Til a Death Do Us Part: A Bakery Detectives Cozy Mystery by Stacey Alabaster Page A

down at his desk. "I'm sorry, Jackson. The body found..." He had to stop talking to clear his throat. "She was a woman of Emma's age, with red hair.”
    Geez. I tried not to look horrified as I sucked in a breath.
    "You can't blame us for jumping to conclusions."
    Jackson shook his head. "How about you find my actual fiancé," he spat.
    Was she still his fiancé?
    "We’re doing our best, Jackson," the sergeant said with a frustrated sigh as though this was not their first time having this conversation. "I've told you a dozen times, we are doing everything we can."
    I wasn't aware that Jackson had been so desperate to find Emma, though I don't know why I was so surprised. Of course he was. I looked around uncomfortably. The sarge wasn't the only person in the room who wished I wasn't there. Why had I ever gone in there with him?
    "She can't just have disappeared into thin air," Jackson snapped.
    The sergeant let out a heavy sigh. "You gotta come to terms with the fact that most likely, she doesn't want to be found."
    "What does that mean?" Jackson snapped again.
    The sergeant was patient and took his time in explaining. "She obviously doesn't want to hear from any of us. Nor from you." He pointed at Jackson, which I thought was a little harsh given his earlier mix-up just five minutes before. "Now, either she doesn't want to be married to you or there's something even worse she doesn't want you to know."
    Jackson frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but there was a knock on the door and the sergeant got called away. "Now I apologize again for the mix-up before," he said as he left. "But Jackson, you need to get your head back on the job. Stay focused. Or I'll get someone else to do your job for you."
    Jackson pushed through the door soon after the sergeant left and I followed him until he finally stopped. He leaned against the wall near a water cooler and let out a heavy breath. I could see he was sweating a little.
    "You must be awfully relieved."
    "It's still a dead body," Jackson stated without emotion.
    "Of course, I only meant..." I started to follow after him.
    He started pouring coffee out of a pitcher that had seen better days. The bottom of it was practically blackened on the outside. "Of course I'm relieved. It's okay. I knew what you meant." He offered me a weak smile as well as a cup of the weak coffee that had probably been sitting out all day.
    It didn't really seem that appealing but I accepted it anyway. I was so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open, but I had the feeling that it was the kind of tired that no amount of coffee could fix. I took a sip and it was stronger than I'd expected, and very bitter. But somehow the bitterness was almost pleasant and I kept sipping at it.
    "Do you think she'll come back?" I asked quietly, tapping my fingers against the mug as I stared down into the dark liquid.
    Jackson shook his head. "I don't know." He coughed. "I'm a... Sorry, I'm still in a little bit of shock. I just keep wondering what if that really had been her that they found?" He shook his head. "That poor woman."
    We were both silent for a moment until a woman pushed past us to get coffee and we had to move out of the way.
    "What about Pippa?" Jackson said. "I'm sorry that this all distracted you from...well, your own troubles." He cleared his throat. "Looks like I'm not the only one with a missing person on their mind."
    I shook my head. "I barely even want to think about that," I said, checking my phone. There was a text from my apprentice Bronson saying that he'd opened the shop, which meant we'd only missed an hour or so of trade. Still no sign of Pippa though, apparently. "It's not like her to not show up like that without any warning, without even a phone call, an explanation."
    Jackson raised an eyebrow.
    "Well, okay, it's a little like her," I had to admit. "It's a little like the old Pippa, I mean. But not the Pippa she's been recently. Not the new Pippa. She's changed since she got