Page 49 of Hero's Prize

That had to be the exhaustion. This was Oak Creek in the middle of the week. There was very little chance someone was out at all, much less watching her bake. That was about as exciting as watching grass grow.

She shook off the feeling, but it was back a few minutes later. She shut off one of the mixers and sucked in a breath when she swore she saw a shadow passing along one of the windows.

There had been a fire here at Fancy Pants before Ella was even born. It had almost killed two people, and they’d later found out the fire had been set deliberately.

But that was a long time ago. Why was Ella feeling the same sort of bad-guy vibes again now?

She turned off all the mixers so that she could hear more clearly. Surely she was just letting her exhaustion get the better of her. She walked out into the front and looked around. Nothing. She was imagining things.

She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, calming herself.She needed to refocus, get this done, and get some sleep. She blew out the breath and opened her eyes, ready to restart.

And she saw a face in the window directly in front of her.

She jumped back, letting out a scream. She couldn’t see who it was, someone wrapped in a black hoodie. A split second later, the face was gone.

She ran over to grab her phone on the counter, not even sure who to call. Sheriff Webb? Nine-one-one? And say what—that someone had looked in her window?

But she’d seen enough horror movies to know that she wasn’t going to stay here by herself and wait to get killed. She may be many things, but too stupid to live was not one of them.

Calling Sheriff Webb probably made the most sense. He lived outside of town but could get here relatively quickly or would know if there was a deputy he could send. She hated to inconvenience anyone in the middle of the night, but she would also hate to wind up in a serial killer documentary.

Especially when a knock on the shop’s back door sounded out a few seconds later. Her heart rate ratcheted up again. There was no way she was opening that door.

She opened her phone to find Callum’s number and was startled into screeching again when her phone buzzed in her hand.

“Oh shit.” She dashed for the walk-in chiller. She could at least bar that on the inside if someone was breaking in.

Of course, if someone was setting a fire like years before, it would also be her death sentence.

She stopped when she saw the reason why her phone had buzzed. A message from Colton?

I’m at the back door of your shop if you would like some company.

She stared at the phone. Was that really him? She decided to call, stepping into the walk-in chiller as she did so.

“Hey,” he answered. “Did you get my text?”

“Are you really at the back door of my shop?”

He muttered a curse under his breath. “I’m sorry. I knew this was a bad idea.”

It had been Colton at the window. Thank God. She ran from the chiller toward the door. “No. No, I’m glad you’re here. You just scared me.”

She made it to the door as she finished her sentence. She ended the call as she opened it.

“I’m so glad it was you. You scared me to death in the window.” She held open the door and stepped backward so he could come in. She was still a little shaken, so she immediately locked the door behind them.

“What window?”

“When you stuck your face right up to my front window! I wasn’t expecting it, so it scared me to death.”

“I wasn’t anywhere near your front window. Scout’s honor.”

She looked at him more closely. He definitely wasn’t wearing the black hoodie like the face she’d seen.

“There was somebody there. Freaked me out.”

Colton instantly stiffened. “I’m going to go check it out. You stay here and lock the door behind me.”

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