I bit my lip and pulled my brows together, pretending to be ignorant of the truth. “Why’d you break up?”
His throat bobbed as he glanced over the counter at Daisy, who watched him, unmoving. “We, uh— I realized we had different interests.”
Daisy growled, and I raised a brow. “As in, you became interested in different women?”
He fiddled with the ticket book. “Something like that, yeah.”
I nodded. “So after she caught you cheating, she dumped you, yeah?”
Vince glared at me. “Yeah.” He shrugged. “Not like I care anyway. I went to live with my new girlfriend.” His smug smile fell. “Until she dumped me recently, too.”
I raised my brows. “Shocker.”
“Hey.” He splayed his palms. “I realized my mistake—”
I held up a finger. “Again, after the other woman dumped you.”
He shrugged. “I realized what I was missing out on with Polly.” He sighed, his gaze wistful. “Guess I’ll never get to taste those muffins again.”
I curled my lip, unsure if we were talking about her baking or metaphorical muffins. I shot him a flat look. “What a tragedy for you.”
He nodded, serious.
Peter crossed his arms. “So why’d you show up at the baking competition, then?”
Vince lifted his palms. “Why, to show my support, of course.”
I drummed my fingers on the counter. “Not to kill her?”
His eyes grew wide. “What?” He turned to Peter. “Is this broad crazy?”
Daisy growled at him, her hackles raised. I grinned down at her—thanks, Days.
Peter raised a brow. “Answer the question—did you kill Polly?”
Vince gaped, then glanced behind him to find all of his employees staring. He threw a hairy arm up. “Get back to work!”
All the ladies bustled away, and Vince turned back to face us. “No. I did not kill Polly, nor did I have anything to do with her death.”
Peter and I looked down at Daisy, who wagged her bushy tail and whined. True.
I huffed. Snakes. I was kinda hoping we could handcuff this guy.
Vince shook his head. “Besides—how could I have? I was nowhere near her!”
Peter and I exchanged exasperated looks. Yeah—that was the case for all of our suspects. No one was close enough to have killed Polly except the palace servant—and he didn’t know Polly or her girls or have any motive to kill them.
We needed to figure out how our killer had snuck the poison into Polly’s tea—and how they’d managed to kill only her, when nearly all the bakers in the tent had drunk some.
29
NEO AND THE BOYS
We’d just left Vince’s place when Peter got a call. He stepped a few feet away and pressed a finger to his other ear to block out all the noise from shoppers and passersby. A small group on the corner held signs and chanted in support of shifter rights.
Daisy and I hung back under a string of lighted orange miniature pumpkins and gourds that had been hung between the stone buildings overhead. The festive fall decorations zigzagged up and down the street, while crisp red and orange leaves blew by in the gutters.
Daisy sniffed the perimeter of the pet shop next door, and I was leaning up against a brick wall to get out of the way of foot traffic when a heavy hand clamped down on my shoulder.
Before I had a chance to react, I was yanked off my feet and dragged down a dark alley. I thrashed and cried out, but soon had my arms pinned to my sides and a thick hand clamped over my mouth. I was pulled from the bright lights of the street into shadow behind a few stacked barrels and crates.
“It’s just us. Snakes.” Neo’s dark eyes flashed at me while Viktor, beside him, cackled and twitched. It was odd to see the real duo when I’d been escorted into the sewers by the prince and princess posing as them just the night before.
I relaxed slightly as I tipped my head back and realized Sacha, the enormous brick wall of a man, was the one restraining me. He relaxed the hand that had been clamped over my mouth, and I glared at Neo. There was no use fighting anyway—they all knew I’d lost my powers.
Daisy came bounding around the corner a moment later, teeth bared, and lunged at Neo’s head. He spun and hit her with a spell that froze her midleap.
“Hey! What’d you do to her?” I flailed and tried, pointlessly, to kick him.
Neo shook his head. “Get a grip. I just froze her—she’ll be fine in a minute.” He raised his dark brows. “Now will you stop already? We’re here to help.”
“Ha!” I let out an exaggerated cackle. “Oh! I’m sorry. How could I be so foolish? Of course, the men forcefully dragging me down a dark alley are here to help.” I scowled at him.
“Can I let go of her?” Sacha’s deep, slow voice rumbled in his chest at my back.
Neo and I answered him at the same time.
“Yes!”
“No.”
We glared at each other.
“My boyfriend’s gonna come around that corner any moment and arrest you and all!”
Neo rolled his eyes and stepped closer while the wiry Viktor kept watch. “Listen—I’m here to warn you. You shouldn’t go anywhere alone.”
I shot him a flat look. “Or some dudes might nab me?”
He huffed. “Exactly! If it wasn’t us, it’d be someone else working for Ludolf—and they wouldn’t be as kind.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, this is real five-star treatment, here.” Sacha’s bear hug still pinned my arms to my sides. I marveled at his hairy forearms—they were as thick as my legs.
Neo stared at me, his gaze intense. “Ludolf’s put a reward out for bringing you in—alive or dead.”
Well, that sent a chill right over me.
“He’s got people everywhere—be careful, Jolene.”
I sniffed. “Considering you also work for him… what now?”
Neo shook his head. “This was just a warning. We’ve been tailing you, but I don’t know that we’ll be able to protect you next time.”
Sacha let go, and I shrugged away from him,
