Page 23 of Stilettos and Outlaws
Julie and I exchanged horrified looks and chased after Mom. The minute our butts hit the seats; Mom gunned it.
I glanced out the back window. Sergeant Durham watched us for a moment, then pulled out his phone. “God, I hope he’s not calling Sergeant Bergman about this clusterfuck.”
“If he does, Sergeant Bergman will put us on trash pickup detail for sure,” Julie said.
Mom smiled. “Relax girls, you’re on sick leave.”
“True and we did help collar a murderer,” Julie said.
My cell phone rang. I glanced at the caller ID. It was Dante. I swiped right and babbled, “We’re fine. Doc Halliday released us and we’re on sick leave for the next five days. I don’t know if you’ve heard but there was a shooting in the north parking lot. A car kinda blew up. The fire department found a body in the trunk, but relax, Glendale PD is taking jurisdiction.” There was dead silence. “Dante? Dante? Hello? Oh! Sergeant Durham is on your other phone. Okay. Talk to you later.” I quickly disconnected.
“How did he take it?” Julie wanted to know.
I shrugged. “Not sure. He was using his cop voice.”
“Give him a blow job. Works every time on your dad,” Mom said.
“TMI, Mom. TMI.”
Chapter Five
Cerreta’s Candy is a family-owned business in downtown Glendale. They make the best chocolate in the universe. I let out a groan when I spotted a school bus parked in front of the old brick building. “We’ll be in line forever.”
“Maybe they’re still giving the kids the tour,” Julie said.
I smiled. “Let’s hope.” I reached for the door handle.
“Wait!” Mom exclaimed. “You can’t go in there wearing a bloody uniform. You’ll scare the children.”
I sagged against the seat. “Damn.”
“There are some Alpha Dog tee-shirts in that shopping bag. Lose the gun belts too.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Julie and I quickly changed and put our Glocks in the built-in weapons safe. Mom was fanatical about gun safety.
Mom examined us. “You’ll do.”
We got out of the truck, and I snickered. Julie’s shirt was five sizes too big and hung past her knees.
She gave me the one-fingered salute.
My grin got bigger.
A little girl with flaming red hair ran up to us and sobbed, “He took Bobby. He took Bobby.”
“Who took Bobby?” I knelt beside her.
“The Stinky Man,” she cried.
Julie dropped onto her knees. “Where did this happen?”
“By the bus. He ran away when he saw you.” Her lips quivered. “He hit Bobby.”
A knot formed in my stomach. I hated child abductions. “Which way did Stinky Man go?”
The little girl shrugged.
“What does the Stinky Man look like?” Julie asked.
