As usual, I want to than Malady for beta reading, and helping edit.
I'd also like to thank those who comment for their part in beta reading too! :-)
Chapter 12

The envelope Fran had found in the wastebasket contained a birthday card. It was hard to be certain, but the card might never have been out of the envelope. The handwriting on both the envelope and the note inside looked like a teenager’s—loopy, uneven, and earnest. The return address read Ashley Bernard, Riverside, California.

Fran paused. Mitch Bernard—Reggie and Debra’s nephew over at Spotless Solutions—shared that surname. Could Ashley be his sister? It bore checking out.

She yawned and glanced at her watch. Four A.M.

They’d been called to The Chicken Coop by Chick at eight the previous morning. Twenty hours of nonstop investigating had left her running on fumes. She locked the evidence they’d collected into its locker, then flipped off the lights. The alarm panel blinked its now-familiar flicker when she armed it. She disarmed and rearmed it. This time, it came on normally.