Circle of Shadows by Edna Curry Page B

missing,”
she told the officers. “Cash and cigarettes are usually taken first. They
weren’t,” she added, waving a hand toward the full cigarette display beside the
tills.
    “But the till drawers are open,”
Tami objected. “Doesn’t that mean someone was in them?”
    Lili shook her head, wincing at
the pain that sudden movement caused. “No, we always leave them open at night,
because the cash registers are expensive, and thieves have a reputation for
smashing them if they’re locked. But we remove the cash, except for the coins,
which are still there.”
    “How about the rest of the
groceries?”
    Lili’s lips quirked. “It’s
totally impossible to tell you if a few items are missing or not. How could I?
Could you remember how many of each of thousands of items there are on
the shelf?”
    “No, I guess not.”
    “Although Anna might remember if
there were a lot of some items gone, or if full cases of groceries were missing
from the storage room.”
    “Have her check in the morning.
We’ll make out a report and let you know if we learn anything.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Can you lock up here for now?
I’ll call you later tomorrow. You’d better have a doctor check you out.”
    “I’m fine, really,” Lili
insisted.
    “I’ll drive her over to the
emergency room,” Tami said firmly.
    Nodding, the two officers left.
    Lili allowed Tami to drive her
over to the hospital emergency room. After checking her over, the doctor agreed
with Lili that she would be fine.
    On the way home, Lili said, “You
know what I’m dreading most about all this?”
    “No, what?” Tami asked.
    “Telling Ken in the morning.”
    When she awoke the next morning,
Lili’s head still felt like it was splitting, so she called Anna and asked her
to open the store.
    Next she called the local
locksmith who agreed to change all their locks before closing time that
evening. Relieved, she said, “Thanks, Oscar. I knew I could count on you.”
    She took some aspirin and put on
the coffee, holding an ice-pack to her head while she waited for the coffee to
perk. After her shower, she dressed in a comfortable pair of slacks and
sweater. She put on some make-up to add some color to her white cheeks. Then
she brushed her long hair, trying to arrange a curve of it across the now black
and blue bump on her forehead.
    Then she could no longer put off dialing
Ken. She listened to the phone ring, half-hoping he would have left for the
day, but had no such luck. His strong, confident voice sent a surge of
reassurance through her.
    “Ken, it’s Lili. We had a break-in at the store last night.”
    “What?” He listened as she began
to explain the details, then interrupted, “Are you okay?”
    “Yes, except for the granddaddy
of all headaches.”
    “Did you see a doctor?”
    “Yes. Tami took me to the
emergency room last night. I’m fine, really.”
    “Thank goodness. But what the hell
were you doing there alone so late at night?”
    Her breath caught, and surprised
pain at his attack sent tremors along her already tangled nerves. She tried to
keep her voice even, as she explained, “I often check the store at night when
I’ve been out of town for hours. It’s no big deal.”
    “No big deal!” he shouted. “You
could have been killed!”
    Jerking the phone back from her
ear, she counted to ten. Quietly she said, “Well, I wasn’t, and you’re
shouting.”
    She could hear him draw a long
breath. She braced herself to be told not to talk to her boss that way.
    Instead, in a calmer voice, he
asked, “Why didn’t you call me last night?”
    “Call you?” she repeated. “In the
middle of the night? Why? Tami and the police were there with me, and other
than locking back up, there was nothing to be done.”
    “Where are you?”
    “I’m at home. Anna opened the
store for me this morning.”
    “I’ll be right over.”
    Before she could reply, he had
hung up. She dropped the phone back into its cradle with a bang. “Men. You