Cats, Cookies, and Capers by Perry Paige H

Author:Perry, Paige H.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Paige H. Perry
Published: 2024-01-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

The next morning, Lily was still thinking about the fun she had last night with Jackson, and she almost didn't notice the flurry of activity outside her bakery. There were flashing lights outside and groups of people hanging around on the sidewalk.

Her happiness faded away and an intense worry filled her instead. Had something happened to Emma? Or Jackson?! Wasting no more time, she rushed outside and nearly collided with Jackson on the sidewalk. He looked as relieved to see her as she was to see him.

“What happened?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he replied. “I wanted to check on you first.”

She smiled. “I was coming to check on you.”

He returned her smile. “Well, we are both present and accounted for, so I suppose we need to go find out what’s happening.”

Together, they turned to survey the crowd as police officers put up crime scene tape around Emma's store.

“Oh, no!” Lily whispered. “Not Emma’s store again! I hope she’s alright.”

“Let’s go find out,” Jackson said and pointed at Sheriff Leo Arther, who was taking in the scene from their side of the sidewalk.

He gave them a nod in greeting as they approached.

“What’s going on, Leo?” Jackson asked in greeting.

“I’m afraid we’ve had a true break-in this time,” he said. “Not just a broken window this time. They got into the store for sure. We’re trying to figure out if they took anything.”

“Is Emma alright?”

Leo nodded. “As well as expected, I suppose. She’s pretty upset that her store keeps getting damaged. She hasn’t even been able to get it open yet and someone keeps messing things up for her.”

“Plus, she’s still missing her Mittens,” Lily said. Almost on cue, one of the missing cat posters tore loose from its tape and fluttered to the ground. Lily sighed. “She’s having the worst luck this week.”

“We need to get this figured out, Leo,” Jackson said. “Aside from being horrible for Emma, these crimes are going to affect all of us. People won’t want to shop downtown if they think it’s dangerous.”

Lily looked around and could see the concern on the other shop owners' faces as well. The police had most of the street blocked off, and the entire area seemed to be frozen in time. Most of the shop owners waited on the sidewalk outside their respective shops. They seemed unsure as to what to do. Even if they did open for the morning, none of their customers would be allowed to get to them. That was never a good thing when you were a business owner.

“We’re hoping to find some clues this time,” Leo said. “This time, whoever brock in spent some time in the store, so maybe they left something behind we can go off of.”

“Are you going to let us open our stores today?” Lily asked. “Most of my business happens in the morning.”

“We’re done when we’re done,” Leo said.

“We’ll let you get back to it,” Jackson said. “Let us know if we can help.”

“Officers are coming around to interview all the shop owners,” Leo said before they could walk away.

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