Chapter 1
Vinny Bellucci’s Criminal Coffee and Missing Italian PastriesChapter One: The Aries Woman and the CannoliFive-Card Tarot Spread
Situation: The ChariotHidden Problem: Seven of SwordsWoman’s Energy: Queen of WandsDerrick’s Investigative Lesson: JusticeOutcome: Judgement
Scripture:“The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.”— Proverbs 14:15
Zodiac Woman: AriesMissing-Person Case Discussed: Kierra AaronItalian Pastry: CannoliCoffee: Double espressoCrime Thread: The stolen pastry shipment begins.
Caronna Publishing smelled like chicory coffee, old paper, and sugar dust.
Vinny Bellucci stood in the New Orleans courtyard with one hand wrapped around a black coffee mug and the other resting near the stack of books on the iron table. The fountain whispered behind him. Green shutters framed the courtyard walls. The patio looked calm enough for tourists, writers, and book lovers.
But Vinny knew calm was usually the costume trouble wore before it stepped through the gate.
Derrick Levasseur arrived just before noon, carrying himself like a man who noticed exits before decorations. He was there to sign books, shake hands, and talk about investigations, timelines, and the instincts that separate noise from truth.
Valeri watched from beside the signing table, making sure the books were stacked straight, the pens worked, and the courtyard stayed elegant.
This was supposed to be a professional event.
Coffee.
Books.
Pastries.
Caronna Publishing.
New Orleans.
Then Vinny’s phone buzzed.
He looked down once.
His jaw tightened.
The cannoli shipment was missing.
Not delayed.
Not misplaced.
Stolen.
Vinny did not raise his voice. He only looked toward the gate, then toward the empty silver trays waiting on the serving table.
“Somebody touched my order,” he said.
Derrick glanced up from the book he was signing.
“Shipment issue?”
Vinny gave him a slow look.
“Criminal coffee just became criminal pastries.”
Before Derrick could answer, the first woman entered the courtyard.
She walked in like fire had learned to wear heels.
Aries energy.
Sharp eyes. Straight spine. No patience for polite small talk.
She had come to meet Derrick, but she was not there to flatter him. She carried a folder under her arm and grief behind her face.
When she sat down, she looked directly at Derrick.
“I want to talk about Kierra Aaron.”
The courtyard quieted.
Derrick closed the book in front of him and listened.
The Aries woman spoke about a missing mother, a timeline that mattered, and how fast ordinary life could split open when someone left home and did not return the way they were supposed to.
Derrick did not interrupt.
When she finished, he leaned forward.
“The first question is always the timeline,” he said. “Last confirmed sighting. Last verified communication. Last person who knew where she was. Last place she was supposed to be. You don’t build a case from feelings first. You build it from confirmed movement.”
Vinny’s eyes shifted toward the empty pastry trays.
Confirmed movement.
Last verified location.
Last person with access.
The same rules applied to a woman, a truck, a shipment, or a lie.
Valeri wrote the words down.
THE CHARIOT — movement.SEVEN OF SWORDS — theft.QUEEN OF WANDS — the Aries woman.JUSTICE — Derrick’s method.JUDGEMENT — the call that wakes the dead.
Vinny stepped aside and made one quiet call.
“Find out who signed for my cannoli.”
The man on the other end said something.
Vinny’s face did not change.
“There is no ‘probably’ in my business.”
He ended the call.
Across the table, Derrick was still explaining how early mistakes damaged missing-person investigations. The Aries woman nodded hard, angry tears shining but not falling.
Valeri looked from Derrick to Vinny and felt the chapter open like a door.
The women were coming.
The cases were coming.
The pastries were already gone.
And somewhere in New Orleans, a truck full of Italian desserts had become evidence.
Italian QuoteChi ruba una volta, mente due volte.“Who steals once, lies twice.”
PrayerLord, protect the missing, expose every false timeline, and guide the hands searching for truth. Bless the families who wait, the witnesses who speak, and the investigators who refuse to look away. Amen.
