Page 2 of Turn the Tide
“Oh!” Pretending to jump with surprise, Doreen hastily wiped under her eyes. “Sorry. I’m fine. It’s just…” She brushed the LEGO kit with her fingertips again.
“What is it?” Fully lured in, the older woman took the final step to stand next to Doreen.
“My daughter, Bailey, is turning six tomorrow, and she desperately wants this.” Doreen nodded toward the LEGO castle as she gave a slightly choked laugh. “She’s been pleading for months.”
The grandma smiled. “My eight-year-old granddaughter has that set, and she loves it.”
Molly resisted the urge to shake her head. There was a reason Doreen was a scam artist; she was really good at it.
“She’s been really into fairy tales, especially since her dad died—” Doreen’s voice broke, and the older woman sucked in a sympathetic breath before patting Doreen’s arm. Doreen blinked rapidly, and another tear tracked down her cheek. “He used to read her bedtime stories, so I think it’s her way of staying close to him, now that he’s…gone.”
“She’ll love her birthday present, then,” the grandma assured Doreen, still patting her arm comfortingly.
“It’s just that I can’t…” She broke off on a sob before visibly stiffening her shoulders. “I’m sorry. This isn’t your problem. I’m so sorry I bothered you.”
Molly could tell that Grandma was fully caught in Doreen’s net of lies. “No, no, dear. You didn’t bother me. I’m sorry you’re having such a hard time with your husband’s death. When I lost my Frank, I wandered around in a daze for a year. It will get better, but being alone is hard, especially when you’re trying to raise a little one.”
It was all Molly could do to hold back a scoff. The only thing Doreen was grieving was getting arrested for her last scam. She had never been married, and she didn’t have any kids.
Molly shuffled a little closer to the two women.
“Thank you.” Reaching out, Doreen clasped the other woman’s hand. “That means so much from another widow.” Offering a brave, trembling smile, Doreen started turning away.
“Wait,” Grandma called after her. “You forgot your daughter’s present.” Pulling one of the kits off the shelf, she held it out to Doreen, who regarded it with heartbreaking sadness.
“I can’t afford it.” Doreen pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes as she pulled in a short, shaky breath. “The factory laid me off last week, and we were already behind on bills, thanks to the…funeral costs. I can’t even afford to buy her a birthday cake.” Her shoulders drooping even more dramatically, she slowly started to turn away again.
“Wait,” the grandma said before Doreen could get far. “Let me help.” She reached into her oversize handbag, and Molly knew she needed to take the scam artist down immediately. She hurried down the aisle as the older woman pulled out a handful of cash.
Doreen caught sight of Molly, and her expression went from dawning hope to narrow-eyed comprehension in a fraction of a second. Molly sped up to a sprint, knowing the woman was going to run. Sure enough, Doreen spun and bolted.
Grandma gave a surprised cry as Molly lunged toward Doreen, intending to catch her legs and bring her down. Something hard hit the back of Molly’s head, sending her sprawling. Shaking off the shock of the blow, she grabbed for Doreen. Her fingers brushed the back of one of the fleeing woman’s tennis shoes, but she couldn’t get a solid grip.
As Molly launched to her feet, she saw the LEGO box swing toward her head again, this time hurtling toward her face. She barely managed to get her hands up in time.
“Stop it, ma’am!” she ordered, ducking to avoid another swing as she marveled at how much a hit from the plastic box stung. “I’m a bounty hunter. Doreen Douglas—Ow! Stop!—Doreen skipped bail after—Ow!—being arrested for fraud and—Would you stop? Ouch!—fraud and theft. She’s a scam artist!”
The older woman finally stopped swinging and stared at Molly. “Oh! She was lying about her daughter? What a terrible person. Why are you standing here, then? Go get her!”
Holding back a frustrated sigh, Molly took off down the aisle after Doreen. She fought her way through the line in front of the register and rushed to the front of the store. By the time she made it out, Doreen had disappeared into the crowds. “Why don’t these things ever go smoothly?” Molly muttered, yanking her phone out of her pocket.
Left, Cara had texted. Giving her sister a thank-you wave, Molly took off in that direction, scanning for Doreen as she threaded her way through the shoppers. The brown wig was nowhere to be seen, but Molly caught a flash of blond hair and made her way toward it. Sure enough, the blond speed-walking toward the exit had Doreen’s distinctive gait.
Molly broke into a run, knowing she had to catch the woman before she made it through the doors and into the attached parking garage. The distance between them narrowed, and Molly was just starting to hope that maybe the day wouldn’t be a complete disaster when Doreen glanced over her shoulder.
Her eyes went wide as she spotted Molly bearing down on her, and she turned sharply, cutting through a kids’ play area. With a huff of impatience, Molly skirted around the playground, knowing she couldn’t tackle Doreen surrounded by toddlers. Reaching the edge of the kids’ area, Doreen bolted, and Molly sprinted after her.
The woman is fast, Molly thought with reluctant admiration, fighting to make it through the crowd without throwing too many elbows.They’re innocent bystanders, she reminded herself grimly, even if they did make her job a hundred times harder. It looked so easy in the movies, where everyone moved out of the way, but in real life, people tended to plant themselves and gawk, forcing her to skirt around them instead.
When Molly saw where Doreen was headed, she groaned.Not the food court!Putting on another burst of speed, she made a valiant effort to catch up. The crowded, messy food court was the last place she wanted to be chasing a skip.
The space between them narrowed, and Molly reached out, her fingertips just inches from the back of Doreen’s hoodie. Hope rose again, only to be extinguished when the woman pivoted suddenly, taking a sharp right and darting between the backs of two seated customers. One pushed his chair back and stood, blocking the path, and Molly was forced to quickly turn and round the table in the other direction.
If she had any oxygen to spare, she would’ve been swearing under her breath as the space between her and her quarry lengthened. Setting her jaw stubbornly, she weaved between tables, digging in and speeding up, not allowing her tiring body to flag.
“Hey!” a bass voice called, and her head whipped in that direction. A huge guy stood to the side, his air of authority making her immediately assume he was mall security. She’d expected the mall cops to intervene at some point, but that was another annoying obstacle she would have to deal with, and she kind of had her hands full at the moment.
It took her a second to realize that her theory was off base. First, he wasn’t in uniform. Second, he was grinning a huge, dimpled smile. Third, and most importantly, he’d unhooked a rope that had been partitioning the food court, opening up a beautiful shortcut for her.
