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

the boardwalk. It usually had enough people on it that the officer behind me should be able to blend in too.

I walked slowly, soaking it all in. Once or twice, I stopped to look around and glance discreetly behind me. Every time, the man in jeans and a T-shirt was somewhere behind me. I turned onto Main Street. I was just a couple of blocks down from the café. I figured I’d walk by there, poke my head in to make sure Rhonda was doing okay, and then continue on towards the beach. It felt good to be out in the world.

I stopped to look in a shop window and checked behind me again. I couldn’t see the officer, but I told myself he was back there. Main Street was busier than the side streets had been, so he was probably just hidden behind someone else.

I kept going. I was getting closer to the café now. The building Sammy lived in was just behind me. I passed a narrow alleyway that held the fire escape for one of the apartments in the building next to Sammy’s. Latte’s ears perked up as he heard a dog barking somewhere on the other side of the street. I turned my head to look just as someone grabbed me from behind and pulled me into the alley.

I tried to scream, but a cloth covered my mouth. My attacker’s forearm pressed against my throat as they dragged me back. I kicked backward, trying for the shins of the person holding me. I only got air, and my feet slipped out from under me.

There was something on the cloth that burned my nose. I shook my head to try to break free. They yanked back again. I felt like I was choking.

Latte barked and growled. The pressure against my throat disappeared, and Latte’s leash wrenched out of my hand. His barking got quieter as he ran off, leaving me to my attacker. Where was the officer who was following me? I scratched at the arm as it went back around my throat. I had to stay in the alley. I had to stop them from dragging me into the parking lot behind it. I had to stay. I had to fight. Just until the officer caught up to me.

The hand over my mouth shifted, and the cloth covered my nose as well. I shook my head, trying to get away from the cloth. The hand clamped down tighter. I kicked the air. I tried to claw at the arm again, but my arm was heavy—too heavy to lift. I kicked again, but this time my leg stayed on the ground. The world swirled around me. I fought for consciousness. I couldn’t pass out. I couldn’t. I had to stay awake, had to stay here. Like in a dream, I felt my body start to sink. I tried to stand up, but the ground felt like water. A gray cloud moved into my vision. The world shrank to a tiny dot.

Latte was barking. I could hear him in the distance, or maybe not the distance. Maybe he was right beside me. Maybe he wasn’t there at all. I imagined I heard footsteps running and a shout. A thud. The ground fell out from under me, and I landed on the pavement. The world started to grow again. Someone somewhere shouted my name. Latte barked. A figure appeared above me, and I fought to focus my eyes.

“Fran! Fran! Fran!” the voice screamed above me. “Franny!” Slowly, the face came into focus. Blond hair and big blue eyes. Sammy. “Fran! Are you okay?” She held a cast-iron skillet in her hand.

My head rolled to the side. I blinked at the body on the ground next to me. My mouth tried to work, but my tongue was huge and dry, so the word came out thick and slurred. “Karli?”

Chapter 27

I sat at my desk in the back room of the café, flipping through applications. I was back to having to hire a new employee. I’d posted the barista job again and had a whole new stack of resumes, most of them only marginally more qualified than the batch that included Ephy’s. Pretty much anyone halfway decent was only looking for seasonal work, and while I needed that, I needed someone during the off season too. Maybe a qualified person would just walk through the door, and I wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.

The door opened. Sammy poked her head through and smiled. “The boys are here,” she said.

“I’ll be right there.” I stuffed the applications in a folder and put it in my top desk drawer. I could worry about them tomorrow. Tonight, we were closing early.

I ran my fingers through my hair and touched up my lipstick in the mirror then grabbed the heavy tote bag from under the desk. I slung my purse over my shoulder and went out to the front.

“Everybody ready?” Ryan asked from where he and Sammy were standing by the door.

“Ready!” I said.

Matt grabbed me around the waist and kissed me on the lips.

I grinned when he pulled away. “Nice lipstick.”

He wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand and blushed when he saw the red streaks across it. I grabbed a handful of napkins and tried to help, but at some point it was impossible to tell the difference between the lipstick and the redness that came from rubbing the lipstick off. “At least they’ll all know I’m taken,” he said in a low voice that gave me shivers. I loved him so much.

Ryan held the door for us, and then I locked up. Our little group started the short walk to Cape Bay Town Hall.

Sammy grabbed my hand as we passed the alleyway where Karli had attacked me. “I still can’t believe she tried to kill you,” she whispered.

“I still can’t believe you whacked her over the head with a cast-iron skillet,” I replied.

She giggled. “It was such