Page 54 of Sugar Coated Secrets

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. Idon'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.

17

DULCE

After Danny calls the general investigations unit, Katie and I prepare our statements. It has been a madhouse so far.

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