Grayson woke with the memory of the taste of Donika on his lips. After their date yesterday, he’d taken her home and kissed her on the front porch of the inn. She'd been embarrassed, sure that her family was watching her out the window.

He pulled himself out of bed and went downstairs to make a cup of coffee. As he scratched his behind and sipped his coffee, he checked his emails on his smartphone. There was an email from the production company, so he quickly tapped it open.

“Dear Mr. Baxter. Due to the unfortunate event yesterday, The Great American Bake-off will be postponed until further notice. Ongoing investigations into the nature of the crime committed yesterday prevent us from holding the show in the previous location until the investigation is complete. We are currently searching for a new judge. Canceling the show completely was considered, but ultimately the decision was made to carry on. We thank you for your cooperation and your continued participation in the Great American Bake-off.”

Grayson took another sip of coffee and read the letter over again. They were postponing the show indefinitely. The next episode had been set to be shot tomorrow. But now, he would have the whole day off. He wondered if he could spend the day with Donika.

She kept having bodies drop around her, and he was concerned. He'd been seeing men in sunglasses and dark suits driving around town. But he told himself they were just associated with the show.

Donika had mentioned she was having fainting spells, and maybe paranoia was just part of whatever was making her sick. It was possible that the deaths were mere coincidence. Heathcliff York was an extremely unpopular character. Grayson wouldn't doubt if the man had plenty of enemies of his own. The hairdresser had an estranged husband who was known to be violent.

Both deaths were a tragedy. But they were also easy to explain. Grayson needed to be there for her no matter what was going on. He wanted to believe everything she said. The most important thing was that she was safe. She was home with her family, and that was the safest place she could be.

Grayson hopped in his truck and drove to the bakery. It was still very early morning, and he looked forward to making dozens of loaves of French bread, his now world-famous scones, and all the other pastries that he provided the people of Fate Valley.

There was still so much he wanted to do in life, and his dream of opening a pastry factory was still at the back of his mind. But this morning he was happy to open the kitchen door of his little bakery to start the day. There was nothing like the smell of butter and sugar in the morning.

As he blended his first batch of pastries and took his customary nip of the fluffy mixture, he smiled and counted himself lucky. Once he had the scones baking, he mixed his French bread loaves and put them into loaf pans. His ovens pumped out dozens upon dozens of tasty treats as the day progressed.

He considered what to do with Donika tomorrow. He had already taken her on a date to the resort and for a ride out on the lake. Maybe he could take her out to the Fate Valley stables to go horseback riding through the forest. He decided that was the best idea. Donika needed to get out and get some fresh air. The horseback riding would help her clear her head. Soon they would find a solution to all her problems.

When Kitty arrived that morning, she stepped into the kitchen before starting her opening routine.

“I cannot believe what happened at the show yesterday,” she said. “I wasn't there, but it's all over the news.”

“It certainly was a tragedy.”

“What are they going to do about the show?”

“It's been postponed until further notice.”

“Do you think that they will keep filming it?”

“At the moment, it appears that that is the plan.”

“It must've been awfully scary,” she said, pouring herself a cup of coffee from the pot in the kitchen.

“It was frightening. The bullet zoomed right over Donika's head and hit Heathcliff York in the back of the skull. He died instantly. Everyone in the crowd saw it.”

“But nobody knows who did it?”

“Not yet. The police held everyone for questioning after the shooting. But I'm sure whoever did it slipped out of the room before the police even arrived.”

“Something big like the bake-off happens in our little town, and then there's a murder,” Kitty said. “This is why we can't have nice things.”

It didn't seem appropriate to chuckle about a murder, but Grayson couldn't help himself.

“I got an email from the show this morning saying that they were looking for a new judge.”

“I can't believe that Heathcliff York is dead. The show just won't be the same without him.”

“I can't believe it either.”

“He was a jerk. Nobody liked him. Do you think that's why he was murdered?” Kitty asked, wide-eyed.

“I don't know what else to think,” Grayson said.

At the back of his mind he was thinking about what Donika had said. That maybe the bullet was intended for her.

“I wouldn't doubt he had a lot of enemies,” Kitty said. “He was really terrible to the contestants on the show. He's made so many people cry on national TV. People don't react well to being humiliated in front of the world. I know I wouldn't.”

“Would you resort to murder?”

“Of course not. But do you remember last year when they held the show in Seattle, and he made that one woman cry so hard that snot dripped down her nose and it seeped into her mouth. They had a close-up of her on the screen right at that moment. Afterwards, people were saying all kinds of nasty things about her on social media. She became a meme. I can't even imagine what that must've felt like.”

“You think it was her?”

“Maybe. Maybe her or someone else like her. There are dozens of people he did similar things too.”

“That's true.”

“Well, I don't have any other explanation for it. I better get to opening the shop,” Kitty said.

She went out into the front of the house and continued her opening routine while Grayson pulled his loaves out of the oven. As they cooled, he transferred the scones to another cooling rack and popped his bear claws into the oven.

By the time the first customers began to arrive, his bear claws were ready, and he popped them out of the oven.

Setting the bear claws on the cooling rack, he went to have his third cup of coffee of the day, feeling just a little on edge about everything. He walked out into the café and saw Harrison Cole sitting at a table by the window. He went over and sat at the chair across the table from him.

“I heard about what happened at the event center yesterday,” Harrison said. “Such a terrible thing.”

“You’re telling me...”

“Do they have any idea who did it?” Harrison asked.

“Not yet. Kitty thinks that it was a disgruntled contestant from a previous show.”

“I've watched reruns of that show on Netflix with Sunshine. I wouldn't be surprised,” Harrison said, taking a bite of his bagel.

“Yeah, that’s probably it.”

“You don't sound so sure. What’s up?”

“Oh, it's nothing.”

“After what happened at the Fate Rock Chapel, I never think these matters are just nothing,” Harrison said, taking a sip of his smoothie.

“Well, the bullet whizzed right over Donika's head. And the other day she was at the hairdresser and the hairdresser was shot. The bullet barely missed Donika.”

“You mean Stacy Smith?” Harrison asked.

“Yes.”

“I helped the cops pick up her ex just a few days ago. He was raving drunk and screaming about how he was going to kill her.”

“That does sound awfully damning.”

“Do you think that these murders are connected?” Harrison asked.

“Donika is convinced that her old boss is after her.”

“There may be something to it. A coincidence like that could be a coincidence, but it could just as easily be something more. Keep me posted if you ever need help, okay?” Harrison said, rising from the table.

“Will do,” Grayson said, nodding to his friend as Harrison walked to the door.

He was concerned about Donika’s safety but knowing that Harrison had his back made him feel a little more confident about being able to protect her from whatever was out there.

The same dark black Escalade rolled past the café with its black tinted windows rolled up. A shiver went down Grayson spine. He sipped his coffee, trying to warm up. There was definitely something strange happening in town, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.