“Yeah. We can do that. Bash would love nothing better.”
She stood up. “Good. I’ll see you later then.”
Becca hummed as she walked back around the square to The Secret Ingredient. As she shifted the grocery bag to one hip and reached in her skirt pocket for her keys, she thought she saw the glint of the door leading to the kitchen, almost as if it had moved. She frowned and stuck the key in the lock. Probably just her imagination. The door was a swinging door anyway, so it might possibly have moved just from the air conditioner clicking on. When she stepped into the cool interior though, she heard a metallic clatter from the kitchen and felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
She set the groceries aside and strode forward, ducking quickly beneath the walkthrough and pushing open the door to the kitchen. The sight that greeted her made her eyes widen and took her breath away for just a moment. Every single rack holding the bread she and Jared had baked was pushed over. Loaves were scattered everywhere. Some looked like they had been torn up or stepped on. A couple of large bags of flour were torn and their contents dumped on the floor.
Becca took a deep, shaky breath and fished her phone from her pocket.
Chapter 15
She called Jake first.
“Don’t touch anything else, Becca. And I want you out of the building.”
“Why?”
“Honey, you can’t be sure there’s not someone still in there. It sounds like you might have surprised them. Now get on out. I’ll be right over.”
She shoved the phone inside her pocket and returned to the front. Her eyes strayed to the stairs leading to her apartment. Could the swing of the door she’d seen be after someone had left the kitchen to go up there rather than out the back? Becca realized she was shaking. As she hurried toward the front door, she pulled the phone out again. It rang only once before Eli answered.
“Eli?”
There was a split second’s hesitation. Then as if he sensed something he said. “What’s wrong?”
“Someone broke into my business.”
“I’ll be right there.”
“You don’t have...”
“Yes, I do. Ruthie can watch things. I’ll call Dad too. You’re outside right?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be right there.”
He ended the call before she could say anything else. Wrapping her arms around her waist, Becca studied her surroundings. It seemed wrong that afternoon sunshine still bathed the square in warmth and light when something so frightening was unfolding.
“Becca?” She turned at the sound of Jake’s voice. “Come here, honey.” He wrapped her in a warm, secure hug. Letting herself relax, Becca laid her head against her brother’s shoulder.
“I didn’t know what to do,” she admitted.
“You did the right thing. Now before I go in, I want to know what you heard.”
She took a deep breath and pulled back at the same time Eli sprinted up to them. “Becky? Hi Jake. What’s up?”
Jake nodded at her. “She was just gettin’ ready to go into that.”
With a hand that shook ever so slightly, she brushed a stray lock of hair off her forehead. “I came back from Tarpley’s. I stopped to see Eli and then came on over. As I unlocked the door, I thought for a second I saw the door into the kitchen move, but then convinced myself it was nothing. As I opened it and walked in, I heard something metallic hit the floor in the kitchen. I set the groceries down and hurried back there.” She heard both men suck in breaths. “I know, I know, but I wasn’t thinking. When...when I pushed open the door, the kitchen was a mess. All my inventory for tomorrow was scattered over the floor...destroyed. It also looks like someone’s ripped open a couple of fifty-pound bags of flour and thrown it everywhere.”
“Did you walk into the kitchen?” Jake asked.
“No. I stopped right there and called you.”
“Good girl.” Jake took his cap off and idly tapped it against his thigh as he pursed his lips. “I’ve got Brandt around back checking the rear door and the entrance to your apartment. When he returns, we’ll go in together and make sure no one’s still in there. What did you touch, Becca?”
She blinked and sighed. “I unlocked the front door, so I touched the knob and the door itself. I might have touched the walkthrough as I bent to go under it, and I know I touched the swinging door into the kitchen, but that’s it.”
“Great.” He glanced at Eli. “Can you stay here with her?”
Eli’s mouth thinned. “Just try getting me away.”
Officer Brandt came around the building at that point. “Chief, looks like our suspect went in through the back door. It’s been forced. No sign of that on the apartment door upstairs.”
Jake turned to Becca. “Did you have the alarm system active?”
She shook her head. “I was just going over to Tarpley’s—so no. I knew I had the doors locked. Jesus, Jake. It’s Mountain Meadow. It’s hard enough for me to remember to activate the alarm at night.”
He patted her arm. “It’s okay. Brandt and I will check out your apartment first then we’ll come back down to take photographs.”
Eli had put his arm around her shoulders and folded her close against his side. Leaning into his shoulder, she said, “I need to get back inside. My inventory’s destroyed. It will take me all evening...”
Jake shook his head. “Not until we get done.”
“Jake...”
“We’ll do our job as fast as we can.”
Eli squeezed her shoulders. “We’ll call Jared in, and I’ll help too.”
Becca looked from her brother to her fiancé. “Okay.”
As Brandt strung crime scene tape across the front and around the side of the building next to the alley, she started to shake again. Eli pulled her into his arms and pressed her face against his chest. “It’ll be okay, baby. No one’s hurt. That’s the important thing.” As he stroked her back and she started to calm down, his phone buzzed in his pocket. “I better answer in case it’s Dad. I told Ruthie to have him call me.”
She nodded.
Eli swiped his finger across the phone. “Hello.”
She felt him go stiff as a board. When his voice came, it was rough with fury. “You bitch! You’ve gone too far, Heather. Targeting me is one thing, but now you’re messing with the woman I love.”
There was a brief silence in which, as close as she was, Becca heard Heather’s strident voice. “I told her to back off. You’re not going to replace me as Bash’s mother with that slut.”
Eli quivered with rage. “Heather, I’ve tried to be fair...more than fair. I’ve tried to give you the benefit of the doubt, but you and I both know you’ve never been a mother to Bash...never wanted to be. I’ve already gone to the police again. You’ve got to stop. Take the money I gave you and for God’s sake...go away, get some help. If not for Bash, then do it for yourself!”
He punched End and shoved his phone back in his pocket. His throat worked up and down a couple of times.
“Eli?”
“Just give me a minute,” he rasped. “I’m so furious.” Becca wrapped her arms around his waist. Slowly, his hold on her steadied and tightened. He sighed heavily and rested his cheek against her hair. “I’ll need to tell Jake.”
“I know. We’ll let him know as soon as he comes out. Maybe the knowing will speed up what they have to do, so I can get back in and go to work.”
Eli cupped her cheek in one broad palm. “I’m so sorry you’ve gotten dragged into this mess.”
She searched the somber expression on his face. “I’m not. Being with you as I want to be means sharing the good and the bad, Eli. For you and Bash.”
He crushed her against him again. “You are one hell of a woman, Becca.”
They stood, arms around each other’s waists as they waited. Jake came out with a plastic bag containing one of her kitchen knives. “We’ve done what we can.”
“My ex called me, Jake. She admitted to me
on the phone that she did it. It was a follow up to the note she left Becca.”
Jake sighed. “She’s got a record already, so if we can lift some prints, it will be easy enough to tie the physical evidence and her phone confession to you together. Any idea where she is?”
“None at all.”
Jake pressed his mouth together and stared off in the distance. “It’s a good bet she’s not still around here. She’s probably smart enough to know we’ll be looking. And we will do that anyway, but any other places you can think of where she might head?”
“It’s possible she’ll head back to the coast.”
Jake nodded. “I’ll call and give them a heads up. In the meantime, we’ll see if we can’t get a match on those prints. Eli, I’ll need you to come over and make an official statement about your phone call. Eventually, Becca, I’ll need one from you too.”
She nodded. “Can we go in? I really need to see if I can replace the lost inventory with a sufficient amount to make it worth opening tomorrow.”
“Yeah. Now that we’ve got the confirmation in the phone call, we’re good to go. I’ve taken pictures and gathered what we can. You two go on in. I’ll call Jared for you.”
Becca hugged him. “Thanks, Bro.”
His smile was a little embarrassed. “What are big brothers for?”
Even though she knew Heather wasn’t in there, Becca admitted to herself that she was just a little spooked going back in. Only Eli’s presence alongside made it even remotely possible. Before she pushed open the door into the kitchen, she turned to look at him. “It’s a mess, Eli.”
“One you wouldn’t have without my presence in your life. We’ll handle it together, baby.”
She pushed open the door. Footprints now tracked through the flour—Brandt’s and Jake’s, she assumed. For just a second, her shoulders slumped.
“I’ll get a broom,” Jake murmured. “While I’m sweeping up this shit, why don’t you take stock of what supplies you’ve got on hand? If there’s anything you need, we might have some of it at the restaurant.”
“I can’t use your stock.”
“You can and will if you need it. This is an emergency. I can’t let her win, Becca.” His anger still simmered below the surface.
“A loan...but only if I need it.”
While he swept and dumped, rolling the large trash can behind him, Becca took stock of what she had, and what Heather had damaged. She was relieved to see that she had concentrated her destruction on the loaves already baked. The one bag of flour was the only other casualty. Maybe she had interrupted her just in time. There were loaves in the proofer. They were okay, so that was a start. After checking her baking records for the day to see how many loaves they needed to bake, Becca pulled her hair back and covered it with a scarf.
Eli had righted the rolling shelves and was in the process of washing the trays. She smiled. He turned and saw her. “I’m glad you can find something to smile about.”
She shrugged. “I’m just not used to having help in here that I don’t need to supervise.”
He grinned. “I’ve been working in a kitchen in one capacity or another for most of my life.”
“I know. I guess I never really gave it much thought.” She paused for a moment as she grabbed her apron from the hook. “You have no idea how much this means.”
“You’ve got my ring on your finger. It’s not just there for show. If it’s to mean something then we’re here for the long haul. Now, I’ll mop. When I finish that, you can put me to work as an assistant. I’ll admit baking isn’t my strong suit, but I can do it.”
“Maybe I should have Jared supervise you.”
Eli chuckled. “Might be good for him.”
Becca gathered ingredients. She was going to deviate from her calendar and make the breads she and Jared were the most comfortable with. Since they were also their top sellers, she figured it wouldn’t be an issue. She had just finished sorting ingredients when Eli put the mop and bucket away.
“Wash up, grab a bandana for your hair and an apron, and we’ll get started.”
“Yes, ma’am.” If Heather’s intention was to drive them apart then she’d failed miserably.
“We’ll use both mixers. The first one will be basic white bread dough, which we’ll then add ingredients to in the kneading process to create the cinnamon swirl bread. The second mixer we’ll use for basic wheat bread. Again some of the dough we’ll add to in order to create a multi grain and nut bread.”
Eli had just finished adding the ingredients for the basic bread dough and started the mixer’s huge dough hook when Jared pushed through the door, Caleb right on his heels. “Uncle Caleb said mixing bread dough couldn’t be more complicated than mixing drinks, so he’s here to help too.”
Becca’s eyes filled and she blinked furiously to keep from crying.
“Hey!” Caleb exclaimed. “None of that. What can we do?”
“Wash up. Get him an apron and a head cover, Jared. We’re replacing everything we did today except for what we’d left in the proofer. So we’ve got loaves of regular white, cinnamon swirl, wheat and multi-grain with nuts. Why don’t you and Caleb take the wheat and multi-grain? Eli can do the white bread, and I’ll take care of the cinnamon swirl since the loaves have to be set up correctly.”
“Sounds like a plan, Aunt Becca.”
She looked at all three of them. “I owe you guys.”
Caleb stared hard at her. “We’re family, Becca. It’s what we do.”
She noticed his gaze took in Eli as well, and the two men nodded at each other. Once they had the loaves in the oven, she decided she’d pull out coffee and dessert for them.
* * * *
Eli watched Becca work, amazed at her efficiency and the single-minded concentration she brought to the task. After punching down the dough following its initial rise, he formed it into loaves and tucked them in the line of loaf pans four at a time.
“As soon as you have the loaves in, set them on that warming rack so they can rise,” Becca instructed as she rolled out her dough and liberally brushed the top with butter. “Stack from top to bottom so there’s no guessing which loaves need to go in the oven first.” She sprinkled a cinnamon and sugar mixture over the dough before neatly rolling it and tucking the edges. And so they continued, working companionably side by side.
Caleb and Jared worked on the opposite side near the other mixer. Eli was amazed at the teenager’s patience as he showed Caleb how to form decent looking loaves. It was a testimony to Becca that Jared was already so knowledgeable. It was an even bigger testimony that no one had said anything at all about the cause of all this extra work. Instead, they laughed and joked.
“We’re going to make a special “ugly loaf” section for Uncle Caleb’s bread,” Jared told them as he carried a set of pans over to the proofer. Becca looked over at the bread and rolled her eyes.
“We need a few boules,” Becca said, “but maybe you should handle those, Jared. Have Caleb stick with the basic pan loaves.” She switched her gaze to Eli. “You up for making a few boules?”
He grinned. “Could you put that in English?”
“Round loaves. We put them on a flat pan. Four to a sheet.”
“Sure.”
In another hour, Becca broke Caleb away from making loaves to putting those that were ready into the ovens to bake.
“Jesus, Becca,” Caleb said. “These are some serious ovens. You must have a boatload of cash in this place.”
From beside him, Becca laughed. “Right now I have a boatload of Stoner Richardson’s cash in this place.”
“Dad mentioned he was your backer,” Eli murmured. “What’s he think of our deal?”
“He’s supportive. Stoner’s taken a keen interest in backing local businesses. I think we’re all thinking along the same lines—that we need to help ourselves and promote the area to bring in more tourist trade.”
He formed the first round loaf and set it on one corner of a large ba
king sheet. “It’s the most logical way to go. I just don’t want us to end up being one of those gimmicky mountain resort areas, you know?”
She smiled. “Yeah. I like Castle County the way it is. I’d hate to see it change too much. As long as the tourists stay just that—tourists—I think we’re okay.” She glanced around the kitchen, over to the racks where more loaves were rising and said, “Let’s take a break while these last loaves rise. I’ll make some coffee and feed you bread pudding. Then we’ll clean up.”
Weariness lurked in the way she brushed the back of her hand across her forehead. He smiled at the streak of flour it left behind. He started to say something, but they heard the bell on the front door tinkle followed by the sound of lightly running feet.
“Becca Mama! Can I help?”
Caleb’s eyebrows shot up. “Becca Mama?”
She giggled. “It’s what he calls me.”
Eli caught his son as he pushed through the kitchen door, Greg Mercer right behind him. His father ran a critical eye over everything and smiled. “Looks to me like they’ve got it all under control, sport.”
“You are just in time for coffee and bread pudding,” Becca told him.
“Well you might be able to twist my arm.”
Eli snorted. “Right. About as much as you have to twist my arm to eat bread pudding.”
“I like bread pudding too,” Bash chimed in.
Becca tweaked his nose. “Then you’ll get the biggest bowl and everybody else will just have to hope there’s enough for them too.”
Caleb laughed. “Yeah, like a baker’s not going to have bread for bread pudding.”
Eli clapped him on the shoulder. “She very nearly didn’t.”
Becca glanced at them after punching the button to start the coffee maker. “I wouldn’t have been able to open tomorrow if you guys hadn’t pitched in.”
When her voice broke, Eli pulled her into his embrace. Leave it to his Becky to go mushy after the crisis was over. “We’re all here for the same reason, baby.”
The Secret Ingredient (A Place to Call Home Book 2) Page 20
