12 Twelve Sharp Read Free

Pickle worked in a shoe store. The store was part of the mall that attached to the multiplex where he'd been caught shaking hands with the devil. I didn't have a lot of enthusiasm for this capture, since I had some sympathetic feelings for Pickle. If I had to work in a shoe store all day I might go to the multiplex to whack off once in a while too.
    'Not only is this going to be an easy catch,' Lula said, parking at the food court entrance, 'but we can get pizza and go shopping.'
    A half hour later, we were full of pizza and had taken a couple new perfumes out for a test drive. We'd moseyed down the mall and were standing in front of Pickle's shoe store, scoping out the employees. I had a photo of Pickle that had come with his bond agreement.
    That's him,' Lula said, looking into the store. 'That's him on his knees, trying to sell that dumb woman those ugly-ass shoes.'
    According to Pickle's paperwork he'd just turned forty. He had sandy-colored hair that looked like it had been cut in boot camp. His skin was pale, his eyes hidden behind round-rimmed glasses, his mouth accented by a big herpes sore. He was five-foot-seven and had an average build gone soft. His slacks and dress shirt were just short of shabby. He didn't look like he cared a whole lot if the woman bought the shoes.
    I moved my cuffs from my shoulder bag to my jeans pocket. 'I can manage this,' I said to Lula. 'You stay here in case he bolts.'
    'I don't think he looks like a bolter,' Lula said. 'I think he looks more like the walking dead.'
    I agreed with Lula. Pickle looked like he was two steps away from putting a bullet in his brain. I moved behind him and waited for him to stand.
    'I love this shoe,' the woman said. 'But I need a size nine.'
    'I don't have a size nine,' Pickle said.
    'Are you sure?'
    'Yeah.'
    'Maybe you should go back and look again.'
    Pickle sucked air for a couple beats and nodded. 'Sure,' he said.
    He stood and turned and bumped into me.
    'You're going to leave, aren't you?' I said. 'I bet you're going to go out the back door and go home and never come back.'
    'It's a recurring fantasy,' he said.
    I glanced at my watch. It was twelve-thirty. 'Have you had lunch?' I asked him.
    'No.'
    'Take your lunch now and come with me, and I'll buy you a piece of pizza.'
    'There's something wrong with this picture,' Pickle said. 'Are you one of those religious nuts who wants to save me?'
    'No. I'm not a religious nut.' I held my hand out. 'Stephanie Plum.'
    He automatically shook my hand. 'Melvin Pickle.'
    'I work for Vincent Plum Bail Bonds,' I said. 'You missed a court date, and you need to reschedule.'
    'Sure,' he said.
    'Now.'
    'I can't go now. I gotta work.'
    'You can take your lunch break.'
    'I had plans for lunch.'
    Probably going to see a movie. I was still holding his hand, and with my other hand I clapped a bracelet on him.
    He looked down at the cuff. 'What's this? You can't do this. People will ask questions. And then what will I tell them? I'll have to tell them I'm a pervert!'
    Two women looked over at him and raised their eyebrows.
    'No one will care,' I said. I turned to the women. 'You don't care, right?'
    'Right,' they murmured and hurried out of the store.
    'Just walk out into the mall quietly with me,' I said. 'I'll take you to court and get you rebonded.'
    Actually Vinnie would rebond him. Vinnie and Connie could write bond. Lula and I did the capture thing.
    'Darn,' Pickle said. 'Darn it all.'
    And he took off with the cuff dangling from his wrist. Lula stepped in front of him, but he had momentum and knocked her on her ass. He faltered for a moment, got his footing and ran off, into the mall. I was ten steps behind him. I stumbled over Lula, scrambled to my feet, and kept going. I chased him through the mall and up an escalator.
    A hotel with an open atrium was attached to one end of the mall. Pickle ran into the hotel and barreled through the fire door into the stairwell. I chased him up five flights of stairs and thought my