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worker is our
     cupcake thief?”
    Kim pointed. “See? There he is, watching us as we speak.”
    Everyone turned their heads, and the mail carrier darted for his truck.
    “He is acting suspicious,” Rachel agreed.
    “We need to go after him,” Kim said, her voice rising. “We can’t let him get away.”
    “I can’t leave Grandpa Lewy,” Rachel said, taking her grandfather’s arm.
    “Don’t worry; I’ll go,” Mike assured them. “I’ll catch him in the Cupcake Mobile.”
    “No!” Kim shook her head. “I put all of my paintings in the truck, and if you drive,
     they’ll scrape together.”
    “I can drive you,” Nathaniel offered.
    “You can do it,” Rachel encouraged.
    Kim did a double take. “You want me to chase after the cupcake thief?”
    When she’d said “we need to go after him,” she hadn’t meant to include herself. Confrontations
     weren’t her forte. She never knew what to say or how to react.
    “It was your idea,” Mike reminded her.
    Kim nodded, followed Nathaniel to his vehicle, and cast him a nervous glance. “A motorcycle?”
    Nathaniel grinned and handed her a helmet. “Ever ridden one?”
    She shook her head. “No.”
    “Now or never,” he urged.
    Strapping on the helmet, she climbed on the back of the bike and held on to him for
     dear life as he sped down the road toward the mail truck.
    The driver parked in front of a house around the corner, got out, and stepped on to
     the sidewalk.
    “Stop!” Kim hopped off the motorcycle and ran toward him. “Let me see your bag.”
    The mail carrier pulled the blue-gray bag tight against his side with one hand and
     pulled out a can of pepper spray with his other.
    “Don’t come any closer,” he warned. “Stealing mail is a federal offense.”
    “We mean you no harm, nor your mail,” Nathaniel said, using a good-natured tone. “We’re
     only looking for the cupcakes that were stolen.”
    “Cupcakes?” The mailman looked perplexed. “You think this bag carries stolen cupcakes?”
    Kim narrowed her eyes, and the mailman laughed.
    “Why would I steal cupcakes?”
    Kim lifted her chin. “Because everyone knows Creative Cupcakes are the best.”
    “They are the best,” he admitted.
    “Or maybe you overheard that we must buy the building, and for some insidious reason
     you don’t want us to succeed.”
    “I cannot allow you near the contents of this bag,” he said, his face serious. “Move
     out of my way, or I’ll call the cops.”
    “Look. Here comes a cop now,” Kim said, pointing over his shoulder.
    The mail carrier swung around, and as he did, the bag slipped off his shoulder and
     spilled out onto the ground. He stooped to gather the contents, and to Kim’s disappointment,
     it truly was only mail.
    “Happy now?” he demanded.
    Kim squeezed her eyes shut for a brief second and nodded. “Sorry for the false accusation.
     Next time you come by Creative Cupcakes, I’ll give you a free order.”
    “Not the burnt ones you baked today, I hope.”
    “Of course not,” Kim assured him.
    “Creative Cupcakes has been cleared, and the fire department is allowing people back
     in,” Officer Lockwell said as he approached. “Seems there wasn’t much evidence of
     a fire after all, only smoke.”
    Just like her Cupcake Bandit theory.
    W HEN N ATHANIEL BROUGHT her back to Creative Cupcakes, Guy was in the process of locking his ten-speed bicycle
     to a chain-link fence.
    “Heard about all the excitement,” he said. “You girls sure like to start early. It’s
     not even noon.”
    “Not even noon, and we’ll be shut down the rest of the day,” Kim added. “The loss
     of sales will hurt.”
    She handed her helmet back to Nathaniel, and the tattoo artist glanced at the blue
     body of the shiny Honda Shadow with its chrome finish and black leather seat.
    “Yeah,” Guy said, standing in front of his ten-speed and puffing out his chest as
     he gave Nathaniel an acknowledging nod. “My other bike is a