Fortune Cookie (Culinary Mystery) by Josi S. Kilpack

the quality of Wendy’s belongings when he said he wanted to arrange to donate them.
    “ . . . you bet. Thank you for making time for me.”
    Pete ended the call and leaned against the kitchen counter.
    “You’re going to meet with Detective Lopez?” she asked.
    “Yeah, he has some time in about an hour. Want to come?”
    Sadie absolutely wanted to go with him—well, rather she absolutely didn’t want to stay here—but Ji would be coming at some point and the work wasn’t going to get done if she didn’t buckle down and do it. “I better get started here.”
    Pete frowned. “I don’t like the idea of you being here alone.”
    All it took was him to act protective to trigger Sadie’s feelings of self-sufficiency. “I’m perfectly fine here.”
    “Sadie,” he said in a concerned tone. “We don’t know exactly how Wendy died, but someone came in last week and lit her remains on fire. ”
    “I’ll lock the door after you leave, and Ji will be here eventually. I’ll be fine.” She considered reminding him of her self-defense training—something that had saved her life in the past—but worried it would come across as argumentative.
    “You’re sure?” Pete asked, still looking skeptical.
    Sadie crossed the room to him and put her arms around his neck. She gave him a quick peck on the lips. “Ask your new police buddies where you should take your fiancée for dinner in this town. I will be just fine.”
    Pete relaxed and kissed her back, though it was far more exciting than the chaste kiss she’d given him a moment earlier. “I’ll call you when I’m on my way back.”
    They kissed once more—maybe three more times—and then Sadie locked the apartment door behind him, took a deep breath, and did what she always did—jumped in with both feet. There was work to do, and it was time to get moving.

Chapter 8
     

    It was nearly three o’clock when a buzzing sound made Sadie jump from where she was packing up dishes in the kitchen. She looked around in alarm and saw a speaker with buttons near the door to the apartment. Remembering a similar speaker by the outside door of the building, she hurried toward it, took a moment to figure out which button did what, and then pushed the button labeled talk.
    “Hello?” she said.
    “It’s Ji,” the voice said. “Can you buzz me in?”
    “I think so,” Sadie said. She let go of the talk button and pressed the unlock button, hoping it would open the exterior door of the building. She held it for ten seconds, assuming that would be enough time for him to enter, then let go. Anxiety washed over her as she waited for Ji to come up.
    When he knocked on the apartment door a minute later, she took a deep breath and put on a wide smile, ready to meet her nephew for the first time. She pulled open the door to reveal a handsome man, almost six feet tall. His Chinese heritage was obvious in his coloring, but his resemblance to Sadie’s brother, Jack, was there too in his strong jaw and wide forehead, which made him seem familiar. He had light brown eyes and dark hair, cut short.
    She held out her hand. “I’m Sadie,” she said, refraining from referring to herself as Aunt Sadie because it felt presumptuous.
    He took her hand and shook it once before dropping it. “Nice to meet you. I’m sorry it took me so long to get away. We stayed pretty busy today.”
    “I’m just glad you were able to come,” Sadie said and stood to the side of the doorway so that he could enter.
    He walked past her into the apartment before coming to a stop and sniffing the air. “It smells better than it did when I was here last week.”
    Sadie grimaced. “Was it horrible?”
    “Not as bad as I expected it to be, but, yeah, you could tell stuff had happened. I’m glad it’s better now, though. I was worried about you coming into that.”
    Sadie was touched by his concern. He turned away from her and his eye caught Wendy’s jewelry box still on the counter. He paused and his