Chapter Eleven Cassian
“It’s been three days!” I throw my hands up into the air. Jaylen watches me from where he’s sitting at the kitchen counter.
After the call Friday evening everything went to shit.
Zenovia has deep-cleaned her kitchen and the whole bakery.
She ensured all her ingredients and products weren’t expired or even gone off.
She threw out all the eggs in the shop and ordered fresh ones.
She hasn’t slept much since Friday. She hasn’t eaten much since Friday.
She wouldn't do it if I didn’t force her to sleep or eat.
All the kids who became sick from the cookies are doing better. Unfortunately, they were all not healthy enough to attend the homecoming dance.
“Cass, calm down. The cookies you had are clean. Which tells us it was something small. It might not even be the cookies.” Jaylen leans forward. “How’s Zenovia doing?”
“She’s finally sleeping. I didn’t want to wake her–” Both Jaylen and I stop talking when there’s a knock at my door.
I turn around to open the door and see Valerie, Evy, and Jock standing at the door.
“What are you kids doing here?” I make sure they hear the word ‘kids’.
We’ve been watching Valerie, but she hasn’t been doing anything over the weekend. She was one of the sick kids.
Jock hands me some flowers before he rubs the back of his neck. “We wanted to give this to Zenovia. What happened wasn’t her fault. We’re pretty sure it was something else that caused the others to be sick.” He looks past me and sees Jaylen.
Jaylen gets up and walks towards us. He stops next to me and moves his jacket to the side. I’m sure he just wants to make sure they see his badge. “Do you kids know anything?”
The three of them shake their heads. “No, sir. It just doesn’t make any sense. If it was the cookies, shouldn’t everyone who had some have been sick?” Jock asks, and Jaylen smiles at him proudly. This is the part Jaylen loves most about his job.
“If you ever want to be a cop, let me know.” He winks at Jock. “We’re looking into it. We aren’t sure what is going on.”
“Will Zenovia be opening the bakery again?” Evy asks as she bounces on the balls of her feet. I know she was looking forward to starting at the bakery.
“I will. I just needed some rest. It will be open again tomorrow.” Zenovia’s sweet voice echoes from behind me. Jock and Evy push me out of the way to get to her. I can’t help but smile as they engulf her in a hug.
“We were so worried. We never thought it was your cookies. We love your baked goods.” Jock hugs her again, and she giggles. If there weren’t kids around, I would take her upstairs and make her feel better.
Just thinking about it makes my cock twitch in my pants. I walk over to them just as Jock pulls back, allowing me to pull Zenovia into my arms. I kiss the top of her head as I hold her close to me. I don’t miss the fact that Valerie didn’t go to Zanovia.
“Thank you for letting me sleep a little longer. I feel like a new–” She’s cut off by Jaylen’s phone going off. We all watch him as he answers the phone. His eyes snap towards me, and the horror on his face tells me this is not good.
“Fuck, I have to go. There’s been another murder.” He runs out of the kitchen door. Zenovia tightens her arms around my waist as we all stare at the door. He did say murder, which makes me wonder if it’s a different murder or a homicide/suicide like the others.