Page 77 of Enforcing the Rules

Fifteen minutes later, we pulled into a gas station, and I climbed off the bike. Utah unscrewed the cap on his tank and shoved the nozzle in. I looked toward the convenience store. “I’m going to grab some gum. You want anything?”

“Sure. See if they have any Blow Pops.”

I chuckled. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah. I loved those things as a kid.”

I rolled my eyes and headed inside. The smell of hotdogs revolving on stainless rollers hit my nose. Finding the candy aisle, I perused for Blow Pops, then stood, trying to decide between spearmint gum and Double Bubble.

Movement in the next aisle drew my eyes over the top of the display racks, and I froze.

There stood one of the skips in the file still stashed in my glove box.

Calvin Hobson. Wanted for breaking into a liquor store in the middle of the night. They caught him the next morning, still hanging from the air vent he’d slid down. He was a skinny older man, but apparently not skinny enough. For all his trouble, Calvin hadn’t gotten a single bottle of booze.

I thought he’d paid for his crime with the embarrassment, but the arresting officers thought otherwise. He was a skip worth five hundred dollars, and damned if I didn’t have my mace or handcuffs. I did have my badge and ID placket in my purse, though.

I quickly dug it out and hung it around my neck.

I glanced around, wondering how I was going to get him to comply. If I could get him down on the floor, I could sit on him. Maybe the clerk would have some zip-ties in the back.

He was headed to the counter with a bag of chips and a quart of Colt45 malt liquor. Thinking fast, I grabbed a bag of Skittles, ripped it open, and scattered them on the floor. Calvin went down like a bowling pin, his bottle of booze smashing on the floor and his chip bag popping open under his chest.

I jumped on him, pushing his face down on the tile. “Calvin Hobson, you’re wanted for missing a court date for breaking and entering and attempted theft.”

“My hip! Get off! You’re breaking my hip.”

I could tell by the way he flopped around I was not breaking his hip. I wrestled his arms behind his back and yelled to the clerk. “Do you have any zip-ties in the back?”

“Nope.” The overweight, middle-aged woman behind the counter stared at me bug-eyed, then burst into action. She hustled around and grabbed some sunglass straps off a display. “Here, honey. You can tie him good and tight with these.” She tossed me a neon green pair.

I tied Calvin’s boney wrists behind his back.

“Thanks.”

“Name’s Gloria. What’s he wanted for?”

“Broke into a liquor store one night. Then he missed his court date.”

Gloria slammed her fists on her hips. “Serves you right, you no-good booze thief. I seen you in here before. You always takin’ a penny from the take-a-penny, leave-a-penny cup. You ain’t never needed that penny. You just a penny thief, too. Now you done caused this nice girl to trash my store.”

“I’m sorry about this. I’ll pay for the broken bottle and chips and candy.”

She pointed at Calvin. “He should be the one payin’.”

The door opened, and Utah stood staring at the scene. Then one brow lifted. “You okay, Kate?”

Gloria pointed at me. “She done wrangled a thief all by herself.”

He strolled to us and squatted, his biker boots crunching on chips and sticky beer. He looked at my captured skip. “You messed with the wrong woman, old man.”

“I didn’t mess with her. I was minding my own business.”

My gum and Utah’s Blow Pop lay on the floor away from the mess. Utah picked them up and unwrapped the sucker, putting it in his mouth and spoke around it. “Umm. Cherry. My favorite.” He pulled it out of his mouth. “This gonna take long?”

“Well, since I don’t have a car, I suppose I’ll have to call a cop to assist.”

“You need help getting him on his feet?”

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