I raised a brow. “You really think so?”
She shook her head and sighed. “No… afraid not.”
I nodded. This was serious. I’d trusted Julia, and now I had to consider that she’d deceived me. Something in my chest tightened. “I need you to get a reading on her. Discreetly, if possible, but if you can’t be subtle then just do it anyway.”
“Okay. I think that’s a good idea.” Serenity lifted her brows and met my gaze. “I haven’t seen anything suspicious or worrisome, so I don’t have a good reason not to trust her. But Stone is concerned. He doesn’t like the situation.”
“Yeah… tell me about it.” I rubbed my chin. “First things first—head down to La Crumbedonna right now. See if you can pick up anything there. Then I'll need you to get a read on Julia. Meanwhile, I'll have Dino rush the forensics. We need to know what we're dealing with.”
“Okay.” Serenity headed to the door and looked over her shoulder. “In the meantime, please be careful.”
I nodded and buzzed Julia to come to my office.
Just minutes later, Julia stepped into my office, eyes bright with concern. “I talked to Dino. He's coming by in an hour to pick up the bag.”
“Good.” My jaw tightened. I gestured sharply to the chair Serenity had just vacated, unable to keep the edge from my voice. “Sit. Now.”
She frowned, but didn’t object.
“Let’s walk through your morning.”
“Sure. I left my place as usual. There wasn’t anything noteworthy about my drive to work. I stopped at La Crumbedonna as planned. The order was on the counter. I signed the form, handed it to the cashier, thanked her, and left.”
My standing order was always ready and waiting on the counter to be picked up in the morning, previously by Barbara, now Julia. My employee merely had to sign the order form to confirm pickup. The bakery invoiced Vitality Ventures monthly. The bakery had been vetted by Stone. Forrest had done a little surreptitious digging and hacking to ensure there were no connections between the business and any of my enemies.
There hadn’t been.
The only change was that Julia had picked up the order instead of Barbara. But I couldn’t forget that Silvio Russo might still be lurking around, although my men hadn’t seen him since the night I showed Julia his photos.
“Tell me what you saw when you entered the bakery. Was anyone acting strange? Was it possible you were followed? What about your ex? Did you talk to him?”
Julia’s brows dipped. “Yes. I sent him packing. I’d be surprised if he had anything to do with this.” Her tone became defensive. “I wasn’t followed as far as I know. It’s not like I’m an operative sneaking around. Anyone who may be following me, would also know my routine, and where I was headed. Which was here. To the office. Like I do every day.”
“Except for Fridays.”
She shrugged. “Okay, except for Fridays, when I stop for your order.” Julia rubbed her forehead. “Anyone trying to poison youcould have figured out you had an employee pick up that order every Friday, right? Hasn’t Barbara been doing it for years?”
“Yes.” That was exactly the problem, but I didn't say it out loud. Because the alternative was worse—someone trying to get to me might not have cared who got caught in the crossfire. “I need you to get the owner on the phone, Carmine Amato. Tell him I need to speak to him immediately, it’s an emergency.”
Julia nodded and hurried to her desk.
I sat silently in thought, waiting for the phone to buzz.
“Mr. Amato is waiting on line three.”
I picked up the phone. “Carmine, it’s Quentin.” I rubbed my chin trying to find the right words. “We’ve got a situation.”
I spent the next five minutes explaining that I believed someone had tried to poison me using the zeppoles. I needed him to shut down the bakery and wait for Stone to arrive.
“You really think someone would poison a bunch of my customers just to get to you?” Carmine’s voice held concern and disbelief, along with a hefty dose of anger.
“I’d like to think the world hasn’t come to that.” I hated the idea of an assassin with a grudge against me using La Crumbedonna so unprofessionally. “It’s likely I was targeted specifically but why take the chance that some kid gets hurt?”
“Agreed. I’ll shut down right now.”
“I’ll make it up to you. I’ll cover your losses, plus twenty percent.”
“Thank you, Quentin.”
