Page 57 of Flare
Violet Tringstad was barely twenty, with a nose ring and hair she’d dyed a deep purple for the festival. She’d welcomed Emily to the Cinnamon + Sugar team, treating her like she’d always been there.
“Of course.” Emily refilled the booth’s bakery case, then moved to the register.
Despite her worries, everything was going great so far. As Maggie had predicted, their booth was the most popular one at the festival, and they’d already sold out of the bakery’s signature cinnamon rolls.
The morning passed in a pleasant blur of transactions, cheerful customers, and the constant hum of festival activity. As she worked, Emily listened to the live music coming from the nearby stage. Children with butterflies, lilacs, and lavender blossoms painted on their faces ran down the street, which had been closed to traffic over the weekend. Couples strolled hand in hand among the vendor booths.
After a while, she even forgot to scan the crowd for Andrew’s face.
It was during a brief lull in customers, as Emily was restocking the bakery cases with more macarons and cookies, that she heard Violet’s sharp intake of breath.“Shit.”
She and Maggie both turned to look at Violet.
“Guys,” the young wolf shifter whispered urgently.“Three o’clock. Big blond guy in the blue shirt. Is that him?”
Emily’s head snapped up. She followed Violet’s gaze and felt her heart stop.
Andrew stood about thirty yards away, partially obscured by a display of lavender plants, but unmistakable with his golden hair and expensive clothing. He was scanning the crowd, not yet looking in their direction.
“It’s him,” she and Maggie said at the same time.
Chapter 16
Checkmate
Maggie’s face hardened. Without taking her eyes off Andrew, she pulled out her phone and hit speed dial.
“Mary, Brunborn just showed up,” she said tersely.“Near the stage, in front of the Bearpaw Fish n’ Game Store.” She paused, listening. “Right. We’re implementing the safety plan now.”
Emily watched, frozen, as Maggie hung up and immediately dialed another number.“Grandma Elle, he’s here,” was all she said before ending that call too.
“What do we do?” Emily asked, hating how small her voice sounded.
“Exactly what we planned,” Maggie said firmly. She gestured to the dark-haired man who had been sitting unobtrusively at a table near their booth.
Emily had noticed him earlier but assumed he was just another festival-goer. Now he stood and moved with purpose, positioning himself between their booth and where Andrew stood.
“That’s my cousin, Young Mitya,” Maggie explained in a low voice.“And there are two more of my cousins in the crowd nearby. Mary’s officers are on their way. You’re safe, Emily.”
Almost as if he sensed he was being discussed, Andrew turned in their direction. His eyes locked with Emily’s across the crowd, and a triumphant smile spread across his face. His predatory expression made her skin crawl.
But then something changed. Andrew’s expression faltered as he registered the coordinated movement of people around him. A uniformed police officer appeared at the edge of the crowd, and Young Mitya began walking purposefully toward Andrew.
Andrew’s face darkened with a familiar expression of rage as he spotted Young Mitya closing in.
With a glare at Emily that promised this wasn’t over, he grabbed the support pole of the pop-up tent nearest to him, and yanked hard. The tent collapsed in on itself.
The booth was crowded with people buying local honey and beeswax candles. Screams rose as the fabric top billowed and descended, trapping the customers.
Andrew turned on his heel and raced away in a blur of motion.
Young Mitya shouted, then went to help the people trapped under the tent.
Horrified, Emily watched as Andrew fled down Main Street, brutally shoving people out of his way and leaving a trail of deliberate destruction in his wake. He was headed toward the medical center, whose parking lot was being used for festival parking.
“He’s running,” Maggie said into her phone.“Heading toward the parking lot.”
Emily gripped the edge of the counter to steady her shaking legs.
