CHAPTER 14Mara backed away from the front door to allow room for Detective Bohannon to hobble into the shop on his crutches. He held a laptop computer under his arm, pressed against one of the crutches, and seemed to have trouble maintaining his balance.
“Why don’t you let me carry the computer, Detective?” Mara said, stepping forward and slipping it from under his arm. “If you could close and dead bolt the door, Mr. Ping and I are sitting here in the back.”
“Thanks, Ms. Lantern.”
“Please call me Mara. That way I won’t feel like I’m participating in a police interrogation. That is, unless I am.”
“Mara then. You can call me Bo. And, no, this is not a police investigation, only a confused guy trying to understand what is happening.”
Ping stood up when they entered the back of the shop.
