Chapter 29—Jackson

Jackson could see and hear each breath as he ran the few blocks to The Cozy Cup. He was wracking his brain—trying to think of anything he could have left on—something that could have malfunctioned. Nat said she didn’t see flames. That had to be a good sign. But, if something set off the fire suppression system, it was going to be an absolute nightmare to clean up.

And the cookies—the cakes, the pies, the brownies—if the system went off, all of that would be ruined. He couldn’t stand the thought.

When he got to the shop, Nat was standing outside with Adam, and several firefighters were inside the shop, but he couldn’t see any smoke or flames.

“What happened?” he barely managed to say. The short jog in the cold winded him more than he wanted to admit.

“The fire suppression system went off,” he said. “I can’t tell if something triggered the fire alarm and then it went off, or if something else happened.”

“What do you mean?” Jackson asked.

“I could swear to you someone was in there when I ran in,” Adam said, shaking his head. “I couldn’t see because it was so dark, but I swear I saw something—or someone—by the back door when I went in.

“That’s impossible,” he said. But was it? Just that morning, Zack had texted him a few times. He hadn't explicitly said he was in town, but he kept asking Jackson if they could talk.

“The guys are coming out now,” Adam said, nodding toward one of the men walking toward them.

“Wilson,” the man said, nodding toward Adam.

“Captain Miller,” Adam replied.

“It’s a mess in there,” the man said to Jackson. He handed him a small pin, which Jackson examined. “These things aren’t easy to pull,” he said. “From what I can see, someone tried to set your smoke alarm off, but ultimately, they had to manually pull the pin to your system. But Adam here told the rest of the guys that the doors were locked when he entered. And we cleared everything. No one’s there.”

Jackson nodded. “Is there damage?” he asked.

“Everything that isn’t food should be safe. But it’s going to take a massive clean-up effort.”

Jackson closed his eyes. All of that work. For nothing.

He walked into the shop, and his heart dropped into his stomach. The baker’s racks were covered in white. The floors, the counters, the stove, the espresso machines. He thought the fire suppression system was just supposed to hit the oven and stove. Why was this crap all over everything?

The only good news was that Adam was able to get the fire protection company out first thing in the morning to reset the system and get things back up and running. But it didn’t matter. There was no way he’d be open for tomorrow. It was all starting to feel so pointless. He’d let himself think—to hope for a second—that this could be turned around. But who was he kidding?

He pulled out his phone and reached behind the register for one of the many cards Demetri always left with him. He typed a quick text and got to work, cleaning the place up.

Within a few minutes, Adam and Nat walked through the doors. “What can we do?” Nat asked.

Jackson shook his head as he scanned the room. “I don’t know,” he sighed. “I guess start wiping.”

While Nat was busy gathering supplies, Adam came over and slid a small key onto the counter. Jackson recognized the key because of the small Z etched into the top of it. “I found that in the alley,” he said. “I don’t know if giving it to you is the right thing or not, but that’s what I’m doing. I think you needed to know sooner than later.”

Jackson picked up the key and slid it into his pocket. “Thanks,” he said. “I must have dropped that earlier.”

Nat popped back over then, interrupting them. “Where’s Andi?” she asked as she walked into the kitchen, looking around at the mess.

“The last I saw her, she was with Tim,” Jackson said. So much had fallen apart in so little time.