She opened the cover of the book and then flipped to the back, About the Author. She took a quick picture of the author page.
“I saw a guy walking around,” Tony said. “He turned down one of the other aisles. I think it’s the guy from the storage rental office and he’s makin’ his rounds.”
Mercedes had slipped the first book back into the baggie, zipped it shut and started to set it inside the bin when she noticed a fourth baggie. Inside the baggie was a thick stack of papers, clipped together. “I found something else.” She snatched the stack of papers from the bin, tucked them under her arm before placing the books inside the bin and snapping it shut. “Let’s go.”
Autumn and Mercedes ran out of the unit and Tony pulled the door down, snapping the lock in place. “Just in time. He’s comin’ this way.”
The trio strode to the end of the row of storage units, veered left and then jogged to the corner of the property. Tony pushed on the fence while the women squeezed through the opening and then they held it for him while he slipped out.
“Hey!” The man began running toward them. Mercedes recognized him as the man she’d spoken with earlier in the office.
The trio picked up the pace and ran to the end of the block.
They hopped into the Tony’s car and Mercedes yanked her door shut. “That was a close one.”
“Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades,” Autumn joked. “Seriously, I think you’re onto something. JL Cordele. I guess we shoulda figured Jon Luis might have used another name.”
“Yeah,” Mercedes said, “It makes sense.”
Tony sped off and made a quick turn down a side street before turning onto the main road. He glanced into his rearview mirror. “I think we’re bein’ tailed.”
“You do?” Mercedes started to turn around.
“Don’t look back. They might see you. I’ll make a few more turns to see if we’re being followed.” Tony swerved to the right and turned onto a one-way street.
Mercedes glanced in the side mirror. “He’s still back there.”
“Yep. Hang on.” Tony made a quick left and the car followed. “I wish I woulda been paying attention when we left the storage place.” They drove up and down several side streets and the car continued to tail them.
“Let’s drive to the police station,” Mercedes said.
“I got a gun in the glove box,” Tony said. “Get it out, just in case.”
Mercedes reached inside the glove box and pulled out a small handgun. She set it on the seat between them. “I’ll let you do the shooting. You gonna drive to the police station?”
“Yeah. If I was by myself, I’d pull over and see what’s up, but I’m not gonna put my baby sister and friend in harm’s way.” Tony drove to the other side of Savannah and pulled into the police station parking lot. The car followed them into the parking lot and pulled into an empty spot next to them.
They watched as Detective Wilson climbed out of the vehicle, an unmarked police car, and approached the passenger side window.
Mercedes rolled down the window and the detective leaned in. “Mercedes Garlucci. Why am I not surprised to see you?”
“I’ve got a bigger question. Why am I surprised to see you?”
“Got a call from Roland, over at Southern Savannah Storage. He said some woman was snooping around, asking questions about Jon Luis’ storage unit. Then he noticed someone out in front of the unit and he gave me a call. Wanna tell me what that’s all about?” the detective asked.
Mercedes casually slid Tony’s gun under her leg. “I’m trying to find out who murdered Jon Luis before you throw the cuffs on and haul an innocent woman - me - off to jail.”
“This is an official investigation. We don’t need your help.”
“Well, apparently you do,” Mercedes snipped. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be harassing me.”
Detective Wilson shook his head. “At the very least, you’re putting yourselves in danger, trying to track down a killer.”
“Point taken,” Mercedes said. “We’ll be on our way.”
Without another word of warning, the detective returned to his car and followed them out of the parking lot. Mercedes was certain he was going to follow them all the way home, but he turned onto the main thoroughfare, leading out to the highway.
“I have a feeling the friendly detective is gonna be keepin’ an eye out for us,” Tony said.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if he does.” Mercedes stared out the window. “I need to do more research on JL Cordele. I’m certain it’s Jon Luis, using another pen name. And I still think someone in my author group set me up. We need to come up with a plan to flush them out.”
She shifted in her seat. “A trap.” Mercedes snapped her fingers. “This is perfect. Autumn, you told the group you worked at the Savannah Evening News, right?”
“Yes, and I’m sorry I did. They asked me to find copy editors for them.”
“Well, I’m glad you did. I think JL Cordele is going to help us move this investigation along. We need to put our heads together, to come up with a plan, set a trap and flush out the killer.”
When Tony stopped in front of Autumn’s apartment, Mercedes thanked her for bringing the lock-picking tool and for going undercover to spy on the other authors.
“No problem. You would do the same for me.” Autumn slid out of the back seat and hopped onto the sidewalk. “Let me know if you need me to go to the meeting next
