Rick kept his promise and returned within forty-five minutes. Without preamble, he said, “We need to go to the department store first and look at those other samples that Lynn and Judy brought back with them,”
Glen nodded. “Good idea, we’ll all follow you there. From now on, we all stick together,”
The men took the suitcases and loaded up the cars before they let the women exit the condo.
Lynn got into Rick’s car as Hannah and Brad got into theirs. Sher rode in Glen’s jeep, and they all headed toward the department store where Lynn worked.
Glen regularly checked his rearview mirror and felt sure that Rick and Brad did the same. They arrived at Lynn’s place of work without incident.
When they entered the department store, one of the employees rushed over and said, “Lynn, isn’t it awful about Judy? She gets killed, and someone breaks into her locker and yours. What is this world coming to?”
“Amy, please, we are in a hurry. I’m sorry I can’t talk right now. Is Gary here today?” Lynn asked.
“Yes, would you like me to page him for you?”
“Yes, please, have him meet us in the employee lounge. Thank you, Amy.”
Lynn led the way, and as she did, she explained that Judy had put their purchases from Dallas in her locker before she went home two days ago. “Judy had some time off work planned, and we both were going to set up a display in the jewelry department after I returned to work. There wasn’t a big rush on it. But I had some extra time Friday, so I had Gary open Judy’s locker and give me the purchases. I set up the display Friday.”
Lynn searched her locker for anything that might be missing but found nothing. Just then, Gary walked up and said, “Hello, Lynn. I thought you were off for the next three weeks. That’s why I didn’t call you in regards to the broken lock on your locker.”
“Gary is head of department store security. Gary, this is Rick, my fiancé, and these are my friends,” Lynn said.
Rick shook Gary’s hand and asked, “When did this happen?”
“You’re a cop, right? I guess I can talk to you; I remember Lynn told me how you were in law enforcement. It happened last night. I found Judy and Lynn’s lockers open this morning. Then I hear Judy is dead, so now I’m wondering what is going on here.”
“Gary, this is Glen, my partner, I think he wants to ask you some questions,” Rick said.
Glen shook Gary’s hand, pointing toward the lockers. “Gary, I don’t see the locks from the lockers. Could you go over what you saw when you noticed the lockers were open?”
“Sure thing. The locks need a key to open, but I found them cut and laying on the floor when I came around the corner there.”
“So the person who did this had bolt cutters? Did they actually break into the store? Don’t you have alarms that would go off if someone tried to break in?” Rick asked.
Gary scratched his head and looked confused. Sher saw that Gary wasn’t happy with this question.
“I guess the person was already in the store and got out before we closed. We close doors that face the parking lot first. Then we close the doors to the mall. No alarms went off. I would’ve been the first one notified if they did.”
Rick looked toward Glen and then said, “That means the person broke into the lockers while the store was still open, and no one noticed. About how many times do you think employees enter this area per evening?”
Lynn spoke up. “I can answer that. Once lunch is over, there are hours that go by without anyone coming back here. But just before closing, all the employees in the store come back here to collect their purses and things before leaving.”
Rick nodded then said, “Thank you, Gary for your help. We’ll leave you now,” He ushered everyone back to the main floor. “Lynn, can you show us the display you made with the items you purchased in Dallas?”
“Sure, follow me.”
The display was beautiful with the stunning pieces perfectly arranged. Sher loved the colors used by the artists, and the craftsmanship was out of this world. While she and Hannah oohed and ahhed over the pieces, Rick and Glen examined them thoroughly.
Finally, Rick and Glen were satisfied there was nothing odd about the pieces. There were no lockets that had anything hidden inside. There were no rhinestones that could be real diamonds. These items all looked like normal costume jewelry
“I guess we can be on our way,” Glen said with a sigh. “Let’s keep a sharp eye out. We can’t risk being followed to the cabin.”
“We still need to stop at the grocery store on the way,” Sher reminded them.
“There’s one in Woodland Park that we’ll pass on the way to the cabin. We can all stop there,” Brad said.
All were in agreement, so they got back into their separate vehicles, and Brad led the way toward Woodland Park.
Sher helped Glen keep watch for anything out of the ordinary, but saw nothing. One time she thought a van was following them, but it had turned off at an intersection before they headed up the pass.
Since it was a weekend, and the weather was so nice, there was a lot of traffic up the pass. But they didn’t see anything unusual when they turned at the traffic light to enter the grocery store parking lot.
They kept to the routine, and all went inside the store together. As they walked through the store, each one picked up things they liked to eat. By the time they were ready to check out, the carts were jam-packed full of groceries—enough to feed a small country, Sher thought, smiling.
Back on the road, Sher saw that Glen gripped the steering wheel tightly. “Is everything all right? I only see one car behind us, and it has its blinker on to turn up ahead.”
“It’s not that, sweetheart. It’s the feeling in the pit of my stomach. I know you get those same pangs, so you know what I’m talking about. We missed something. Something vital about this case, and I have a feeling we might find it too late,” Glen told her. “I want you to be on alert at all times while we are at the cabin. Please don’t take anything for granted that looks out of place to you. Also, I want you to have your gun handy at all times. I’m not taking any chances on any of us not making it to the altar.”
Sher moved closer to Glen’s side because she, too, had those stomach pangs again.