Chapter 13

ROSE

Amy’s Bakery was less drab than I remembered it. The lights were brighter. A fresh coat of paint on the walls made a cheery scene. Even the line seemed filled with more enthusiastic patrons and the employees were smiling more than usual. The pastries were just as good as I remembered though.

I sat just outside of the bakery in the morning, picking at a donut along with a cup of tea. A combination of thinking about my brother and wondering what Ashton was up to kept me up longer than I was used to but I still managed to wake up and enjoy the sun.

The sweetness of the donut perked me up as I kept my head down. I smiled, imagining Ashton probably still in bed at the moment after a long night of taking care of work. I caught up on the news, a couple of earbuds just loud enough to distract me from all of the people heading into the bakery to get their day started.

I sighed a deep breath when I suddenly felt someone standing next to me. I could see the man was wearing a suit but I didn’t pay much attention to him. Figured he was just another man looking for a cup of coffee before he headed into the office.

“Hello.”

I heard a voice but assumed it wasn’t for me. The suit next to me didn’t move though. I raised my head up and he spoke again.

“Hello.”

He had a polite smile on his face. It wasn’t polite enough to hide whatever it was he was really thinking. Something about the way he looked at me… It gave me an uneasy feeling. That’s when I noticed just how fancy his suit was. Along with the expensive watch on his wrist and how neatly he style his hair, he wasn’t some ordinary suit. You never saw men like him in this part of town, regardless of how popular Amy’s was.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” he said. “Do you mind if I speak to you for a moment?”

“Um… I guess not…”

“Thank you.”

He took a seat in front of me and I pulled my earbuds out. I looked to the side and noticed an SUV parked right next to me. It’s windows were tinted but not enough to hide the man in the driver’s seat who was looking right at me. Some sort of intense-looking security guard who made me feel even less uncomfortable.

“Again, I apologize. My name is Aaron Picardo.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Aaron.”

“I’ve heard a lot about Amy’s. Never got the chance to stop by. I’ve been so busy really. But I guess now is as good a time as any. How is the donut?” He kept his eyes locked on me, that smile still on his lips though it looked like it was taking more effort for him to keep it.

“It’s good… Listen, I’m sorry, Aaron. But I think you have me mistaken for someone else—”

“Are you not Rose Macdonald?”

“I…” I held back my surprise. But I was flustered, suddenly able to respond. And he knew it.

“I apologize. I stopped by your home earlier this morning. Your parents were there. I believe it was your mother who told you’d stopped by Amy’s. You look just like her…”

He kept that unblinking stare on me. It was obvious this was serious. I swallowed hard, narrowing my eyes at him. If he was up to something, I wasn’t gonna waste any time.

“I don’t know who you are or what this is about but you have the wrong person—”

“As I said, I’m Aaron Picardo. And you are Rose Macdonald. I’m exactly where I need to be.” He straightened up in his seat and fixed his tie before sighing softly through his nose. “I’ll get to the point. Recently, I was having some modifications done to one of my vehicles. At a local garage. It just so happened last night, the men working at that garage were held-up at gunpoint. My vehicle, stolen.”

I stayed silent while I listened to his story. I still didn’t know what this had to do with me but a part of me was wondering how it could.

“The people who did it were thorough. Masks to cover their faces. They removed the license plates to make sure they were untraceable. But they made a mistake. They left evidence at the scene. A single fingerprint on one of the workbenches. Fortunately for me, the fingerprint was on file. It belonged to one Joseph Macdonald…”

I swallowed hard, clenching my jaw to maintain my composure. But as hard as I tried, I couldn’t hold back how much I was beginning to shake.

“I… I don’t know…”

“Of course, you don’t know.” The grin on his face grew even wider, which just made him look even more threatening. “A woman like you would never be involved in something like this. But you know your brother as well as anybody else. Surely you’re aware he’s capable of something like this.”

I looked away from him, staring off into the distance. Joey was capable of something like this. And remembering how flustered he was just the other night, it made sense. “If you’re looking for him, I don’t know where he is. If you want his number, I can give it to you but I don’t think they’d be of any help. I… I can’t help you.”

“No… No, you can’t. How could I expect you, his own sister, to help me find the man who robbed me?”

“…What will you do when you find him?”

“When I find him? I’ll do what I’ve already done with his associates. I’ll take care of him in an appropriate manner.”

I squinted at him, wondering if I’d heard him correctly. The way he smiled, I knew that I had.

“That’s right,” he continued. “I’ve already found the men he was working with. They’ve been dealt with. You’re not familiar with me. I can understand that. But in some circles, I have a reputation. A reputation I need to maintain.

“I don’t expect you to just hand your brother over to me, but I think it would be in your best interests to do so, should he try to contact you. Perhaps you can even send him a message.”

“And what’s that?”

“Tell him I’m waiting for him. Whether it’s here at Amy’s or at Finn’s bar… or even your parents’ farmhouse. I’m here in Ivory… Waiting… Ready for him to give back what he stole from me.”

I kept staring straight while he got up from his seat. From the corner of my eye, I could see him fixing his already unwrinkled black suit.

“I apologize for interrupting your breakfast. Perhaps we can meet again and have another cordial conversation. I heard the tiramisu here is to die for.”

The heels of his loafers clicked against the pavement as he got into his car. I listened to the sound of the SUV rev its engine before slowly rolling into traffic and disappearing down the road.

I didn’t want to think about what I just heard. But the pieces fit too well for it not to be true. My brother freaking out. A stranger managing to find me less than 24 hours later.

Picardo wanted to kill my brother. And there was no telling what he would do if he didn’t get his hands on him.

“Dammit, Joey…” I muttered to myself.

I looked down at my phone and thought about what I could do. I realized I didn’t have much options. This wasn’t just about Joey. It was about me and my family, too. There was only one person I could depend on.

“I hope he’s awake…”