"Ouch." I winced, cringing at the sight of Frank clutching his hip in pain. "That's going to leave a mark."
"Or two," Deva said, her voice tinged with sympathy. "It looks like he deserved it."
"Seems like everyone in this family has some bad karma coming their way." Carol shook her head. "Not a good sign, if you ask me."
"Maybe they're all in on whatever's happening," I said, my mind racing. "If that's the case, we've got our work cut out for us."
"True." Deva sighed, pushing her empty plate away and signaling for the check. "At least we're making progress."
"Progress?" I snorted, glancing around at the chaos we'd inadvertently created. "I hope so. Because otherwise, we just ruined these people's day for no reason."
"Hey, don't forget." Carol leaned in conspiratorially. "You're just the messenger. Karma's the one calling the shots."
"You're right." I nodded, trying to shake off the lingering guilt. "Karma knows best." I turned my attention to Maggie, the daughter, busy taking food out of a display case. She seemed shy and unassuming, a stark contrast to the rest of her family. I hesitated for a moment, wondering if maybe she didn't deserve the same karma treatment as the others. It was important to be thorough, and if she didn't deserve it, nothing would happen, so I focused on Maggie, willing Karma to do its thing.
"Dang," I said under my breath as Maggie's hand slipped just as she was lifting a tray of pastries out of the display case. The tray crashed to the floor, shattering the glass front of the case, and sending shards flying in every direction.
"Seriously?" Deva said as we all ducked, avoiding flying glass shards "What is it with this family?"
"Let's not jump to conclusions yet." I tried to keep my own rampant imagination in check. "Maybe it's just a weird coincidence." Yeah, right.
"Sure, because coincidences like this happen all the time," Deva said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Come on, Emma. You've got to admit it's strange that every single member of this family has bad karma coming their way."
"Okay, fine." I rubbed the back of my neck as a headache began to form. "It is odd. What could they all possibly have done to deserve this?"
"Beats me." Carol shrugged "But I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually."
"Hopefully, sooner rather than later," Deva said. "I don't know about you guys, but I could really use a win right about now."
"Hey, at least we're on the right track." Carol tried to sound optimistic. "We've got some solid leads, and we know there's something not quite right with this family. It's only a matter of time before we uncover the truth."
"Okay, so let's recap," Deva said, leaning back in the booth. "We've got a family that seems to be knee-deep in bad karma, and we suspect they might be involved in the strange happenings at my bakery. What's our next move?"
"First things first." Carol wiped a bit of syrup from the corner of her mouth. "We need to find a connection between them and the curses. There has to be something linking them to the whole mess."
I nodded in agreement, taking a moment to finish my OJ. "How do we do that without arousing suspicion? We can't just waltz up to them and start asking questions."
"Leave that to me," Beth said with a sly grin, scribbling something down on her notepad. "I'll do some snooping around while you guys continue to gather information on the family."
"Great. I'll talk to some of my regulars who are here and see if they've heard any rumors or gossip about the Burns family." Deva scanned the bustling restaurant. "You never know what juicy tidbits might come to light."
3
EMMA
With our belliesfull of delicious food and karma drama still lingering in the air, we pushed ourselves away from the table. For some reason, I felt content and upset at the same time. Content because I had a wonderful partner and wonderful friends to enjoy a moment like this with and upset because someone had hurt Deva and I wanted to right their wrong.
Karma had chosen me well. I hadn’t always been aware of it, but there was a deep desire inside of me that wanted the world to be fair. Good people shouldn’t have bad luck and bad times, while bad people should be punished until they learn and grow.
Whoever burned down Deva’s Delights was a bad person who hurt a good person. I just wished I knew who they were, so I could unleash Karma on them.
"Ugh, I need to be rolled out of here." Carol groaned, patting her stomach dramatically.
Daniel sighed beside me. “It’s nice to be full. You burn a lot of calories as a bear herding a bunch of dumb pups.”
I laughed. “That bad?”
He shook his head. “No, they’re actually continuing to do good, they just need some guidance.”
