His mouth moved wordlessly, but then he nodded reluctantly. “I suppose. You haven’t committed any crime. But I highly recommend that—”
“Thank you.” Katie lifted her chin again and started to leave the room.
Anger flitted through me. I stood, copying Katie’s motion with my own blanket and grabbing her with my free hand. “Oh, no you don’t.”
She whipped toward me, fury flashing in her brown eyes, an expression I’d never seen from her. “Back off, Fred.”
“Dream on.” I didn’t let her go, only tightened my grip. “Someone is trying to kill you, whether you want to believe it or not. You honestly think I’m going to let you walk out that door by yourself? Spend the night on your own?”
A flicker of fear crossed her face, just for a second. Once more confirming that Katie not only believed someone was trying to kill her, and knew the reason why, but also thought they’d try again. “I’ll be fine.” She sniffed. “I am fine.” Though her anger was back, she didn’t try to jerk her arm free.
“You can walk out that door if you want, but I’m following you. I’d rather you stay at my house tonight, just in case they know where you live, but if not, then I’m staying with you. And if you refuse, then I’m sitting in front of your house all night, whether you like it or not.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Fred, you’re just making this much bigger than—”
“Actually,” Branson broke in and step closer to us, focusing on Katie while keeping his tone warm and relatively neutral. “I’d prefer it if you stayed at Fred’s. Chances are, whoever this is probably knows where you both live, but I’m willing to guarantee they know where you live, Katie. Either way, I’m having someone patrol by your houses tonight. It would make it easier on us if you’d stay together. Even better if you stay with Fred. With where she’s located out in the woods, it’ll be easier for us to see something strange happening.”
Katie looked like she was about to argue, but then she sighed and spoke through gritted teeth. “Fine. I’ll stay at Fred’s.” And with that, she finally jerked her arm free from my grip.
Even though Katie stayed the night, it was nothing like the grown-up version of a slumber party we’d had a couple of times before. Katie didn’t make pastries, I didn’t make chai teas, and we didn’t watch too many episodes of The Great British Bake Off. I followed her in my car to my house, and the second we were inside, Katie mumbled a good night and went to bed.
Part of me felt guilty. Clearly, I was crossing boundaries with her, overstepping my rights as a best friend and business partner. A larger portion of me was irritated, which helped alleviate the guilt. I was doing exactly what a friend should do. Katie was in danger, and I was going to do everything I could to help.
Regardless of what I should or shouldn’t do, I was consumed with trying to figure out what in the world was going on—it was horrible and strange enough believing someone was trying to kill Katie, but even stranger than that, despite my active imagination, I couldn’t come up with a solitary theory of why. The realization almost made me sad. Katie truly was my best friend. At this point I already counted her as family. She’d always had her walls up—high, impenetrable walls around anything to do with her past. It turned out my lack of possible reasons why someone would try to kill her only highlighted how much of her I didn’t know. I hadn’t wanted to push or pry. But in so doing, maybe I’d neglected truly getting to know my friend.
And in that thought lay the answer, not that it was all that helpful. Whoever was trying to kill Katie, it had to be because of something in her past. So that was the key. Figure out Katie’s past, get her to open up, and then we’d know who we were looking for.
I tossed and turned until the early hours of the morning, getting up every once in a while when Watson let out a warning growl at a noise outside. Every time I peered through the curtains, it was only a police cruiser driving by. I wasn’t sure if it was Branson or someone else. Either way, when I finally fell asleep, I felt safe, protected, and watched over.
When my alarm went off, I felt like I’d had ten minutes of sleep, though in reality it had been more like five hours. The shortened night didn’t seem to bother Watson any, as he did his morning routine of bunny bouncing on his front paws and letting out little yips to let me know he was excited for breakfast.
I didn’t quite make it to the kitchen before I noticed the door to the guest room was open I glanced inside to find the bed made. A rush to the window revealed that Katie’s car was gone as well. Panic and irritation flared in equal measure, and I retrieved my cell. No text, no messages. I punched her number.
The call rang through to voicemail. “Call me back the second you get this.” I hung up the phone, knowing I’d sounded more angry than worried and that probably wouldn’t help to get her to call me back any quicker. But I didn’t care. I figured she was fine, since her car was gone. Whoever was after her probably didn’t sneak in, kidnap her, and take her car. But still.
Watson had stopped bouncing, but he came over, shoved his head against my shin, and pressed his paw on top of my foot.
“Sorry, buddy. Breakfast is going to be a little late.” In less than five minutes, I’d thrown on clothes, pulled my hair back into a ponytail, and managed to pick out matching boots, and then I was driving into town with an extremely grumpy corgi in the passenger seat.
Not wanting to waste time walking from the parking lot a couple of blocks away, I pulled my Mini Cooper to a stop directly in front of the Cozy Corgi. Watson took his time exiting the car and made a show of languidly strolling to the front door, letting me know that I was going to pay for my lack of care that morning.
As soon as we entered, my fear and worry evaporated as the smells of fresh-baked goodness reached my nose and the sounds of Katie baking above greeted my ears. Leaving Watson behind, I stormed up the steps into the bakery.
I halted at what I saw. There were twice as many baked goods as normal. Loaves upon loaves of bread, cinnamon rolls, lemon bars, Danishes, ham-and-cheese croissants, cookies, on and on until it looked like the thick marble-top counter was on the edge of overflowing. Katie was taking another pan of something out of the oven then turned toward me and paused for a heartbeat. Long enough to know she was aware I wasn’t going to be happy. Even so, her tone was bright. “Good morning. Care for some breakfast?”
“I swear, Katie Michelle Pizzolato, if someone wasn’t trying to kill you, I’d do it myself.” My feet found movement again, and I finished storming over to the counter, making a sweeping gesture to encompass all the carby goodness. “You’ve been here for hours. Hours.”
“I said I would spend the night at your place. Not that I wouldn’t get up early and work.” Katie lifted her chin. “Baking helps clear my brain.”
“Not enough if you’re going off in the middle of the night to be by yourself here when someone is trying to kill you.” As the words left my lips, another thought hit me, one that should’ve arrived earlier. “How did you even get here without the police stopping you? Once they realized you were missing, they should’ve woken me.”
There was a twinge of her jaw before she spoke. “The police should have stopped me? I’m not your prisoner, Fred.”
I flinched and tried to soften my tone. “I know that. But I just want you safe. Someone’s trying to kill you, and you don’t seem to be taking it seriously.”
“You know that I believe you’re good at figuring out things, but it doesn’t mean you’re always right. There’s no real proof that I’m the target.” I started to protest, but Katie kept going. “As far as the police, Officer Jackson stopped me when I was driving away from your house. I told him what I was doing, and he said he’d circle around the shop just like he had been the cabin.”
That much was good, I supposed. I stood there silently, debating what was the best course of action: give in to my anger at Katie for being so careless with her life, soften my approach to see if I could get her to open up about her past, or try to c
onvince her that she really was at the center of this entire thing.
That last option wasn’t necessary. Despite her protestations, I knew Katie already believed she was the target. It was just a matter of getting her to admit it.
Before I could land on a tactic, Katie pulled one of her large all-natural dog treats from under the counter and waved it in the air. “You look hungry. Come here, old man.”
Watson’s claws clattered over the hardwood as he scurried to her. I hadn’t even noticed he’d followed me up.
“I was in such a rush when I noticed you were gone, I didn’t take time to get him breakfast. Or to take a shower or anything.”
I thought I saw a spark of guilt in her expression. “Go home. Clean up, make a real breakfast, then come back. Clearly I’m fine.”
“How can you even say that?” Anger boiled again, but I stuffed it down and forced the concern I also felt closer to the surface as I pointed to where I’d found Sammy’s body. “Sammy was killed right there just a matter of days ago. You were shot at last night. If Watson hadn’t growled, and I hadn’t recognized the sound of the shot from a silencer, you might very well be dead too.”
Katie paled; her bottom lip trembled, though it didn’t look like an attempt to hold back tears. “I don’t want that to be true, Fred. It can’t be true. Sammy can’t have been killed for no other reason than someone was an idiot and thought she was me. That can’t be true.”
“But it is, Katie. It is true.” I reached for her hand, but she pulled away.
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.” I waited until she met my gaze. “You do, too. I can tell. Even if you don’t want to admit it, you know it’s true, and you also know why someone’s trying to kill you.”
Even though I could see the truth in her eyes, Katie shook her head. “You’re wrong. We need to find out who killed Sammy. All this is doing, is distracting from getting her justice.”
I tried another tactic. “And the bullet they found where you were sitting last night? What about that? Was that meant for Sammy as well?”
Her lips moved silently for a couple of seconds before she found words. “No, like I said, it was meant for you. They thought it was you. You’re getting close to figuring out who killed Sammy, even if you don’t know it. Probably that fairy woman or Susan’s brother. You think it’s a coincidence you spoke to them and the next day I was shot at?”
I started to argue with her but realized it was pointless. “Like I said before, I don’t completely understand why you’re taking this approach, but I know you don’t believe what you’re saying, not for a second. You’re too smart. Maybe you haven’t opened up, maybe I don’t know about your past, but I do know you. I can tell you’re just as clear on what’s happening as I am, more so. The only thing I’m not sure of is why you’re playing dumb and sticking your head in the sand.”
It looked like she was about to protest, but I leaned forward and took her hand before she could pull it away.
“Maybe the reason someone’s trying to kill you is the same reason you stay so guarded all the time. Maybe there’s something dark in your past. Maybe you’ve even done something bad. I don’t know. I can’t imagine that, but I suppose it’s a possibility.” I expected Katie to argue, but she didn’t. She just stared at me wide-eyed and frozen. “The other thing I know is that you’re my friend. You’re family. I love you, and whatever this is, we can face it together. I’ll stand beside you. I will figure it out. But I need you to be honest with me.”
There was a flicker, just for a second. A crack, and I thought she was about to cave. But then she stiffened, and her nostrils flared. “You’re wrong this time, Fred. And you’re wasting your time.” She pulled her hand free and returned to the pan she’d taken from the oven. “We open in a few minutes. I need to get ready. With all the police cars by the river last night, and then the ambulance in front of the store, you know people will be talking. We’ll be slammed.”
She wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t care, not about any of it. But still, arguing was getting me nowhere. “Fine. But Katie….” Once more I waited for her to look at me. It took longer that time. “Please promise me you won’t do what you did this morning again. Maybe I’m being too pushy, but I do love you. I need to know you’re okay. Until this thing gets figured out, promise me you’ll never be alone.”
She started shaking her head.
“That doesn’t mean we have to talk about it every moment, but please. Please.”
After a couple of seconds, she gave a stiff nod and then pulled a bowl of dough from the warming tray, took off its cover, and began to knead.
Not only was Katie not wrong about what lay in store for the Cozy Corgi, she was almost prophetic. People never stopped coming in the entire day. It took every ounce of willpower I had not to hang out in the bakery portion and listen in on Katie’s explanations, see if I could catch some slip up or some hint of the truth. But I didn’t. Though Watson wandered up from time to time to get a treat, I stayed in the bookshop, giving Katie space.
Every second between customers, I was lost to speculation about Katie’s past. Most of the time my ideas were too ridiculous to be sensible. She’d stolen the money she used to build her dream kitchen, and now someone was after her. She’d escaped from some crazy religious cult and was on the run. She’d been a CIA agent working undercover, and now one of her past cases was coming back to haunt her.
Maybe I read too many books. Whatever the reason, my wild theories were about as far from helpful as they could be. When outlandish possibilities quit flitting through my mind, a plan began to take form, and I sent out a slew of text messages.
When Katie finished cleaning up the bakery at the end of the day, she walked down the steps, certainly expecting things to be as every time before. We’d wrap up things at the counter and shut down the bookshop—instead, she halted on the second-to-last step when she saw the crowd of people waiting.
The timing had been perfect. They’d started showing up only a few minutes before.
Katie’s gaze flicked from person to person—my mom and Barry, with Watson at his feet. Percival and Gary. Verona and Zelda. Then she looked at me. “What are you doing?”
Since hatching the plan with my family, I’d been trying to figure out how to get Katie to agree without causing an all-out war. But now that she stood in front of me, I couldn’t remember where to begin.
My mom was so different from me, but as she left the group and walked toward Katie—her five-foot-one frame straightened, and her long silver hair glistened, the remaining streak of auburn catching the light—she looked powerful. And I was reminded again of how much she’d lived through, as a detective’s wife and then the loss of her husband, and beginning her own life again. Like I had earlier in the day, she grasped Katie’s hand and urged her down the final steps.
“There were times in my husband’s career—” Mom cast a glance my way. “—Fred’s father, where a person involved in one of his cases needed protection. He always arranged that with the police department, of course. But one time, it was two little girls. They stayed with us for nearly three weeks. I’m happy to say that particular case had a happy ending.” As she spoke, Mom gently led Katie toward the group. “Now, I know you and Fred aren’t seeing eye to eye on the ins and outs of what’s going on. To me, that’s beside the point. The bottom line is you were in danger last night, maybe even before then, maybe not.”
For the first time since Mom began to speak, Katie started to interject.
Mom beat her to it. “Maybe you will be in danger again; maybe you won’t. Being certain of that doesn’t matter, like I said. You are Fred’s friend and dear to all our hearts, and the newest member of our family. We want to make sure you’re safe so you remain part of our family, even if there’s no reason to be concerned. Even if you’re as snug as a bug in a rug, all of us will rest better knowing you’re safe. So, for the foreseeable future, you are stuck with us. For every minute of the day,
when you’re not in the bookshop with Fred, one of us will be by your side.”
“You’re so sweet, but you really don’t need to do this.” Katie was finally able to get a word in edgewise.
Mom shook her head. “No, that’s not how this is going to go. Fred may take after her father, but I can be just as stubborn when called for. You’re stuck with us.”
Katie seemed on the edge of continuing to argue but also looked overwhelmed, and if I was reading her correctly, touched.
Gary held out his phone. “We’ve already got a whole text message thread going on. I’ll add you to it. That way we’re all informed at all times and can easily trade-off or get you where you need to go.”
“Noah and Jonah are on that list too, but we left them with the kids for now.” Zelda spoke up, and Verona nodded along.
Percival joined Mom by Katie’s side and wrapped his arms around her as well as he could, towering over her the way he did. “During the times you and I spend together, we should raid Fred’s closet. I think it’s overdue for the broomstick skirts and the earth tones to go, don’t you?”
A laugh burst from Katie, making her sound like herself for the first time all day. She was constantly telling me how much she despised my color palette.
“Actually….” Barry had knelt to pet Watson but looked up to Katie. “Jonah and Noah have the kids at Pasta Thyme. They’re saving a large table for us. I thought we could all use a good meal at the moment. So we should get going? Raul and his fancy little restaurant don’t like to be kept waiting.” His eyes twinkled. “And please, my darling Katie, just consider this a thank-you for all the meatless ham-and-cheese croissants you make me. They’ve made my belt a wee bit tighter, but my life so much better.”
Proving that I didn’t know Katie as well as I thought I did, I hadn’t been sure how she’d respond. If I had to place bets, I would’ve put my money on an angry outburst. Instead, she looked close to tears, and finally nodded.
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