Epilogue

Maisie

It was time to move on. I’d let myself get too comfortable in Willow Creek, but after what happened today, I needed to leave. I dug into the back of my closet and pulled out the backpack that contained everything I needed.

Cash, various IDs, passports. Everything to start over in a new town.

I would miss the people of Willow Creek. They were nice enough to accept me. The new girl with nothing more than a dream to own a unique bakery. They supported that dream better than I could ever imagine and I was going to leave them without a single goodbye.

Leaving behind Wickedly Delicious was going to be hard. I put my blood, sweat, and tears into that place. But now someone else’s blood stained the floor, and did so at my hand.

Did I regret killing the man who threatened Annalee? Absolutely not. But I did regret leaving my knife in his neck. That knife currently sat in evidence and had my fingerprints all over it. One run through the system and the county detectives would know the name I gave them didn’t match the one that would pop up.

And to make things worse, the name attached to those fingerprints was wanted for murder. It wouldn’t take long for the county detective to find that and come looking for me. To arrest me. I needed to be long gone before that happened.

I stuffed a few changes of clothes into the bag and threw it over my shoulder. It would have to be enough until I found somewhere to start over. I grabbed the keys for the unregistered car in my detached garage; I purposely never drove it, but kept it maintained for this reason. I knew one day I would need to leave.

Always be prepared. That was what my brother taught me. If only he could see me now.

“Going somewhere?”