Page 6 of Enforcing the Rules

“Just back me up. Make sure she doesn’t get past me.”

“And if she does?”

“Then trip her or shove her to the floor or something.”

“Okay. I suppose I could do that.”

I darted across the street between traffic, Lizzie on my heals.

She pressed her back to the brick wall.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Waiting for her to come out. We’re not going to just walk in the door, are we?”

I rolled my eyes again and tugged the door open. “Come on.”

It didn’t take long to find Mavis, since there were only three other customers and a sales clerk behind a display case of beaded jewelry.

Mavis had her back to me, checking out the wall of strands of beads for sale that covered the entire length of the shop. She was a thirty-something woman with a bad perm and a big body. She probably outweighed me by a hundred pounds. I scanned the room, checking for exits. There was one door in the back that must lead to the storeroom and probably a rear exit. I took a deep breath, hoping Mavis wouldn’t give me any trouble, then approached her aisle.

Lizzie stayed near the front door.

“Mavis Reid,” I said.

She turned, and her eyes dropped to my vest, then her shoulders slumped.

“Oh, crap. Did I miss my court date?”

“Yes, ma’am. I need to take you in so you can reschedule. It’s no big deal.”

“Take me in? Are you kidding me?”

“It’s just a formality.”

Apparently, Mavis knew enough about bail bonds to know that wasn’t entirely true. They would have to book her into jail, and we’d have to re-bond her out. The process could take most of the day.

“Can’t you let me slide until tomorrow? It’s my niece’s birthday. I promised her I’d bring her some new beads for her jewelry making hobby. She’s thirteen. Please?”

“You’ll be out in no time,” I lied, pulling my cuffs out. That may have been a mistake. She took one look at them and bolted, shoving me against the wall and heading toward the front door. Strands of beads rained down on my head as I tried to regain my balance.

“Stop her, Lizzie!” I shouted, seeing Lizzie’s wide-eyed, panicked expression.

Before I could take two strides, Lizzie—God love her—grabbed a large container of beads from a display and threw them on the floor. The tiny gold beads ping-ponged and rolled in all directions. What ensued looked like a choreographed vaudeville act, with Mavis’s feet going out from under her. Her arms flailed like a goose trying to land on a frozen lake. She was able to maintain her upright position until she slammed into Lizzie, and they both went down, Lizzie’s cup flying and a fountain of iced coffee splashing everywhere.

I wrestled Mavis’ arms back like a prized calf-roper, then cuffed her.

“What are you doing? You’ve destroyed my shop!” The clerk came running, then lost her balance on the beads and slammed into us like a bowling ball.

As I caught my breath, I looked over to see all the other customers with their phones up, recording.

Great. My first skip, and it would be all over social media. I’d be the laughingstock of the business before I even had a chance to prove myself.

Two hours later, I’d turned my skip into the La Plata County jail and gotten my paperwork validated. After dropping Lizzie off at her apartment, I was back at Sunshine Bail Bonds.

Bill Novak owned the place. He used to come to my mother’s corner café when I used to waitress there. There was never much money, and going to college was pretty much out of the question. I thought I’d be stuck waiting tables until my mother turned the place over to me.

Running Connie’s Corner Cafe was never my dream, though.

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