She walked up to her front door and stopped. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and a cold chill went down her spine. Her front door wasn’t closed all the way.
Abby dashed back to her car and called Sawyer.
“Someone’s been at the house. The front door is open.”
“I’m on my way. I’m going to call my friend Sebastian. He owns a globally renowned security and investigative company. I’m also going to call my friend who happens to be the police chief. Stay in your car with the engine running and the doors locked. If anyone looks like they are coming out of the house, drive away immediately.”
It seemed like forever before Sawyer screeched to a halt in front of her house, with a huge, black truck right on his tail. Two large men climbed out of the truck.
“Abby, this is Sebastian and one of his team members, Julian. Sebastian’s a member of my pack. Did anyone come out of the house?”
Trembling slightly, she shook her head no. “That doesn’t mean they didn’t go out the back, though.”
Sebastian and Julian pulled out pistols and carefully approached the house, disappearing inside. Several minutes later they reappeared.
“All clear,” Sebastian said.
The police chief and a couple officers pulled in behind Sebastian’s truck. Abby quickly explained the situation, and Sebastian said that they cleared the house.
“Let’s go see if anything’s been tampered with,” the chief said. He turned to his deputies and added, “You guys start knocking on doors and see if anyone saw anything.”
Abby carefully inspected her house. At first, it just looked like things had been moved around. She opened one of the cabinets in her kitchen where she kept her protein mixes and vitamins.
I know I always put my vitamins on the bottom shelf, not on the middle shelf.
“I don’t mean to sound paranoid or be an alarmist, but I think someone’s messed with my vitamins.”
Sebastian used a glove to take them off the shelf and open the bottle. He dumped a couple capsules on the counter. The chief and Sebastian inspected them closely.
“I think these have been tampered with,” Sebastian said. “Julian, give me a plastic evidence bag please.”
Julian held the bag open while Sebastian carefully opened one of the capsules. He jerked his head back.
“I smelled bitter almonds. I’m pretty sure that the contents will test positive for cyanide.”
The chief sniffed around the bag and nodded. “I agree. I’ll take the rest of these back to the lab for testing.” He looked at Abby. “Who did you anger?”
Abby opened her eyes wide and held up her hands. Tears sprang into the back of her eyes. “I don’t know. I haven’t been in Angel’s Creek long enough to make people mad at me.”
“I can think of one person,” Sawyer said grimly. “Dahlia. She would do something to you to get back at me. I think we’d better check the contents of anything she might have poisoned.”
Sebastian opened the fridge, pulled out her milk and sniffed it. He nodded and handed it to the chief.
Her orange juice and a jug of tea had been poisoned as well.
One of the officers knocked on the door and entered the kitchen.
“Your neighbor said she saw a woman here earlier. She thought that the woman was supposed to be here because it looked like she used a key to get into your house.”
“Did she describe the woman to you?”
The officer nodded. “She was tall, slim, and had dark brown hair in a bob. She was driving an army green jeep.”
“That is Dahlia,” Abby said.
“We have to throw away everything that could have been contaminated. We can’t take any chances,” Sawyer said. “I’ll replace your groceries since she did this because of me.”
He looked at Sebastian. “How soon can you put in a security system?”