By the next morning, I was still contemplating Trish being on the bed-and-breakfast guest list as I parked my car in the lot attached to Anderson and Lainey's apartment complex.

It just didn't make sense.

But I also couldn't charge into the diner and demand answers. I had to use finesse when dealing with Trish. Everyone loved her. If I accused her of murder at our famous historical site, the town might turn on me.

I shut the car off and covered a sneeze. My hands were icy as I rubbed them together before stepping into the chilly Saturday morning. Couldn't the allergies at least give me a fever to heat me up?

To escape the cold, I jogged through the parking lot to Lainey's door and then ninja walked my way up the stairs, hugging the wall as best I could on the open staircase. No one was around, but I kept my eyes open to make sure no one got the drop on me.

Even the temperature of the building had cooled since the last time I'd been here. Maine's coast was suffering from a February cold snap, and management didn't care about turning the heat higher. I bundled my coat closer around me on the second floor and jiggled the handle of Anderson's apartment as I walked by.

Locked.

Worth a shot. You couldn't blame a girl for trying. I didn't waste an opportunity when it presented itself.

Keeping my eye on Anderson's door in case he came out, I knocked on Lainey's and waited. I promised to pick her up for us to chat about her situation with the crazed parent but overslept, and now the day was getting away from me. We'd have to multitask.

She opened the door with a quick glance to the side. "You're alone?"

"Of course. You ready to go?"

Lainey had her auburn hair tied back in a long tight braid, and she ran her hands over her skinny jeans before nodding. She reached inside the apartment and grabbed a coat to cover up the long sleeve gray shirt she wore. It wasn't black, but good to know she owned clothing in the proper color palette.

"Didn't you promise me cupcakes?" she asked with a glimpse at my empty hands.

That was when I thought I'd have time. "They're at the bakery. We're headed there now."

Lainey's face fell. "I thought you'd bring them and we could chat here. Or your office. Somewhere more private."

The private places in Pelican Bay were few, but I didn't want to break the sad news to her. Nerves poured off her, so I had to show that she could trust me. "Last time I brought them here, Anderson stole one."

Even though Lainey lived here, I led us down the stairs, walking like a regular person so she didn't ask questions. I'd already scoped out the parking lot to ensure her stalker wasn't waiting for us. After reviewing another page of Katy's photocopies and fretting about how to mention to Trish, I learned her dirty bed-and-breakfast secret. Then I'd had time to do a little snooping on Lainey's dude.

He had a four-bedroom home with a three-car garage in the town of her old prep school. Sadly, he purchased it at the market's peak, so the place came with a huge, hefty price tag. He probably needed that scholarship more than his kid.

We rode to the bakery in Rachel, and by the time I parked us in the lot behind the place, Lainey had enough time to ask me three questions about Detective Anderson. Each one grew in concern.

Question: When did Anderson move into the apartment complex?

Answer: Right after they built them because he liked to pretend he had something to prove.

Question: How long ago did he make detective?

Answer: A few years. Probably after bribing the chief for the job.

And the worst one...

Question: Was he seeing anyone?

Answer: Probably half the town. I heard rumors he had a harem of women.

It didn't matter how bad I made my answers, nothing fazed her. Of course, everything I said was a lie-except the one about him having something to prove. Anderson definitely thought he had something to prove with that big ass badge always wrapped around his neck. The rest of it... based purely on my imagination, but Lainey didn't need to know that.

I led us around the building and into the bakery from the front door, trying my best to put her concerning questions out of my mind. Surely she had enough sense not to fall for the town's detective.

Anessa peeked in from the swinging metal doors that separated the kitchen from the front part of the bakery, and I waved. "So glad you're here," she said and then ducked back into the kitchen.

I pulled out a chair for Lainey and then walked around the counter, grabbing a Vonnie apron from the pile of clean ones kept under the register.

"I didn't know you were working," Lainey said as she watched me.

"Multitasking." I opened the back door to the cupcake display.

Anessa came from the kitchen area carrying a tray of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. "Vonnie is a very good multitasker."

"Exactly," I said and loaded up a small plate with three cupcakes before handing it over to Lainey. She had to try the bakery's specialties before she picked a favorite.

I sneezed into my elbow, walked back to the counter, and my ear throbbed. A dull pain set up at the base of the eardrum.

The front door to the bakery opened and Pearl, the town's oldest and nosiest resident, took her favorite seat at the window across from the register. She preferred to be involved in all the bakery's action-otherwise called gossip and drama.

I immediately poured her a teacup of hot water and placed it and a bag of her favorite tea on a saucer, carrying them to her while holding in a sneeze.

"Are you still sick?" she asked as I put the saucer down. "It's probably COVID."

I couldn't unwrinkle my nose to answer, so I simply shook my head no. They'd tested me at the clinic.

Pearl dunked her tea bag in the water. "You should try a shot of lemon juice."

"Is that like an old wife's remedy?" Anessa asked as she unloaded the cookies into the display.

Pearl shook her head. "No, I saw it on TikTok."

Anessa laughed as Lainey and I stared at Pearl in shock. "I'm not doing a TikTok trend to get rid of a cold."

She shrugged. "I'm just saying you don't look great."

"Thanks." Why was everyone commenting on my looks?

"Should you even be working?" she continued to question my multitasking. "It might be Covid."

"It's not Covid!" I leaned against the back counter as Anessa finished with her tray of cookies. "I'm supervising."

Besides the red eyes, the slight headache, the occasional sneeze, and the brand-new ear ache, I felt fine.

Everyone stared at me. Lainey had half the cupcake eaten and Pearl sat dunking her tea bag like she had a mathematical equation to the perfect tea. I couldn't handle the pressure.

"Lainey likes Detective Anderson," I blurted.

Her eyes bulged, and she sat down her cupcake. "I didn't tell you that."

"Basically. Now we should all give her advice on how Anderson is an unsuitable match." Sure, I felt a little bad about throwing her under the bus, but the woman had a stalker. She couldn't be falling for the town's detective.

Pearl finished her dunking. "Actually, Detective Anderson would be a good husband. He's very loyal. Look how long he's stuck around our police department, even though he's been scouted for other precincts."

Other cops wanted Anderson to work with them? I didn't know that.

"I didn't say anything about a husband," Lainey defended as she brushed crumbs from her fingers.

Anessa stopped wiping the counter and really stared at Lainey from across the bakery. "Why did you move to Pelican Bay? Are you in some kind of trouble?"

Lainey's eyes widened, and she dropped her gaze. "No. Why would you think that?"

I chuckled. She'd already told me the truth of her problems, but now she'd given it away to the bakery and the entire town. Shit, she and Anderson really were going to end up together.

"Don't look so smug, Vonnie," Pearl said.

"Me?" I questioned, whipping my gaze in her direction. Why did she have it out for me the last few days? What had I done to get on her radar?

Pearl nodded. "Yes, you. Now that you have more space at Katy's place, when are you going to move in with that SEAL of yours?"

I stepped back in shock but only rammed my hip into the counter. "Broadrick is not moving in."

"I know. That's the problem." Pearl sipped her tea like her statement hadn't just literally rocked the ground I stood on. "You're not getting any younger."

The ache in my ear ramped up. I had to get away from them.