CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Monday morning, Maggie stumbled into the shop, almost falling face-first to the floor, but catching herself at the last second. “I’m okay!” She waved off Brett, one of her employees, who was already off his stool and heading to help her.
“Nice catch, boss,” he said sympathetically.
He was in his early twenties and working on his second gap year before deciding what to do with his life. He was a little aimless but had a great sense of humor and was excellent with the customers, both the two and four-legged.
The store had just opened, but there were already customers milling around. She made her way to the front counter, where Brett had returned to his stool and was thumbing through the latest issue of Your Pets magazine.
They chitchatted about their weekends, then got down to business. “Who’s up first today?”
Monday and Tuesday were Maggie’s busy days for seeing patients, and today was jam-packed. She had an appointment every forty-five minutes until lunch and then was booked again until four o’clock.
Her employees were all part store clerk, part veterinary receptionist. They ran the cash register, kept the appointment book, and checked in the animals when they arrived. Business was getting so good, she would have to hire a full-time receptionist soon, but for now, everyone was keeping up.
She had an actual veterinary assistant named Susan, but she only came in on Wednesdays to assist Maggie with surgeries.
“Buddy should be here any minute. Five-month-old yellow Lab. She’s getting her next round of vaccinations and needs her nails cut.”
“Yay, a puppy!” Maggie loved all animals, but there was no denying that puppies and kittens, with all their silly antics, were the most fun. “All right, well, let’s get to it. I’ll go get ready. Can you bring her back when she arrives?”
“Sure. Also, before I forget, Boomer’s mom just called to cancel their three o’clock. Do you want me to call the waiting list? Or would you rather get done early today?”
“Go ahead and call the waiting list. Thanks, Brett.”
She saw patients all morning and then grabbed a salad from her favorite deli down the block before seeing a few more that afternoon. She came out a little before three to see that Stephanie had replaced Brett.
“Hey, Steph, what’s up?” She tried and failed to stifle a yawn.
“Not much. How about you? Looks like you’ve had a busy day.”
“Yeah, that’s good, though. Means we’re doing something right.” Steph smiled at the “we.”
“Brett said he tried the whole waiting list, but no one could make today work, so you’re done for the day,” said Stephanie.
“Nice. I’ll be able to get my run in before the park gets too crowded.” Maggie preferred to run in the morning, but on her busier workdays, she left it until the evening to give herself the extra time in the morning.
She glanced down and noticed the blue bank bag sitting next to the cash register and nodded at it. “Does that need to go to the bank?”
“Yes. Brett was supposed to take it on his way home, but he took off without it. I texted him, but he hasn’t answered.” Steph didn’t sound too happy about it.
“Well, since I just gained myself an hour, I can take it.” She took off her lab coat, pulled the hairband out of her hair, and used her fingers to massage her head.
“That would be awesome,” Steph said. “I was just trying to figure out how to get it there. The bank closes by the time I’m off, and I don’t like the idea of sitting on all the weekend cash overnight.”
“No problem. Let me get my stuff together, and I’ll head over there,” she called, heading to the back of the store.
Ten minutes later, she had a hand on the door and was saying goodbye when Steph held up the bank bag and gave it a wiggle.
“Ah, yes, that.” Maggie laughed and went back for it. “Apparently, it’s easy to forget.”
“You’re a lifesaver, Mags,” Steph said. “And don’t think I don’t know you’re running out of here to avoid a grilling about what’s going on with you and Officer Hot Stuff.”
“Nothing to tell. See you tomorrow,” she hollered, already halfway out the door.
It’d been a while since Maggie had come to the bank. She’d purposely opened the account at the same bank where Jimmy was killed, thinking it would be a way to honor his memory and give her a reason to think of him each time she came. She sent up a silent prayer for him as she entered.
Since she’d forgotten to use the restroom at the store, she cut between some empty desks and stopped there first. Coming out, she noticed her shoe was untied.
Knowing she was clumsy enough without adding straggling laces, she bent to tie it.
Just as she knelt, the front door whooshed open, and four men wearing full-face ski masks entered, waving guns and shouting.
“Get down! Everyone, on the ground!” One man stood near the door, shouting commands while the other three surrounded the lobby and forced all the bank patrons toward the center into a group. Maggie was near the back of the building and scampered behind a large column. They hadn’t seen her—yet.
Staying low, she quickly made her way to a nearby empty desk. She was small enough to curl up under the desk and still have room to pull the chair in halfway. Unless they came around the back and pulled the chair out, she should stay hidden.
She felt like a coward, hiding while everyone else was being pushed around and threatened, but there was nothing she could do for them, so she stayed where she was.
The screaming and crying coming from the other patrons gave her the chills, and she willed herself to stay calm and breathe.
One of the men came back to where she was hiding and ordered two employees who were at their desks to join the other hostages.
He stopped right next to the desk Maggie was hiding under, and she heard him order them to “Hurry up, or he would put a bullet in their fucking heads.”
She didn’t think they would come back once they thought the area clear, so she snuck a look around the desk.
One by one, the robbers were taking cell phones and stomping them to pieces.
There were only about a dozen customers, so it didn’t take long.
Clearly, they didn’t want anyone calling for help or taking pictures or videos or any of the other things a cell phone could do that might jeopardize their anonymity.
Scooting back under the desk, she noticed a narrow gap between the back and the top. She curled up and watched the nightmare unfold. Her phone was in her purse, which she’d left behind the column she’d initially been hiding behind. She couldn’t risk going back for it.
By now, two of the bad guys were filling small duffel bags with cash from each teller’s register. Two tellers lay unconscious behind their stations. The robbers took one at gunpoint to open the vault and the others to the lobby to be guarded with the other patrons.
No shots had been fired, so the tellers on the floor probably weren’t dead. At least she hoped to God they weren’t.
She took a deep breath, willed her heart to slow down, and then began taking in all the information she could.
She might not be street smart, but she was smart.
She began memorizing as many details as possible about the robbers.
Hair color was impossible to tell because of the masks, but they all had brown eyes and dark eyebrows, which indicated black or dark hair as well.
Only three spoke, but they all had Spanish accents.
None of them called each other by name, and her frustration mounted as she realized she was gathering, for all practical purposes, useless information.
The police would have a hard time finding anyone if the only description she could give was four Hispanic males of average height and heavy-ish build.
There were only a million people in the city who fit that description.
From her vantage point, she could no longer see the lobby, but she had a perfect view of the tellers’ stations and a partial view of the front door. She searched for any labels or unique markings on their clothes and noted what types of shoes they were wearing. Finally, she got lucky.
Maggie had already noticed that the man guarding the door kept scratching at his face. By the way he barked orders, he appeared to be the one in charge, so she nicknamed him Boss Man.
“Get over here,” he demanded of one of the other men. The shortest of the four, whom she dubbed Shorty, reluctantly, but obediently took up watch at the door, as the boss strode purposefully over to the column Maggie had just been hiding behind.
Her heart jumped into her throat, and she swallowed the scream she felt coming. Had he seen her?
Boss Man stopped behind the column, and Maggie let out a sigh of relief. With his back to all the witnesses, or so he thought, he pulled his mask up to his forehead.
Maggie fought to stay calm as she memorized every inch of his face.
She wasn’t certain, but it looked like some kind of putty-type substance that was covering a birthmark next to his right eye had fallen off.
He was attempting to replace it. When it wouldn’t stick properly, he gave up, put it in his pocket, and pulled his mask back down, making sure it covered what he was trying to hide.
She understood instantly why he didn’t want anyone to see the mark. It was a very distinct and permanent feature that would make him easily identifiable. This would definitely help the police!
Though it seemed like an eternity to everyone in the bank, the whole ordeal went down in less than five minutes.
The robbers, obviously having done this before, knew what they were doing.
They’d gone straight for the tellers first to avoid any silent alarms and had taken all means of communication from the bystanders.
Then they’d loaded up their bags with cash and been out the door and into an awaiting car before anyone could summon the police.