Page 15 of The Beachside Cafe
“That was one of my friends on the force here. He is outside and said there was a report that the other brother is lurking around the station. They are trying to keep it low profile because he will run if he sees a cop. I know what he looks like so my friend thought it best if I came out. You know, because I’m a citizen and all. And you can help me, too. I’ve never known these brothers to carry weapons and I just want you to look for him, okay?”
He still had his cell phone in his hand and was fiddling with it as they hurried toward the front door of the police station. He finally turned the face of it toward her. “This is what he looks like, okay? That’s Keith there and his brother is Mike. That’s Mike. Got it?”
Jaymee narrowed her eyes, focusing on the picture to get the best look she could. She nodded. “I got it.”
They stepped out of the station and both trotted down the steps at the same time. “I’ll go this way. You go that way. Got your phone?”
Jaymee nodded at him. “Okay, turn it on and if you see him, call me. I won’t answer I’ll just come around to the other side. I’ll come up from the other direction so he’ll be trapped between us. That’s if he’s even here.”
“What if he sees you coming and gets scared and runs in my direction?”
Cameron shrugged. “Trip him. Hit him with something. I don’t know. I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
Jaymee raised her eyebrows. “I’m glad you’re so confident in me. You think he’s really here?”
“He probably is. We have his brother. They work as a team. He’s probably lost without Keith.”
Jaymee nodded and the two parted, Cameron going to the right and Jaymee to the left. She tried to look casual when she scanned the faces of the people she passed. When she realized he probably wasn’t walking around the police station out in the open, she began looking for hiding places or people who looked like they didn’t want to be seen.
When she was halfway to the back of the building, she saw a man just ahead of her wearing a hoodie, the hat pulled up to hide his face. He was turned toward the building and appeared to just be standing there, staring at it.
She couldn’t see his face but his behavior was certainly peculiar and suspicious. She stopped and watched him for a minute. He didn’t move. She dialed Cameron’s cell phone without looking at the screen, as she had already set it up.
Then, she waited and prayed she was right.
When she saw Cameron come around the other side of the building, hurrying but not running, she called out, “Mike!”
The man in the hoodie turned toward her. His face was momentarily terrified before it turned to anger. He spun around and began to run away from her. She gave chase but only half-heartedly, as he was heading straight for Cameron, who was pretending like he didn’t know what was going on and was an innocent bystander.
As soon as Mike got closer enough to him, Cameron reached out with one arm, holding it stiff and straight in the air, clotheslining Mike and knocking him off his feet.
Not to be outdone so easily, Mike rolled over and jumped up, shaking off the abrupt end to his run. He swung on Cameron, who dodged easily and swung his own fist, connecting with Mike’s jaw and twisting the man’s head to the side violently.
Mike cried out and bent over holding his face.
“You broke my jaw! You broke my jaw, you-”
“I don’t think you want to speak anymore then,” Cameron said angrily, leaning over and grabbing Mike by his shirt collar. “Come on. Your brother is inside, which you full well know. You’ve got some explaining to do, buddy.”
“I ain’t gonna say nothing to you.”
“Oh no? We’ll see about that.”
He dragged the criminal back toward Jaymee, who stepped to the side, nodding at Cameron. “Good catch, Cam,” she said, proudly.
He raised his eyebrows, holding the criminals hands behind his back by the wrists. “Couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks.”
Jaymee nodded. She followed him as he dragged Mike up the steps to the doors. She moved to get in front of them so she could open the door and Cameron wouldn’t have to let go of the struggling vandal.
As they walked to the desk where Mike could be booked, she came up closer to Mike and asked, “Why did you hit my café? What did I do to you? Is it because of my husband?”
Mike sneered at her. “I don’t even know what café you’re talkin’ about, lady. I don’t know nothin’ about any of this. I don’t gotta talk to you.”
“Take him and book him. His brother is in there being interviewed for the café vandals as we speak.” Cameron turned the man over to the police and came back to where Jaymee was waiting for him.
He was giving her an intense look. She frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Look what our friendly neighborhood vandal had on his person.” Cameron held out his hand, his palm flat.
