Everyone was somber when they parted ways that evening. As the only one to go home alone, Eve felt a pang of loneliness. Even though the proposal hadn’t gone as planned, Tiana and Levi still had each other. Aidan was living with his sister, and though he was looking for his own place to rent, she suspected neither of them would begrudge the company tonight.

  She had her dogs, at least, but she couldn’t deny that she was beginning to miss having a special someone to love and lean on when times got rough. Not that she’d ever had that, since her one and only serious relationship hadn’t been a good one, but she was starting to seriously want to begin dating again.

  At least modern conveniences meant that even though she was alone, she wasn’t really alone. Tiana and Aidan both texted her throughout the rest of the evening. As she curled up on the couch between Willow and Atlas, her two German Shepherds, to watch a comforting episode of one of her favorite sitcoms before bed, she realized that while she might be lonely, she was far from isolated.

  The next day was a Sunday. Levi had planned his proposal so they would have the rest of the weekend to celebrate, but instead of chatting about wedding plans with her best friend, Eve found herself staring at a headline that read, Murder at Stone Table! when she got online in the morning.

  Eve read the article as she waited for her coffee maker to provide her with the caffeine she needed to function properly. It didn’t tell her much she didn’t know—there had been no miraculous capture of the killer overnight—but it did put forth one theory that made her scoff.

  “It’s possible that the proposal that stole the attention of the unlucky diners at Stone Table last night was planned as a distraction so the shooter could take their shot without being seen,” she read aloud to the dogs. Atlas, who was sitting by his bowl waiting for breakfast, cocked his head at her words, and Willow padded over to rest her head on Eve’s knee. Eve patted her idly as she read through the comments beneath the article.

  “This is ridiculous. People really think we were colluding with the killer? Why isn’t there a mention of that blonde woman? This reporter is focusing on the wrong thing.”

  Still grumbling to herself, Eve got up to get her coffee. When she sat back down, she logged into her social media account to do some real research. Typing in the victim’s full name—Jodie Franks—which she got from the article, she clicked on her profile and scrolled through all of the information about her that was public.

  There was a lot of it. Eve didn’t spend too much time thinking about social media, but when she did, she was always a little creeped out by how much information people put out there for anyone to see. She was guilty of it herself—her own profile was loaded with pictures of her dogs, images other people had tagged her in, including a photo of her standing in front of her house that Tiana had taken the day she moved in, and a few posts she had been tagged in at the dental clinic. While her public information didn’t give the town she lived in, only the state, it wouldn’t take much work to find out where she lived.

  Through Jodie’s profile, without even sending a friend request, she learned that the woman had worked for a local company called Joy Property Management—a quick scroll through their page told her that the company managed a good portion of the rental units in town. Jodie was pictured in a few of the posts on the business page, once seated at a desk surrounded by stacks of papers while giving a thumbs up with the caption, We are overJOYed to announce new properties coming soon! and another time next to a woman who was tagged as Anya Joy, the company’s owner, a middle-aged woman with rich brown hair that was trimmed to fall in waves to just above her shoulders.

  Throughout all of her scrolling and reading, Eve kept her eyes peeled for that woman with the pale blonde hair, but she wasn’t visible in any of the photos Jodie was tagged in. Neither was the man Jodie had been with the night before. He wasn’t on her friends list either, which made Eve wonder if she was wrong about him being her date. Or maybe he just didn’t have a social media presence—not everyone liked having their private lives constantly exposed on the internet.

  There was nothing on her profile or anywhere else that told Eve why she had been killed. By all accounts, Jodie seemed perfectly normal. The comments under her posts were almost always encouraging. There was no major drama, no threats, no sign at all that Jodie had had a single enemy.

  Which meant Eve didn’t have all the information. Jodie hadn’t died in front of her eyes for no real reason. Her death hadn’t been accidental. The killer had brought a weapon with them to the restaurant, had aimed well enough to kill her almost instantly, and had enough of a plan in place to get away without being caught.

  Jodie’s death was nothing short of premeditated murder.

  Her phone chimed, alerting her to an incoming message. Eve switched apps to read it, expecting to see a text from Tiana. Instead, she saw that the message was from Lucas.

  No work for the next few days. Let me know if you need help with the dogs.

  Atlas and Willow were both fully trained search and rescue dogs. Willow used the scents that the air carried to track down people who were lost and needed help, while Atlas was a cadaver dog who was trained to find human remains. Ever since another team from Michigan Mutts Search and Aid found Lucas when he had gotten lost during a camping trip, he had been interested in learning more about what went into being a search and rescue volunteer and had become a valuable friend and helper to Eve.

  She texted him back to tell him that she wasn’t sure yet if she would train the dogs today, but she likely would in the next few days, and she would let him know when she did. After sending the text, she stared at her message inbox, biting her lip. It wasn’t that weird that Tiana hadn’t sent her any messages yet this morning. It wasn’t as if they were constantly talking, especially not when Levi was in town.

  But last night had been a disaster in every way imaginable. They hadn’t gotten much of a chance to talk about it—by the time the police had finished questioning everyone, they were all ready to just go home.

  Her finger hovered over Tiana’s name in her messages folder, but at the last second, she selected Aidan’s name instead. Tiana should be able to spend the morning with her almost-fiancé after a traumatic experience the night before without worrying about her.

  Hey, she typed out. What’re you doing today? I have to swing by Sophia’s place to tell her about the camcorder. Do you want to grab breakfast afterward? Ask Alice too!

  Sophia lived right next to Alice and Aidan, so if they wanted to get breakfast—or brunch, since the morning was getting on—it would be easy to carpool if they wanted. She supposed she could tell Sophia about the police taking the camcorder she had loaned her over the phone, but she was sure the older woman would have a lot of questions about why, and she would rather explain the events of last night in person.

  Plus, Sophia had horses, and Eve loved horses. There was something comforting about them and their warm scent of animal and hay. She usually had her dogs with her when she visited the horse ranch, so she didn’t get as much of an opportunity to see the horses as she would like.

  By the time she was ready to go, Aidan had responded with a message that included a lot of exclamation points that said he would love to go out to breakfast with her. His good cheer lightened her mood a little as she gave the dogs their frozen treats and left the house.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “Alice said she was busy again,” Aidan said as he got into her car an hour later. “So it’s just the two of us.”

  The conversation with Sophia had taken longer than Eve planned, though that was mostly because she had volunteered to help groom one of the horses while they talked. Sophia had told her not to worry about the camcorder, though Eve still felt bad about it and was determined to replace it if the police didn’t give it back in the next few weeks.

  Eve liked Alice just fine—the other woman was quiet, but kind, and often helped Sophia with chores around the ranch—but she was hardly upset about spending some time alone with Aidan. He certainly didn’t seem upset either, though maybe she was just projecting.

  She had come to terms with the fact that she liked him quite a bit, but it had been so long since she dated anyone that she was no longer confident in her ability to tell if her feelings were returned.

  “I hope she gets some time off soon, she’s been busier than usual lately,” Eve said as he buckled in. “Where do you want to go for breakfast? I haven’t actually explored that many of the restaurants around here; I usually stick to the Granite Mug for breakfast because their coffee is so good.”

  “There’s that little diner by the general store,” Aidan said. “It’s called the Mitten’s Plate, I think. I’ve never been there, but one of my coworkers says it’s excellent.”

  “That sounds good to me.”

  She put her car into drive and headed down the driveway, trying to focus on the crisp and clear autumn morning and the promise of breakfast with a cute guy. There would be plenty of time to dwell on what had happened the night before later.

  She also tried to ignore the niggling worry about Tiana. It was after eleven and her friend still hadn’t messaged her. On a normal day, that wouldn’t have been concerning in the slightest, but after everything that happened at the restaurant … she was beginning to think something was wrong.

  The Mitten’s Plate was a tiny establishment hidden on the other side of Braggie’s Best, the general store that provided the town’s groceries. Even though the general store was on Main Street and Eve passed it almost every day, she had completely missed the little diner. It was almost invisible from Main Street, and she had never turned onto the little residential road its parking lot opened up to.

  It seemed that she was the only person in town who hadn’t gotten the memo, because the little place was packed. She shouldn’t have been surprised; it was a Sunday morning, just before lunch, and the perfect time for churchgoers to go out to eat after their service ended.

  The hostess told them it would be a ten-minute wait, and the food smelled delicious, so they decided to wait for a table instead of going somewhere else. Even though the wait ended up being closer to twenty minutes, Eve didn’t regret staying when she saw the glorious breakfast sandwich that was set out in front of her.

  “Wow. This isn’t a sandwich, it’s a three-course meal,” she said as she picked up her fork and tried to figure out how to eat the thing. Using her hands was out of the question—between the Hollandaise sauce and the melted cheese, it was way too messy. The pan-fried slices of ham were still steaming as she cut into it, and the hash browns were perfectly crisp.

  “I might have overestimated myself,” Aidan said as he looked over his own food. “These pancakes are bigger than the plate they’re on.”

  It was a fun meal, even though neither of them were able to finish their entrees. Eve wasn’t sure how well her sandwich would reheat, but she took the rest of it with her in a doggy bag anyway, determined to give it a chance.

  The not-quite-a-date was a nice break from the stress and fear of the night before. By unspoken agreement, they didn’t bring the subject up while they were eating. Only after they got back in the car did Aidan say, “Have you heard anything more about the woman who was killed?”

  “No,” she said. “Well, I read an article about the shooting this morning, but it didn’t tell me anything new. I did look through her social media profile for that blonde woman, but I didn’t see her.”

  “She was probably just a regular guest who panicked and left when the gun went off,” he said.

  She shook her head. “I’m telling you, that guy Jodie was having dinner with recognized that blonde woman, and he didn’t look like he was happy to see her. Oh, and I couldn’t find him on her friend list either. That’s weird, isn’t it?”

  “Ah, maybe a little.”

  “You think I’m reaching, don’t you?” she asked with a sigh as she started the car.

  “No, I think you’ve got good instincts. I just don’t think it necessarily means anything that you couldn’t find that guy on her friend list. Not everyone’s online.”

  He was right, but now that they had started talking about the murder, she couldn’t let it go. “Someone who was in that restaurant last night killed her. Doesn’t it make sense that it was someone who knew her? Maybe she was having an affair with that guy or something, I don’t know.”

  “Whoever murdered that woman timed it perfectly. The gun went off right as the lights dimmed and everyone was looking at Levi and Tiana. Do you think the killer timed it that way on purpose, to make sure no eyes were on them?”

  She frowned as she pulled out onto the road. “That would take a lot of planning. They would have to know about the proposal—and not just that it was going to happen, but the exact plan, the timing of it, everything. If they timed it that way on purpose, they would almost have to have been one of the staff members. No one else, other than us and Levi, knew what he was planning.”

  “Do you think that friend of yours, Lucas, might know something?”

  “You think he might have been involved?” Her eyebrows furrowed of their own accord. “Lucas wouldn’t do something like that. He’s a good kid.”

  “I just think the timing of the shot was too good to be a coincidence,” Aidan said. “Maybe he’s picked up on something one of his coworkers said or did. He’s more likely to know something than me or Alice or Tiana and Levi.”

  “That’s true,” she admitted.

  Lucas had been in charge of the lights, which meant he had been standing way at the back of the room. Out of all of them, he’d had the widest view of the dining room. If he had seen who the killer was, she was sure the police would have them in custody already, but maybe he had seen something that could be a hint or a clue.

  Her phone buzzed, and she glanced down at it reflexively. When she spotted Tiana’s name on the new message notification, her heart leapt.

  “Can you see what that says?” she asked Aidan.

  “Sure.” He grabbed her phone, and she told him the code to unlock it. “It says, ‘Hey, girl, what’re you doing today?’”

  Tiana was fine, it seemed. That was a perfectly normal message for her to send. Maybe she hadn’t been as affected by the night before as Eve thought she would be. She had just been so certain her friend would be a wreck after not only witnessing an acquaintance’s murder, but having that happen on top of the attempted proposal from Levi.

  “Thanks,” she said to Aidan. “I’ll answer it later.”

  She dropped him off at his house—well, Alice’s house—a few minutes later. They exchanged a few pleasantries before she left, but her mind was lingering on Tiana’s message and the vague feeling that something wasn’t quite right, so she hurried on her way a little more quickly than was polite.

  She would have to make it up to Aidan later. It had been a lovely breakfast, and it had been nice to spend time with him one on one, outside of their regular morning meetups at the Granite Mug before work. Hopefully, he would understand that with the murder on her mind, it made it hard to focus on anything else.

  Instead of going straight home, she stopped at the gas station and pulled out her phone. It was hard to judge her friend’s mood over a handful of words on a screen, but even though the message wasn’t a red flag by itself, it seemed way too casual considering that both of them had been within twenty feet of a shooter who had murdered someone just over twelve hours ago.

  Narrowing her eyes at the screen, Eve typed, I just got done eating brunch with Aidan. No plans for the rest of the day. How are you guys doing??

  The three dots that indicated Tiana was replying popped up right away, so Eve waited for her friend’s response. It came a moment later.

  We’re doing okay. I want to hear more about you and Aidan though! How was brunch? How did it end up happening? Who asked who? I need details!

  There was definitely something weird going on. When it came to being in touch with her emotions, Tiana was a pro. She never brushed off questions like that. Having a dream proposal interrupted by a murder was huge, and even if Tiana and Levi were managing to pull through and start putting it behind them, Tiana would say that. She wouldn’t just say they were doing “okay” and move on.

  Though her excitement over Eve’s brunch with Aidan was much more within the realm of normal.

  A part of her wondered if she was overthinking things, but hadn’t Aidan just said she had good instincts? Ignoring her gut when it told her someone she knew as well as she knew Tiana was acting off after a traumatic evening seemed like a bad idea.

  She narrowed her eyes at her phone and typed back, Want to grab a coffee and I’ll tell you all about it?

  For once, she wasn’t craving the caffeine and sugar of a latte from the Granite Mug, but talking over coffee was something they did all the time. The normalcy would do them both good, no matter what they ended up talking about.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Eve had been a regular at the Granite Mug for half a year now. There had been a few ups and downs—an employee that had started stalking her and a connection to a recent murder came to mind—but she usually went there a minimum of five days a week. She figured everyone deserved at least one guilty indulgence, and a good latte was hers.

  As a consequence, she recognized most of the staff. Chloe, the owner’s daughter, worked almost every day, and today was no exception. She recognized Eve when she came in and paused in making a drink for someone else to wave.

  Eve waved back, then glanced around the room. Tiana wasn’t here yet. She had agreed to meet, but the reply had taken longer to come than Eve expected, and something about the Yeah, let’s do that! had felt off, as if her friend was reading from a script. A script that made no sense in context of what they had both witnessed the night before.