Page 96 of In the Line of Ire

"Thatdoesn't narrow it down too much," said Lucas.

"Whathappened at the warehouse?" I asked. "Please tell me you had moreluck than us."

"Actually we did," grinned Maddox. "We went in for a quicklook and Sadiq and I decided that was their headquarters. Novisible cash anywhere in sight but quite a quantity of purses. Wetook some photos and figured you could verify theirlegitimacy."

"Let mesee." I held out my hand for his cellphone. He unlocked it andpulled up the camera reel. I swiped through it, pausing at thedetail he shot. "All counterfeit," I told them. "Many of the stylesmatch what already turned up as fake. This is definitely thestash."

"Wefound some documents too. Shipping manifests and that kind of thingalong with a few handwritten notes and a ledger. The last notationwas about tonight's exchange with an inventory of what was sold andthe prices paid. At least, that's what it appears to be. The dateand location tallies but the goods are marked in some kind of codewith quantities listed," explained Sadiq. "It looks like there's aname beside it but it's written in code too. Although we haven’tcracked the code yet, I think if we work off Charlaine Beck's nameas the most probable entry, we can break it prettyquickly."

"Therewas one more page after that but it wasn’t fully written up yet,"added Maddox. "There's another exchange planned at the malltomorrow. Ten am."

"I'm notscheduled to be on shift then," I told him.

"Not aproblem," said Maddox. "It might have been set up deliberately tomake sure anyone who is not involved isn't around. Fewer eyes,fewer questions. Unless there's anymore news from you guys, Isuggest we draw up a plan together tonight and go home and get somerest. It’s almost midnight. We've got a gang to bust wide open inthe morning."

Chapter Twenty-One

"Places,people."

"Inposition," I replied. We’d all arrived an hour earlier, eager tofind our posts in the loading bay for the final, big sting. At lastwe were poised to take down the counterfeiting operation at themall. Maddox's and Sadiq's investigation into the warehouse tippedthem off that the counterfeiters planned to deliver one last loadto the mall. Nothing else was scheduled. We collectively decided ifwe didn't take them down now, we might not get another chance. Noneof us could remain undercover forever and with my disguiseuncertain, no one was convinced I should return at all. Thedelivery that was marked for today in the ledger might have beenour only shot to take them all down. And also our only opportunityto round up the mall's criminal employees. We seriously doubtedthey would stick around, especially it became public knowledge thatcounterfeit purses had been sold from the stores. They woulddefinitely flee if they felt they'd been discovered. It wouldn't belong before something was leaked, or a loud customer decided tokick up a stink and inadvertently alert everyone involved in thescam. If I didn't solve the case soon, I feared the strongpossibility that my sister, Serena, would be thatcustomer.

"Fiveminutes," warned Maddox.

Ichecked my watch, crouching behind a pile of boxes and wondering ifthose would be the longest five minutes of my life. Then I thoughtabout all the other longest five minutes in my life – once when Iwas being agreeable and didn't want to be, another time when Irefused to have a meltdown after I waited in line for twentyminutes and my coffee order was wrong, or the time Lily tried topersuade me to dress up as a frog for Halloween to escort her inher princess costume. I survived all of those awkward moments. So Idecided I could survive the muscle cramps that came withthis.

"Lexi!We can all hear you sighing," said Delgado over theearpiece.

"Sorry,"I muttered as I covered the mic with my hand. Stretching my legs asbest I could without slapping my butt on the cold, concrete floor,I secured my position inside the warehouse. Sadiq sat in a parkedcar near the entrance to the delivery area, ready to alert us themoment anyone arrived. Maddox and Solomon were hidden atprearranged locations around the warehouse. Delgado was visiblythere in his official capacity as security guard, and currentlylounging at the guard's desk with a magazine. The security guardthat was usually on duty received a last-minute assignmentelsewhere in the mall when he arrived to work. He didn't seem veryperturbed when he learned he would not be sitting in the draftyloading bay. His eagerness to go elsewhere was the best indicatorwe could have that he wasn't in on the planned secretdelivery.

"Eyes onthe vehicle from last night," came Sadiq's voice.

"Getready for my signal," said Solomon and the line lapsed intosilence.

Thedoors from the mall employee area that led to the loading baysuddenly opened and Joan strolled in. "Where's Davey?" she askedDelgado, pausing by his desk.

Delgadoglanced up from his magazine. "Fixing a leak in the men's washroomon level three," he said. "Can I help you withsomething?"

"I'mexpecting a delivery," said Joan.

Delgadoglanced down at the sheet in front of him.

"I don'tsee anything booked."

"Iforgot to book it in. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't mention itto anyone else to spare me getting written up. My supervisor iskind of a bitch," she added, her voice full of unapologeticconfidence.

"Shecertainly is," I muttered.

"Noproblem. You want me to get you a dolly or do you prefer theforklift?" He waved to the forklift parked near my hideout. "Ifit's the forklift, I ain't licensed to drive it but I can callsomeone down who is. Man, it's cold in here," he grumbled as hebanged his hands together and blew on them.

"Thedolly's fine. Why don't you go get a coffee and warm up?" shesuggested.

Delgadonodded slowly. "You know what, I think I will. Man, it's cold downhere," he said again as he got up and rubbed his hands togethermethodically. "If anyone asks, I didn't see a thing and you didn'tsee me leave my post," he joked.

"You gotit," agreed Joan readily. She waited by the desk for Delgado toleave, leaving her entirely alone in the loading bay from what Icould see. I wondered if she had an ongoing arrangement with Daveyfor him to leave on request; or maybe she paid the security guardsto look the other way when she got deliveries like this. I decidedto add it to my report, if only as another scam for the mallmanager to look into. One thing I felt sure of, Joan seemed prettyself-confident now. The apologetic, meek version of Joan as I knewher had totally vanished. Of course, I could be wrong. She could bein the wrong place, at the wrong time. The change in persona couldbe because Magda wasn’t around.

A carbacked up to the loading bay and stopped before a woman hopped outand walked around. Joan hurried over. "Any problems since lastnight?" asked Joan.

Thewoman shook her head and a lock of red hair, the same shade asJoan's, slipped out from her ponytail. "No one followed me at all.I even double-checked but I'm glad this is the lastshipment."

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