Page 135 of Small Town Firsts
“What are you doing now?”
He waggled his eyebrows. “Secret.”
“Hmm.”
He leaned his hip on the bench. “I know you didn’t come in here to check up on what I was cooking in here.” He took a good look at me and straightened. “What’s wrong?”
“I just talked to Kain.”
“Did you tell him to take a pill about the damn hot sauce?”
I laughed. “I did. But it ended up being a little more involved than that. An invoice had a discrepancy on it.”
“Another one? What the hell?” His brows furrowed. “Invoice…”
“He says Matt’s been helping him with orders, and an expensive shipment went to a local address.”
His dark eyes went wide. “Dammit. Dammit, I wasn’t paying fucking attention.” He pounded his fist on his workbench.
I went around the bench to him. “What?”
“I was in Matt’s SUV that night of the first tasting. I saw a weird invoice, but I was too tired to pay close attention. And he had something in the backseat that he covered up.”
I closed my eyes and sagged against him.
He instantly curled his arms around me. “Dammit, Sunshine. I’m so sorry.”
“He’s been with us since the beginning. How could he do this?” I pressed my cheek into his shoulder. “This is gonna kill Annette.”
“What’s going to kill Annette?”
I stiffened in Ronan’s arms. He gently eased me back so we could turn and look at her together. We really needed to talk to Matt first before anyone else found out, but it seemed as if that wasn’t to be. Especially since Matt was right behind her.
“What’s going to kill me?” Annette turned to Matt, then back to us.
Matt’s face went blank, then he quickly backed up and bolted.
“Dammit.” Ronan squeezed my hand briefly, then dodged around Annette to give chase.
“What’s going on?”
“Matt’s our thief.”
“No. He wouldn’t.” Annette’s bouncy curls fluttered around her face as she shook her head. Her blue eyes filled with tears. “He wouldnotdo that.”
I went to her. “Then why would he run?”
She shook her head. “Why?”
“I don’t know.” I wasn’t exactly a hugger with people, but Annette had been a friend for a long time. I eased her toward me and she hugged me—hard.
“Why?”
“I wish I knew.”
Ronan came back with a shake of his head. “He was already in his SUV.”
“Yeah.” I rocked Annette a little as she cried on my shoulder. “Do you want to call the police?”
