Free The Missing Dough by Chris Cavender

that type, and the last time I saw her, she had long brown hair.”
    “No, I haven’t seen her,” Paul said. “I’m talking about Art Young.”
    “Art came by?” I asked, more startled than I meant to show. “Did he say what he wanted?”
    “He didn’t tell me anything about why he was hunting for you. He just asked me to tell you when I saw you that the two of you need to talk, and he left this envelope for me to give to you in case I ran into you first. He was pretty insistent about it.”
    I took the envelope from Paul as he added, “Eleanor, I know that you two are acquaintances, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need to watch your step around him. From what I’ve heard, he’s connected. Listen, if you need a little cash to get through a rough spot, I’d be glad to loan you everything that’s in my account, and it’s interest free.”
    I had to laugh. “Art is more than a passing acquaintance to me. He’s my friend, Paul.” I waved the envelope in the air. “There’s no way this has cash in it. I’m curious, though. Why do you think I might need money?”
    He just shrugged. “Hey, don’t forget I run a small business, too. I know how tight things can get sometimes.” He took a step backward as he added, “I didn’t mean to overstep my bounds. You and Maddy are two of the best friends I have in Timber Ridge. I can’t help it if I’m a little overprotective of you both.”
    Maddy and I laughed, and we each found one of his cheeks to kiss. Paul smiled, but it was clear he wasn’t all that comfortable with our public display of affection. That was just too bad, though. He was like a part of our family, a big brother who just happened to be younger than either one of us. That didn’t mean that he still couldn’t look out for the two of us, though.
    “Just for the record,” I said, “we’re fine, financially and otherwise. I have no idea what’s in this envelope, but it has nothing to do with money, I can guarantee that to you. By the way, how’s your love life these days?”
    Paul managed to look uncomfortable yet again. I knew that he was still seeing Gina Sizemore, the young woman who ran Tree-Line. It was an elegant resort hotel and conference center on the edge of town, and they were still dating, at least as of the festival last night. I’d seen them together there, walking around the promenade, holding hands and looking as though the rest of the world wasn’t even there. “It’s fine,” he said.
    “Oh, it’s bound to be better than just fine,” Maddy said with a wicked gleam in her eye. “We’ve seen the two of you in public.”
    His face was beginning to turn crimson red. “Maddy, let’s stop picking on him,” I said as I waved the envelope in the air. “Thanks for delivering this, Paul.”
    “I was happy to do it,” he said.
    “Even with Art’s reputation around town?” I asked.
    “Hey, any friend of yours is a friend of mine,” he said.
    I had the envelope open by the time my sister and I got to the Slice’s front door.
    “What does it say?” Maddy asked.
    “Hang on a second. We can look at it once we’re inside.”
    I let us into the pizzeria and then locked the door behind us once we were inside. I looked in the envelope, honestly not sure what I was going to find.
    There was a single business card in there, with no name and no other indication of who it might belong to. On the front was a telephone number, and on the back, in block letters, someone had printed Call me ASAP.
    I showed it to Maddy.
    “That’s odd,” she said after she studied it for a few seconds. “I wonder what this is all about.”
    “There’s only one way to find out,” I said.
    I grabbed my cell phone and dialed the number on the card.
    It took twelve rings for whoever was on the other end to answer.
    “I’ll be outside in seven minutes,” Art said and then hung up.
    I was still frowning at the phone in my hand when Maddy asked, “What did he say?”
    “Art wants to see