Page 13 of Wynter

“He left,” I mutter, not quite able to keep the sting out of my voice. “And he’s not really a detective.”

“He’s not?” Julian asks.

I shake my head, though I’m not about to admit he worked for the agency. Like me.

“What detective?” the still rather shaken postal worker asks.

“The one I gave a down-payment to,” Julian mutters. “In cash.”

“You don’t need him,” I tell Julian. “I’ll figure out who’s behind those robberies.”

“Zoe…” Amber says. Then she neighs. And brays. And squeaks. And grunts.

“What she’s trying to say is that you don’t need to worry about anything. You’ve had a rough day. You should go home. Amber and I will take care of everything else.”

Amber nods.

And tears spring to my eyes. Because I just destroyed their cafe, and they’re being nice to me. Unlike Ghost, who just abandoned me to clean up this mess.

“I… um… have a shipment of cleaning supplies for the Cleanly Den. Mr. Berrett called and asked if I could leave them here instead of loading them in the van,” the postal worker says awkwardly, his eyes darting from me to Shifter Roulette Amber to Julian and back again. “The sitter’s late, and I was hoping you could watch Nathaniel while I brought everything inside, but maybe I should go…”

He starts backing away—holding Nathaniel in one hand and pulling the stroller with the other—and I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t leave my baby with anyone after what just happened… especially not in this broken down mess of a cafe.

“You should probably take the day off, too,” Julian tells him. “The cleaning supplies can wait.”

“I can’t afford to take time off.” The postal worker looks a little sick. “We’re almost out of formula, plus the sitter, and… maybe I’ll just take a few hours. I’m still kind of shaken.”

He backs away, crashes into the door frame, and then struggles to maneuver himself out of the cafe. But his money troubles make me think of my own, so once he’s gone, I turn to Julian.

“Is there anyone you can think of who might try to set up the Cleanly Den?” I ask.

“Other than the obvious?” Julian shakes his head. “No.”

“Obvious?” I ask, frowning. “If you mean me, I didn’t—”

“Not you, Zoe.” Julian rolls his eyes. “I meant Mini.”

“Minerva Montgomery,” Troll Amber clarifies a second later in a loud growl. Her eyes take on a red, angry tint, and the fact that she’s covered from head to toe in pink fur somehow only makes her more ferocious.

“I haven’t heard that name in a while.” I frown. “No way she’s still in town.”

Back when I first met Amber, Minerva tried to sabotage the cafe. Thought it would somehow help her steal Julian. Terrible plan, I know. Of course, it didn’t work. And she hasn’t shown her face in coven meetings since.

“We see lights above the old bakery sometimes,” Julian tells me. “And Mom says she hasn’t come home, so we think she’s living up there.”

“But the place is boarded up.” I glance out the broken door, past the slowly dispersing crowd, and stare out at the abandoned building across the street. “And didn’t you tell her to leave town?”

“I don’t think she has anywhere else to go,” Julian says. “As long as she was minding her own business, we decided to leave her alone… but…”

“But now she’s sabotaging the Cleanly Den.” My eyes narrow. “Let me handle this.”

“Zoe, wait,” Amber shouts, but I ignore her and storm outside.

The few people still on the sidewalk quickly get out of the way—like my magic might be as wonky as Julian’s and something around them might suddenly blow up—but I ignore them. I have more important matters to deal with. Like bringing the witch with a capital B who dared to mess with my job—and my friends—to justice.

I storm across the street and stop in front of the abandoned shop. Purple calligraphy reads “Minerva’s Bakery”, but the place is boarded up. Paper covers the front window, and I peek inside through the gaps. Enough sunlight filters in that I can make out what’s inside. The floor, counter, chairs, and tables are all covered with dust, but I see footprints leading from the back door toward the stairs. Recent footprints at that.

“Minerva, open up.” I bang on the door.