Chapter 2

At the third buzz on my phone, I swiped away the group chat.

Rachel was still putting on a show in there. [Emily must be too busy to read our texts. I found the address from an online map. Her orchard is called Springbrook Cherries. I'll share the location with everyone. We'll gather at the north gate at 10 a.m. tomorrow. I'll lead everyone in.]

She had even found the name of my orchard.

I put my phone on DND and called the orchard caretaker, Cecil. "Cecil, some people are coming to the orchard tomorrow to pick cherries. Do not let them onto the property."

"Who are they?"

"They're my old university classmates, but I never agreed to let them enter the orchard."

"All right. I'll lock the gate, but what if they climb over the walls?"

I paused before replying. "If they climb over the walls, don't stop them. Just call the police."

Cecil sounded slightly surprised, but he quickly laughed. "Got it."

I added, "By the way, Cecil, I'll be installing several security cameras at the orchard tomorrow. Help me set them up."

After hanging up, I sent a message to Sid, the man I had outsourced the orchard to that year. He had signed a three-year contract to take over its management and was responsible for setting seasonal prices and enforcing the orchard's rules. I had kept only two trees for my family's personal use.

[Sid, someone might be heading to the orchard tomorrow looking for trouble. Just deal with them according to the rules. You don't need to worry about what I think.]

He replied almost immediately.

[What do you mean? Is someone coming to steal cherries?]

[Something like that.]

[All right. Something similar happened at another orchard I own last year. A group of people climbed over the walls and picked more than 300 pounds of cherries. I caught them in the act and called the police. They ended up paying three times the market price in compensation.]

The message was followed by a cheeky smiling emoji.

I did not respond after that.

At 8 a.m. the next morning, the constant buzzing of my phone woke me up. The group chat was unusually active.

[Time to go! Is everyone here?]

[Rachel, just to confirm, it's 10 a.m., right? We don't want to arrive too early if the gate isn't open yet.]

[Anyone bringing kids should make sure to pack sunscreen! It's sunny at the orchard.]

[Are you awake, Emily? We'll be troubling you today.]

Rachel shared the orchard's location in the group chat, and it showed she was already nearby. I ignored the messages.

At 8:40 a.m., I got dressed and drove 40 minutes to a small hill across from the orchard. It was a good vantage point, neither too high nor too low, and it gave me a clear view of the orchard's north gate.

I turned on my tablet in the car and connected it to the security cameras I had installed. All four cameras were working, and their feeds appeared on the screen simultaneously.

The orchard gates were shut and secured with a massive lock. Cecil had dragged out a chair and was sitting inside the orchard. His dog, Panther, lay beside his feet with his ears perked up.

At 8:55 a.m., the first vehicle arrived. A white Honda SUV rounded the corner of the dirt road and parked directly in front of the orchard gate. The door opened, and a woman with thick, wavy hair stepped out. She wore a floral dress and sunglasses.

It was Rachel.

We had not seen each other in five years. She had put on weight, and her jawline was almost nonexistent. She walked up to the metal gate and shouted into the orchard. Cecil got to his feet and approached her from the other side.

I tapped the audio button on my tablet. The sound quality was not great, but I could still make out most of their conversation.

Rachel said, "Hi, I'm Emily's old university classmate. I'm here to visit the cherry orchard."

Cecil replied, "My boss told me that no one is allowed into the orchard today."

"That's impossible. Emily didn't say anything about keeping people out today."

"Well, that's what she told me."

Rachel pulled out her phone and tapped the screen a few times before raising it to her ear. A moment later, my phone started buzzing with an incoming call from her.