by Natalie Ann
“It wasn’t. I’m not the type of person to leave flowers without at least a note or something. Why didn’t you say anything to me?” he asked, pulling the vase closer to him but not touching the flowers.
“I honestly forgot. I was more nervous about talking to you about our night together that the flowers slipped my mind. What’s the big deal? Someone from the building probably left them. I’m always leaving cookies. Others have left me things before.”
She didn’t want to tell him that she’d had such horrible thoughts of her past after their night together that finding those flowers just wiped it all way. She saw them and they made her happy, and that was all that mattered.
“Like what?” he asked, making her anxious with his steel-eyed stare. “What was left for you? Anything that doesn’t have a note on it? Or a card, or letter?”
Now that she thought of it, almost everything. “Flowers, usually. Normally wildflowers. Ones picked. Nothing that looks like it came from a florist. I’ve had food left before, but then found out someone in the building left it for others when I would chat with people.”
“Have other people in the building been left flowers?”
“You’re scaring me right now. Why does it matter?”
“Because twice now I’ve seen you freeze like someone was watching you. I’m guessing it’s happened a lot more than those two times.”
“Well, yeah. But I told you why it happens.”
“No. That’s what you’re telling yourself. Now you’re saying you’ve been left flowers anonymously. Then the first day you go to work after you and I sleep together, the word ‘whore’ is spray-painted on your dumpster. Doesn’t this add up to you?”
She froze. Telling herself it was nothing all along didn’t seem to be working and now she was feeling stupid. “Oh my God. No. No way. Why would anyone do that to me? I’m no one.”
“Don’t ever say that. You are someone. Someone to me. And someone to whoever this is, too. We’ve got to go to the police with it now.”
“Vin, there’s nothing there. I’ve been in the system most of my life. It’s going to be dismissed and you know it.”
“That has nothing to do with it. I’ll go with you.”
He stood up, but she stopped him. “Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”
“You have to work tomorrow. So do I. Let’s go now.”
***
It was a frustrating hour at the police station. Vin shouldn’t have been surprised they were blowing this whole thing off, but that didn’t stop his annoyance.
“Piper just told you everything. The flowers that have been left for almost a year now. The feeling of being watched or followed several times, and the word on her dumpster that she reported today.”
“I’ve got it all,” the detective said. “But like I told you, I can file a report, but I can’t do much more without any evidence or signs pointing to who it is.” He stopped and turned to Piper. “Have you ever seen anyone when you’ve had the feeling of being watched? Anyone consistent?”
She paused then said, “No. I own my own business. I have a lot of repeat customers.”
The detective flipped his pad over. “Sweet Eats. For two years now. So this has been going on for two years?”
“I don’t know when it started. After I opened the shop, though. I think. I’ve lived in that apartment for three years and like I said, I’ve gotten other things left on my doorstep, but the flowers started about a year ago. Maybe more. I just don’t know for sure.”
“Take a deep breath, Piper,” Vin said, reaching over and grabbing her hand. She was starting to panic and he didn’t want her to feel that way but knew she needed to be aware too.
“I feel lightheaded right now.”
“I know.” He stood up. “Is there somewhere you and I can talk for a minute?” he asked the detective.
“Sure, follow me.”
The two of them walked out of the room. “Don’t write this off,” Vin said. “I’ve been with her when she’s felt like someone was watching her. I’ve seen her reaction. It’s real. That type of fear can’t be made up.”
“I understand you’re concerned, but what do you want us to do? You’re what, a security consultant? What do you know about this?”
Vin snorted. “I know more than you. Go run your background check on me like I know you’re itching to do. You won’t find anything to alarm you other than that you should be listening to what I’ve got to say. I’ll get the roses tested for fingerprints. I’ve got more contacts than you anyway, I’m sure. I tried to keep this all on the up and up, but now I’m thinking I’ll deal with it my way.”
The detective eyed him hard. “Don’t be breaking any laws.”
“I’ll find results. You want to be kept in the loop. Fine, I’ll do that. I’d ask you to do the same, but I don’t think you will.”
Vin turned and walked out and went to get Piper. “Are we all done now?” she asked, looking a little pale.
“For now. Detective Myers will let us know anything he finds, right, Detective?” he asked when he saw he was followed back to Piper.
The head nod was more than he thought he’d get.
“Now what?” Piper asked.
“Now we go home and get some sleep. You’re staying with me.”
“No,” she said.
“Why?” he asked, turning to look at her as they were walking out of the building.
“Because you didn’t ask me. You just told me. And no one tells me to do anything.”
He smirked at her, glad she was finding a backbone. “Will you stay with me tonight?” he asked, winking at her.
“Yes. But at my place. I’ve got to get up early. Earlier than you.”
He wanted to argue with her, but decided not to. He could look her place over after she was gone, but he wasn’t telling her that.
Nicknames
The next morning, Piper’s alarm went off much earlier than Vin was willing to acknowledge. He felt her get out of bed and go into the bathroom, heard her shower, then move around the kitchen. He wanted to get up and watch over her, but figured that would annoy her. Instead he listened to everything she did, then when he thought she was ready to leave, he called out to her, “Come give me a kiss.”
He heard the giggle, but she walked in and did it. Then he fought the urge to escort her to her car, look everything over, and be her bodyguard at the store. It wasn’t what needed to be done right now.
Whoever this was, was watching, but probably not as closely as Vin thought. It was scary, and unsettling, but no danger had been presented…yet. Best not to change any patterns.
Was the vandalism a sign of escalation? Maybe. But Detective Myers had called him back last night after he’d run a background check on Vin—just like he knew would happen—and said they’d do several drive-bys of the store overnight, and make sure there was one officer in the area when Piper got to work at her normal time. It was more than they’d had yesterday, but not enough to alert anyone.
Once Piper’s car was out of sight, Vin got up and went back to his place, grabbed some tools, and came back over and got to work. He checked the entire apartment over from top to bottom. There didn’t seem to be any bugs or camera, no type of surveillance at all.
He turned her computer on and started to poke around on it. Nothing that he could find to alert him there, either. No one trying to access her that way, no one trying to watch through the camera that she’d had a piece of tape over. He found that funny, but in this case it worked in their favor.
Once he was satisfied with her apartment, he went back to his place, showered and changed, and went to the bakery. He wanted to look around there and ask a few questions.
The young girl behind the counter smiled brightly at him when he walked in. “Hey there, Mr. Sticky Buns.”
“What?” he asked, almost choking on that.
“Sorry. Since you’re seeing Piper, I thought she might have told you that I do that. I kind of give customers nickname
s. What can I get you?”
“A coffee, muffin, and some conversation.”
“Coming right up. I’m Sam, by the way, if Piper didn’t tell you. What do you want to talk about?” she asked. He moved around behind the counter out of the way of the few customers that just walked in.
“I’ll wait until you’re done.” There didn’t seem to be too many people in there right at the moment. More were sitting and eating, rather than waiting for orders.
“Okay, you want to know some secrets about Piper?” she asked, rubbing her hands together.
“Nah. Piper told me about what happened yesterday with the dumpster.”
Sam’s face dropped. “Yeah. I felt horrible for her. I know it probably seems silly, but when you grow up in foster care, you don’t have a lot of possessions. When you do have something, you really take care of it. To lose it, have it stolen, or destroyed is heartbreaking.”
“But she only rents the dumpster,” Vin said. He was more concerned about the word rather than the dumpster itself.
“I know. It’s hard to explain. It’s like a violation. She’s worked so hard to get this store. To support herself and stand on her own. Just knowing that someone could get to her like that makes me so mad. It’s like twice now in a short period of time she’s been hit with something that really hurt her.”
“Twice?” he asked.
“Yeah. Smokey dying. Death freaks Piper out. I don’t really know why. Nicole and I always laugh about how we aren’t allowed to kill a fly, but she just feels that everyone needs to have their life lived through a natural cycle.”
“Smokey was old though,” Vin said, remembering the day Piper was crying on her terrace. The first time he held her…kissed her.
“Yeah, he was. We think so. It was hard to tell. Anyway, he was just a stray alley cat. Probably had some sort of disease or something. But Smokey was her pet. She’s never had one of those, either. So she took it more personally. It was something she cared for that gave her comfort. She still goes out back looking for him, I know she does, but she won’t admit it.”
He stored that bit of information away. It seemed too coincidental to him. When the cat died, he’d shrugged it off. But mixed in with everything else that was going on, and how it seemed to affect Piper more than normal, he was going to look into it.
These attacks or whatever they wanted to call them seemed to be directed at Piper the most on a personal level. Things not everyone might have knowledge of.
“So about these nicknames. Tell me more about them. I’m assuming they’re regulars?”
“Yeah. But don’t tell Piper. She gets annoyed with me. I never say them out front where people can hear me. I mean I just did to you, but I said it to your face and it was a compliment really.”
He smiled. “I’ll take it as one, I guess.”
“Hang on. Let me just wait on these two customers.”
Vin watched as she quickly and efficiently got orders, then went out to the seating area and wiped down a few tables, picking up trash and coming back.
“What are you doing?” he asked when she walked over to the back wall and tacked up a piece of paper. He’d never noticed that before but looked it over now. Lots of pictures and words. Smiley faces and cards.
“That’s the wall of appreciation. One day a kid was drawing on a piece of paper.” She stopped and pointed it out. It looked to be a huge cookie next to a glass with the word “awesome” written on it. “He brought it up and gave it to Piper. She was so touched that she pinned it to the wall. Then little by little we’d add to it.”
“Do people leave things often?” he asked, looking it over some more.
“Nah. Maybe once a week. Mostly kids. A few adults when they’re flirting with us three girls. Oh, and the creep.”
“The creep?” he asked.
“Sorry. That was bad of me. Quinton. He always creeps me out how he comes in and just sits around waiting for Piper to come out and talk to him before he leaves. He’s the only one I think I’ve given a really negative nickname to. Like those two women over there,” Sam said, pointing. “They’re the Gabby Sisters. They come in here talking a mile a minute, pause to place their orders, and then go right back at it like I’m invisible. I’m just someone that waits on them, not really a person.”
Vin could see that happening. Oftentimes in life, employees in any type of retail establishment were overlooked and not appreciated. “Is that why she likes the wall? Because people voice their thanks?”
“Yeah, I think so. It is nice in a way. And makes up for those like the Gabby Sisters.”
“Tell me more about Quinton,” he said. Everything he’d looked up showed nothing alarming, but now he had a reason to look closer.
“Not much to say. Piper feels sorry for him. Says he’s lonely. We know that feeling well. She’s kind of a sucker when it comes to people like that. I think he has a crush on her.” She turned and pointed to the wall. “He normally draws a picture of what he eats and puts a heart or a thumbs up on it.”
“How do you know they’re his?” he asked. There were no names on half the pictures on the wall.
“I remember. They’re pretty consistent. He doesn’t do it all the time. Maybe a few times a month when he tries something new.”
“How often does he come in?”
Sam shrugged, then started to walk toward the counter again when another person came in. “A few times a week,” she said before turning to the customer.
Vin had heard enough and didn’t want to bother Sam anymore. He walked through a door that he assumed led to the kitchen, wanting to seek out Piper.
“Vin,” she said, wiping her hands on her apron. “What are you doing here?”
She was smiling, but she looked tired…and troubled. He’d never seen that before. “I came to visit.”
“I just saw you.” He caught her other employee eying him, Nicole, he was assuming, having never seen her before. “This is Vin, Nicole. Be nice. I’m sure Sam has already been teasing him, I’d bet. He’s a bit shy and I don’t want to scare him away.”
He forced out a laugh. He’d never been shy a day in his life. “Nice to meet you,” Nicole said, winking at him.
“Can I get you something to eat?” Piper asked when she caught him looking around the kitchen. How the heck did she bake all of this?
“No, I’m good. I had something out front already. I just wanted to stop back quickly before I run to my office.”
“Must be nice to come and go when you want,” she said.
“You could too,” Nicole told her. “You’re the one that works as much as you do when you don’t need to.”
“It’s my baby,” Piper said. “It’s hard to stay away from your baby.” She turned to him. “Are you working late tonight?”
“No. I should be home around five. Dinner?” he asked.
“I’d love to.”
“I’ll cook,” he said. “Come on over when you’re ready.”
“I’ll see you then.”
He walked back out and saw Quinton sitting there. He wanted to stay but decided he’d better not. Especially when Quinton’s eyes narrowed and Sam nodded her head at him. “See you tomorrow, Sam,” he said, loud enough for Quinton to hear.
“You’ll be back two days in a row? Lucky me.”
Quinton seemed to relax with that statement. Hmm, interesting. Maybe Quinton thought Vin was there for Sam. He didn’t bother to comment one way or another.
He left out the front and then made his way to the back of the building, off to the side to a small patch of grass and looked around until he saw a stone with “Smokey” engraved on it. Piper wasn’t going to be happy, but it had to be done.
Any Problems
It’d been a week since Vin had shipped out the roses and Smokey’s food dish. He didn’t have it in him to dig up the remains of Smokey, especially since Sam did a good job wrapping it in a towel. But the food bowl was something else.
Since they thought the cat die
d of natural causes, he wouldn’t expect to see anything that stood out on the body, but he wanted to see if there was any trace of anything in the food. It was a long shot, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Elimination was the best thing they could do.
He was sitting on his terrace when he saw Piper pull in Saturday afternoon. Not like he could miss her vehicle. Guess it was a good marketing tool, all that yellow and bright lettered logo
She slammed her car door, shuffling the bags in her hands. He stood up and yelled over the side. “Hang on, I’ll come down and give you a hand.”
“Don’t bother,” she snapped back, and started to make her way to the building.
He got up and met her in the stairwell anyway. “What is your problem?” he asked.
“Nothing. Bad day,” she said.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that anything that could go wrong did today.”
They walked up the stairwell in silence, surprising him. “Well?” he finally said. “Are you going to tell me more or do I have to guess?”
“I had to throw out three batches of cookies when I realized the bag of flour I’d opened had been contaminated.”
“Contaminated how?” he asked, holding the door to the third floor open for her.
“A mouse. I never have mice in the bakery. I know they are everywhere, but I’m very clean. I saw that a mouse had chewed through the bottom. I can’t take any chances, so I threw everything out and had to start over. That is, after I checked everything else in the storage room.”
“Any other problems?”
“No. Just some mouse droppings, which isn’t surprising. Sam set some traps, which of course freaked me out, but I don’t have a choice. I can’t let them live and I don’t know how to catch them and get rid of them in a timely fashion. My business and health regulations have to come first.”
“What else happened, or is that it?”
“Someone complained. I never get complaints. But someone tried one of my new creations even after I told her what was in it, and she didn’t like it. I gave her a refund and her choice of anything else, but she was snotty about it. Said I should have warned her it was spicy.”