DB: Jesus. If he says Tom Cruise, don’t believe him.
I snorted, getting both of their attention on me. “DB says if you say Tom Cruise, we’re not to believe you.”
Alex chuckled, but Hurst looked like he was thinking it over.
Finally, he shrugged. “It’s possible. I don’t know how old the guy is, but he was too old to be the baby in ’98 and was maybe even too young to have one back then. He’s probably in the clear.”
My phone beeped again, and I picked it up, expecting it to be DB.
Nome: There’s a man with a shotgun wanting money at McGill’s. Am stuck in closet with toilet paper. Would you mind picking up Shanti and Nemi? X
“Shit.”
Not missing a beat, Alex straightened, reaching for his cell. “What’s wrong?”
Carter: We’re on our way. Stay in the damned closet. Xx
“Naomi’s at McGill's, and a guy is holding it up from the sounds of things. Tell DB we’re heading there.”
Hurst stood up with us. “What do you need me to do?”
The last part of her text stood out to me. “Could you ask Colette to collect Shanti? Naomi was meant to be getting Nemi, too, so maybe call Heidi and ask her if she minds and can let the school know?”
“We’ll take care of the kids, son. You just look after Naomi. Call us if you need anything.”
I nodded and went to run to our vehicle, but Hurst caught my arm before I could. “I know you’re aware how much Jack and Colette think of those girls, but just so you know, they’re important to all of us.” When I didn’t say anything, he added, “My point is, if you need us to do anything at all, you just say, and it’s done.”
“Gotcha.”
Letting go of my arm, he stood back. “Keep us updated.”
I did not doubt that there’d be food waiting for us when we got home tonight. As he’d said, Colette and Jack thought the world of my girls, and they tended to drop stuff around when they knew things weren’t going smoothly for them. This definitely fell under that category.
“Got the keys to the Charger,” Alex muttered as he met up with me at the door. “I’m driving.”
The sight that greeted us wasn’t what I’d expected at all. Naomi was propped up against a wall inside a small closet, blood trailing from her head to her white t-shirt, and a woman was squatting beside her, holding a roll of toilet paper to her head.
“Oh, good, you’re here,” the attendant shouted as I moved quickly over to them.
It felt like my heart froze in my chest as I took in the amount of blood coming from Naomi’s head. “Was she shot?”
“No, she was just picking up this toilet paper when the guy with the gun came in. He shot at the ceiling, and some of the glass from the light must have cut her.”
Judging by the amount of glass and plastic there was on the ground, that wouldn’t have surprised me.
“She was in this closet calling y’all while he was here,” the woman continued. “I opened the door when he left to let her know, and all she did was apologize for leaving me.”
She shook her head. “Call me crazy, but I’m not upset with her for finding a safe place to call the police. The owner of the place won’t put in a panic button because he says it’s a waste of money. The last time any problems happened here was when that guy Mace’s dad shot the cop out front.”
Neither of us reacted to that information drop. Yes, Mace’s dad had killed a cop here roughly ten years ago, but it was the officer’s widow who’d requested that the information not be made public knowledge after the case had been solved a year ago.
McGill’s had been closed at the time, and the officer had found him trying to steal gas, so he’d stopped to apprehend him.
There’d been no clues when the body was found the following day, and the one witness who’d seen it all had been too afraid to come forward until after Mace’s dad had been put in prison for a different crime.
The widow loved Mace and had felt for him and his sister, Gia, with how they were raised, so she didn’t want to run the risk of people turning on him for something his dad had done.
Mace felt differently and thought people should know how big an asshole his sperm donor was, but she insisted and hadn’t changed her mind since. According to her, all people needed to know was that the killer had finally been apprehended and charged, and justice was being served.
So, we definitely wouldn’t do anything that’d confirm this lady was right with what she’d just said.
Alex looked around while I took over, holding the toilet paper roll to Naomi’s head. Leaning over to look into the closet, he asked, “Was she in here?”