Page 28 of A Touch of Murder (Touched #1)

Adam walked into Whitestone Bakery and waited in line, knowing he shouldn't add more sugar to his diet, but unable to resist the urge of the sweet treat he enjoyed so much. If only the bakery wasn't directly across the street. Had it been farther down the block, he could have resisted.

"Morning." Becky grinned across the counter at him. "The usual?"

"Please, and I'll get an extra cinnamon roll and coffee when I leave to take to Jacey, but charge me now." He pulled out his credit card, added a nice tip to the amount on the screen, then swiped his card. "How are things going?"

"It was a busy morning. Finally slowing down. I need to get off my feet for a few. You mind some company while you eat?" Becky asked.

"I'd love the company." Adam took his order to a table and sat down. He smiled when Becky joined him a moment later with her cup of hot tea. "Looks like we might have a good summer. Crowds are already starting to pour in."

"Tell me about it. And they're all early risers. I had a line at the door waiting for me to open this morning. That doesn't happen often. I was just telling Barret that I might have to hire someone new to help with all the orders I have coming in."

"That's great news. I can't think of a business in town that deserves more success than you do." He'd watched her grow over the years and seen how she'd adapted and changed the bakery to make everything run smoother.

"You're just saying that because you don't want to lose access to my cinnamon rolls," Becky teased.

"Guilty," Adam agreed. "So will you hire someone who can bake, or just someone to help out in front?"

"If I can find another baker it will be a bonus, but mostly, I just need someone who can deal with customers while I bake.

I don't have a ton of room in back. If I get too many people back there, we'd be stumbling over each other.

Ideally, in time, I'd love to move to a larger location, but unless one of the other stores down the block goes up for sale, I don't see that happening.

" Becky rested her folded hands on the table.

"So, I didn't get a chance to talk much to Barret last night, but I've seen him coming and going from your place. You two getting along now?"

"I admit we had a rough start, but I'd dare say we're friends now. I've been helping him with the Wilson case a bit. He's working his butt off trying to solve her case."

"That's my brother. He's always dove in headfirst and doesn't come up for air until he finishes whatever it is he's determined to do.

Barret has a good heart, but sometimes he forgets to take time for himself.

I've been worried about him lately. He's putting in late nights, working weekends.

" Becky took a sip of her tea. "There's nothing I can do about it.

I know that. I get why he's so focused on this case, but I worry what will happen if he doesn't catch whoever killed Trina. At what point will he step back?"

"I doubt he will. Oh, he may step back in time, but the case will always be on his mind.

Barret doesn't seem like someone who can let something go without some kind of closure.

The good news is that he is making progress.

I'm not sure how much I should tell you about an ongoing case, but he does have leads.

Give it time and see if something comes of them.

" Adam wiped a bit of frosting from one of his gloved fingers.

"He was here last night for a few minutes. Said something about there being two killers?" Becky arched her head to the side. "What can you tell me about that?"

"Not much, just that evidence shows there were two men who took Trina. Didn't he show you their pictures? I know he was going around town asking about them."

"No, he didn't show them to me. Probably scared I had run across them. He's overly protective. If he thought I had a conversation with a killer, even if it was a simple sales transaction, he would flip."

"Last I heard, they were seen at Chubby's and the hardware store a few weeks ago, but no one knows anything about them. Barret doesn't think they're local. Maybe hired to deliver stuff here every few weeks or something. You don't get deliveries trucked in, do you?" Adam asked.

"No. I get all my stuff through the grocery store or special orders.

I don't have room for a lot back there, so I just get enough for a week or two at a time.

I'm always calling the supermarket to place an order for things I forget or run out of.

" Becky stood as two women walked in. "Break over.

Thanks for the conversation. Hope you have a busy day. "

"You too." Adam watched as Becky went back to work.

He slowly finished his cinnamon roll, then headed back over to unlock his shop.

He was glad to see people out already walking up and down the sidewalks.

He'd been debating on opening an hour earlier, but he usually had more afternoon customers than in the morning.

He'd have to watch and see what kind of business some of the other places did earlier and decide what to do.

"Hold the door." Jacey ran up behind him.

"Morning." Adam let the door close, then handed Jacey the coffee and cinnamon roll he'd gotten for him.

"Ah, thanks. You must have sensed I woke up late and didn't have time to caffeinate. I figured you'd have some here, but the bakery has the really good stuff." Jacey pulled the lid off and blew over his coffee.

"Late night? It's not like you to oversleep." Adam walked over to Jacey's desk and leaned against it.

"I was texting with Jen. We both had to work this morning, and I kept trying to say goodnight, but we just kept talking…

Anyway, we finally went to bed around four.

She had to be to work at seven. At least I got a few more hours of sleep.

I'll regret it tonight when she's asleep and I want to talk more.

" Jacey set his coffee down, took a seat behind his desk, and pulled his cinnamon roll from the bag.

"Things are going good with her then?"

"Really good. I swear, I've never felt like this with anyone else I've dated. We just click. She gets me. And she doesn't mind my hair." Jacey reached up and ran his fingers through his untamed red curls.

"Other girls didn't like your hair?"

"Well, just one. She told me she didn't want her children to have red hair so if we ever got really serious, I needed to know we wouldn't be having kids." Jacey shrugged. "We didn't go out again. I mean, in my family red hair is sorta a given."

Adam nodded, thinking how he wished his only problem with dating was hair color.

He had much bigger issues. Not being able to touch someone made it hard to ever get serious with anyone.

Adam's attention went to the door as the bell rang and a young boy about five or six years old ran inside, followed by a woman who had to be his mother.

Adam had seen them around town but didn't know their names. "Morning."

"Are you the man who can see the past?" the little boy asked.

"Sometimes." Adam gave the kid his full attention. "Do you have questions about something from the past?"

The boy glanced at his mother as if seeking permission. When she nodded, the kid turned back to Adam. "I found this digging in my backyard. I want to know what it is." The child pulled a small bone from the pocket of his pants.

Adam looked at the bone and nodded. "That does look very old. What do you think it is?"

"Mom says maybe a rabbit, but I think it's something cooler like a bobcat or even a bear."

"What's your name?" Adam asked.

"Brady." The boy held the bone out toward Adam. "So, can you tell me the past? I want to know what this is. I'm going to dig for more, but I need to know what I'm looking for."

Adam looked up at the boy's mother. "Are you okay if I do this? I need your permission."

She nodded and rested her hand to the boy's head. "It's why we came in."

"Then let's take a look." Adam had worked with kids like Brady before and always treated them the same way he did his adult customers.

"Jacey, will you get me water and two bars please?

" Then he glanced at Brady. "Let's go back to my office so I can sit down, and then I'll look at that bone.

" He led them back into his office. "Please, have a seat. " He nodded at the table.

Brady ran to it and climbed up on a chair, kneeling on it as he set the bone on the table. "It has to be old. It was buried way deep."

"Well, let's see if I can tell you." Adam pulled off one of his gloves. "Okay, will you drop the bone into my hand? Careful you don't touch my hand, or I'll see your past, and that's not what we want to do today. We want to know about the bone." Adam held his hand out, palm up to the child.

Brady leaned over the table and very carefully dropped the bone into Adam's palm.

Adam closed his eyes and smiled as he saw images of the boy begging his mom to let him come to the shop, then another image of him dropping the bone as he walked to the car.

It took a few moments to weed through the images of Brady with the bone before he finally saw something that he could tell the child.

"I see berries on a tree. Lot's of green leaves.

Big meadows with the wind blowing the plants.

And there is a small river where the animals drink.

" Adam opened his eyes. "I know what kind of bone it is. "

"What is it?" Brady was so excited he was nearly trembling as he looked back and forth from the bone to his mother.

"It's from a deer." Adam loved the way the boy's eyes widened.

He closed his own eyes again and smiled at the image of fawns suckling the doe.

"This deer was a girl deer. It was a mother because I can see her with two babies as they walk across a small stream.

I get the feeling she had a lot of babies over the years. "