Chapter 16
16
DULCE
K atie's car pulls up in front of my house, near the mailbox, and she rolls down her window. “Your Uber is here.”
“We don’t have Uber,” I remind her.
“That’s because this fucking town sucks.”
“You’re catching on. This town does suck.” I open the passenger door to her white Toyota Camry and get in, placing my bag between my feet. “Thank you for picking me up and taking me to work.”
She waves her hand, places the car in drive, and makes a U-turn. “I don’t mind. It’s not like we aren’t going to the same place, and you are a cool boss.”
“I’m not that great.”
“You’re better than my last one working at the gas station back home.”
"You're not a bad employee yourself."
“I’m your only employee.”
“You have a point, but you could still be a bad one, and that’s not the case.”
“How come?” she asks curiously.
“You still have a job.”
“What happened to the van?”
“I have no idea. It’s at the mechanic shop. It was late and…” I don’t want to tell her that Ford took me home.
I’ll never hear the end of it. She thinks Ford and I are close because we went to high school together. Katie doesn’t know I was the outcast.
“How did you get home?”
“Um… Ford gave me a ride.”
“Ford Keller?”
I sigh. “That’s the one.”
“So you do know him.”
“He was at the garage when the tow truck dropped me off.”
“Oh?” she says. “How come?”
“The owner of the garage is one of his best friends.”
“Ohh… What’s his name?”
“Don’t worry about it. He’s an asshole. That’s all you need to know.”
She parks in the back of the bakery, and I quickly get out before she asks me why. The last thing I want to talk about is Trent and why I think he’s a prick.
After Ford dropped me off last night, I couldn’t sleep. I had nightmares about that night. I couldn’t see. Panic gripped my throat, choking me of breath. I woke up gasping for air, reliving the pain I felt all over my body.
The last place I thought I would end up was at Trent’s garage. Even if my van hadn’t broken down, I would have ended up there to deliver the large order that came in yesterday evening through the online ordering system.
Chris and Trent haven't come by the bakery since that night, and I made sure not to go to Trent's for any car repairs. It’s most likely why my van was in such terrible shape.
I unlock the back door and disarm the alarm, but something in the pit of my stomach tells me something isn’t right and feels off. I turn on the lights. I take a quick look around the back hallway and then glance at the display, which is exactly as expected. Empty. Everything is neatly put away. The rich smell of vanilla and butterscotch is heavy in the air.
Katie walks in. I shut the door and flip the lock. When I walk to the kitchen, I see something on one of the prep counters. There is a weird sound. Whatever it is, it’s moving like a worm.
“What is that?” Katie says when she walks into the kitchen, the door swinging back and forth.
“It’s a rat,” I tell her, stepping forward cautiously.
Katie grabs my arm, causing my stomach to drop. “Is that…?”
“Blood,” I finish for her, taking two steps forward, and my heart slams into my ribs.
Next to the dying rat, big red letters in blood spell out SHHHH.
“What the hell?” Katie says,
“Don’t touch anything, Katie,” I rush out. I swallow thickly.
She nods nervously. "Who would do this?" she asks, pulling out her phone to take a picture while I stare at the dying rat covered in blood.
“I don’t know,” I say, my head falling into my hands.
But I do know. Whoever wants me to keep quiet. Is it Trent? Chris? Ford? It wouldn't make sense if it were Trent or Chris. It's been four years; why would they threaten me to be quiet now?
After ten minutes, Danny shows up, knocking on the front door. I had to close the shop for the day. It’s not like I could serve customers with a dead rat on the prep counter.
“Are you alright?” he asks with a look of apprehension as he walks in.
I’m not surprised he came alone. I thought that usually when there was this sort of thing, cops would bring a partner or backup.
“Yes…and no.”
“Let me take a look,” Danny says, turning down the radio clipped to his uniform when the dispatcher addresses another call.
“Be our guest,” Katie replies in a snarky voice.
She doesn't like Danny because of the date and how I ended up in the bathroom stall. However, I can also sense her fear in the way she bites her thumbnail. Hell, I'm scared.
Danny walks inside the kitchen to check it out while Katie and I stand right outside the door. I steady my breath, trying to calm the panic.
Someone broke into the bakery. There are only two exits, and none of them look like someone has broken inside. I armed the alarm, so it would’ve gone off. Katie was the last one to lock up. I have cameras by the register. There is no reason she would do something like this. I shift to the side and grab my phone, scanning the kitchen for anything amiss but finding nothing.
While I hear the kitchen door swing open, I check the footage on the app. “Do you have cameras in the kitchen area?” Danny asks.
“No, but I’m checking the camera by the register to see if anyone slipped behind the counter and entered the kitchen, but there is nothing. I was here yesterday until I had to make deliveries.”
“Where’s the van?” Danny asks curiously.
“It’s in Trent’s garage,” I reply.
“Trent?” Danny says in a hard tone.
“His is the only car repair place in town, Danny.”
“Trent placed an order from your bakery yesterday,” Danny asks.
I don’t want to tell him it was Ford.
“There is no way anyone went into the kitchen yesterday after you left, Dulce,” Katie said, shaking her head. “I was working the register. We had about ten customers. I didn’t go back to the kitchen after you left. I locked up at six o’clock and closed out the register. Then I armed the alarm and locked the door.”
“I know,” I tell her, waving my phone. “I saw.”
I trust Katie. I wish I had told the guy who installed the cameras to install one in the kitchen, but it was extra, and I was on a budget. I needed the money for the van and the extra hours to pay Mary so I could work.
“He must have had something to do with it,” Danny says.
“Who?” I ask confused.
“Trent,” he says.
Katie looks back and forth between Danny and me with a confused expression. Katie doesn’t know about my past or what happened. “Who is Trent, and why would he be involved in breaking in the prep table rat?” Katie asks.
I don't trust Trent, but he didn't place the order. It's possible that he knows who did it or who is behind the rat. Ford was asking him questions about that night, but I don’t want to tell Danny about the argument they had or that Ford is prying into what happened.
“We can’t rule anything out, but I’m not sure Trent is behind it,” I reply, ignoring Katie’s question.
“Why not?” Danny counters.
“Because Trent didn’t place the order,” I tell him. "Ford did."
Why would Trent or Chris be behind the rat? It wouldn’t make sense. They wouldn't want to reveal the prank or bring up the fact that they abandoned me in the middle of the road, so why would they send me a message? Everyone from school knows about the prank on prom night. I still can't remember. I don't have a face. This last threat reinforces the fact that they want me to think it’s Ford.
“Don’t you find it strange that this is happening since he came back?” Danny says in an acerbic tone.
He means Ford.
I shake my head, not wanting to believe it, even though I can’t think of an argument against it. I can’t trust anyone in this town. The truth is, Ford kicked Trent's ass despite being friends, or maybe they aren’t as close as I thought.
“I’ll call the investigations unit to see if we can find any prints. Did you touch anything?” Danny asks, taking out his phone.
I shake my head. “Just the back door, the kitchen door, and the alarm.”
“Good. Don’t touch anything until they get here and do their thing.” He gives me a soft expression. “I’ll do anything in my power to catch whoever did this, Dulce.”
Fear claws at my gut. I cross my arms over my waist. They never catch anyone, but I nod anyway. The dead rat is a message, and he knows it. I need to keep my mouth shut, or I’ll end up dead like that rat on the table.