Fifteen minutes later, Tala stood in the ladies’ room of her favorite coffee shop, gripping the counter so hard her knuckles ached as she tried to convince her reflection in the mirror that she was all right. But she still couldn’t stop her hands from shaking.
She closed her eyes and prayed for peace.
Rationally she knew that she was now safe. Ian and his K-9 partner, Aurora, had come to her rescue and they were waiting for her just on the other side of the door. But the adrenaline coursing through her veins just couldn’t be convinced. While Ian had lined up to get them drinks, she’d taken a few extra photos of herself in the mirror in case they were needed as evidence, then carefully cleaned every spot of muddy slush off her red wool coat with a wet wipe, before doing the same to her boots and bag. Afterward, she’d run a wet brush through her hair, washed her face and applied a little makeup. But nothing she’d done had been able to cleanse her mind of the irrational fear that when she opened her eyes again the masked man would be standing there over her shoulder.
How had Ian known that coming here was what she needed? If it hadn’t been for him, she’d have been all alone in her office when the initial jolt of adrenaline-fueled denial about her feelings wore off leaving nothing but fear behind.
Not to mention that seeing Ian in the mall had thrown her for a loop. They used to call each other best friends because when they’d been kids that seemed like the most special label to give someone. But as she’d grown older, her young, innocent heart had secretly started to think of him as so much more than that and even dream that Ian would be the guy she’d marry one day.
Clearly, she was nowhere near as over him as she’d wanted to believe. Or the fact that he’d chosen his high school hockey friends over their friendship. Hadn’t he seen how they’d treated her? The snickering behind her back? How they’d bump into her in the hallway and claim it was by accident? It had gotten even worse when she’d caught a couple of them trying to cheat off her test and told her history teacher, who also happened to be the hockey coach. Coach Charlie Heidorn was the kind of chill teacher who told students to call him by his first name and had promised he’d talk to the boys. But after that, it had escalated to wads of chewing gum flung into her hair from people who hid before she could spot them, swear words spray-painted on her grandmother’s home and nasty anonymous notes wedged into her locker.
That was when she’d learned that knowing in her gut who was behind something didn’t count for much if she didn’t have proof. The coach and the principal had both believed her bullies when they protested they were innocent. And when she’d tried to talk to Ian, hoping he’d choose her over them, somehow she’d blurted out far more than she’d meant to. If only she hadn’t almost kissed him. But she had, he’d rejected her and now they were going to be working together.
The door swung open behind her. Tala’s eyes shot open as she turned to see an elderly woman in a blue shawl step through.
“Is that your doggie out there?” she asked, smile lines crinkling her eyes. “She’s adorable.”
Tala glanced past her and through the door as it slowly swung closed. There sat Aurora, at attention, with her ears perked and her back to the door as if she was on lookout.
“She’s a friend’s dog, actually,” Tala explained, and Aurora’s presence served as a reminder she couldn’t just hide away clutching the fixtures forever.
“Merry Christmas,” the lady said with a smile.
“You, too, Merry Christmas.”
She stepped through the door and felt Aurora nuzzle her hand in greeting. Tala rubbed her fingers over the German shepherd’s silky ears.
“Thank you for looking out for me,” she whispered. “Now let’s go find Ian.”
Aurora woofed slightly and they started through the tables. Garlands and bows bedecked the crossing wooden beams above. The instrumental Christmas music playing through the speakers was slow and dreamy, and seemed to be a perfect match for the snow buffeting the window. This family-run coffee shop had been one of Tala’s favorite hangouts since high school, when she’d spend hours hiding away in a corner by the fireplace studying.
She found Ian in that very spot waiting for her, in the chair across from her favorite one, where he’d sat while she studied so many times in the past. He stood as she approached.
“How are you?” he asked, running a hand over the back of his head.
“Shaken,” she admitted. “But good. Thank you for sending Aurora to make sure I didn’t get lost.”
“No problem.” He grinned. “She’s pretty amazing and I feel incredibly blessed to be partnered with her.”
Tala slid into her chair and looked down at the table. There was a hot green tea with lemon, peppermint chocolate mocha, three different types of grilled cheese and meat sandwiches, and a single cake pop. A smile brushed her lips. “You remembered all my favorites.”
“I did.” He sat and Aurora stretched out on the floor between their chairs.
“Then you’ll also remember I can’t eat this much,” she said, “and you’ll probably end up eating most of it.”
“That was the plan.” He chuckled. It was a warm and deep sound that seemed to finally melt the cold that had been coursing through her veins since the attack.
For a very long moment neither of them said anything.
“Your reputation with the K-9 team is absolutely stellar,” he said, breaking the silence first. He leaned forward, rested his arms on the table and linked his fingers together. “I can’t tell you how many of my teammates told me that while usually a forensic scientist only has one discipline, like weapons or biology, you’ve consulted on so many different types of cases you’re invaluable.”
“Thank you,” she said. “But honestly, most of the time I only interact with the K-9 troopers through video chats or phone calls. We work out of two different buildings. There are a lot of people on the team I’ve never even met in person.”
“Sounds lonely,” he said.
“Does it?” she asked. Maybe it was. The members of the Alaska K-9 Unit were so close-knit they were practically family. It was only natural for her to feel like a bit of an outsider. “Well, I love the work and the entire team is wonderful. I’m sure you’ll get along great with everyone. You were always great at fitting in.”
Now, had that sounded bitter? She hoped it hadn’t, but if it had, Ian didn’t even blink. He really had no idea how hard it had been on her in high school when he’d suddenly become this hotshot goalie on the hockey team and been swallowed up in a brand-new group of friends.
They’re teammates, not friends, Tala! Seventeen-year-old Ian’s voice echoed in her memory. I’m on the team for the hockey. I don’t get involved in any of the stupid stuff. From her perspective there’d been nothing but stupid stuff, like underage drinking and pulling stupid pranks. The girls who hung around the boys were just as bad. It had seemed like every other week Ian had a new girlfriend, who was the sister or friend of someone on the team. Then, to pour salt on the wound, Ian would drive Tala to school each morning and spend the whole trip dithering about why he thought he should break up with whoever he’d just started dating. Like he was counting on Tala to set his head straight!
“So, is the Golden Bandit the main case you’re working on at the moment?” he asked, cutting into her thoughts.
“Pretty much,” she said. “I remember your family was always big into metal detection.”
“They are. And to be honest, so am I.”
“You search for lost gold?” she asked.
“Recently lost treasures, more like,” he said, and it was like a light switched on behind his eyes. “What I love is searching the glaciers, hiking trails and forests for things lost by tourists and hikers. There’s nothing like reuniting someone with something they thought they’ve lost forever. Aurora’s a great sidekick for that. That’s actually what I was doing when you saw me at the mall. Aurora and I found an engagement ring in the woods, a really expensive, gaudy thing. I recognized the jeweler’s mark and brought it in to see if they could help me locate the owner.”
Oh! An unexpected sigh of relief slipped her lips. So Ian wasn’t shopping for a girlfriend, then. His eyes widened like he could tell what she was thinking, and she felt a sudden heat rise to her cheeks. His phone began to ring. She looked down instinctively to where it sat on the table. It was Colonel Lorenza Gallo.
Ian stood as he answered. “Hello? ... Yes, ma’am, Aurora and I are here with Tala ... Okay...Got it. I’ll be there as soon as I drop her off...Okay, I’ll bring her with me. We’re on our way. Bye.”
He ended the call and she realized his face had paled.
“Sorry to cut this short,” he said. “But that was the boss. We’ve got to go, and she wants you to come with us. Looks like the Golden Bandit has struck again and this time it’s murder.”
Less than five minutes later, Ian was pulling his SUV out of the parking lot. Tala sat in the passenger seat, balancing a take-out tray piled with drinks and food on her lap, while Aurora lounged in the back seat.
“I’ve never actually been to an active crime scene before,” Tala confided. “That’s the job of Bob Flocks and the other crime scene investigator. Not a forensic scientist. Do you know why she wants me to come?”
“No clue,” Ian said. He felt his brow furrow as he watched the windshield wipers battle heavy snow. “My guess is that either she wants your insight on something urgent, or that she doesn’t want me stopping to drop you off. Either way, I’m guessing it’s pretty serious.”
“Can you quickly tell me everything you can about the Golden Bandit?”
“Why?” he asked. He glanced at her and silently thanked God to see she was finally eating something, even if it was his favorite of the sandwiches. “I doubt I know anything you don’t.”
“Maybe not,” she said. “But your perspective will be very different from mine and that’s what I’m interested in.”
“All right, then.” He tightened his hands on the steering wheel and focused his gaze on his headlight beams as they cut a path for him in the darkness. “Well, first off, I hate the fact that everyone calls him the Golden Bandit. It’s a silly nickname for someone who’s stolen tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of jewelry, antique coins and raw gold.”
Not to mention Ian suspected the fact that three pawnshop workers had gone missing meant the bandit also had blood his hands. But suspicion wasn’t the same as proof.
“You know that Anchorage is one of the few places in America that actually has a pawn detective whose full-time job is to work with pawnshops and secondhand jewelry?” Ian asked. “His name is Hugh Bertram. I don’t know him personally, but he seems incredibly professional and thorough.”
He realized he’d just used almost the same adjectives Tala had to describe the crime scene investigators she worked with. So much talent, yet so few leads.
“See, I actually didn’t know that,” she said. Maybe the fact that they had different perspectives on the case would be an asset. “Why would police dedicate one detective’s entire workload to just pawnshops?”
“Melting down jewelry for raw gold is where the biggest profit is,” Ian explained. “That means a lot of crime evidence gets completely destroyed and melted down by pawnshop owners and jewelers before police can find it, let alone seize it.”
“So thieves use jewelers and pawnshops to launder stolen treasures?”
“Basically,” Ian said. “Crime is rampant on cruise ships especially, because all thieves have to do is pop off at the next port and find a pawnshop to melt it for them. So Alaska slapped some very strict laws on pawnshops here. They have to hold on to anything they receive for two whole months before selling or melting it, to give the authorities the opportunity to trace if any of it was stolen. That’s where Hugh comes in.”
Red and blue flashing emergency lights cut through the squalls ahead. There were far more than he’d have expected to see at a crime scene. A shiver ran down his spine. He took a deep breath and decided to trust her with his suspicions.
“Also,” he confessed, “my gut tells me we’re dealing with the same criminal who hit all those jewelry and pawnshops in Juneau last year. I’ve got no proof but if I’m right those two missing pawnshop workers could be victims of foul play, along the one who went missing here, and we’re dealing with a serial killer.”
“But why attack a forensic scientist to try to stop the investigation?” she asked. “Why not just take the money he’d stolen so far and move on somewhere else before the cops move in?”
“I don’t know,” Ian admitted. “Maybe he can’t walk away from that much money.”
He drew closer and the pawnshop came into view amid the mass of emergency vehicles, including those of state troopers and local police, and ambulances. It was on the very end of an unassuming strip mall, with stores to the left and forest to the right. Two local officers were cordoning off the area in yellow crime scene tape, while others instructed the jostling crowd of spectators to move back. The flashing lights of emergency vehicles illuminated the shattered glass of the front store window and the remains of ripped Christmas garlands hung from the window frame like some kind of eerie vines. By the look of things, someone had hurled a display case of large and gaudy costume jewelry through the window, scattering the shimmering baubles across the snow.
Yeah, he could see how that might draw a crowd.
Then he saw the somehow both imposing and elegant form of Colonel Lorenza Gallo standing under the pawnshop awning in a long wool coat, with Trooper Poppy Walsh and her K-9 partner, Stormy. The mammoth wolfhound’s head was cocked to the side as if she was taking in the briefing, too.
Tala’s eyes widened in surprise. “Stormy tracks live people and weapons. What are they doing here?”
“That’s the exact same thing I was wondering,” Ian said.
For that matter, why was a cadaver dog called to the scene?
The tall form of his colleague and recent mentor, Sean West, strode through the snow toward him, with his Akita partner, Grace, by his side. Ian rolled down the window and heard Aurora woof softly as if in greeting.
“What’ve we got?” he asked.
“Break and enter, robbery with a suspected double homicide by the look of it,” Sean said. “But we really don’t know.”
“Suspected?” Ian echoed.
“Well, we’ve got a whole lot of blood,” Sean said. “But no bodies.”