When Gabe showed up later that evening, Jasper was glad he’d taken an extra-long nap after Spencer had gone home. Rushing to open the door, he barely had time to greet Gabe before he was grabbed and backed into the fridge with Gabe’s arms locked around him so tight there was no chance he’d be able to get free.

Not that he wanted to.

“You scared me last night,” Gabe whispered into his hair, his voice raw and filled with exhaustion.

“I know. I’m sorry.” He hadn’t even needed his mother to tell him how Gabe had reacted to his car exploding to know how badly his detective had been affected.

“I don’t like to be scared. Hell, I’m not used to caring enough about anyone to be scared for them.”

Jasper knew that too.

“I wasn’t even that scared when Emerson was shot last year.”

Jasper nudged him back so he could look at him. “Detective Trewitt was shot?”

Gabe nodded.

“And you weren’t scared for him? But he’s your partner.”

Gabe shrugged. “It comes with the job. Part of you is always aware something could go wrong, so you’re prepared. But what I wasn’t prepared for was to lose you because you drove off a fucking cliff.” His hands clutched Jasper tighter. “Please don’t do that again.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t.” It was going to be a while before Jasper would be able to drive along that stretch of highway again anyway.

“And no more taking any unnecessary risks. I don’t want to have to go through something like that again.”

Jasper hesitated.

“Jasper,” Gabe said, leaning back and staring into his eyes. “Promise me you won’t take any more risks or put yourself in danger.”

Jasper thought about what he and Spencer had planned for the following day. They weren’t actually doing anything dangerous, just following Elwood from the safety of Spencer’s car. And since Jasper was fairly certain Elwood was innocent, no matter what Spencer thought, there was no risk or danger involved. “I promise not to take any chances with my safety.”

Gabe studied him, his eyes narrowed as if he suspected Jasper wasn’t telling him everything, which put a little twist in his stomach he thought might be guilt. Which was kind of annoying when he was skating the edge of the truth a bit by not coming clean about his plans with Spencer. But since he wasn’t actually putting himself at risk, he was able to hold Gabe’s gaze with a mostly clear conscience.

Then Gabe had to go and ruin everything.

“Okay. I trust you.”

That niggle of guilt went rocketing sky-high.

Jasper sighed. Pushing Gabe back, he walked over to the table and leaned against it, crossing his arms. Then thought that might make him look defensive, so he uncrossed them. But then Jasper didn’t know what to do with his hands, so after flailing around for a few seconds, he ended up shoving them in his front pockets. Then looked at Gabe, who was watching him with his arms crossed, and didn’t look at all defensive, which was also annoying. But it did make his biceps bulge nicely, so there was that.

“Wanna tell me what’s going on?”

“Not really,” Jasper muttered. When Gabe’s eyebrow shot up, Jasper huffed out a breath. “Okay, look. Tomorrow, Spencer and I are going to be driving around town.”

“Okay,” Gabe said slowly. “And where are you going?”

“It’s more a case of who we’re going to.”

Gabe’s eyes narrowed. “Explain.”

How to put it so it didn’t sound worse than it was? Then Jasper realized there really wasn’t any way to put a positive spin on them following Elwood to spy on him so he just went with the truth. “We’re going to follow Elwood around.”

“Why?”

“Because he was acting weird this morning.”

Gabe, the Detective, was suddenly there. “Weird how?”

“Just acting a little strange. But nothing for you to worry about,” Jasper said, holding up his hands when Gabe started to scowl. “Really. We’re just going to follow him for a bit to make sure everything’s all right.”

Gabe’s scowl got darker. “So you’re following him around because he was acting weird but not strange enough for me to worry about?”

“That’s right.”

“Are you out of your fucking mind? You’re barely out of the hospital after someone tried to kill you and now you’re planning on running around the streets spying on people.”

“Not people. Just Elwood.”

“Jesus fuck,” Gabe yelled. “There’s a goddamned killer after you who almost got you once. When the hell are you going to get it through that stubborn head of yours that you can’t keep taking stupid risks like this?”

“I’m not taking a risk. We’re just driving around.”

“The last time you were just driving someone pushed you off a goddamn cliff.”

Which was kind of hard to argue with. “That’s not going to happen again. Spencer and I will be in the city in broad daylight. With lots of people around us.”

“And what if your stalker comes after you and Spencer?”

“If anyone comes near us, Spencer will just drive away.”

“You’ll drive away? That’s your fucking answer?”

Jasper nodded.

“And if they have a gun? What then? Can Spencer’s car outrace a fucking bullet?”

Jasper was hard-pressed not to roll his eyes. “Nobody’s going to shoot at us.”

“Just because you say it doesn’t make it so.”

“I know. But I highly doubt anyone is going to shoot at us. Why would they?”

Gabe growled, actually growled at him.

Jasper crossed his arms, hoping he looked annoyed and not defensive this time and growled back. But when it came out sounding more like something a bear cub would make and not an enraged grizzly like Gabe’s had, he stopped. “Gabe, listen—”

“No.” Gabe’s hand slashed through the air. “You listen. No more arguing. No more games. You are not going to chase Elwood around to spy on him and that’s final.”

Jasper’s eyebrow went up. “Are you forbidding me?”

“You’d better fucking believe it.”

Jasper tilted his head. “And what gives you the right to forbid me from going out with my friend?”

A muscle in Gabe’s jaw jumped as he stared at him. Then he spun around and slammed his hands on the counter. “Goddammit. Nothing does. You’re a grown man and can do whatever the hell you want.” He turned back to Jasper and pointed his finger at him. “But I swear to god, if you get yourself killed, I’m going to fucking kill you myself.”

Jasper tried to hold back a laugh, but it escaped.

Gabe scowled at him. “I’m glad you think this is so goddamned funny.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t. But you’re overreacting. Spencer and I aren’t going to do anything but follow Elwood around. We won’t even get out of the car if that helps.”

“No, it doesn’t fucking help. Christ, you’re killing me. Your blindness to the risks you’re taking is going to give me a heart attack. I’ll be dead before I’m forty if you don’t start acting smarter than this. Fuck!”

Jasper leaped across the kitchen and plastered himself to Gabe’s chest. “Everything’s going to be alright. I swear.”

Gabe grabbed him by the shoulders. “You can’t know that.”

“Yes, I can.”

“No, you can’t,” Gabe said, giving him a shake. “You don’t know the horrific things people do to each other. Or the lengths they’ll go to hurt someone. Someone’s already tried to kill you once. What if they try again while you’re joyriding with Spencer?”

“Gabe, listen—”

“You can’t keep doing this. My heart can’t take it.”

“Gabe—”

“If I lost you…”

Jasper put his hand over Gabe’s mouth. “You’re not going to lose me. I promise. The shard will keep me safe.”

Gabe pushed his hand away. “You can’t trust your life to the shard.”

Jasper wrapped his fingers around the shard under his shirt, smiling when it pulsed in his hand. “Yes, I can.”

“No, you fucking can’t. I don’t care how powerful it is. It’s still a fucking rock. An inanimate object. Something or someone will eventually be able to get to you because unless the damned thing can wrap you in a bubble, it will not be able to protect you from everything.”

Gabe was wrong. But there was only one way to make him understand. “It can protect me from everything. But the only way you’re going to believe me is to meet it.”

Gabe stilled. “Excuse me?”

“I want to introduce you to the shard.” Jasper pulled the shard out from under his shirt. “So that you can see it’s more than just a rock.”

“You want to introduce me to a rock,” Gabe said, looking at Jasper like he was nuts.

Jasper nodded. “I hadn’t planned on doing it this soon, since there’s no undoing it. But you did say you wanted to be with me forever…” He looked at Gabe and held his breath.

Another scowl. “Of course, we’re going to be together forever.”

Jasper’s heart almost stopped at his instant and matter-of-fact response, like how dare Jasper think they wouldn’t be together. “Gabe…” he whispered.

The anger and frustration faded from Gabe’s eyes, replaced by something softer. “I know,” he said, cupping Jasper’s neck. “But later. Right now, tell me about this shard of yours you want me to meet.”

Nodding, Jasper cupped the shard in his palms, his hands trembling as he held it out to Gabe. “You need to touch it.”

Gabe looked at the shard, then back at Jasper. “Why?”

“So it can formally meet you.” Jasper licked his lips. “And, uhm, form a connection with you.”

Gabe eyed the stone suspiciously. “What kind of connection?”

“A permanent one.” When Gabe’s eyes flew to his, Jasper quickly said, “It’s so it can bring you under its protection, the same way it does for my family. But you need to touch it for it to be able to do that.” When Gabe hesitated, Jasper nodded encouragingly. “It’ll be fine. I promise.”

Keeping his eyes on him, Gabe slowly reached out his hand and rested his fingers on it. Then snatched it back when the shard sparked and released a bolt of energy.

Mentally chiding the stone, Jasper reached for Gabe’s hand and brought it back, wrapping it around the shard. A buzzing filled the air. There was a soft pop and then the stone began to glow, its light leaking between Gabe’s fingers. “There. It knows you now.”

Gabe stared at it, a look of wonder spreading across his face. “I can hear…it sounds like it’s talking to me.”

“It probably is.” Jasper shrugged when Gabe’s eyes shot to his. “In its own way.”

“It feels…” Gabe gave a shaky laugh. “It feels like it’s alive.”

“That’s because it is. It has sentience. Not in a way you or I can fully understand, but make no mistake, it is alive.”

Gabe nodded, his fingers loosening on the stone, but not pulling away. “Your mother said the shard kept you alive when you went over the cliff. How?”

“The shard protects all of my family and those we consider family, like Spencer. And now you. But whoever is wearing it receives the most protection because it can act directly when they’re in danger, which is why my mother gave it to me. I’ll be safe as long as I have it on.” He folded his hands around Gabe’s, enclosing the now pulsing shard between them. “Between the shard and my magic, I’ll be fine. And Spencer will be too.”

“I still don’t like the idea of you going out when your stalker is still out there.”

“I know. But if it will help relieve your mind, I’ll tell you where we are every step of the way tomorrow.”

“It would actually.”

“Then that’s what I’ll do.”

“Okay, good.”

Jasper rose to his tiptoes. Pressing a soft kiss to Gabe’s lips, he whispered, “Want to have make up sex now?”

“God, yes.”

Jasper laughed when Gabe tossed him over his shoulder, bracing his hands on Gabe’s hips when he took off at a fast jog, his boots thundering on the floorboards as he carted Jasper off to do dirty and nasty things to him. At least, he hoped that’s what Gabe intended on doing.

His detective didn’t let him down.

——

The next morning…

Feeling surprisingly alert, considering how little sleep he’d had, Jasper bounded up the steps onto Spencer’s porch with two travel mugs filled with freshly made coffee. Before he had a chance to knock, the door opened. Spencer took one look at him and started to grin.

“Well, aren’t you looking all chipper and relaxed this morning. Good night?”

Jasper grinned. “The best.” He handed one of the travel mugs to Spencer. “You sure you’re fine with taking more time off from the bakery?”

“It’s all good. I went in for a few hours while you were fooling around with that detective of yours and got the prep work done for Katie who is more than happy to have another day without the boss looming over her shoulder. Her words.” He turned to lock his door, looking at Jasper over his shoulder. “Besides, I’m the one who thinks Elwood’s up to something, so the least I can do is drive us around.”

“Especially since I don’t have a car,” Jasper said drily.

Spencer snorted as he turned to face him. “That too.”

Then Jasper noticed the gleam in his eyes. “You little faker. You’re doing it for the thrill, not because you feel obligated.”

Barking out a laugh, Spencer nudged Jasper back with his elbow before jumping off the porch. “Don’t tell me you don’t feel the same way.”

Jasper laughed as he followed Spencer to his car, not able to deny it. The thought of being a spy for a day did have his blood humming with excitement.

Watching his friend from the corner of his eye as Spencer drove through the still quiet neighborhood, Jasper waited until Spencer took a drink of his coffee to casually say, “By the way. I told Gabe what we were doing today.”

Spitting out coffee, Spencer swerved to the right, almost taking out Mrs. Phife’s mailbox. Slamming on the brakes, he turned to Jasper. “You did what?”

Jasper laughed at the shocked look on his face. “I told him what we were doing.”

“And he let you out of the house?”

“Of course he let me out of the house.” Jasper waited a beat. “With a strict set of rules.”

Spencer snorted. “I figured. What are they?”

Setting his travel mug in the cup holder, Jasper raised his hands and started ticking them off. “No taking any risks. No doing anything stupid. No direct engagement with Elwood. No getting out of the vehicle. Text him where we’re going every time we change location. No doing anything stupid. No—”

“You said the stupid one already.”

Jasper grinned and reached for his coffee. “Gabe felt it needed to be said twice.”

“Detective Do-Me knows you well, doesn’t he?”

Jasper choked, his coffee going down the wrong tube when he heard Spencer’s new name for Gabe.

Laughing, Spencer started driving again, completely unconcerned about the fact that Jasper was choking to death in the seat next to him.

——

Jasper was still trying to come up with a way to get back at his friend when Spencer neatly parallel-parked between two vehicles just down the street from the Carlisle mansion.

Spencer’s eyes were sparkling when he turned to Jasper. “You ready for our first stakeout?”

Jasper snorted, then sank lower in his seat when a black car drove past them. “Yeah. How long do you think we’ll have to wait?”

“Shouldn’t be more than a few minutes,” Spencer said, checking his side mirror. “If you get hungry, I packed some snacks.”

“You did?” Jasper looked in the back seat and gave a little fist pump when he saw the pink box sitting on top of a gym bag. He grabbed the box and set it on his lap, then lifted the lid. “You brought donuts.”

“Can’t have a stakeout without coffee and donuts,” Spencer said, grinning at him. “I also brought water, chips, nuts, crossword puzzles, a flare gun, binoculars, and gum.”

“Really?” Jasper set the donuts on the dash, then hauled the gym bag between the seats and unzipped it. Pawing through the contents, he had to laugh when he saw Spencer had brought a lot more than that. “Just how long do you think we’re going to be on stakeout?” he asked, holding up not one, but two brands of deodorant. “Seriously Spencer. We’ll be going home at the end of the day.”

Spencer shrugged. “It never hurts to be prepared.”

Shaking his head, Jasper shoved the deodorant back into the bag and put it on the floorboard next to his feet, then grabbed the pink box off the dash and opened it. Choosing two donuts, he handed one to Spencer and took a big bite out of the other, washing it down with his coffee.

They’d been sitting there for about ten minutes when Spencer sat forward and looked through his side mirror, then turned the key to start the engine. “Get ready. He’s coming.”

Jasper slid lower in his seat, then grabbed onto Spencer’s sleeve to pull him down too. Raising his head just enough to see out Spencer’s window, he caught a glimpse of Elwood’s red Prius when it zoomed past. “That’s him. Let’s go.”

Jasper kept his head down as Spencer eased out into the street, not sitting up straight until there were a couple of cars between them and the Prius. Then they followed Elwood all the way to his father’s office building on Main Street, lucking out when they managed to find a parking spot partway down the street where they could keep an eye on the front of the building.

When Elwood went inside, Jasper texted Gabe to let him know where they were.

And then they waited.

And waited.

Then waited some more.

An hour in, Jasper realized stakeouts weren’t all they were cracked up to be. By the second hour, he’d played with everything Spencer had brought in the seemingly bottomless gym bag, which had included cards, travel checkers, crossword puzzles, and a backgammon game. He’d amused himself for another few fifteen minutes spying through office windows with a pair of binoculars he’d found in the side pocket of the bag—it was amazing what people did when they thought no one could see them—but even that hadn’t held his interest for long.

“How do cops do this?” he grumbled to Spencer as he grabbed another donut his stomach told him he didn’t need. “I had no idea stakeouts were so boring.”

“I don’t know,” Spencer said, looking up from his phone. “It looks so exciting on TV, but the reality…” He screwed up his face.

“Yeah. I don’t think either of us are cut out to be PIs.” Jasper twisted the cap off his water and took a long drink, then stopped when he realized he’d need to pee if he drank any more. Then started wondering what cops on a stakeout did when they had to go to the bathroom but couldn’t leave their vehicle. Oh. Maybe they returned the liquid back to the source. Jasper eyed his water bottle, trying to work out the logistics of it. Just as he was giving serious consideration to trying it out, Spencer bumped his arm.

“No peeing in the bottle, idiot. You’ll get it all over the seats.”

Jasper looked at him in surprise. “How’d you know that’s what I was thinking?”

“Because I was thinking the same thing until I realized there’s two of us and one can keep watch while the other finds a bathroom.”

“Good point.” Jasper tucked the bottle between the seat and the door, then leaned back and crossed his arms, staring at the entrance to the building where Elwood worked.

A few minutes later, Spencer nudged him again. “So, really. How are things between you and Detective Do-Me?”

Jasper snorted. “You’re going to have to stop calling him that.”

“Why?”

“Because I plan on keeping him.”

“Again why? I get that he’s hot, but he arrested you two times. Other than the muscles and scorching sex, what else does he have to offer?”

“My magic resonates with him,” Jasper said, turning in his seat and grabbing onto Spencer’s arm. “Like, really resonates. The first time I saw him, my crystals went nuts.”

“Whoa,” Spencer said, his eyes going big. “That means…”

Jasper nodded. “He’s the one.”

Spencer lunged at him pulling him into a hug. “I’m so happy for you,” he whispered. “You’re lucky to have found him.”

Jasper grinned as he hugged him back. He really was. And one day, Spencer would be that lucky too. Sooner than his friend realized.

Jasper’s crystals were never wrong.

——

They were in the middle of a rousing game of Never Have I Ever when Elwood exited the office building.

“We’ve got movement,” Jasper said, pointing out the windshield.

“Finally.” Spencer shoved the last bit of donut he’d been eating in his mouth and started the car. When Elwood took off, he slid into traffic a few cars behind him.

Jasper leaned forward in his seat, keeping an eye on Elwood’s car as Spencer navigated through the streets. “It looks like he’s heading toward the mall.”

A street later, Elwood’s car turned into the mall parking lot. Spencer slowed and turned in after him, then went to the right, going down the row of cars one over from where Elwood was driving, with Jasper trying to keep him in sight as they slowly rolled through the parking lot. When Elwood pulled into a parking slot, Spencer pulled into an empty spot a couple of rows over from him.

“What do you think he’s doing here?” Jasper asked as he leaned to the left, watching as Elwood got out of his car and went into the mall.

“Don’t know. Do you want to follow him inside and see?”

Jasper shook his head. “I don’t want to take a chance of him spotting me.”

“I’ll go have a look.” Spencer opened the car door.

“Wait,” Jasper said, remembering something he saw in the bag. Twisting to reach between the seats, he rifled through the gym bag coming up with a ball cap. Handing it to Spencer, he said, “Put this on and try to stay out of sight. And have a cover story in case he sees you.”

Spencer rolled his eyes. “This is a mall, J. I don’t need a cover story to be here.” But he took the cap and put it on his head anyway.

“Sorry. I’m a bit jumpy. I don’t think I’d make a very good spy.”

“Same.” Pushing his door open, Spencer said, “Be back in a bit.”

Then he was gone, leaving Jasper to his own devices. After two minutes of fiddling with the radio, he started texting bad cop jokes to Gabe to amuse himself while he waited for Spencer to get back.

——

About thirty minutes later, Spencer exited the mall exit and jogged across the parking lot. Jumping into the driver’s seat, he turned to Jasper. “You’d never guess what he’s doing.”

“Why? Did he rob a bank? Is he holding someone hostage? Is he—”

Just then, the exit door opened and Elwood came through, pushing a cart piled high with…Jasper leaned forward in his seat, squinting out the window. Sure he was seeing things, he snatched the binoculars off the dash and looked through them. “Is that dog food?”

“Yep. Ten gigantic bags of it.”

“Why dog food?” He turned to Spencer. “Do the Carlisle’s even have a dog?”

Spencer shook his head. “Nope.”

Jasper looked back through the binoculars. “Then why would Elwood need that much dog foot?”

“Beats me.”

“I’m going to see if I can find out.” Setting the binoculars on the dash, Jasper grabbed the cap from Spencer’s head and got out of the car, crouching as he gently pushed the door closed. Then, keeping low the way they did in every action movie he’d seen, Jasper scurried from vehicle to vehicle, keeping them between him and his target as he moved closer to where Elwood was parked. Stopping a couple of parking spots away, Jasper peered around the bumper of a truck and watched as Elwood struggled to get the bags that were half the size of him into the back of his vehicle. By the time he was done, Elwood was soaked in sweat, his suit was a wrinkled, dirty mess, his hair was standing up in every direction, and his glasses were crooked on his face.

And Jasper still had no idea what he was doing. When Elwood pushed the empty cart back to the mall, Jasper booted it back to Spencer’s car.

Climbing into the front seat, he pulled out his phone and texted Gabe. When his response came back a few seconds later, Jasper snorted. “Gabe says that under no circumstance are we to follow if Elwood takes the dog food to a deserted warehouse or outside city limits.”

“Why not?”

“He said it might be for a dog fighting ring.”

Spencer frowned at Jasper’s phone. “A fighting ring? That’s the first place his mind went? Detective Do-Me, er, Gabe,” he said when Jasper looked warningly at him, “is a glass-half-empty kind of guy, isn’t he?”

While Jasper agreed that Gabe saw worst case scenario first, he didn’t think that’s what was going on this time. “I doubt he thinks there’s a dog fighting ring. I’m sure he said it to try to scare us off.”

“Well, if Elwood does go to an abandoned warehouse or leaves the city, we’re going to call for backup. If we have to take on the organizers of a dog fighting ring, we’re going to need more people than just us.”

Jasper laughed. “I don’t think it’s going to come to that.”

“We’ll find out soon enough.” Spencer pointed out the front window. “Elwood’s on the move again.”

Two minutes later, they were off, and this time there was at least the promise of something interesting at the end of the ride.

——

In the end, it wasn’t all that interesting but it did provide some insight into Elwood’s character. Jasper couldn’t hold back his smile at Spencer’s disgruntled expression when Elwood carted bag after bag of dog food into the Starfall Grove Animal Shelter. When he’d stacked the last one next to the door inside the waiting area, Spencer rested his head on the steering wheel and groaned.

“I can’t believe he donates food for abandoned dogs.”

“And cats too. Did you see the bags of cans he brought in?” Jasper asked brightly.

“Yes,” Spencer groaned, then thumped his head against the steering wheel again.

“And look,” Jasper said as he watched through the binoculars. “He just gave the girl behind the counter a big stack of money.”

Spencer turned his head toward Jasper. “He’s not acting much like a hacker-slash-killer is he?”

“Nope.”

“It’s starting to look like I might have been wrong about him.”

“Uh, huh.” Jasper chuckled when Spencer banged his head on the steering wheel one more time.

After leaving the animal shelter, they followed Elwood to the youth shelter and watched as he spent an hour playing three-on-three basketball with the teens, which was all kinds of amusing since most of them were taller than Elwood. But seeing the familiar way the teens interacted with him, Jasper knew he did this often. After leaving the youth shelter, Elwood went to a senior’s center where he spent the better part of an hour playing the piano to entertain them.

But it was when he started handing out money to guys on the street that Spencer lost it.

“Okay. Enough already. Who is this guy and where is the dickhead who didn’t even know his boyfriend was in the hospital?”

Jasper snorted. “You’re just mad because you don’t want to admit you were wrong about him.”

“Of course, I don’t want to admit I’m wrong. Because I’m not. Something isn’t ringing true about this whole thing. I can feel it. And that…” Spencer motioned toward where Elwood was leaning out his car window to hand money to a panhandler while he waited for the light to change. “That can’t be real. No one is this good. Not even you.”

Which was a valid point. Jasper wasn’t. But it was starting to look like Elwood was. “I don’t know, Spence. This could be the true Elwood.”

“It’s not. He’s fucking playing us. I know it.”

Jasper shook his head. “He doesn’t even know we’re here. And those kids at the shelter, they knew him. There’s no way that could have been faked.”

Spencer hesitated, then grudgingly nodded. “I guess.”

“So maybe there’s more to him than we know.”

“Or maybe he’s a stellar actor. We’re going to keep following him. He’ll slip up eventually.”

But Elwood didn’t.

It was when he helped out at the soup kitchen that Spencer finally admitted defeat and said they were done for the day. As he pulled away from the center, Jasper texted Gabe to let him know they were headed to Leavenly Delights.

Walking through the rear door of the bakery, Jasper slung his arm over Spencer’s shoulders. “I’m sorry Elwood’s not the bad guy you thought he was. I know how much you wanted to be right.”

Spencer snorted and shoved his arm off. “Idiot. It’s not that I wanted to be right. I really thought he was the one who hurt Lucas.”

“But now we know he wasn’t.”

Spencer sighed. “Yeah. And so we’re back to square one trying to figure out who’s after you.”

“Uhm, the police are. I kind of promised Gabe, well, almost promised him, that we’d stay out of the investigation.”

“Then we will. And I guess it’s a good thing Elwood’s not really a bad guy,” Spencer said, grabbing an apron off of a hook on the wall and tying it around his waist. “It would have upset Forrest and Birch to find out their older brother was a stalker-slash-murderer.”

Jasper laughed. “You think?”

“Spencer?” Katie poked her head through the door that separated the kitchen from the front. “I thought I heard you back here. I need you out front if you’ve got a minute.”

“I’ll be right there.” When she ducked back out, Spencer pointed to a small table off to the side. “Grab a seat. After I see what Katie wants I’ll whip something up for us to eat.”

Not one to pass up anything Spencer made, Jasper quickly sat, then texted Gabe to let him know they’d arrived at Spencer’s bakery and weren’t going anywhere else for the rest of the night. And then he sent one last joke, snickering as he typed it out.

What do you call it when a prisoner takes his own mugshot?

A cellfie.