Page 37 of Secret Weapon

“Da.”After all, he hadn’t said how closely.

The attacker’s path looped around to the south, behind the hair salon, the coffee house, the dental clinic, and a little way farther out, past the feed store and the veterinarian.I saw Brooke’s new car in the lot, a small blue Toyota that she’d bought to replace the older model she’d crashed last year.

The trail carried on, running parallel to the road that led to the Peninsula, and then it stopped.

Chyort.

“He had a vehicle waiting.”

Maybe he’d come from out of town?If that was the case, and Leona Curran was a guest at the Peninsula, I wouldn’t have any further responsibility once Ana and Emmy left.When I tinkered around on the edges of justice, it was to keep the inhabitants of Baldwin’s Shore safe.They were the folks who’d taken me in, who’d accepted me as one of their own, even if the lifestyle wasn’t entirely ideal.If Leona’s assailant had driven here from Eugene or Portland or Boise or Sacramento, he wasn’t my problem.Luca could write a report, I’d clean up the store, and small-town life would carry on.

Ana scouted about.“Not just waiting, but hidden out of sight behind these trees.”

Still not my problem.

“We should head back.Look for the dog on the way.”

As if on cue, her phone vibrated.“It’s called Gidget.”

“Who names a dog Gidget?”

“Your cat is called Pickle.”

“Only because I had to think up the kind of dumbass name that the owner of a rural craft store would use.”

We slunk back through the trees, calling softly as we went, but no dog appeared.Hardly surprising—the assailant had knifed Shauna’s dog, and it was much bigger than the papillon.If Gidget had been with Leona, he-slash-she was either lying dead somewhere or running in fear.

Back at the craft store, I only just had time to shove the BandGrip packages to the bottom of the trash before Brooke, Romi, and Paulo walked through the front door.At least Emmy had taken the jump bag with her when she left.

“You didn’t start cleaning up?”Paulo called.“That blood’s going to stain if we’re not careful.”

“I was busy.”

“Doing what?Because—” He stopped dead in the doorway when he saw Ana.“I thought the store was closed?”

“That’s right, but I ran into Ana here out the back.She came in for coffee while she waits for her friend.”

Paulo’s hands flew to his cheeks.“Out the back?You wentoutside?”

“I heard a noise.”

“But it’s dangerous.”

“I took bear spray.”

“It wasn’t a bear out there.”Paulo lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.“Isaac said Scooby got cut with a knife.A knife!Brooke tried to tell Luca, but the call went to voicemail.”

“Luca’s at the hospital, hun.”

“OMG!What happened?Whathappened?Brooke!Brooke!”

Perhaps I could have worded that better.“It’s okay, he’s not hurt.Paulo!Sit down and breathe.”

Brooke skidded into the break room.

“What happened?”

“Luca’s in—”

---