Any Problems

 

It’d been a week since Vin had shipped out the roses and Smokey’s food dish. He didn’t have it in him to dig up the remains of Smokey, especially since Sam did a good job wrapping it in a towel. But the food bowl was something else.

Since they thought the cat died of natural causes, he wouldn’t expect to see anything that stood out on the body, but he wanted to see if there was any trace of anything in the food. It was a long shot, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Elimination was the best thing they could do.

He was sitting on his terrace when he saw Piper pull in Saturday afternoon. Not like he could miss her vehicle. Guess it was a good marketing tool, all that yellow and bright lettered logo

She slammed her car door, shuffling the bags in her hands. He stood up and yelled over the side. “Hang on, I’ll come down and give you a hand.”

“Don’t bother,” she snapped back, and started to make her way to the building.

He got up and met her in the stairwell anyway. “What is your problem?” he asked.

“Nothing. Bad day,” she said.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that anything that could go wrong did today.”

They walked up the stairwell in silence, surprising him. “Well?” he finally said. “Are you going to tell me more or do I have to guess?”

“I had to throw out three batches of cookies when I realized the bag of flour I’d opened had been contaminated.”

“Contaminated how?” he asked, holding the door to the third floor open for her.

“A mouse. I never have mice in the bakery. I know they are everywhere, but I’m very clean. I saw that a mouse had chewed through the bottom. I can’t take any chances, so I threw everything out and had to start over. That is, after I checked everything else in the storage room.”

“Any other problems?”

“No. Just some mouse droppings, which isn’t surprising. Sam set some traps, which of course freaked me out, but I don’t have a choice. I can’t let them live and I don’t know how to catch them and get rid of them in a timely fashion. My business and health regulations have to come first.”

“What else happened, or is that it?”

“Someone complained. I never get complaints. But someone tried one of my new creations even after I told her what was in it, and she didn’t like it. I gave her a refund and her choice of anything else, but she was snotty about it. Said I should have warned her it was spicy.”

“What was it?”

“It was a jalapeno muffin. Don’t people know that jalapenos are spicy? I have to actually say, ‘it might be hot’?”

He bit back the grin. “Well, now you know. Is that all?”

“No. That’s not all. The worst is my car.”

“What’s wrong with your car?” he asked. They were in her apartment right now and she was slamming things around as she put them away. He’d never seen this side of her before.

“Someone dinged and scratched it or something in the parking lot.”

“Here?” he asked.

“I don’t think so. I think at work. The parking lot between my building and the wine store. That’s where I park. Where do you park when you come?”

“I park in the road if I can, or the same parking lot. Are you sure it happened today?”

“I’m not positive. It was on the passenger side. I hardly ever go to that side of the car. But my hands were full and I walked over to put stuff in today. Where are you going?” she asked.

“To look at your car.”

“Do you have skills in auto repair now too?”

He ignored her sarcasm and walked outside to her car, looked over the damage, and took some pictures. Then he squatted down and looked closer. Another car didn’t hit this. That was a fist imprint and what looked like key scratches.

He went back up to his apartment, got what he needed, and returned. He lifted any prints he could, then took putty and pressed it against the car, trying to make a mold of the damage. That would all be going to the same lab as the roses and the cat bowl. This was escalation for sure.

Pulling his phone out, he called Detective Myers.

Twenty minutes later, both Piper and the detective were standing next to her car while he took her statement. “Are there cameras in the parking lot?” the detective asked.

“I don’t think so. I don’t have cameras in my store, and I don’t think the wine store does either. I never go in there, but I’ve never seen anything outside their building.”

“I’ll check it out,” the detective said. “But this doesn’t look accidental in the least. Have any problems with anyone lately?” he asked Piper.

She hesitated. “No one other than the woman who was mad her muffin was too spicy.”

“What’s her name?” Detective Myers asked.

“Are you kidding me?” Piper asked, her hands on her hips. “I was joking. She was barely a hundred pounds and was looking for some free food. I’ve seen her type before. They buy something, say they don’t like it, complain, and get something else free. She couldn’t put a dent in this car with her fist even with Vin giving her a shove.”

“Her name just the same.”

Piper sighed. “I don’t know it. She paid cash. If she comes in again, I’ll ask her, but I’m telling you, I doubt it. I’ve never seen her before.” Piper stopped and then tensed. “You think this has something to do with the flowers and my dumpster, don’t you?”

Vin wasn’t going to lie. “Yeah. I do. Come on, Piper. There is more going on in your head. More you haven’t been saying. Tell me.”

“But this is the first time this has happened. I mean, the first time they did anything to my personal property.”

“Piper,” he said. “Who else? I see it in your eyes.”

“Karl McNulty,” she said, then shuttered.

“Who’s that?” Detective Myers asked.

“One of my past foster fathers. He’d gotten a little…grabby with me. With a lot of girls, I think. I reported it to my caseworker and she brushed it off. Told me that she’d heard the story before and she wasn’t falling for it. That all of us girls were the same. A few weeks ago, he was in my shop. He’s been in my shop a few times.”

“You didn’t think to tell me that?!” Vin shouted.

“Don’t get mad at me. I wanted to forget. And I didn’t actually see him. His voice. I heard him. He’s got a loud voice and I remembered it. It’s hard to forget it. Believe me.”

“I’ll check him out,” Myers said.

“Piper,” Vin said. “This is getting really personal. You need to start taking precautions. And you need to tell me everything. You can’t go anywhere alone. I’ll bring you to and from work. Don’t go outside without Sam or Nicole with you.”

“No way. I’m not getting them involved in this. They don’t know. Nicole has a child. Sam is just a kid.”

“She’s not a kid,” Vin said.

“It doesn’t matter. They don’t need to know this. It’s nothing dangerous, but if it is, I don’t want them to get hurt.”

“So it’s okay for you to get hurt?” Vin said.

“But I’m not hurt. I’m just upset.”

“Now, Ms. Fielding, I have to side with Vin here,” Detective Myers said. “There is a pattern to these things and it’s escalating. And it’s escalating rapidly. For over a year, you’ve gotten flowers and felt like you were being watched. In the past week, you’ve been left a nasty word on your property and now your car has been damaged. What has changed in that time?”

“Me,” Vin said.

“Meaning you two just started a relationship? You’ve lived in the building together for months.”

“Yeah, and we’ve talked on and off for several weeks. But in the past week we’ve…gotten closer.”

Detective Myers nodded. There wasn’t much more for Vin to say. “So now it seems there is a threat. Whoever this is, whoever is watching has gone from admiration to jealousy. I’ll be looking into this McNulty guy right away.”

Vin had already figured that out himself, which was why he set up a camera on his terrace and one in the hallway above his door. He wanted to hide one above Piper’s, but wouldn’t without her knowledge. Right now he wasn’t breaking any laws keeping it on his own property. And he’d be checking into this McNulty guy himself too.

“I’m covered. Don’t worry about me.”

“I’m going to file this report. If you find out anything else, or hear of anything, you’ve both got my number.”

Vin watched him walk away and turned to Piper, saw her standing there hugging herself. “I’m scared now.”

He pulled her in. “I know.” This time he felt the hair standing on his arms. He lifted his eyes and scanned around as best as he could without giving anything away. But there was nothing there. No one that he could make out. Just buildings and lots of windows in those buildings. Didn’t matter, he knew he was being watched right now too.

Monday he’d be talking to the landlords.