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Kat tucked the Muggs’ extra key in the pocket of her jeans. Muffin launched from her arms and skidded across the floor. He disappeared around a corner. Kat hummed to herself, trying to shake away the eerie emptiness. She followed the paw prints into the kitchen.
“You hungry?” She babbled at the dog. Her voice bounced off the cold tile. The echo comforted her more than the silence. Muffin skittered around the ground. His long sharp nails clicked like raptor talons on the kitchen flooring. Kat continued her search for food for the dog. “I don’t think I’d be as anxious as you are to eat if I’d enjoyed the same meal you had last.”
Muffin’s adventure into human cuisine didn't faze him. He sniffed and snorted on the hunt for crumbs and other forgotten delicacies. “You’re not going to start craving human flesh, now? Are you?” Kat’s joke left her with a sick shiver and an urge to flee.
✽✽✽
Lydia knocked. No answer. She knocked again. Before she could decide if she needed to ring the bell, Victor came to the door. He looked aggravated but not angry.
“Oh, Lydia, it’s you!” Victor leaned forward and craned his neck around to survey the lawn. “No, Miss Jacqui?”
Lydia swallowed a snicker. Victor’s face flickered from frustration to relief when he noted Lydia was alone. “Nope, just me.”
The tall man opened his door more widely and leaned against the jamb. He tossed his arms across his chest in a friendly, relaxed way. “Whew,” he joked. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m making some late deliveries. Isaac from The General had some packages from you?”
“From me?”
“Yes. They’re Victor E Candle boxes. Some of them look a bit older than others. But they have no receiver listed. Only your address.”
Victor stretched to his full height. “Really?” Again, he scanned the street. “Any of them damaged or opened?
Lydia smiled. “Not that I noticed. They got mixed with a batch Braden was responsible for delivering. “
“That’s interesting. How many boxes do you say you have?”
“Quite a few. They’re in my car.”
“Well, I’m not sure how Braden got a hold of them. I do know exactly who’s missing their orders. Can I get them from you? I’ll ship them off, myself.”
“That would be wonderful.” Lydia pulled her keys from her back pocket and clicked the unlock button. Her car chirped in response.
✽✽✽
Cordelia rested her head on her hands. Flora rubbed anxious circles on the distraught woman’s shoulders. Ethan left the ladies and attended to Hobo Joe’s release. He mumbled something about a confession and an eye witness as he exited his office. The closed-door muffled his voice too much to hear the entire sentence. Flora strained her ears but couldn’t make it out.
“Mario, my Mario,” Cordelia’s voice held disbelief and confusion in each syllable. Her thoughts came out fuzzy as fog and just as disorienting. “How could they? Muffin. The finger. The stupid finger. I was so careful.”
Shivers racked Flora’s spine. Her faith in her friend echoed her belief in Cordelia’s innocence. However, Cordelia’s own words rattled that faith and dangled doubt between Flora’s well-meaning thoughts. She didn’t know what to do.
“I was so careful. Now, what will they think? I know the truth. I know the truth. Oh, poor Mario. Poor, poor Mario.” Cordelia snapped upright and stared directly into Flora’s startled eyes. “Why didn’t he reach out? I thought we were past all the pride and secrets. We fought it, together. I never expected, never dreamed...” Cordelia unlocked her gaze. Her eyes drifted toward the wall clock above the office door. She watched it tick without a word.
Flora’s hand dropped to her lap. She could not fathom Cordelia killing Mario. However, the woman was almost confessing it. Flora prayed. There had to be evidence to clear the distraught widow. There had to be.
✽✽✽
Kat paced the Muggs master bedroom. She bounced on tiptoes as she followed Muffin. Out the window, she caught a flicker of Lydia and Victor Cotton toting boxes to Victor’s front porch. “Hurry, Lydia.” Kat didn’t want to be alone in the spooky house, but she didn’t trust Muffin-not after the finger eating event.
Though nervous, she stalked the pup. She didn’t know what exactly she was hoping for, but if Muffin found a finger, what else might he find? Kat wanted in on the discovery before the dog tried, once again, to eat it. So far Muffin led Kat up the stairs and into Cordelia’s room. He’d spent a moment in the master bathroom, sniffing the baseboards and then promptly burrowed under Cordelia’s decorative pillows.
Kat sat at the vanity, facing Victor’s house. Seeing her friend nearby helped ease her tension. She drummed her fingers atop a jewelry box and blew out the candle. The smoke plumed with hints of metallic blue weaving with the gray-white cloud. Kat wrinkled her nose at the plastic odor. She waved the fumes away from her face and looked for something better to smell. Spotting a canister labeled Mario’s Nighttime Treat. Kat unscrewed the lid and allowed a whiff of Dutch cocoa to replace the candle’s horrid after scent.
Muffin spiraled in his happy place. He mashed his pillowy haven to his liking and sprawled across it. Kat wondered if Muffin was allowed on the Muggs’ bed. She contemplated moving him back downstairs. When the dog started gagging, a replay of the garage debacle looped in Kat’s memory. Hastily, she snatched the dog and his lounging pillow. Muffin lunged at Kat. He snapped his teeth an inch from her nose before projecting himself to the floor. He grumbled at her and sauntered from the room.
Kat pulled a hand to her face, double-checking for damage from Muffin’s strike. Unfortunately, she used the same hand holding the pillow. The corner smacked her in the forehead with a startling thwack. She stumbled backward and sat on the bed. The pillow thudded to the ground making the same assaulting sound. Kat rubbed her head. She dug inside the pillowcase and pulled out a cellphone nestled in a You Pick case.
✽✽✽
Victor shut the front door with inviting warmth and sighed. “It looks like you could use a fresh cup of coffee. Come on in. I’ll get the water going.”
Victor left Lydia without waiting for her response. Coffee always sounded good. Lydia chastened her nervous energy. Tingles of adrenaline spiked across the skin of her forearm. She would not give into her fear. She would stay in control. A warm slug of dark roast would wash away her momentary jitters. Lydia ignored the strange feelings swirling through her and decided to stay for one cup of coffee.
“Sounds great,” She called out to Victor, hoping he didn’t translate her hesitance as rudeness. She also hoped he didn’t know about her jog over his fence the other day. Lydia slid her purse strap from her shoulder and dropped the bag near the front door. Kat’s essential oil bottle fell, and Lydia tucked it deep into her pocket.
Victor’s voice trickled through the walls but did not land in discernable sentences on Lydia’s ears. Lydia stepped into the opulent living area. Leather couches and expensive electronics decorated the space. It was not at all the sort of living room Lydia expected. It held no small-town charm or Americana décor. Even stranger, not a single, Victor E. Candle adorned the space.
Lydia shrugged and met Victor in the kitchen. He smiled and greeted her with a fresh cup of coffee.
“Cream?” Lydia declined his offer. “Me neither,” Victor returned a carton of half and half to the fridge. He gestured to a small canister near Lydia. “That’s what I prefer. A huge scoop of cocoa. Instant Café Mocha. Would you like some?”
Lydia’s head throbbed, remembering her last experience with chocolate. “No, thank you. I’m beginning to think I’m allergic to chocolate.”
“Is that so?”
Victor listened as Lydia recounted the strange episode. His face puckered together when she detailed her reaction. “But please, don’t let that stop you,” she said.
Victor frowned at the rejected chocolate. “I’d better not. I already had my daily dose.” He grinned and shoved the container away.