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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] Ignoring the mobster's interest, she turned her attention to the notepad and game system in front of her. Something about her perplexed expression left me uneasy. I crossed the store and joined her behind the counter. Voice soft, I asked, "Is there a problem?" "I'm not sure, Abby. Look at this barcode." She showed me the smudged code on the bottom of the game system. "Yesterday, Mattie and I were going through the inventory out here as part of the post-robbery audit. He noticed some of these barcodes were smudged so I had him copy down the serial numbers and descriptions so I could manually compare them with the system." My brother's big, loopy handwriting made me smile. At some point, he had gotten bored while doing the inventory because he had decorated the margins of the paper with drawings of robots and gigantic dinosaur-like monsters. Apparently he had been learning quite a bit of technique during his sketching classes with Hadley at the arts center she had founded earlier in the year. "What did you find during your manual search?" Marley looked around nervously before sliding closer and whispering, "These barcodes belong to products we've already sold. The serial numbers are in the system, but they weren't cross- referenced with the stolen property lists or submitted for verification." My stomach dropped. "How many of these smudged barcodes did you find?" "In this section?" Now my heart raced. "This is happening in other sections of the store?" She nodded. "I found two watches, a couple of diamond bracelets, six televisions, a couple of DVD players, a stereo, two " "Stop," I said, holding up my hand. As the panic subsided, anger overwhelmed me. "Who did the intake for these items?" Marley hesitated. "Dan." Suddenly, Besian's warning sounded awfully prescient. "Pull everything with a smudged tag and take it back to the storeroom. I'm not leaving until I figure this out." Fighting the feelings of betrayal that surged through me, I grabbed the game system and strode back to my office. If what Marley suspected turned out to be true and the store had been put at risk of being closed down for selling stolen property, there was going to be hell to pay. And I would be starting with Dan. * * * "Mattie, you almost done packing?" Jack closed the newly repaired dishwasher and scrubbed his hands in the sink. He was drying them when Mattie appeared with his suitcase and collection of DVDs. "You got everything you need?" "Yes." Feeling a bit guilty for arranging the sleepover with Finn, Jack wanted to make sure Mattie was fully onboard. Although he had a raging need to be alone with Abby so they could discuss the unexpectedly swift change in their relationship, he refused to do anything that would hurt Mattie's feelings or their friendship. "Are you sure you're okay hanging out with Finn tonight?" "Jack," he said with a huff, "you've asked me four times. I said yes. I mean yes." "Okay. I didn't want you to feel pressured." Mattie rolled his eyes and let loose another exaggerated sigh. "I'm a man of my word, Jack." He grinned. "Yes, you are." "Are we going now?" "Yeah. Let's lock up, and we'll get out of here." A short time later, Mattie was happily helping Finn tidy up the weights and start the evening laundry loads. Not for the first time, Jack found himself wondering if Mattie would enjoy taking a part-time job at the gym. They had been talking about bringing on an employee to handle some of the everyday tasks that often got pushed aside to deal with clients. Mattie loved the atmosphere at the gym and was always pitching in, even taking the initiative to put together a sign-in sheet for the stations that had the most use so there weren't any more arguments about the gym's standing first-come-first- serve rule. He was still mulling over the possibility when he arrived at the pawn shop. Sliding out of his front seat, Jack took a moment to enjoy the Texas sunset. The high-rise buildings on the horizon were silhouetted against a sky splashed with vibrant citrus shades. The sight of so much color took him back to the sunsets in Afghanistan. Despite the violence and horror that had marred his tours there, he would always remember the stark beauty of the place. When he stepped inside the shop, Jack nodded at the security guard near the door. The bulky beast of a man motioned toward the back of the store. "The boss is in the back." He hesitated. "It's tense back there right now. You might be better off waiting for Abby out here." Jack didn't like the sound of that. Wondering what sort of trouble she had run into now, he crossed the store, weaving in and out of the clumps of customers eyeing merchandise. Mark noticed him approaching the employee only area cordoned off by waist-high counters topped with bullet proof glass. Three lines of customers with tickets in hand waited to pawn, redeem and sell their items. Their gazes locked and the former Navy pilot reached under the counter to unlock the door. Jack returned the man's wave with an appreciative nod. Before he even reached the storeroom at the rear of the shop, Jack picked up the sound of raised, angry voices. He easily separated Abby's voice from Dan's. She sounded hurt and betrayed while Dan shouted back in defiant defense. "I could be arrested, Dan! They could pick me up right now on charges for selling stolen property!" Jack's eyes widened at Abby's panicked outburst. What the fuck? He stepped forward and twisted the door handle. Thankfully it was unlocked. Otherwise he would have beat on it until one of them let him inside. "What?" Abby shrieked at him before she realized who it was. Instantly, her angry expression [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |