Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Audrey
Although she was tempted to text Mason back that he didn’t have to rush, feeling bad about interrupting his day, Audrey was too relieved that he was hurrying over to actually send a message telling him not to because she was kind of freaking out.
She glanced down at the paper in her hand again.
Bitches.
Very original.
Drawing a deep, unsteady breath, she put her hand over her heart, as if pressure on her chest could help slow its racing pace.
Audrey had no idea what to think about it.
It was hard to write off a second note as a mistake. Even harder to think that this was kids messing around, especially since the location of the note had moved. Someone had slipped it on the back door this morning after she and the other women had arrived.
Kids would be in school at that time.
Most people were at work.
There had been a small rush right after she opened—people coming in to grab something for breakfast before going to the office—but it had slowed pretty quickly. Audrey had already made a note about that for when she figured out what her permanent hours were going to be.
Right now, she was grateful for the lack of customers since it meant she didn’t have to try to pretend everything was fine in front of an audience.
When a large shape appeared on the other side of the front door, she felt her chest seize up before she realized it was Mason. Her breath rushed out with relief as he opened the door, and she felt the tension she’d been holding inside her release.
He came in like an avenging angel, darkly handsome, with a serious expression.
The long grey coat he was wearing only added to the effect as the bottom flared out with his movements.
Their gazes met immediately, and she felt a blush creeping onto her cheeks as usual; that was just the effect he had on her.
Smoothing her hands over her apron, she just barely managed to keep herself from reaching up to check her hair. That’s not what he was here for.
“Hey. I’m sorry for calling you over like this, I’m just… freaking out a bit.” Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the paper, holding it by the very edge so as not to get her fingerprints on it too much. It already had Alexis’. “Since this is the second note and all.”
“Can you put it on the counter?” Mason nodded at the open spot in front of her, and she put it down where he’d indicated as he came forward. Just his presence made her feel safer, she realized.
While she was competent at a lot of things, dealing with semi-threatening notes was not one of them.
Mason leaned over and read it, a thunderous scowl darkening his expression as he saw what it said. Dammit. That shouldn’t be so hot. But it was.
“Original,” he muttered.
“That’s what I said.” She tried to smile, but she knew it was forced.
“Did you check the camera footage already?”
“I did.” She made a face. “They were wearing a hoodie and something over their face. I think it’s a man, but I can’t be entirely sure. It could just be a really tall woman with broad shoulders. I’m hoping you might be able to get more from it than I could.”
“I’ll take a look.”
“I’m sorry for dragging you out here. I know there’s not a whole lot. It’s probably not even that big a deal, I just… panicked.”
The look he gave her cut off her babbling immediately, and she gripped the edges of her apron, dropping her gaze.
“You absolutely did the right thing,” he said, his voice gentle but firm. “I want to know immediately when anything happens. And if I can’t come running myself, I’ll send someone else on the team. Even if it’s just someone playing a prank, you deserve to be here without worry or fear.”
Audrey shifted her weight awkwardly, shrugging one shoulder, not knowing what to say to that. She wasn’t afraid exactly. Or maybe she was a little. But it wasn’t like they were real threats.
Nothing like what Cassidy had dealt with, with her ex.
“I just hope I didn’t take you away from something important.”
“This is important.” He pulled on a plastic glove, taking a plastic baggie out of his other pocket.
“You’re David’s little sister, first of all, and second of all, no one deserves to be dealing with creepy notes.
” Picking up the note in his gloved hand, he bagged it.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have the results of fingerprinting back from the first note yet, but we’ll add this one to the queue just in case there’s nothing helpful on the first note. ”
“Oh, that’s something! The person who left it was definitely wearing gloves.” Audrey perked up at being able to give an additional bit of information. “It’s kind of cold out, so I know that doesn’t mean they were always wearing gloves when handling it… but, ah crap, that’s bad, isn’t it?”
“It might be.” He sounded amused. “But, like you said, they might not have worn them the whole time while handling it. If they did, that also tells us something about them.”
“What does it tell us?”
“That they’re smart enough to think ahead and worry about their prints being taken, which would likely mean their prints are on file somewhere.”
Audrey’s breath caught in her throat.
“So, a criminal?”
“Not necessarily. A lot of people have to have their fingerprints taken, even if they’ve never been arrested.
Government jobs, teaching jobs, all sorts of things.
” He hesitated as he pocketed the baggie with the note.
“But yes, one of the reasons would be if they’d been arrested before.
It doesn’t mean a violent crime, though.
It could have been for something like marijuana possession. ”
“Right.” Audrey released her apron and flattened it out again.
“Well, I should show you the camera footage and see if you can get anything from it.” Scooting from around the counter, she found she was hyperaware of him as she moved to the front door and flipped the sign that said she was on a break and would be back soon.
They had about an hour before people would start looking for lunch. She wasn’t sure they’d get much of a lunch crowd anyway, though she was hoping for people to stop by for dessert after lunch.
When she turned around again, Mason was still standing by the counter, watching her. Her heart did that weird little flutter thing as she met his dark eyes and felt the heat bloom on her cheeks all over again.
“Um, this way.” She tried to ignore the way all the little hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she led him through the door to the back.
As they walked in, Alexis’ head came up like a startled prairie dog, then she relaxed when she saw it was just Audrey. Poor Alexis. She’d been very concerned when she found the note. Audrey hoped she didn’t quit over this.
“Hey, Alexis, this is Mason. Mason, this is Alexis. Mason works with my brother at Black Fox Security. I’ve given him the note, and he’s going to take a look at the camera footage.”
Pure relief slid over Alexis’ expression as she wiped flour off her hands and came forward to greet him, holding one hand out for him to take. Her sleek black hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and she was wearing a t-shirt and jeans under her apron, as usual.
“Oh, great. I’m so glad to hear that. It’s so nice to meet you, Mason.” She beamed at him.
Mason smiled as he reached out to accept her handshake.
“It’s nice to meet you, Alexis. I’m sorry it’s not under better circumstances. Hopefully, we can get this squared away.”
“I hope so. I like it here. I can’t imagine why anyone would have a problem with a bakery.” Alexis shook her head, letting her hand drop.
“Is there anyone that’s been bothering you anywhere else? Or anything weird happening at home?” he asked her.
Alexis immediately shook her head again.
“No. Nothing like that. And I don’t really get out much, so I can’t imagine anyone who would leave a note like that.”
“Audrey said that you moved here from Savannah. Was there anyone back there who had a problem with you?”
“Not that I can think of.” She shot Audrey a worried glance, her brow furrowing. “Is there some reason to think this is because of me?”
“No, I just want to eliminate all the possibilities. I know of at least one person who has a major grudge against Ashley, for instance.” Mason smiled reassuringly. “That doesn’t mean she’s behind this, but in order to find out who’s leaving notes, I want to eliminate all the possibilities.”
“Notes?”
“Sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. Yes, there was another note left before we opened Saturday morning,” Audrey said in a rush.
Part of her kind of wished Mason hadn’t mentioned it because she didn’t want to freak Alexis out, but he was right.
Now that there was a second one, both Alexis and Ashley needed to know.
“It just said ‘get out’. I thought it must be a prank or kids or maybe even left mistakenly.”
Alexis frowned, but it didn’t seem like she was frowning at Audrey or like she was upset with her, which was a relief. More like she was frowning because she was thinking.
“Yeah, I can see that. But now that there’s another one…”
“Now, I’m not sure it’s kids or a prank, which is why I’m getting Mason involved. Especially since this one seems more aggressive.” Audrey sighed. “He’s going to look at the camera footage to see if there’s anything I missed when I looked at it.”
“Can I come, too?”
“Sure, maybe you’ll see something.”
Plus, that way Audrey wouldn’t be alone in the small office with Mason. Not that she thought anything would happen.
But this way, she could be sure nothing would happen and that she wouldn’t do anything foolish like act on her ridiculous crush.
He probably wasn’t interested, anyway. Even if Yasmine had been hinting that he was.
Audrey had probably just imagined that she was hinting that. She’d read way too much into it.
And she did not want to have issues with her new friends because she did something wild, like kiss one of their recent exes.
They gathered in the office, around the computer, and Audrey pulled up the footage, stepping back to let Alexis and Mason lean in and observe. There was not a lot to see. It took less than a minute for the person to approach, glance quickly around, tape the note to the doorframe, then leave.
Audrey had already watched it five times in a row, so this time she watched Mason and Alexis’ reactions.
Well and maybe just a bit more of Mason.
There was just something about his seriousness as he put on his glasses and then focused on the computer screen.
Even if she couldn’t touch, she could still look and enjoy. No harm in that, right?
Both of were equally intent on the footage, though Alexis was far more nervous.
Her fingers tapped against the desk as she watched, whereas Mason was completely still and wholly focused.
The intensity of his attention would have been intimidating if it was directed at her.
Whoever was leaving notes, they’d better hope Mason didn’t get his hands on them because he looked kind of scary now.
Which was also hot.
What is wrong with me?
Mason hit the button to play it again the moment it finished. After a second run through, Alexis straightened up, shaking her head, and glanced apologetically at Audrey.
“I can’t see anything, I’m sorry. If it’s someone I know, I don’t recognize them.”
“Thanks for looking anyway,” Audrey said with a smile.
“I’m going to get back to work.” Alexis hesitated. “Do you want me to go up front until you’re done in here?”
Although she’d been trained on the register, in case she ever needed to take over, she’d obviously never liked the idea, and it was clear from her expression now that she desperately wanted Audrey to say no.
Well, it’s not like Audrey was needed back here, anyway.
Plus, someone did need to be at the front.
And this way, she wouldn’t be back here alone with Mason.
“No, that’s okay, I’ll go back up,” she said, and Alexis smiled, her shoulders coming down. She really had not wanted to go to the front. “Mason, stay as long as you want.”
“Okay.”
He was so focused on watching the footage again, she wasn’t sure he’d actually heard her, but apparently, she was superfluous, anyway. Trying to decide if she was relieved or put out, Audrey followed Alexis out of the office and headed back out front.
Thankfully, almost as soon as she flipped the sign back, a customer appeared, which helped distract her.
It didn’t take long before Mason also returned to the front, his expression serious.
He was no longer wearing his glasses. Audrey felt her heart sink a little as she looked at him.
He really didn’t look like he thought it was just kids or a prank this time, which meant she had to take it more seriously, too.
Which was not at all what she wanted.
All she wanted to do was bake things and sell them. Who could have a problem with that?
Well, other than her parents, but if she was sure of anything, she was sure that whoever was leaving notes was neither her father nor her mother.
They wouldn’t be caught dead in a hoodie, for one.
“There’s really not much to go by,” Mason said, returning to the front of the counter and resting one hand on it.
Audrey tucked her hands into her apron pockets to keep herself from doing something silly, like reaching for his.
“I took a clip of the footage and sent it to my email to see if I can get more off of it with one of the programs we use, but I don’t have a whole lot of hope. ”
“That’s okay. Thank you for looking at it, anyway.”
The look he gave her resembled the one he’d given her earlier when she’d apologized for dragging him out.
It did all sorts of weird flippy things to her stomach when he looked at her like that, all stern and brooding and protective.
Was that a Dom thing? It kind of seemed like it might be from the books she’d been reading.
Cash had certainly never made her feel like this before.
“I haven’t really done anything yet, but I will,” he said, and the way he said it carried all the weight of a promise. “I’m not hopeful about the fingerprints, but we could always catch a lucky break.”
“What are you going to do?” She couldn’t imagine what else he could do, unless something miraculous happened with either the fingerprints or the footage. Neither of which seemed very likely.
“I’ll figure it out. Don’t worry.” He nodded his head, and her stomach did that swirly, loopy thing that she felt all the way down between her thighs again. “I’ll see you later, Audrey.”
“Bye, Mason.”
It shouldn’t feel like a caress when he said her name, but it did. She watched him walk out the door, her body all sorts of tingly and swirly.
Yeah, she was definitely reading more of her romance books tonight. Even if she couldn’t have it in real life, a girl could dream.