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Two? Shit. “Are you hurt?” he asked.
“No, but I don’t know what to do.” She sniffled.
“Is somebody with you?”
“My co-worker, Janae.”
“Take a look at the tires and see if you see a nail or slice in them.”
“Just a second.”
John waited for what felt like minutes.
“I don’t see anything, but the caps for the air valves are both missing.”
That was the better alternative. “Here’s what I want you to do. Have Janae walk you back into the store. Go to your security team and ask them to let you view the camera footage from the parking lot. See if you recognize J.R.’s car or somebody going to yours. If you do, call the police. Wait inside. I’ll be there in twenty-five minutes.” Hopefully sooner.
He quickly explained the situation to First Sergeant Rodriguez and turned the team over to him.
John ducked into the unit’s maintenance building and grabbed a portable air pump. He eyed the used tires stacked in the corner. Two flats? Possible, but not likely an accident. What an asshole. Hopefully, J.R. wasn’t a total asshole and only let air out and didn’t slash them.
John made good time and parked near Ariana’s car. He got out and inspected the tires. They were noticeably, but not completely, flat. He ran the pump for a few minutes, then turned it off and listened. No hissing. Fingers crossed, he filled the back tire too.
He texted Ariana.Here. Fixed flats. Where can I find you?
Security office. By bathrooms. Back right corner near appliances.
He made his way to the back of the store and knocked. Ariana opened the door and let him into the office where a man in his forties sat at a bank of screens. His eyes roved over John’s uniform.
“Did you find out anything?”
“Some guy with a ball cap pulled low knelt down next to her car. He stayed there for a minute then moved near the back tire, so I’m sure he did it.”
“It wasn’t J.R., though. We never saw him or his car.”
Someone would only need seconds to slash a tire versus taking the time to let air out. What was J.R.’s end game here? Send a warning to intimidate her to drop the battery charge but make sure he didn’t get in trouble with the law? “Did you see any suspicious cars cruising the lot earlier?”
“Hadn’t looked for any. What unit are you with?” the store’s security guy asked.
“Third Group.”
The man’s head bobbed in acknowledgment despite John leaving out the Special Forces part. “I was in the 82nd Airborne. Having police cars sitting in front of the store isn’t good for business and the cops won’t be able to do anything, but your attorney might be able to use anything we find,” he said to Ariana.
He printed off the clearest and the most incriminating pictures, then they watched as he rewound the parking lot footage until John picked out a car that cruised the aisles and never parked. It disappeared off screen. A minute later, the guy in the baseball cap wove through the lot to Ariana’s car. When he jogged off, he got in the passenger seat of the car John had picked out, which waited two rows over.
The security guy scrolled back to see if he could get a clear shot of the car’s license plate. The best he got was the last two numbers. He printed that off too.
“Can you fast forward?” he requested. “Ariana, look for J.R.’s car.”
A minute later, Ariana tapped a finger to one of the displays. “There. That looks like J.R.’s car.”
“What time was your shift today?”
“Nine to three. But one of the girls in my department was running late. I didn’t leave until almost three-twenty.
“Your shift typically end on the hour?”
“Usually, unless I’m helping a customer.”
