Chapter 7 A Threat Over the Counter
Mia Rossi knew something was wrong before she opened the bakery door.
It was too quiet.
Crystal Cove was usually awake before she was.
By six in the morning, delivery trucks rattled down Ocean Avenue, gulls screamed over the rooftops, and fishermen called to one another from the harbor.
But that morning, the street seemed to be holding its breath.
Mia stood outside The Honeycomb Bakery with her keys in her hand.
She frowned.
"That's strange."
Gingersnap sat inside the bakery, visible through the glass.
He was watching her.
Mia unlocked the door.
The bell chimed softly.
She stepped inside.
Gingersnap stretched.
"Morning."
The cat yawned.
Mia smiled.
"That's exactly how I feel."
She set her bag beneath the counter and reached for the lights.
Then she saw it.
Something dark lay directly outside the front door.
Mia stopped.
Her hand remained on the light switch.
At first, she thought it was a pile of trash.
Then she saw the tail.
Her stomach dropped.
"Oh."
A dead rat lay on the doorstep.
Mia stumbled backward.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
"No."
Gingersnap noticed the change in her voice.
He jumped down from the window seat and approached the door.
Mia immediately stepped between him and the glass.
"Gingersnap, stay."
The cat stopped.
He stared at the object outside.
His ears flattened.
Then he hissed.
Mia had never heard him make that sound at something that wasn't a person.
He backed away.
His fur rose along his spine.
"Gingersnap?"
The cat hissed again.
Then he bolted.
He disappeared beneath the bakery's large display case.
Mia stared after him.
"Gingersnap?"
Nothing.
She crouched.
"Come here."
No response.
She reached beneath the case.
The cat pressed himself farther into the shadows.
Mia's heart tightened.
He was frightened.
Really frightened.
She stood again and looked at the dead rat.
It wasn't an accident.
Not here.
Not on her doorstep.
And then she saw the note.
A small white piece of paper had been pinned beneath the rat.
Mia's breath caught.
She didn't want to touch it.
She didn't want to read it.
But she already knew it wasn't going to say anything good.
She took a step closer.
The handwriting was large and deliberate.
Four words.
STOP SNOOPING OR YOU'LL BE NEXT.
Mia stared.
Her hands began to shake.
For several seconds, she couldn't move.
Then she stepped backward.
Someone knew.
Someone knew she had been asking questions.
Someone knew she'd been looking into Harrison Finch's murder.
Someone was watching her.
Mia looked toward the empty street.
Nobody was there.
A car passed at the far end of Ocean Avenue.
A gull landed on a telephone pole.
Everything looked normal.
That somehow made it worse.
She closed the bakery door.
Locked it.
Then checked the lock again.
"Gingersnap?"
A pair of frightened eyes appeared beneath the display case.
"It's okay."
The cat didn't move.
Mia crouched again.
"I'm here."
Gingersnap remained hidden.
Mia sat on the floor.
She didn't care that her apron was going to get dirty.
She simply sat there.
For the first time since she'd adopted him, Gingersnap wouldn't come to her.
That frightened her more than the note.
She reached toward him.
"It's okay."
The cat gave a tiny, uncertain growl.
Mia withdrew her hand.
"Okay."
She swallowed.
"You stay there."
She looked back at the door.
The note was still outside.
The rat was still there.
And suddenly, her bakery no longer felt safe.
Mia called Chloe.
Her hands were still shaking.
"Hello?"
"Chloe."
Mia's voice cracked.
"What happened?"
"Someone left something outside the bakery."
"What?"
"A dead rat."
Silence.
"What?"
"A dead rat."
"Mia, are you serious?"
"Yes."
"What kind?"
Mia stared at it through the glass.
"The dead kind."
"Mia."
"Sorry."
"Is Gingersnap okay?"
Mia looked beneath the display case.
"He's hiding."
"I'll be there."
"Don't."
"What?"
"Don't come here yet."
"Mia—"
"I don't know if whoever did this is watching."
Chloe went quiet.
"Did they leave a note?"
Mia closed her eyes.
"Yes."
"What does it say?"
Mia hesitated.
Then read it aloud.
Chloe inhaled sharply.
"Oh my God."
"I know."
"You need to call Sheriff Briggs."
"I know."
"Now."
Mia looked at the phone.
She didn't want to.
Calling the sheriff meant admitting she had been investigating.
It meant admitting someone had discovered it.
It meant the mystery was no longer something happening somewhere else.
It was happening to her.
"I'm calling."
She ended the call.
Then dialed the sheriff's office.
Sheriff Briggs arrived fifteen minutes later.
Two deputies accompanied him.
Mia opened the door only after she saw the sheriff's vehicle outside.
Briggs looked at her.
"Where is it?"
She pointed.
"Outside."
He stepped toward the door.
His expression changed when he saw the rat.
"Don't touch anything."
"I didn't."
"Good."
One deputy photographed the doorstep.
Another examined the note.
Mia stood several feet away, hugging herself.
Briggs looked at her.
"When did you find this?"
"About twenty minutes ago."
"Anyone else here?"
"No."
"Did you see anyone outside?"
"No."
"Any strange cars?"
"No."
"Did you receive any threats before this?"
Mia hesitated.
Briggs noticed.
"Mia."
She looked at him.
"I found something."
"What?"
"The napkin."
His expression sharpened.
"What napkin?"
"The piece I told you about."
"The one with the date?"
"Yes."
"Where is it?"
"In my recipe book."
"Show me."
Mia turned toward the counter.
Then stopped.
The recipe book was exactly where she'd left it.
She picked it up.
"Here."
Briggs examined the torn fragment.
"October 14."
"Yes."
"And you've been looking into it?"
Mia nodded.
"After you told me to stay out of the investigation."
Briggs gave her a look.
"I told you to leave the investigation to us."
"I know."
"But you didn't."
"No."
He sighed.
Mia expected anger.
Instead, he looked toward the dead rat.
"Now we know someone noticed."
Mia swallowed.
"What does that mean?"
"It means whoever left this knows you're asking questions."
Her stomach turned.
"Who?"
"We don't know."
"Could it be Greg?"
"Could be."
"Julian?"
"Could be."
"Someone else?"
"Most likely."
Mia stared at him.
"That's not very comforting."
"No."
Briggs examined the note again.
"Was this handwriting familiar?"
Mia looked at it.
"No."
She hesitated.
"Maybe."
"What?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
Briggs placed the note into an evidence bag.
"We'll test it."
Mia nodded.
Then she remembered something.
"The spice."
Briggs looked up.
"What about it?"
"The jar Gingersnap found."
"What about it?"
"Could it have been connected to this?"
"Possibly."
"Do you know what's in it?"
"We're still testing it."
Mia looked toward Gingersnap.
He was still beneath the display case.
Briggs followed her gaze.
"He's usually this frightened?"
"No."
"What's wrong with him?"
"The rat."
Briggs crouched near the display case.
"Gingersnap."
The cat's eyes appeared.
He immediately retreated deeper into the shadows.
Briggs stood.
"Poor thing."
Mia felt something tighten in her chest.
"He's never hidden from me before."
Briggs looked at her.
"Then whoever did this has frightened both of you."
Mia stared at the note.
She suddenly imagined someone standing outside the bakery before sunrise.
Placing the rat on her doorstep.
Pinning the message beneath it.
Then walking away.
Calmly.
Knowing she would find it.
Knowing she would be scared.
She shivered.
"I'm closing."
Briggs nodded.
"That's probably wise."
"I don't know for how long."
"Until we know more."
Mia looked around her bakery.
The ovens.
The display cases.
The shelves.
Her grandmother's recipe book.
Everything she'd worked for.
She couldn't imagine leaving it.
But she couldn't imagine risking Gingersnap either.
"Maybe I should stop."
Briggs looked at her.
"Stop what?"
"All of it."
"The questions?"
"Yes."
He studied her.
"That's your decision."
Mia nodded.
"Then maybe I should."
Briggs didn't argue.
He simply handed her the evidence receipt.
"We'll be in touch."
He and the deputies left.
Mia locked the door behind them.
The bakery fell silent.
She turned around.
"Gingersnap?"
Nothing.
She crouched beside the display case again.
"I know you're scared."
Two golden eyes looked back at her.
Mia smiled weakly.
"You know what?"
The cat remained still.
"Maybe we should just close the bakery."
Gingersnap blinked.
"We could go upstairs."
Nothing.
"I could make tea."
The cat didn't move.
"Maybe we could forget all about Harrison Finch."
Gingersnap's ears twitched.
Mia sat on the floor.
She looked around the bakery.
For years, this place had been her safe place.
The place where she could lose herself in recipes.
Where the smell of bread could make everything feel right.
Where Gingersnap slept in the window.
Where Chloe laughed behind the counter.
Now someone had brought fear to the doorstep.
Mia looked at the note again.
STOP SNOOPING OR YOU'LL BE NEXT.
She felt afraid.
More afraid than she wanted to admit.
But beneath the fear was something else.
Anger.
Someone had threatened her.
Someone had frightened Gingersnap.
Someone had tried to take away the one place in the world that belonged to her.
Mia slowly stood.
She looked beneath the display case.
Gingersnap was still hiding.
She crouched again.
"It's okay."
The cat watched her.
"I'm not going to let them hurt you."
Gingersnap's ears lifted slightly.
Mia took a deep breath.
"Maybe I was wrong."
She looked toward the front door.
"Maybe I shouldn't have been investigating."
Her voice hardened.
"But I'm not going to be bullied."
Gingersnap finally moved.
Just a little.
His nose emerged from beneath the case.
Mia smiled.
"There you are."
He didn't come out.
Not yet.
But he was listening.
Mia looked at the threatening note one last time.
Then she looked at her frightened cat.
Fear told her to quit.
Fear told her to close the bakery.
Fear told her to let Sheriff Briggs handle everything.
But another voice inside her was growing louder.
Someone had killed Harrison Finch.
Someone was hiding something.
And now that someone had threatened Mia directly.
She wiped her eyes.
"No."
Gingersnap blinked.
Mia straightened.
"They don't get to scare us out of our own home."
She took one more breath.
"I don't know who you are."
Her eyes hardened.
"But I'm going to find out."
For the first time since discovering the dead rat, Gingersnap slowly crawled out from beneath the display case.
He approached Mia cautiously.
She knelt.
He pressed his head against her hand.
Mia closed her fingers around his fur.
"I'm scared too."
Gingersnap purred softly.
"But we're not running."
Outside, the morning sun rose over Crystal Cove.
Inside The Honeycomb Bakery, Mia Rossi made a decision.
She would fight.