Catherine Nelson - Zoe Grey 02 - The Trouble with Theft by Catherine Nelson

important to lie still,
because the machine is very sensitive to motion. We’ll set you up with some
music, and you’ll be done in about thirty minutes. Do you have any questions?”
    “No. Thank you.”
    She smiled then swiped
her name badge in front of a keypad on the wall. The door at the end of the
hall swung open, and we followed her in.
    An office stood in
front of us, open on both sides with large windows overlooking the scan rooms
as well as the tiny lobby we’d entered. On either side, a large door opened to
a scan room, where the hulking machines were visible beyond. To the right, two
chairs were available for those waiting—all that the space could afford. On the
left were two dressing rooms.
    One of the dressing
room doors opened and man stepped out. He had long white hair and a shaggy
white beard. His gut hung over his belt, and he looked a lot like a trucker,
whatever truckers look like. A tall blonde guy dressed in dark green scrubs
emerged from the office.
    “All right,” the
blonde said. “Are you ready?”
    “Think so,” the
trucker answered.
    “Great. And everything’s
out of your pockets, right? You took off all your metal?”
    The trucker patted his
rear and nodded. “Yeah.”
    He walked toward the
blonde and followed him into the scan room. I could distantly hear the blonde
talking to him about his study.
    “All right,” Mackenzie
said, pulling open the second dressing room door. “Come on in. You can put your
stuff down in here. Are you wearing anything metal? Doesn’t look like it.”
    “No. I came prepared.”
    She laughed. “Great.
Drop off your bag, and we’ll get started.”
    She moved toward the
office then turned back to address Ellmann.
    “Go ahead and have a
sea—”
    Suddenly there was a
giant crack . It sounded a hell of a lot like a gunshot.
    Several things
happened simultaneously.
    I immediately pulled
the Sig Sauer 9mm out of my bag and hurried to the wall of the office. Ellmann
drew his weapon. Mackenzie gave a small cry of surprise and confusion. And
there was an audible grunt, as if from pain, from inside the scan room.
    “Out! Get me out!” A
male voice. Slightly panicked.
    Ellmann was moving
cautiously toward the scan room. I rounded the corner and grabbed Mackenzie,
shoving her behind me.
    “How many people back
here?” Ellmann asked her.
    I reached the office
door and swung my weapon left. The office was empty. Through the window, I
could see the other scan room was also empty. There wasn’t anyone else in the
area.
    “Clear,” I reported.
    “Copy. How many
people?”
    Mackenzie tried to
answer, but it was just a croaking sound. I shot a glance at her over my
shoulder as I fell in beside Ellmann again. She was too stunned to speak.
    “Everyone all right in
there?” Ellmann called as we moved toward the scan room where the trucker and
the blonde had gone. The shot had to have come from in there.
    When we got nearer to
the doorway, the blonde suddenly caught sight of us out of the corner of his
eye. He swung around and threw his hands up.
    “Whoa! What the hell?
You can’t bring those in here!”
    The trucker was lying
on the table. His upper body had been in the machine, but the table was sliding
back out. Neither of them held a weapon, and neither of them appeared injured.
    “Get him up,” Ellmann
said, his deep voice commanding.
    “Okay, okay,” the
blonde said, his hands still up. “But you can’t bring those in here. The
magne—”
    “Don’t worry,” Ellmann
said, tipping his head at the open door. “I can read your little sign here.”
    A giant red sign
affixed to the door read caution! the
magnet is always on! It was kind of a no-brainer that magnets and guns
didn’t mix. Which meant the sound we’d heard was likely not a gunshot at all.
    The table stopped, and
the trucker sat up. He jumped when he saw Ellmann and me in the open doorway
and threw his hands up.
    “I didn’t know!” he
cried. “Don’t shoot! I didn’t