Karma's a Killer by Tracy Weber

the shoulder. “You done good. Your daddy’d be proud of you.” The boys’ smiles spread across their entire faces.
    â€œNow remember, you’re in charge of the rescue until next Friday,” he added. “Feed these guys some extra treats the next couple of days to help them settle down.” He winked. “I suspect you’ll find something a little extra in your paychecks, too.”
    As the two grinning teens drove off, Dale, Michael, and I returned to the fire line. Maggie had evidently found Sally, because the two hovered near the edge of the crowd, watching the firemen douse out the remaining hotspots.
    Maggie shook her head disconsolately. “I guess I should go make an announcement. This event is officially over. What a disaster.”
    â€œIt could have been worse,” Sally replied.
    â€œI don’t see how. We lost Mrs. Abernathy’s support, and now everyone’s leaving before I could give them my final pitch. You know we needed this money.”
    â€œThere are worse things than losing a few donations, you know. At least no one was hurt.”
    Maggie sighed. “You’re right. Of course you’re right.” She chewed on her lower lip. “If we’re lucky, we might not get sued.”
    Sally didn’t reply.
    â€œDid anyone see who started the fire?” Michael asked.
    â€œNot that I know of.” Sally pointed toward the booths. “But it had to be the demonstrators. Maybe one of those two over there.”
    My eyes tracked her finger straight to Serenity Yoga’s booth. A black-clad woman with Dharma’s long braid was rifling through the information on my table. The handsome, dark-haired man I assumed was Eduardo was chatting with Tiffany at Pete’s Pets next door.
    Tiffany’s smile was wider than a shark’s at a chum factory. She played with her hair and leaned forward to touch Eduardo’s arm. He scanned the crowd, obviously looking for something. I got the feeling he was only pretending to listen to Tiffany.
    â€œIsn’t that the guy who was wearing the dog collar?” I asked. “He couldn’t have set the fire. He was demonstrating—on-leash, no less
—when we heard the blast.”
    â€œYou’re both jumping to conclusions,” Dale countered. “The fire might not have anything to do with the protest. For all we know, some kid tossed a lit match into that dumpster. That’s for the police and the fire chief to figure out.”
    â€œMaybe,” I replied. “But I’m going to have a chat with them.” I glanced at Michael. “Want to come with?”
    Michael and I headed across the field, fully intending to question the two protesters. But by the time we arrived at our booths, they had vanished.

Six
    I looked for Dharma and Eduardo as long as I could, then scooted off to pick up Bella from my friend Rene’s house. From there, I drove directly to Greenwood to meet with Alicia, my private yoga student. She’d barely entered Serenity Yoga’s lobby before I started telling her about my crazy morning. I didn’t normally discuss my personal traumas with students, but I was surprisingly rattled about the day’s events. Besides, Alicia was more than a student. She was also my landlord. She owned the mixed-use building that housed Serenity Yoga, the PhinneyWood Grocer, Pete’s Pets, and the apartments above them. Beyond that, she was rapidly becoming one of my closest friends.
    As I finished my story, Alicia slipped off her shoes and slid them under the bench in the lobby.
    â€œSo you never found out if the protesters were involved in setting the fire?” she asked.
    â€œNo, and it’s driving me crazy. I wanted to question Eduardo and Dharma, but we couldn’t find them before I had to leave to get Bella.” I pointed at the coffee stain still decorating my shirt. “I didn’t even have a chance to go home and change