She was about to tell her to come back inside when something cut the air by Gale’s head and the wood on the doorframe splintered.
Gale gasped, “What was that?”
Margot already knew. She pulled Gale’s head down as the second bullet tore through the space where Gale’s face had just been. Margot pulled her inside and then dragged her to the floor as the third bullet struck the door that swung shut behind them.
“Is someone shooting at us?” Gale asked.
“I’d say they were shooting at you. If it was the people I pissed off, they probably wouldn’t have missed.”
Margot drew her gun and then looked over at Stan who was cowering behind the bar. No other customers were around.
“I already called the police,” he told them.
“Do you think they’re still out there?” Gale whispered.
Margot shrugged. “Probably not, but I’m going to stay down here and keep my gun in my hand for a bit anyway.”
“Me too. At least, the staying down part.”
“This might be a good time to tell me what you were lying about.”
Chapter 11
Since being shot at was not a crime, the detectives sent to the scene didn’t grill them too hard. There were shootings going on where people actually got hit, so this wasn’t going to be a high priority regardless. Margot’s trouble with the cartel would have been common knowledge even if she hadn’t been dating a homicide detective. They assumed it was part of her troubles and she didn’t do too much to dissuade them.
Once they were done, a lone crime scene tech went in to dig out a bullet and a couple of uniforms checked the area to make sure the shooter wasn’t still around. Ideally, they hoped to pick up some shell casings covered in usable fingerprints.
The tech said they could sit at one of the tables and be out of his way. So Margot had Stan pour them some fresh drinks and they took a table by the back wall.
“I was snooping in my husband's phone when I found that picture,” Gale revealed suddenly, without being asked. “Lori didn’t send it to me, she or somebody sent it to Dan. Maybe I shouldn’t have been looking at his stuff, but maybe he shouldn’t be cheating on me either.”
“With Lori?”
“No, I don’t think so anyway. I think Lori would have kept some things to herself if she was seeing Dan.”
“Lori was seeing someone else?”
“She didn’t come out and say it, maybe because her husband and mine are brothers, but yeah, I’m nearly positive.”
Margot nodded and asked, “So who sent Dan the picture?”
“It was an unknown number, but unlike Dan, Lori knew to use a different phone if she was fooling around. Even if she wasn’t fooling around, I know she had an extra phone. She picked it up after Dave started taking hers to work.”
Magot thought about this for a second. “Was there anything else with the picture? A message?”
“Yeah, it made me sick. It said, ‘she’s even hotter this way.’”
Margot pondered this while she watched a crime scene tech dig a slug out of one of the high tables. She figured this was the second shot that just about took Gale’s face off.
“Can you tell me what it is?” Margot asked the tech.
“Other than a lead slug?” the tech replied as he put it in a bag.
“Yeah.”
He shrugged. “Not yet, but I’d say hunting rifle given the size and shape.”
“A bolt action 30.06 perhaps?”