Page 73 of In the Line of Ire

"And howcan I help?"

"I'mtrying to find a connection between the seller and the storeemployees. I'm coming up blank except that she's stumped for cashand has a high-maintenance appearance to preserve, which explainswhy she's in on the fraud. She's completely desperate."

"Solomondidn’t mention this when we met. Give me the name and I'll run itbut I'm not sure I'll find out much more than you already did."Maddox made a note and I gave him all the information I had. "I'llsee you when you get here," he said. "And I got word we’re headingout on a stakeout tonight. Sounds like fun."

"Youhave a strange perception of fun."

"Stakeouts with you are always fun. You never know what'sgoing to happen."

Ilaughed. "I'll see you at work," I said and hung up. Glancing atthe time on my phone, I sighed. I was already running late. Icouldn't get this assignment over with fast enough. "Ready?" Iasked Delgado.

Delgadogrunted and sighed as he grabbed his jacket and followed me out ofthe agency.

~

"I don'tknow why people buy such expensive bags when they could get them somuch cheaper elsewhere," I said softly to Joan. We stood in thecorner of the store, observing the quiet browsers. With few otherleads, I had to put out feelers that I wanted in on thecounterfeiting action.

"I don'tthink you can buy these bags cheaper anywhere else," shesaid.

"No, Imean, repro bags. What's wrong with them? Some of them look reallygood."

"Oh, Isee what you mean."

"I betmost people can't tell the difference."

"Canyou?" asked Joan.

Ishrugged nonchalantly. "Occasionally."

"Hmm."

"It justseems crazy to spend so much money on one little thing, when youcan spend half of that and get practically the samething."

"Somepeople want to carry a beautiful bag because they like other peopleknowing that it cost a lot. It loudly broadcasts they haveexpendable cash."

"Don'tyou resent them just a little?" I asked, squeezing my thumb andforefinger together.

Joanshrugged. "Not really."

"Italmost makes me want to swap a bag with a duplicate just to see ifanyone notices the difference," I continued, pressing lightly as Iwatched Joan. If she were surprised by my assertion, she didn'tshow it. "Don't you ever think about doing that?"

"Mostly,I just think about what to make for dinner."

"I'mgoing to my parents’ house. I hope it's pot roast fordinner."

"Incoming," said Joan as Magda made a beeline towards us.Joan shot off in the other direction with a mouthed apology, almostcolliding with a woman who was browsing and to whom she began totalk. That left me as the only target for Magda’s wrath.

"Don'tyou have anything better to do?" asked Magda, stopping abruptly infront of me.

Itwisted my hands together. "I was asking Joan when the new stockwas due in so I can tell the customers that ask me about the date,"I lied promptly.

"Tomorrow. It’s been delayed," said Magda, her face softeningnow she thought I really cared about what went on in thedepartment. "But it really isn't new stock, we’re just replenishingwhat we already have. Once you've finished tidying the frontdisplays, you can check the cash register for shopping bags andrestock them as necessary."

"Willdo," I chirped and she began to turn away.

"GoodLord," she breathed unevenly, reaching for a shelf to steadyherself.

I leanedto one side to see what caught her attention and my own breathgasped. Solomon was walking our way purposefully. As he came to astop in front of us, the button on his neck popped open and Magdaswayed slightly.

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