Punch, Pastries, and Poison by Harper Lin (ebook reader for pc and android .txt) 📕

doesn’t seem like this guy’s strong suit. And the alarm would have gone off. But we’ll make sure.”

The front door swung open as another cop made his way in. Latte, who hadn’t moved since I’d come out of the kitchen, jumped up and started barking ferociously. The cop put his hands up and started backing out the way he came.

Mike chuckled. “Well, if I had any doubts that this guy could scare off a burglar, they’re gone now.”

“Sit, Latte!” I commanded.

He climbed across Matt and stood on my lap.

“Little protector you got there.” Mike chuckled.

“At least somebody has my back,” I said, looking pointedly at Matt. His eyes got big, and I patted his leg. “Just teasing.”

“You guys aren’t going to let this go, are you?” Matt asked.

“Nope,” Mike and I said together.

“Detective?” The cop who Latte had tried to scare off was still standing at the doorway.

“Come on in,” Mike said. “The dog’s mostly harmless.”

As soon as the cop put one foot across the threshold, Latte’s barking started up again.

“Maybe you’d better come to me, sir?”

Mike chuckled and stood up. He stepped towards me. I expected Latte’s barking to erupt again, but I guess he really did like Mike because he just stood there. Mike reached out and scratched Latte’s head. “Good boy.” Latte licked his hand. “I don’t know what that dog has against you, Simons.” Mike laughed as he walked towards the door. Over his shoulder, he told me and Matt that he’d be back.

“I’m sorry I didn’t wake up,” Matt said, for possibly the hundredth time since he’d awoken to me on the phone with the police.

“It’s okay.” I patted him on the leg again. “You’re here now. That’s what matters.”

“What matters is that I almost let us get murdered because I didn’t wake up when you needed me.”

“It’s fine, Matty. We’re fine.”

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and started tapping.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m ordering you an alarm system.”

“I don’t need an alarm system.”

“Apparently, you do,” he retorted.

I sighed and let him keep tapping. If it would make him feel better to get me an alarm system, I’d let him.

Mike came back after a few minutes and sat back down in his chair. He looked from Matt to me. “So.”

“So?” It was only one syllable, but I didn’t like the sound of it.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat this. This break-in concerns me. Assuming it’s the same perpetrator, I don’t like this kind of escalation in behavior. Until now, the attacks have been passive—traps set for you to fall into. Coming into your home—while you’re sleeping, no less—is much more aggressive behavior. What also concerns me is the time frame we’re seeing. In, let’s say, a stalking case, you’d expect to see escalation like this over the course of months or even years. This has been less than a week. It worries the hell out of me. So.”

That same deep-seated fear I’d felt clench at my stomach after Ephy’s death grabbed onto me again. “So?” I prompted, even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear what was coming next.

“Until now, I was hopeful that the café was more of a target than you specifically.”

My mind shot to Dean’s bitterness and the way he’d suggested it was good that the café was shut down.

“But the perpetrator actually coming into your home changes the equation. Without a doubt, you are the target.” He stopped and took a deep breath, making eye contact with me and then Matt in turn. I actually thought he even made eye contact with Latte, but that must have been my imagination.

“Effective immediately, I’m stationing officers at your front and back doors until we have this case solved.”

“What?”

He held up a hand to stop me. “I told you to stay home before, but I want to reiterate now that you are not to leave this house. I don’t want you to so much as step foot outside the door.”

“What about Latte?”

“My officers will supervise him going outside.”

“That’s ridiculous! You’re putting police officers in charge of my dog’s potty breaks?” This time, my fear wasn’t making me cower on the couch. It was making me mad.

“I’m putting police officers in charge of your safety, and right now that means keeping you inside no matter what,” Mike said sternly.

“I need groceries. I have nothing in the house.”

“Matt can buy you groceries.”

I fumed silently while I tried to think of another good excuse for me to go out. “What about the café?”

“It’s staying closed for now.”

“I have a lot of food that will go bad if we don’t open.”

“Leary can take Sammy over to clear out anything perishable. She can either take it home for herself or bring it to you.”

“What about—”

Mike put his hand up. “That’s enough. There are no exceptions.”

“You can’t do this. You can’t unilaterally put me on house arrest!” I knew arguing wasn’t going to do any good, but I couldn’t stop myself.

“No, I can’t, but I’m asking you to do what I say for your own protection.”

I inhaled to argue some more, but Matt put his hand on my leg to stop me. “Franny. He’s right. You know he’s right. It’s not safe. You’re staying at home.”

I started to snap at him that he couldn’t tell me what to do, but the tender look in his eyes sapped some of my frustration. I sighed. “Okay, fine. I’ll stay at home.”

“Thank you,” Mike said. “And I wanted to tell you, we finally tracked down Ephy’s relative. She’s only got an aunt in Maine, and they’re not close. Ephy’s grandmother had been the one to raise her, and she’d passed away last year.”

“Poor thing,” I said, sniffling.

Mike nodded grimly. “So it’s up to the aunt whether she’ll hold a funeral, but likely not. She didn’t sound like she knew Ephy well.”

I put my hands over my face. That poor young woman. I didn’t know what happened to her parents, and with her grandma gone, she had been all alone. Now her own