Chapter 2 - The Camera Across the Alley

Corinne laughed once. It sounded rehearsed.

"June, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Then you won't mind looking."

Grandma slid her phone across the kitchen island. The screen showed a grainy image from the motion camera above the florist's back entrance. At 2:14 a.m., a silver SUV sat behind Bell & Flour. A woman in a pale coat carried a metal box toward the trunk.

Corinne wasn't wearing the emerald sweater in the video. She was wearing the pale coat hanging in Dad's mudroom.

"That could be anybody," she said.

"It has your license plate."

Corinne stopped smiling.

I stood up, gingerbread crumbs clinging to my jeans. "That cash box belonged to Mom. Dad kept it in the bakery office."

"Your father asked me to get paperwork," Corinne said.

"At two in the morning?"

"We have financial problems you don't understand."

Grandma reached down, lifted the crooked red door, and placed it in my palm. "Put this somewhere safe, honey."

Corinne rolled her eyes. "Now we're making a federal case out of cookies?"

"No," Grandma said. "We're talking about a business."

The phone rang. Corinne glanced at the caller and turned away so quickly I caught only two words on the screen: GRANT K.

"Don't answer that here," Grandma said.

"You don't get to tell me whom I can call in my own house."

"It isn't your house. Daniel owns it. And your name isn't on the bakery."

Corinne's face reddened. "Not everything is about ownership."

"In your case, it usually is."

Dad came through the front door before Corinne could reply. He looked tired, gray at the temples, with his work coat half unzipped.

"Why is everyone yelling?"

Corinne ran to him. "Tessa destroyed the Christmas centerpiece, and your mother is accusing me of stealing."

He looked at the floor, then at me. "Tess, please. Not tonight."

"Ask her about the cash box," I said.

Dad closed his eyes.

That frightened me more than Corinne's smile had.

"Dad?"

"There are things going on at the bakery," he said quietly. "Things I meant to tell you."

May you like

Billionaire’s Wife Kicked a Waitress in Front of 300 Elites—One Slap Exp...

The billionaire’s wife tried to kick a waitress in the face in front of 300 wealthy guests. But seconds later, she whispered three...

My Mother Grabbed My Wife by the Hair Over Cold Soup—But What My Father...

My mother grabbed my wife by the hair over a bowl of cold soup. And the most shameful part? For one terrible second, I almost defe...

My Parents Kicked My 6-Year-Old Daughter and Me Out on Christmas—Then I...

My mother kicked my six-year-old daughter out of Christmas dinner, never realizing I was the only reason she still had a house to...

Grandma folded her arms. "Tell her now."

He took a wrinkled envelope from his coat. Across the front, printed in black, were three words: NOTICE OF SALE.