Manny pulled his car into a parking spot in the little shopping center where Tags was located and shut off the engine. Tags was a local clothing store that specialized in teen fashions. It was popular with a lot of the local high school kids because of its affordable prices. As Manny and Amanda climbed out of the car they could see that there was already a small crowd of shoppers inside.
“I see Katie at the register,” Amanda said as they walked toward the entrance. Katie was the store manager. “She’ll know if Magda was here for her shift yesterday or not.”
Manny paused and looked around the parking lot as he held the door for his girlfriend, making sure that no one was following them. When he didn’t see anyone suspicious he let the door close and followed Amanda into the store.
“Hey, Katie,” Amanda said as she stepped up beside the cashier counter. There were several customers on line and Katie was alone at the register.
“Hey, Amanda,” Katie said without looking up from what she was doing. “I don’t suppose you’re interested in picking up a couple of extra hours?” Katie asked in an exasperated tone. “I’m all alone and I could really use another pair of hands,” She was frowning as she tried to remove the security tag from a blouse but the button stubbornly refused to come loose.
“I’m sorry but I can’t stay,” Amanda said. “I was just wondering if you could tell me whether Magda worked her shift yesterday or not.”
Sucking air through her teeth, Katie pulled the device she was trying to use away from the blouse and brought it close to her face to examine it. “As a matter fact she didn’t. She didn’t show up today, either, which is why I’m short-handed. When you see your friend, tell her that she’d better have a good reason for skipping out on me or she’s going to be out of a job.” Katie picked up a tiny screwdriver and started poking at the device.
“I’ll tell her, but I’m sure she had a good reason,” Amanda said as she shot Manny a concerned look. Now they knew that whatever had happened to Magda had taken place before she was supposed to start her shift yesterday.
“Normally I only let people slide one time,” Katie said as she continued probing at the device in her hand, “but you and Magda are good workers so I’ll listen to what she has to say before I give her the boot. Oh, blast!” Katie said in disgust as she tossed the device on the counter. She turned to Amanda. “Can you do me a favor please? I need the other sensormatic gun from the back room. This one’s not working.”
“Sure, Katie,” Amanda said. She glanced at Manny. “I’ll be back in a second.”
“It’s on the samples table by the back door,” Katie called as Amanda disappeared through the curtained doorway behind the register. “I’m sorry about the delay, miss,” Katie apologized to the customer. “Will that be cash or charge?”
As Katie rang up the customer’s purchase Manny busied himself by looking at the racks of costume jewelry displayed by the register. After a couple of minutes went by Manny was starting to wonder what was taking Amanda so long when Katie let out an exasperated breath.
“Where is that girl?” Katie said aloud. “She should have been back in thirty seconds.”
A feeling of panic suddenly gripped Manny. He dashed through the curtained doorway into the back room.
“Hey, you can’t go in there!” Katie called after him.
As soon as he was through the curtain he stopped. The back room was a narrow cubby of a space with a long table against one wall piled high with an assortment of clothes. The sensormatic gun was sitting right out in the open on the table, but that wasn’t what had caught Manny’s attention. The back door to the store was standing open and the only sign that Amanda had ever been there was her cell phone laying on the floor.