I reached behind me, my hand gripping something familiar and solid. I swung the rolling pin, catching the goon on the side of his head. He dropped like a sack of potatoes.

“Atta girl! Now the other two!” Ernie cheered me on and a rush of adrenaline zipped through me. I’d never felt so . . . alive.

I strode toward the next would-be thief and brandished the rolling pin. “Get your friends and get out.”

He pulled a gun from his lower back and pointed it at me. “This is our heist. Get out or I’ll shoot you right in your pretty face.”

I didn’t even think. I dropped to my knees and lashed out with the rolling pin, catching him in the knee. A rather satisfying crunch of bone filled the air. He let out a scream as he fell and the gun went off, firing into the ceiling. Goon number three—a.k.a. Johnny—let out a yell and ran for the back door.

“Throw the pin!” Ernie yelled.

I spun and threw the rolling pin, surprised I could do what he said so easily. The heavy wooden pin flew end over end several times before crashing into the back of the fleeing Johnny’s skull. He fell forward, facedown on the pavement.

I stepped toward the still-conscious thief and pushed the gun out of his reach with my toes like I’d seen on every cop show I’d ever watched. I leaned over him and grabbed the phone off my office desk, dialing 911.

“I’d like to report an attempted robbery by three complete idiots.”

Ernie snickered and I gave him a thumbs-up.

Minutes later, the police pulled into the back parking lot. It didn’t take them long to cuff the three thieves. The police took a statement from me but ignored Ernie.

“He saw what happened too, he can back me up. That will make a stronger case, won’t it?” I lifted my eyebrows at the young officer.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Officer Jensen said. “We don’t take statements from supernaturals. They don’t exist in the human court system.” His dark eyes darted away from mine and then back again. “I’m sorry. For what it’s worth, I would take his statement. But it would get the entire case thrown out when the judge realized he was a Supe.”

“That’s discrimination.” I frowned up at Ernie, who shrugged. What would they say, then, if I told them I was a Super Duper too? Would they have even come to help? I had a feeling that they wouldn’t. Or worse, they would have sided with the robbers because they were human . . . and I wasn’t.

“Yes, it is discrimination.” The officer nodded, lifted his hat, and scratched the top of his head before putting his hat back in place. “Nothing to be done about it. If you need anything or remember anything else, please don’t hesitate to call.” He handed me a card that had his name and a cell phone number on the back of it.

I tucked it in the palm of my hand. “Thank you.”

He smiled and backed out as his walkie-talkie squawked to life. He pressed the button and spoke softly into it. Maybe he thought I couldn’t hear.

“Yeah, boss, she’s here.”

My blood ran cold and I swallowed hard. I could only guess who he spoke to. I wasn’t fool enough to believe it was his chief of police. Achilles most likely, even though the image of the Greek hero on a cell phone was a hard one to believe possible.

I forced myself to walk forward and shut the door behind Officer Jensen. “Ernie, I think your time at my bakery is going to be cut short.”

“What? Why? I haven’t had a good piece of home-baked goodies in years. I’ve been living off that cellophane-wrapped crap in the store.” He whined at me and I smiled, though my lips trembled.

“Officer Jensen just said, ‘Yeah, boss, she’s here.’ So I think we can’t stay. Or at least, I can’t stay.” I gathered up my keys for the bakery along with Barbie’s keys and walked to the door. “Maybe you should go your own way.”

“Nah, you’re interesting. I’ve been bored out of my head for the last thousand years. A monster shows up, and things finally start to happen again.”

I paused at the door. The officers had taken my wooden rolling pin for evidence, but I had another one. A metal one I used for making fondant. I reached for it, the cool stainless steel in my hand a nice weight. I glanced at Ernie floating at my left shoulder.

“Just in case.”

He grinned at me. “Not going to be a matter of if you need it, Alena, but a matter of when, I think.”

I pushed the back door open a crack. The moon was only partially up, giving the back parking lot a gloomy look of dodgy shadows among the dark purple of the night. Officer Jensen sat in his police cruiser, his head bent over something. Maybe more paperwork. “Do you think he’s watching the bakery?”

Ernie floated up to peer out over my head. “Pretty good bet. If he’s ratting you out to someone, then they’ll want him to keep an eye on you for sure.”

I closed the door and backed away. Hurrying, I wove through the bakery, around the counter, and to the front door. I peered out into the growing darkness. Across the street from the bakery sat a police cruiser identical to Officer Jensen’s.

A loop of claustrophobia tightened around my neck. Trapped.

“How am I going to get out of here?”

Ernie floated around so he was directly in front of me. “Walk out, see if they follow or try to stop you. They might be here to make sure no more break-ins happen.”

A frown settled on my face. “Really? Do you believe that?”