Chapter 28

RILEY

After we left the auction, Main Street was still busy. It reminded me of the times I came to the festival with my grandparents.

"Fudge?" Eric held a bag of cherry ripple fudge under my nose.

I blinked away my tears. "No, thanks."

"Are you sure? It tastes great."

I looked into Eric's eyes. "You're leading me astray."

Gently, Eric wiped a tear off my cheek. "I have the best of intentions."

"And what would those be?"

"To save myself from a sugar overload." He handed me a piece of fudge. "Do you and your mom want to come to my place for dessert?"

"We've already taken up most of your day."

Eric stepped aside to let a family walk past us. "Another hour won't hurt. We could all take Sherlock for a walk. Your mom would enjoy seeing the lake again."

"That sounds good to me," Mom said. "I'm looking forward to meeting Sherlock."

I smiled at Eric. "It looks like you have two visitors for dessert. Would you like us to bring anything?"

"Definitely not. We can have the cherry pie I bought at the auction." Eric's cell phone beeped. He took it out of his pocket and stopped walking. "It's Detective Jameson from the local police department."

I held my breath. Maybe they'd heard from the other detective Eric knew. They could have found the person who staged the first crime scene. Or perhaps the person responsible had done something worse. I hoped not. It was bad enough being stalked by someone. It was worse knowing what they could do next.

When Eric finished the call, he put his phone away.

My heart sank when I saw the worry on his face.

"Someone broke into the cottage. The police are there now."

Mom wrapped her arm around my waist. "How bad is it?"

"There's no graffiti and nothing looks like it's been moved. The police think the alarm scared whoever it was away. Matt's on his way to Sunrise Bay."

My heart pounded as I checked my cell phone. "I didn't get an alert. Did you, Eric?"

He shook his head. "I'll call Bryant Security. Something should have come through."

I leaned into Mom's arm. I wasn't worried about the large pieces of furniture being stolen. Although they belonged to my grandparents, most of it could be replaced. What upset me the most was the thought of losing the small keepsakes my family collected. They weren't expensive, but they had a lot of sentimental value.

Then there was Eric's manuscript and my canvases. If anyone wanted to upset either of us, our work would be an easy target.

I just hoped the security camera caught whoever broke into the cottage.