"Hang in there, Mel. Breathe." Suze grabbed her phone out of her cross chest pack and dialed. "Calling 911 right now."

Mel dropped on the bench. All she could think of was Smoky and if he was okay. The kitchen window over the bench was blocked by the blind which was another reason she panicked. She always left her window coverings open. Greg's gift of a couple spider plants in hanging planters needed the light, even if the sun didn't hit them directly for most of the day.

She listened to Suze talking to the 911 dispatcher and heard her tell them to come into the alley. Elena's van was still parked in her stall, so she went to bang on the bakery door. No answer. Mel dropped back down on the bench and buried her face in her hands. With her shoulder's hunched she let the tears come. What was going on?

A police car rolled up and parked beside Herbie, and two cops climbed out.

"Ladies, please come down, we don't want you to get in the way. Get in your car, miss." The female officer pointed to Herbie.

Suze and Mel hurried down.

"Ma'am, I have a Maine Coon kitten in my apartment. He's very friendly, but I'm worried about him," Mel said as she opened the passenger door of Suze's car.

"We'll find him and bring him down to you," the male officer responded. "Do you have a towel I can wrap him in if he's upset?"

"Sure. Grab the one in the bathroom," Mel told him.

They climbed the stairs soundlessly and carefully pushed her door open. When they disappeared into her apartment, Mel shook her head. "I hope they stay safe. I hope there's no one in there anymore. I hope Elena is okay. She always takes her van home with her."

"Maybe she didn't this time. It's Sunday, she comes in to experiment, right?"

Mel nodded.

"Maybe she brought someone with her this time, and they went out for some reason," Suze said. "Let's not worry until we have to."

"They're taking forever. My apartment isn't that big." Mel shifted nervously in her seat.

"It's only been five minutes. If they went into the bakery, it's going to take more time."

"I should have told them about the door," Mel worried.

"The door?"

"I have a door that goes directly into the bakery. I think whoever owned this building before Peggy and her friends remodeled, lived up here. From what Mirabelle said, it was a huge source of bread for Fort Collins a long time ago."

"Well there's a heritage site plaque on one of the windows, so that makes sense," Suze said.

"You've been in here then?"

"I haven't been here for a few years."

Mel studied Suze's face. For the first time sadness glimmered in her eyes, and she saw the shimmer of tears.

"I'm sorry I brought it up." She reached over to touch her friend's arm. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be alright. Sometimes it sneaks up on me still. This is where we had my Grandmother's last birthday party. She passed away not too long after Cozy Corner opened. Elena's cinnamon rolls were her favorite thing." A smile snuck through as she spoke. "So many good memories. I can't imagine my life without them."

A quite tap on her window had Suze turning her key to the accessory position so she could roll her window down. Smoky was clinging to the male officer's shoulder.

"He jumped me from the top of your cathouse," he said. "Gorgeous cat."

"Thank you for rescuing him."

Smoky jumped down through the window and into her lap as soon as she spoke.

"I'm sorry, it's a mess in there and we are going to need some photo's before you clean it up. Lipstick on the mirrors, and food dumped all over the kitchen floor. Whoever was in here was very angry."

Smoky's purr rumbling as she stroked him, calmed her anxiety, so she was able to think.

"Do you know who I am?" Mel asked.

"Melinda Jean Durant. Nothing else showed up when we ran the address for past contacts." The female came up behind her partner and answered her question.

Mel took a deep breath, relieved to know her record was indeed not an issue. "I guess I'll have to go up there and tell you if anything's missing Constable."

"I'm sorry we have to ask you to do this, and we would recommend you find somewhere else to stay until you can get some help cleaning it up. We stopped the water that was running everywhere before it flooded anything too badly. It's wet, but we don't think anything leaked downstairs."

"I have to call my landlord. She's also one of the owners of Cozy Corner. I've got to get in there and check to see if there are any leaks." She pulled her fingers through Smoky's ruff and found he still had his harness on. By some miracle, she forgot to take it off the night before. "Hang on to him Suze. I have to get his leash."

"Stop, Mel." Suze grabbed her sweater and pulled her to a halt before she could get out of the car. "Let one of the officers get it. Where is it?"

"Hanging on a hook beside the door."

"I'll go get it for you," The officer who brought Smoky down told her and disappeared up the stairs.

"Did you go into the bakery?" Mel asked the other one.

"No. I wouldn't let him open the door. It has a really good seal and it was keeping the water from getting under the door."

"Elena Anker runs the bakery next door. Her van is parked next to us. She didn't answer when I knocked before you got here," Mel explained. As she spoke a tiny Honda Fit parked beside them in the narrow slot between Herbie and the cop car.

Elena got out with a bag of supplies. "I needed butter for shortbread. What the heck is going on?"

"My apartment has been vandalized," Mel said. "They left the water running."

As if to confirm her horrible words a tiny trickle of water began to drip off the landing above onto Herbie's hood. Mel hugged Smoky closer and buried her face in his ruff.

"What am I going to do?"

"Put the leash on your cat's harness so he stays safe." The constable handed her the leash. "One step at a time. We do have a couple of really good footprints in the spilled flour where it mixed with a bit of milk."

"Oh my God! It really is a disaster up there!" Suze exclaimed.

"It is. I need to get your names and yours too Ma'am."

She pointed to Elena. "The crime scene team will be here shortly, and I need to start filling out the report." The female officer pulled her notebook out of a pouch on her belt. "It's going to be chaos for a bit. Elena Anker are you one of the owners?"

"Of the business, not the building. That belongs to Peggy Jenkins. She's one of my partners. The other one is Mirabelle Ledoux." Elena volunteered.

"One of our detectives will be taking this case. I have to warn you the lipstick message on the mirror is why we are investigating this a little more thoroughly. Let me get your information. We'll go up with you shortly to make sure nothing was taken."

It took another half hour before Mel climbed the stairs with her mantra foremost in her mind. With Smoky safe with Suze, one step at a time was all she could think. It turned out the intruder only had an hour between when Elena left, and she got back with Suze. Not much of a window. Now she braced herself for the worst. It was Detective Sylvia Eisenmann who followed her up the stairs. She wondered if she could trust her to do things properly. And then she slipped through the barely open door.

Her imagination didn't come close.