Run: 2026-02-16-01KHM5CNNCJ958D3CGZDHE0A8B

--- The bell above the bakery door jingled as a rush of warm cinnamon air wafted out into the brisk morning. "You're here early. The cherry turnovers just came out of the oven—still too hot to touch." "Perfect. I need something to sweeten the blow of another round of budget cuts at the paper. You'd think the town’s only bakery burning down last year would’ve been front-page news for more than a week." "Maybe if you’d written more about the fire and less about the arson rumors, they’d have kept you on." "Rumors? The sprinklers were turned off, and half the flour was missing. That’s not a faulty wiring story." "Careful. Last person who asked too many questions about that fire ended up with a nasty ‘accident’ in their own kitchen." "Meaning?" "Meaning your usual order is on the house today." "That bad, huh?" "Let’s just say the cherry filling is the only thing that should be boiling over in this town." "Point taken. But if I ‘trip’ into a pie tomorrow, you’ll know why."