ladies. “I just dropped in to get my wife a gift, and then I got a call I had to handle.”
