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“Ouch, big brother. I’ve been known to be a tough guy once or twice,” Cooper said. “And Jane scares the bejesus out of most everyone.”
Jane elbowed Cooper in the ribs.
“We’ll be fine,” she said. “The sooner we get there and see what we’re dealing with, the sooner we can be back here working on the video.”
At this point, Lucy wasn’t even shocked anymore about what was happening in her life. It was just one more piece of crap that she’d been handed.
Someone really didn’t want them investigating what happened to Sarah.
* * *
It wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It could have been much worse.
Lucy walked slowly through the store, assessing the damage, and looking for items that might have been stolen.
Whoever had broken in had stayed mostly in the back of the store near the children’s section. They’d knocked books off shelves, ripped apart stuffed toys, and thrown tiny pieces from dozens of games all over the floor. They’d also gone into the area behind the register, opening cabinets and tossing the contents, and pushing items off the shelves. The rest of the store had been untouched from what she could see.
“They got into the office and storeroom as well,” Jane announced, her tone clipped. “Your desk was torn apart.”
She was as angry as Lucy was. Maybe more.
Cooper was glowering at everything and everyone, and poor Deputy Blake was just trying to keep them all calm and focused. He had his police report paperwork out so he could inventory what had been damaged or stolen.
She’d been through this once before quite recently, so she knew the drill.
“Did someone call this in?” Cooper asked. “Did they see or hear someone?”
“No one called it in,” Blake said with a shake of his head. “I was driving by and saw someone dart out of the alley and into the shadows. I thought it was suspicious behavior, so I went to take a look. That’s when I saw the back door open. I still had Lucy’s phone number in the files because of the break-in at her home.”
“I hope you’re going to look into this as not just a one off,” Cooper said. “Clearly, this is a pattern. Someone is trying to scare and harass Lucy.”
“Believe me, we’re going to look very closely at this. A few of the merchants on the street might have some security footage that we can look at. I’m going to do my best to find out who is doing this and why.”
“We know why,” Jane said. “It’s because we’re asking questions about Sarah.”
“That’s one theory,” Blake replied.
“It’s the only theory, Deputy,” Jane shot back.
“You might want to leave policework for the police,” Blake said. “It can be dangerous.”
Jane’s gaze openly ran over the chaos and destruction surrounding them.
“I think we already know that.”
“Jane, why don’t we start making a list of all of the damaged items?” Lucy asked, trying to keep her friend from having it out with Blake. They were all on edge right now. “It looks like they only hit a few sections of the store.”
“I can gather all of these stuffed animals and make a list of them,” Cooper offered. “Then work on the games.”
What was the old saying her mother loved?
Many hands make light work.
Lucy hoped that was true tonight.
“I’m going to call the station and give them an update,” Blake said. “Then I’ll be back to start cataloging those items.”
Lucy dropped her purse on her desk in the back room and then retrieved a notebook and pen before heading out to the children’s section. Jane had already begun stacking books that appeared to be undamaged so they could be shelved, and had another stack started with items that weren’t as lucky.
