Grilled Cheese Murder: Book 4 in The Darling Deli Series by Patti Benning

attempted break-in,” he said.
    “Wait, hold on,” she said, her mind whirling. “Someone tried to break into my house?”
    “Yes ma’am. And this time, we caught them in the act.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
    After locking up the deli as best she could—anyone would be able to get in through the open window, after all—she and Candice hurried back to the house. A single patrol vehicle was waiting for them, out of which Detective Jefferson stepped when they pulled into the driveway.
    “It’s been a rough day, I know,” he said when they got out of the car. “This shouldn’t take long.”
    “Is the house all right?” Moira asked, half expecting to see another broken window.
    “The back door is slightly scratched where the perp tried to force it open with a crowbar, but luckily one of our officers stopped him before any real damage could be done,” he told her.
    “Did you arrest him?” she asked.
    “Sadly, he got away. But I think it was the same guy. He was wearing an outfit similar to what the person in the video was wearing, and left the same shoe prints in the snow.”
    “Thank goodness my daughter and I weren’t here this time either,” Moira said. “Did someone report him? How did you see him if he was in the back?”
    “I sent a squad car over to keep an eye on your place,” the detective said with a shrug. “It was just a hunch, but it turned out to be a good one. The note left on the wall at the deli made it clear that someone was targeting you specifically.”
    “Well, I’m glad you did. Thanks. I don’t think I could stand another mess like the one at the deli.” She sighed, feeling tired and angry at whoever was making life miserable for her and her employees. “What do you need me to do?”
    After Moira took a quick peek inside and walked around the outside of her house with the officer to make sure nothing was damaged or missing, Jefferson seemed satisfied that she and Candice would be safe there alone. Moira remembered the note right before he left, and handed it to him with a quick explanation of how they had found it. After promising to email him the video footage from that night too, she and her daughter thanked him one last time and watched him drive away.
    * * *
    After getting off the phone with Moira, David sat in silence for a few moments. He couldn’t understand what it was about the deli owner that seemed to attract so much trouble. She was honest and kindhearted; in no way did she deserve all that had been happening to her. He was just glad that her house hadn’t been ransacked—it had been good thinking on the part of Detective Jefferson to send a squad car out to keep an eye on things. He hoped that someone would be watching her house tonight, too, in case the masked vandal decided to try again.
    The question was, had the person been looking for something in particular, or was he just there to cause chaos? David had the gut feeling that whoever it was thought that Moira was hiding Dante in her house. The need to find the young man was getting more and more urgent. Innocent or not, the longer Dante was gone, the longer Moira’s life would be in danger. Watching the video of the deli break-in again and again wasn’t going to help—he needed to get out there and find the missing employee.
    He decided that his best bet would be to get organized first. There would be no use just driving around and hoping that he happened to cross paths with Dante, especially not with dusk falling. No, in the morning he would start at one end of town and work his way through, checking at each hotel, motel, and rest stop. If he didn’t find the kid in Lake Marion, he would head to Maple Creek and start over looking there. Someone thought that Dante was still in town, and as long as they thought that, Moira and the people she cared about would be in danger.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
    Armed with a hot thermos of coffee and a picture of Dante’s car, David set out early the next morning to see if he could