Page 124 of The Case of the Missing Love Stone

Honey points at the charm through the window. “I would have picked that up first.”

Micah turns toward her. “Why?”

“It looks exactly like the sweetheart favors we put in bakery orders. I would have assumed it fell out of a festival delivery.”

The package was built around her habits. The florist label, white ribbon, and pretty charm waiting beneath tissue all invite Honey’s hands.

Scarlet goes pale.

I turn her toward me, sliding my hand to her jaw until her eyes meet mine. “The person who made that choice is responsible. Only them.”

“They watched her.”

“Yes.”

“They knew what she would touch.”

Wes moves behind her and rests both of his hands on her upper arms. Cedar gathers around us. “Then we learn how,” he says. “We don’t help them by pushing Honey away.”

Scarlet closes her eyes, breathing through the fear while my thumb strokes her cheek.

Honey comes closer. “I have been bonded to these two since I was twenty-one,” she says softly. “They have loved me through hurricanes, bakery disasters, a broken wrist, and the year I cut my hair to my chin because a magazine promised it would look effortless.”

Callum looks at her with something like reverent adoration. “You were beautiful.”

Honey’s face softens. “You told me that every morning.”

“It was true every morning.”

Micah comes to her other side. “We also bought every headband in three counties.”

“Aww. Remember when you found me that yellow one?” Honey says.

“You liked the yellow one.”

Her smile turns luminous. “I did.”

Their affection wraps around her with quiet sincerity.

She looks at Scarlet. “I trust them to tell me when they are scared. They trust me to decide what I can face. Let us do that for you too.”

Scarlet places her hand on Honey’s, fingers curling gently around hers. “Okay,” she murmurs. It’s a quiet gesture, but it opens space for everyone standing with her.

Tom’s radio crackles. A deputy at the sheriff’s office asks him to call in. He answers through his phone. “Bell.”

The deputy’s voice carries. “We received the neighbor footage. One camera caught the rear plate at the corner. The image is incomplete, but we have enough characters to narrow the vehicle.”

Tom looks through the glass at Wes. “How narrow?”

“Three white cargo vans registered or rented in the county match the visible characters. One belongs to Magnolia Event Florals. One belongs to a plumbing company. The third was rented yesterday through Cypress County Fleet and Tool.”

“Renter?”

“The rental was charged to a temporary festival-services account. The employee remembers a man collecting it with a gloved hand. He signed C. Rusk.”

Wes’s focus sharpens.

Tom repeats the name for the recording, then instructs the deputy to preserve the footage and request the rental agreement, payment records, and exterior camera recordings through proper channels.