Cold Brew and Bullets (Part 1 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 7- Origami Animals

I nodded, trying to play it off as a curious bystander, but her words had sent my heart pounding in worry. "This whole neighborhood is going to hell in a handbasket."

Another nearby officer noticed me standing and gave me a knowing nod, "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to vacate the immediate vicinity and stand behind the barriers. This is an active crime scene."

"Sorry, officer," I conceded as he pointed a few yards away.

He escorted me away, but once we were out of earshot he dropped the ruse. "Sorry about that, boss."

"What do you know, Luca?" I checked back over my shoulder at the storefront, the warm glow in the darkness seemed out of place now.

The officer, one of my men that I payed well who helped me in return when I needed an inside man on the force, shook his head ruefully, "Sorry sir, I wasn't on shift when this happened so I don't know all of the details. At this point we're just processing the scene. It seems like a standard robbery gone wrong, which isn't surprising for the area. It must have happened around closing time."

"The injured employees, who were they?"

He seemed confused with my urgency, but answered without question nonetheless, "A young woman and the owner, I don't know names. According to the guys at shift change, both were taken immediately to the hospital and one was in pretty bad shape."

"Anything else you can give me?"

He looked over his shoulders, knowing that every time we were seen together in public it was at risk of people noticing. Even if we looked like a pair of strangers rights now, it wouldn't be a good idea to let anyone realize we knew each other, and it became obvious to him that if I was willing to risk exposure like this, there had to be some other important meaning.

"Pretty big pool of blood, some broken glass and dishes. The cash was still there, though, so either they got scared off or they heard the police coming and they knew it was better to cut and run than get caught."

"Anything else about the condition of the employees?"

"Sorry, sir. That's all I really know."

I nodded, knowing that him asking too many questions might get suspicious. He couldn't risk drawing attention to himself like that, not if he wanted to continue to be our inside man.

"Nearest hospital is the one on Earhart Avenue, right?"

He nodded, obviously a little confused at my questions and insistent concern, "Yes."

I was about to turn and walk away when he stopped me, "Sir?"

"What, Luca?"

"Could you tell Angleo that if he's going to go for the kill shot at the end and leave the bullet in, that he shouldn't use the stolen cop piece? It's going to draw even more unwanted attention to those cases and it gets harder to write off as a drug connection or gang hit. They'll start investigating that sort of thing, and they'll notice if I keep tampering evidence so obviously."

I nodded, "I'll tell him, but you know Angelo. If he forgets and uses it, he'll have no problem digging it back out."

The officer nodded and tapped his cap, speaking at a normal sound now, "Thank you, you have a good day, too, sir."

I stalked back to my car, already planning my route to the hospital. The worry that simmered in my mind only got worse as I thought about the probabilities. It could have been one of the other female employees, yes, but Eliana seemed to almost be the one closing, and since she seemed to be the one always at the front of the store, a robber would most likely confront her first. And I had a feeling that she wouldn't be the type to back down. The way she nonchalantly had a baseball bat behind the counter told me all that I needed to know.