Page 100 of Broken Pact

He looks at me, his dark eyes sparkling in this light. “Looks like you need a couch in here, baby.”

I roll my eyes at his insinuation. “I mean, I do, but not for napping. For customers. Eventually.”

Jasper chuckles and hands me a slice of the Wisconsin pizza. “Until then, we’ll have to save our disco naps for my place.”

I take a big bite, savoring the blend of five Wisconsin cheeses, the zesty tomato sauce, and the slices of bratwurst. A small moan of appreciation escapes my lips. “God, this is amazing. Thank you for bringing it.” I didn’t realize how hungry I was until right now.

He grins, taking a bite of his own slice. "Anything for my girl."

There it is again. My girl. The words send a little thrill through me each time he says them.

We eat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, the only sounds in the bakery are the music playing and the occasional appreciative hum from one of us.

“Should I expect to see this as your caption tomorrow?” he asks, nodding toward the speaker in the corner.

“Maybe. Maybe not. Gotta keep you guessing.” I bite the inside of my cheek to curb my smile as I reach for a slice of the vegan mac ’n cheese pizza. My phone vibrates insistently on the counter—a video call. I glance at the screen and see my mom’s beautiful face.

“Sorry, one sec, it’s my mom,” I say to Jasper, swiping a napkin across my mouth and answering the phone.

“Coraline? Coraline, where are you?” Mom’s breathless, not even giving me a chance to answer her.

My heart kicks inside my chest and I lean forward. “What’s wrong, Mom?”

“Oh, honey, where are you?” She sounds distracted, but her face is so close to the screen, I can’t make out where she is right now.

“I’m at the bakery. Where are you? You’re kind of frozen right now.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m worried about you right now!” she yells, panic threaded in every syllable.

I shake my head, my brows sinking together. “What’s going on? You’re not making any sense.”

“They’re calling it a serial killer—a serial killer!” Her voice hits a full octave higher on those last few words.

“Mom,” I snap, my heart racing now. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Like some kind of Pavlovian response, anytime my mom gets worked up or scared, I do too.

“Oh for goodness’ sake, Cora, turn on the news once in a while, would you?” she says, exasperation dripping from every word.

I exhale and glance at Jasper. He’s got his phone in front of his face, the screen illuminating his sharp jawline. Ugh, he even looks good in that bright phone screen lighting.

“Well, I’m working so why don’t you just tell me what’s going on.”

She sighs, like she’s so put out for having to explain it even though she called me in the first place. “It’s breaking news, Cora. They found two bodies in the park around the block from your house.”

I shake my head, still not understanding. “Okay, that’s terrible, but I don’t get how that means it’s a serial killer.”

“And how would you know so much about serial killers?” she asks, her tone suspicious, but it’s hard to tell because she’s all pixelated and semi-frozen. Her audio is working okay though.

“I watch a lot of true crime, Mom, you know this.” I sigh.

“Okay, well did you know that this is the fourth crime scene and the third and fourth bodies? This serial killer has left the same marker or calling card or whatever it’s called at each of their crime scenes, that’s how the cops know.”

“Jesus,” I mutter as understanding dawns. “When did this happen? How come I haven’t heard of anything until right now?”

“Well, I don’t know. Probably because you get all your news from the internet,” she drawls.

Which is fair, to be honest. I can’t remember the last time I watched the news—and definitely not on my TV.

“And I don’t know, honey. I guess the cops didn’t put it all together until tonight. The first murder happened six weeks ago or so. Right on highway MA, but it was on the Maple Grove side of the road.”

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