"Once I find the dog, I'll let you know."

The man who'd been let in to meet Anderson at the station earlier smiled as he approached the counter. Antonio Franco, bounty hunter.

My-lanta, he looked like a biker and a cop had a baby and then gave him a Harley for his first birthday. If he really had a bike on the street, I might fall in love.

"Large coffee to go," he ordered without even giving a glance at the menu board.

I shook my head but turned to pour his drink. None of the men in this town took time to explore their options. "You want cream or sugar?"

"Black."

Right? Why have a little fun in life?

I topped his drink and turned to ring him up, recognizing my chances of connecting with him were dwindling. If he walked out the bakery door, I might lose my chance and never see him again. Something in the pit of my stomach said I had to talk to him now.

I told him the total and waited until his money hit my hands before I took my chance. "I heard you're looking for a mark in town. Well, I'm the local PI, so if you need any help, I'm here for the assist."

There. That sounded professional and kick ass. My hands only trembled a little as I passed him his coffee.

It wasn't all my fault. He had to be over six feet tall and his eyes pierced through a person and drew out every lie or secret you'd ever kept. He probably made a kick-ass bounty hunter.

Antonio dropped two dollars in the tip jar and laughed. "I'm not looking for a dog walker, but if I find myself in need of a pet sitter, I'll let you know, Tabitha."

"What?" I asked in irritation, not only at the snobby way he replied but at the incorrect name. Until I glanced down and remembered the Tabitha apron I'd draped over myself at the start of my shift.

The big jerk turned without another glance in my direction and laughed his entire way out the door.

Asshole.

Why was I surrounded by them all the time?

Shit.

Thinking about the asshole bounty hunter reminded me about the asshole SEAL I had hidden in the kitchen. He was still waiting for me to introduce him to Katy. She'd left, but Pearl counted too. She started the rumor of his nonexistence, so now she'd see the error of her ways.

"Pearl!" I shouted, causing her to spill her cup of tea on the small saucer. "Stay here. I have someone for you to meet."

"My word, Vonnie-" I missed the rest of her admonishment as I barreled through the doors into the kitchen section on the hunt for my SEAL.

"Mother effer," slipped off my tongue not a second later.

Damn it.

"Broadrick," I called, using my best irritated voice and hoping I'd scare him into answering me even though nothing had ever scared the man.

No answer.

The kitchen was empty, but to be safe, I walked over and checked the coolers and freezer to make sure he wasn't hiding in one of them. Then, to be doubly safe, I yanked open the back door and scanned the parking lot behind the bakery.

No big ass muscular SEAL anywhere.

He could listen to the government and follow their every whim, but he couldn't listen to an ex-girlfriend tell him not to move? I saw how it was.

"What are you doing?" Anessa asked, coming up behind me while I still had my head out the back door, hoping I'd missed him somewhere.

I wheeled around to face her and let the door close behind me. "Nothing."

Anessa didn't believe me about Broadrick, either. They were supportive when he dumped me last year, but I saw the questions in their eyes. How could a man they'd never met have dumped me? I hated their suspicions.

"It didn't look like nothing." She stepped toward the door like she planned to look outside and check my work, but I blocked the path.

"Ugh, Broadrick was here, and I wanted someone to see him." At this point, I'd take anyone in our crew who'd vouch for me. I couldn't be picky.

Anessa tipped her head to the side. "I thought you two broke up?"

See? Too many questions.

"Yes, but now he says he's back or something. I don't know exactly." Over the years, I'd even shown them countless photos from our time dating, but Pearl said they looked photoshopped.

I didn't want to get into the details about Broadrick because I planned to ignore him until he left again, so there was no point in overexplaining.

Anessa nodded along as if I'd told her a long story rather than a sentence summary and pulled a tray of cookies from the fridge, placing them in the always warm oven.

She paused before closing the oven door and pointed at the cookie tray, taking a silent count. "Why are there dough balls missing?"

I peeked at the tray and lifted a shoulder. "No idea."

Shit.

Stupid Broadrick isn't even here to take the blame or woo Anessa with his muscles. Although she had her own muscular SEAL at home, so he'd probably lose at least half his muscle points.

Delicious mouth-watering smells drifted out from the oven as Anessa spent the afternoon baking cookies, and I used the rest of my shift filling orders in the front.

After clocking out, I did two loops in my car of Mrs. Coogs' neighborhood, looking for Brent and contemplating what Pearl said. If Coogs never let the dog out of her sight, how was he able to run away with the neighbor's cat? Or did we have something more sinister happening in Pelican Bay? Did someone dog-snatch Brent right out of Mrs. Coogs' yard?

I drove by Jimmy Jones' home with my foot barely on the gas, trying to get a good look through his windows, but he had the curtains closed. Other things Pearl had said also made sense. Why did Jalinda believe he'd cheated? She felt strongly enough about the accusation to hire a PI to follow him. So she had to have powerful reasons.

What did that say about their relationship? I'd gone firmly back in the Jimmy killed her column as I circled the blocks looking for Brent. It made sense. But why use the chocolate? That was premeditated.

Not a lovers' quarrel where you snatched the closest frying pan and hit them over the head with it. It wasn't an act of passion or rage. Jalinda's death was a cold-blooded, premeditated murder.

If not Jimmy, then his secret side piece took out the competition. Then the big question became if Jimmy knew and helped plan it or not.

I circled Jimmy's block again with my window down, whistling for Brent as I surveyed the space, pretending to look for a dog. I didn't expect the little furball to come when I called, but it gave me brilliant cover for my actual plan.

Looking for cops.

You always had to be on the lookout for them.

A full two loops of the block later, I hadn't spotted Anderson's unmarked car or anyone else suspicious. Weird how they weren't watching the husband. Had they put more together than I had? Nothing made sense with this case. They brought a box of untainted candy into evidence and weren't trailing the husband. Why?

Ugh. The whole thing might drive me insane. I had to be ten steps behind them, and I didn't walk behind any man, let alone a cop. I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel, deciding what to do.

The area even looked free from Ridge's men. The town's self-appointed security people didn't always get involved in every murder, but they had a nasty habit of showing up at inopportune times.

I parked my car on the other side of the road two houses down from Jimmy's, hoping it provided at least a small amount of camouflage in case one of the uniformed do-gooders did a drive-by.

While leaning into the door to hear into the house before knocking, I kept half my gaze on my car. Katy's box and the piece of candy were sitting in the front seat and I couldn't have anyone stealing either item. This part of town was considered safe, but they'd just had a murder.

I couldn't trust anyone.

Jimmy opened the door wearing a white t-shirt with a big red sauce stain down the front. His hair was a mess of short tangles like he hadn't even run his fingers through it, and I swore he had a crumb of something on the side of his mouth. I wasn't leaning closer to find out. The man was a mess. Worse than the last time I saw him.

"Jimmy, is everything okay?"

I still believed he either killed Jalinda or had a hand in her death, so I hesitated on the front step when he held the door open for me. Did I want to walk into the house of a killer?

No.

Would I in put my life on the line to solve the case?

Yes.

I made a move to enter his home, and Jimmy stepped to the side, giving me my first glimpse into his living room. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Nerves crawled up my spine, and I tried to take a step back, but the door had already closed behind me, trapping me.

"What the hell happened?"