The aroma of freshly ground coffee usually comforted Hazel, but today it did little to calm the unease twisting in her stomach. She ran her fingers along the counter absentmindedly, eyes scanning the café as if someone or something might be hiding behind the stacks of mugs or the pastry display.
Mia approached, carrying a tray of scones. "Hazel… you look like you haven't slept in days."
"I haven't," Hazel admitted, brushing crumbs off the counter. "And I don't plan to until I figure out who left Gerald in my dumpster."
Mia bit her lip. "You're taking this on yourself? Detective Callum said it's dangerous."
Hazel frowned. "I know. But sitting here, waiting for answers, won't protect anyone. Not me. Not the town."
The bell above the door jingled. Hazel's heart jumped. Callum stepped inside, coat damp from the morning mist, eyes scanning the café like he always did.
"You're at it again," he said, his voice calm but firm. "Hazel, you need to be careful. If whoever's behind this notices you poking around…"
"I can handle it," Hazel interrupted. "Besides, I've found something."
She placed the photograph she'd discovered yesterday on the counter. Callum's eyes narrowed as he studied it, his jaw tightening slightly.
"This confirms someone's been keeping tabs on Gerald for months," he said. "And now, they're focused on you."
Hazel nodded, swallowing hard. "I also found this." She reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a small envelope, slipped under the café's back door earlier that morning. Inside were three coffee beans, carefully arranged in a triangle, and a note:
"The answers are hidden where the grounds settle."
Callum's eyes flicked to her, sharp. "Hazel… this is more than a threat. It's a message. Whoever did this wants you to follow their trail."
Hazel felt a chill. Follow their trail… in coffee grounds? She examined the beans, turning them over in her hands. Something about the arrangement seemed deliberate—too deliberate to be random.
"Do you know what it means?" she asked, voice low.
Callum shook his head. "Not yet. But we'll figure it out together. And Hazel… don't touch anything else that could be evidence. Leave it for me."
Hazel's jaw set, though her pulse quickened at the proximity of him. The detective's intensity had a way of making her feel both grounded and exposed at the same time. Wondering if it was a feeling brewing inside her, something drawing her close to him. Was it out of fear, or tension?
She looked back at the tray of scones. Her mind was racing—symbols in the photo, cryptic notes, the coffee beans. And somewhere in Maplewood, someone was orchestrating all of it.
Hazel rolled up her sleeves. She wasn't just a café owner anymore. She was part of a puzzle that someone was desperate to hide.
The afternoon passed in a blur of customers, orders, and anxious glances toward the back door. Every creak of the floor, every clink of cups felt like a warning. Hazel could feel eyes on her, even when the café seemed empty.
Finally, after closing time, she and Callum returned to the alley behind the café. She spread the photograph and the envelope on the garbage lid.
"I think this is a clue," she said, pointing to the coffee beans. "But I don't know how to read it."
Callum crouched beside her, studying the beans with narrowed eyes. "The note said 'where the grounds settle.' It could be literal… or symbolic. Coffee grounds, coffee grinder, a place Gerald frequented…"
Hazel's mind raced. "He had a favorite café in the next town over. Maybe it's connected. Or… maybe he had a grinder here, for some reason."
Callum's gaze met hers, serious but with the faintest trace of something softer. Lost in his own thoughts, he admired her blue eyes, red cherry lips, well portioned figure, despite her grumpy clothes. "Hazel… whatever this leads to, we'll figure it out. But we need to be careful. Whoever is doing this is clever—and dangerous."
Hazel swallowed hard, her hands tightening around the edge of the dumpster. Danger was already here. But she wasn't backing down.
Because if she didn't follow the trail, no one else would.