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NED THEN STARTED TO cough and move on the ground. He then sat up shaking his head. Thank goodness he was all right?
“Ned, are you all right?” Dana asked, panicked.
“W-what happened?” he asked, dazed.
“A car drove into the shop, Ned. It then reversed back out and sped away.”
Sirens could be heard in the background. The cops would be there soon.
But the suspect vehicle was long gone, leaving the remnants of damage done to the store.
Bea placed her cup down. And Ned, with Bea and Dana’s help, got back up on his feet. Dana then grabbed his cane which was on the ground. She assisted Ned to sit down on one of the chairs.
Ned looked around. “M-my store! It’s...it’s ruined!” He cried out in agony.
“Oh, Ned, it’s terrible what happened, but thank God you’re all right.”
Ned covered his face with one hand. “My store is ruined! It’s ruined.”
Poor Ned. Dana wished there was something more she could do for him.
His assistant, Tiffany, made her way to his side. When Dana looked around, she could not see his ex-wife, Kim. Where on earth did Kim go?
“Well, if that wasn’t the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. Did you see that crazy fella?” Bea cried out. “He just drove right into the store. Could’ve killed someone!”
“I know.” Dana felt her stomach collapse.
“Are you ladies, all right?” Detective Troy’s concerned voice came shooting through as police combed the area.
He then saw Ned sitting down on a chair. “Are you all right, sir?” he asked Ned.
Though Dana was shaken up by the whole incident, her heart fluttered in her chest when hot and sexy Detective Troy zoomed in at the scene. He looked deliciously handsome in his dark suit. The sweet sexy scent of his aftershave wafted to her nose. He wore a white shirt, dark grey tie and expensive-looking black suit that looked as if it were tailored for him. His jacket was unbuttoned and she could see his gun in his shoulder gun holster.
His broad shoulders and muscular physique filled out nicely in his suit. He sported a groomed bad boy stubble on his face. His cheekbones were sharp and defined, his gorgeous ocean blue eyes framed by long dark lashes captured her every time.
She’d almost forgotten they were supposed to have gone out after Valentine’s but he had to cancel their date.
“Um...just a bit shaken...but we’re fine.” Dana managed to let out.
“I just got here after it happened,” Bea said. “I was on my way to grab a cupcake.”
“My store is ruined! It’s ruined!” Ned kept saying, shaking his head.
“I’m sorry about that, sir. We’ll try to get to the bottom of this.”
Detective Troy then asked, “Is there anything I can get you, right now?”
“No. Nothing. Except getting my store back,” Ned said dazed.
Troy then pulled out his small notepad with the black leather cover and his pen and began taking notes. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“I...I don’t know. It happened so fast. I...I can’t talk right now.” Ned covered his face with his hands.
“He’s been through a lot, detective. Could we do this later?” Tiffany said.
“And you are?” Troy asked.
“I’m Ned’s assistant, Tiffany. I help Ned run the Antiques Store.”
“Can you tell me what happened, Tiffany?”
“I was at the display table, but I heard a screeching sound and the next thing I knew, a car drove right in through the glass display there. That’s all I remember. I rushed over to poor Ned’s side.”
Really? Dana thought. Dana had rushed to Ned’s side first. She was standing right next to him.
Dana then remembered what she’d studied about bystander effect and how sometimes people saw things differently or how they’d wished they were when retelling a scene of an incident, such as when there are other helpers around, people don’t always jump in to help a victim right away.
Dana was the closest person standing to Ned at the time. Tiffany was probably in too much shock when it initially happened.
“Then the car just reversed and pulled out and drove off. It was as if nothing happened to the driver,” Dana continued where Tiffany left off.
Tiffany was now busy stroking Ned’s head and rubbing his back, comforting him as he kept murmuring that his store was now ruined.
Dana realized how traumatic in many ways it must be for Ned since Ned’s Antique’s Store was named after his grandfather who opened the first antiques store in Berry Cove back in the late 1800s. It was almost like a historical landmark and a long family tradition. Many of the artifacts in there were priceless and irreplaceable.
Onlookers were gathered outside the store. The customers who were already in the store were visibly shaken. Others were taking pictures with their cell phones. It was quite a scene. Debris was everywhere. Broken objects on the ground, shards of glass splayed across the floor.
The CSIs (crime scene investigators) were busy collecting evidence at the scene to help the detectives.
“Did you get a good look at the driver or the vehicle?” Detective Troy asked pointedly.
“Actually I did,” Dana said, beaming.
“Good. What did he look like?”
“Well, he had sandy blond hair, a beard and sunglasses. That’s all I saw.”
If Dana wasn’t mistaken, she saw a slight grin of approval curve the corners of Detective Troy’s sexy lips. He seemed impressed that she’d remembered what he’d once told her about observing people and characteristics just in case one had to describe them in an event like this one.
“And the car?” he asked Dana.
“He drove a blue sedan but I noticed that the car’s antenna had an orange ribbon tied to it, which was pretty weird.”
“Got that, Sam?” Detective Troy said to an officer at the scene. “Blue sedan. Orange ribbon on antenna. Put a radio out on the suspect.”
“Got it, sir.”
“It shouldn’t be too hard to find. There’s bound to be some serious damage done to the front of the car,” Troy added.
“Right, sir.” The officer then left Troy with the witnesses.
“Are you sure the car was blue?” Just then Kim’s voice came slicing through. She walked over with her cat in her arms, stroking the cat with one hand.
“Kim? Where were you?” Tiffany asked.
“Kitty here got away. The commotion frightened her. I had to run after her,” she said, seemingly unmoved by the whole incident and what just happened.
“And you are, ma’am?” Detective Troy asked Kim.
“I’m his wife,” Kim said and then turned to give Tiffany a scathing look.
Tiffany in response, rolled her eyes and continued to rub Ned’s shoulders.
“Actually, she’s my soon to be ex-wife. We’re going through a divorce,” Ned finally spoke.
“Oh, is that so?” Interest rose in Troy’s voice as if there could be a possible connection to the accident. “And ma’am, can I ask what you were doing here on the premise?” Detective Troy asked Kim.
“I was...um... visiting my husband, of course. I had to ask him something.”
“And you were saying about the car?”
“I don’t know if it was blue or...green. I think it was green. Yes, definitely green and I don’t remember seeing anything tied to the antenna.”
Are you sure you were in the same place as us? Dana thought to herself, dazed.
“No, it was definitely navy blue in color,” Dana said, feeling flustered. What was Kim doing? Trying to confuse the situation.
Kim then cast a weird glance at Dana. “Well, if you think it was blue, fine. Whatever.”
Dana was beginning to doubt her own eyes for a moment, but then remembered what Bea had said one time about Kim being a trouble-maker and devious. Maybe, Kim didn’t want anything to come out of this incident. Or maybe she was hiding something?
“It was a blue car for sure,” Bea came to Dana’s aide. “It was definitely a blue four-door sedan.”
“Right. We’re looking into it.” Detective Troy scribbled down some more notes.
“I bet you it wasn’t an accident. They drove straight for this store,” Tiffany added.
“Why do you think that, Ma’am?” Troy asked her.
“I just know it.” Tiffany then gave a deleterious glare at Kim.
Kim then squared her shoulders and continued to stroke her cat’s fur.
“Ned, have you seen the driver of the car before? Do you know why anyone would want to do this?” Detective Troy asked.
“No. I don’t know why anyone would do this? I’ve never seen that car before or that driver.” Ned then lowered his head again, shaking it. “My store is ruined. It’s ruined!”
Detective Troy arched his brow. “It’s okay, sir. We’ll try to get down to the bottom of this and in the meantime you should contact your insurance company and see what can be done.”
“I doubt anything can be done. Many of these items are irreplaceable,” Ned said.
“It’s as if someone wanted to destroy his Antiques business permanently because they can’t get to have half of it,” Tiffany accused, her lips pursed.
“Are you trying to say that I had something to do with it?” Kim placed one hand on her hip, while her kitty was in the other arm, her eyes widened with shock.
“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Tiffany said.
“Okay, ladies. Let’s keep things under control,” Troy interjected.
He then sighed deeply.
It was going to be a long day and a puzzling mystery to solve.