Read Online Ganache with Panache: Book 2 in The Chocolate Cafe Series by Valley Sams - Free Book Online Page B

You have no…” Her back to the drama, Mac could hear Kyra’s voice begin to crack, as tears replaced her shouts.
    Mac did her best not to scuttle out as the shouting and crying continued. She kept her pace as even as possible until she reached the doorway. Before she swung open the double doors to walk out, she happened to look down at one of the small mahogany tables that flanked the exit.
    A lopsided pile of sketches sat on a portfolio, clearly depicting the atrocity of a gown that Harper was currently wearing. From a single glance, Mac could tell that the pile was the original sketches. From the ribbon pleating at the bosom to the carefully constructed bias-cut skirt, it was obviously the blueprints of the gown that Harper had currently squeezed herself into.
    Mac looked over her shoulder quickly to see if anyone was watching. Thankfully, the entire group was crowded around the sofa where the two bereaved were alternately sobbing and comforting each other. Their backs were turned. They were oblivious.
    She was crossing a line. She knew she was crossing a line. This was theft. She was about to flat-out steal. But why not? She already had breaking and entering on her list of felonies; why not add a little theft to the mix? If she could smuggle these pictures out to Vanessa, she could take them home and compare them to Zachary Lau’s sketches on the internet. And what if it happened again? What if that dress Harper had chosen was an exact copy of an early design, long-ago forgotten but still accessible from the depths of the internet? What would that mean for hollow-eyed Kyra and her telltale track marks?
    Before she could stop herself, Mac slipped the drawings off of the portfolio and into the lining of her jacket. It was a seamless motion—a simple sweep of the hand that went completely unnoticed by the crowd. A seamless motion that might mean a great tear in the fabric of this whole fiasco.
     

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    “How long has it been since you dropped her off?” Brie sounded very distracted. It was obvious that she was only half listening by the lazy tone in her voice.
    Mac was skipping down her stairs to where her car was parked under the archway. As if sensing her urgency, Toby was already up on his hind legs, pawing at the passenger seat window.
    “Almost the entire day!” Mac said, as she clicked the unlock button on her key fob. “I dropped her off at around eleven this morning. “
    “Maybe she got caught up working.” Mac could hear the unmistakable sound of Brie whisking whatever mixture she was experimenting with in one of her many big, steel bowls. “I know how that feels. The whole day falls away without you even knowing it.”
    “No. I don’t think so. Something’s wrong. She would’ve gotten back to me right away with those drawings. I know it.”
    There was a pause as Mac swung herself into the driver’s seat and leaned over to open the door for Toby. He leaped in, almost as quickly as she had, and set about arranging his heavy appendages on the seat.
    “What could it possibly be? One random threat does not a murder make. Have you, I don’t know, considered calling Louis? Does he even know about the phone call?”
    Mac stopped, her hand still on the keys in the ignition. Her heart squeezed in her chest for a moment in that nagging way it did when she was making a stupid choice. Of course she should call him. She should’ve called him days ago. However, did she actually need to? Were hunches and prank calls really the work of the corrections department?
    Toby put one huge paw on the dashboard as if urging her onward.
    Mac sighed. “Vanessa said she was going to cross reference the drawings I took and then get back to me. She said she was certain they were copies, just like the last ones. She wouldn’t forget to call me or get distracted.”
    “Just go.” Brie said, obviously annoyed, “Just go and check it out. But text me when you get there so I know what’s going on.” Mac