Page 22 of Gator

“You’re right. Let’s get out of here. I’ll see you all back at the salon.”

The wedding had gone so well, so I tried to push the image of that man out of my head and focus on the positives. We’d easily made enough to offset the salon being closed, and we’d had fun working together as a team. I definitely thought we should start a marketing campaign to try to get more weddings.

As I made the drive from the venue back to the salon, I began to formulate a plan for how we could make that happen. I normally parked out behind the salon, but since we all needed to unload our equipment, I parked out front instead. I went to the trunk and pulled out my cases. I wheeled them inside where most of my crew were already washing their supplies and putting things away.

But Migs and Tori had both done makeup as well, so their cleanup took a little longer.

“Okay, guys, I’m done here. What can I do to help?”

Tori shook her head. “No, boss, we got it all covered.”

“Seriously, you should go home,” Migs said. “You ran your ass off today, and you look beat. Besides, I booked a client for this afternoon since I knew we would be back before she wanted to come in.”

I had no idea where he got his energy. There was no way I would’ve booked a client today, but power to him.

“Okay, you all know how to get a hold of me if you need anything. This was fun, but it was exhausting. I think I’ll go stuff my face and collapse on the couch for a night of wine and bad television.”

Migs looked up from what he was doing. “Okay, love ya, babes.”

I blew him a kiss and headed outside, only to freeze just outside the door.

There was a familiar-looking blackCamryparked in front of the shop next to mine, with two men sitting there watching my salon. Normally, I wouldn’t have thought anything about it. There were a ton of reasons someone might be sitting in a car in a parking lot. They could’ve been waiting on someone who was inside the shop next door or waiting for a song to end before they got out. I did that all the time. But after seeing that guy at the wedding, it didn’t feel so innocent.

I looked at my car parked on the far side of the parking lot. I hadn’t wanted to take up any close spots for the shopping center’s customers, so I’d parked on the far side, but I regretted that choice now. I tried to decide if I could make it from the salon door to my car and get the doors locked before the guys in that car could reach me if they decided to grab me. I didn’t like my odds at all.

I stood there for a few minutes, trying to decide what to do. It might not be the guys from the alley, but something inside me told me it was. I started to go back inside, but what if they followed me there? I didn’t want to put Migs and Tori in danger. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I didn’t actually think they would try to grab me out here in public like this. There were visible security cameras all over this shopping center, so the odds were that I’d be fine getting to my car.

“Are you okay?” a woman I recognized as one of Mig’s clients asked, and I realized I was blocking the door to the salon.

“I’m fine, Holly. You here to see Migs?” I stepped to the side so she could go in.

“I am.”

I nodded at her. “He’s waiting for you. You have a good evening.”

She went inside, and I decided that standing outside speculating about who was or wasn’t in that car wasn’t getting me anywhere. I took out my key fob and pushed the button to unlock the door. I made a run for my car, and as soon as I slid into the driver’s seat, I pulled the door shut behind me and quickly pressed the switch to lock it.

I looked over at the car, and the guys inside hadn’t made a move to get out. I let out a relieved sigh. They were probably just a couple of harmless guys, and my imagination was running wild, but who could blame me? A little over a week ago, I’d seen someone get kidnapped in a dark alley. That was enough to make anyone paranoid.

I put the car into drive and started to pull off. I hadn’t been kidding when I told them I planned on collapsing when I got home. I’d been on my feet for seven straight hours with no breaks, and I was exhausted.

The exit that would make it the easiest for me to hit the Cane’s drive-thru on my way home took me past where the black car was parked. I was locked inside my vehicle, and that made me feel safe enough to drive by a little slower than normal and see if I could get a good look at the guys inside. Unfortunately, fromthe back, I couldn’t make out their features. I did memorize the tags, though, just to be safe. I would give Officer Russo a call and give him the tag number later, just in case it was them.

I was feeling pretty pleased with myself for thinking to get the number until I glanced in my rearview mirror and saw them backing out of the parking spot. Surely they weren’t going to follow me. I took a deep breath. I had no idea how long they’d been sitting there. They were probably just finished shopping, and it was a coincidence that they were leaving at the same time I was. There were no cars coming, so I made a split-second decision and made a right-hand turn even though I was in the left turn lane, and sure enough, they also turned right. Which could still be a coincidence. We were in a busy shopping area, so there were tons of places they could be headed that would mean they had to turn right.

I put on my blinker and moved into the left turn lane, keeping an eye on the traffic behind me. The black car was a couple of cars back, but they also moved into the turn lane. I did that a few times, basically going in a large circle, and after a series of turns, I found myself right back where I started, with the black car still behind me. They were still a few spots back, and it was a pretty nondescript sedan, so if I hadn’t seen the license plate earlier, I probably wouldn’t have known it was the same car.

I tapped my finger nervously on the steering wheel.Okay, decision time, Jules. You can’t lead them back to Miranda’s house, and you can’t let them follow you home. So what to do? What to do?Then it hit me. I knew a place that would be safe. It had plenty of cameras, lots of security, and a man who’d mademe promise to call him if I was in trouble. I figured a visit was just as good as a call, right?

Decision made, I cut through a parking lot and came out on the far side, then turned my car towards downtown. Looked like I was going to pay Three Bears Tactical a visit.

Gator

I spent all day Saturday out at the camp with Crowe planning for a group of law enforcement agents. After we’d worked together as a team the other day, I’d actually been glad when he’d asked me to come out again.

When I got back to the office, I stuck my head in Wolfe’s office. We didn’t technically work on Saturdays, but that was the problem with living in the building where you worked. It was easy to lose track of things like days off. I found him and Hawk both there, discussing whether we should take on a new case. I knew right away which one they were talking about, because Hawk had already briefed me on it the day before.

“We talking about the Ziegler job?”