The Bracelet Read Free Page A

didn’t respond.
    After securing an oxygen mask over the old man’s face, the EMTs transferred him to a stretcher. As they wheeled Poppy out of the apartment, Piper caught sight of a familiar red-velvet box sitting on the end table. The box was open but there was nothing in it.
    Piper’s face grew hot.
    What had happened to the bracelet? Had somebody stolen it? Had Poppy been a victim of a home invasion? Had she actually bumped into the thief?
    The memory of the person rushing down the stairs as she was coming up flashed through Piper’s mind. That ski jacket looked a lot like the one her parents had given Zara for Christmas. Piper had been there when her sister-in-law opened the present and had seen her wearing the jacket in the bakery Sunday morning. But the thought was preposterous. Wasn’t it?
    â€œPiper? Piper? Are you all right?”
    Piper heard the footsteps on the stairs and her mother calling her name. She went out onto the landing. “I’m fine, Mom,” she said, looking down. “But Poppy—” Her mother didn’t let Piper finish the sentence.
    â€œI know,” Terri said breathlessly as she reached her daughter and hugged her. “I saw him as they put him in the back of the ambulance. What happened?”
    â€œI’m not sure,” said Piper. “He was lying on the floor with his head bleeding when I got up here.”
    â€œWe have to get in touch with Poppy’s son,” Terri said as they went into the apartment. “Let’s look around and see if we can find his contact information. It must be here somewhere.”
    Picking up the bloodstained paper towels from the floor, Piper walked to the kitchen. A single dinner plate and glass were in the dish rack on the counter. There were a few pictures and a couple of coupons attached to the refrigerator with magnets. A calendar for the approaching year was already hanging. Piper hoped Poppy was going to be able to use it.
    A stainless steel trash canister was in the corner. Piper pressed down on the pedal to open it. As she was about to deposit the soiled paper towels, Piper noticed the familiar pink gum wrapper lying on top of the trash.
    Teaberry. Zara’s favorite.

    â€œI found it,” Terri called from the living room. “It’s here in his address book. Philip Enright in Upper Saddle River.”
    â€œYeah but, Mom, I just remembered something,” said Piper.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œPoppy said his son and his family went to Florida for the week.”
    Terri squinted down at the address book again. “Here,” she said, shaking her head and handing it to Piper. “I can’t see it well enough but I think there are two numbers there. Maybe one is the son’s cell phone.”

    Philip Enright was appreciative of Terri’s call. He assured her that he would contact the emergency room and check on the situation. He gave no indication that he would cut his family trip short and come home to be with his father.
    â€œLet’s go over to the hospital,” said Terri when she finished the call. “Poppy should have somebody there for him. He shouldn’t be all alone.”
    The whole time they were in the apartment together, Piper had waited for her mother to see the empty jewelry box. But Terri never noticed it. Piper didn’t point it out either.
    Piper wasn’t sure what to do. If she told her parents about her suspicions that the bracelet had been stolen, they would insist that she tell the police. Once the police were involved there would be an investigation. What if that investigation led to Zara?
    Her sister-in-law was far from her favorite person. In fact, Piper regularly dreaded having to be in the same room with her. But she certainly didn’t want to believe Zara was capable of hurting an old man. Attacking Piper’s sanity? Yes. Attacking a sweet octogenarian with Velcro sneakers? No.
    Yet she couldn’t stop thinking about