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this I've been hearing about you holding wedding receptions then? Do you not cater those? With cakes?"
    I looked at Pippa for help, but all she offered was a shrug with a 'you're on your own here' look.
    I swallowed. "Well, yes, but that's only a recent thing. And I just hold the receptions. It's not just wedding receptions we do, it's birthdays, bar mitzvahs, and other celebrations," I said, stumbling over my words as I tried to paint the situation in a more positive light. "I think a lot of the brides and grooms bring your cakes in to my store actually. They must know yours are the best." I had no idea if that was true. Nor did I have any idea if Adam was buying any of this. I doubted he was.
    "Well," Adam said, with a little flick of his bangs. "Mine are the best." Okay, maybe he was. I had to remember, flattery was the way to this man's heart.
    "Adam," I said, pouncing on the fact that his guard was down a little. "I suppose you heard about what happened to Pierre yesterday?"
    "Yes, sweetheart, I was there." He stared at me. "I heard the screams." He turned his attention back to one of his cake displays, fixing a ribbon tied around a thick slab of fondant. "Though I've been avoiding all social media today. I can't bear to read about any of it." He placed his hand up to his heart. "It's such a tragedy, isn't it?"
    "Yes, it is." I tried to read Adam's tone while he was talking, but it was impossible to tell if he was sincere or not.
    "Adam, did you see anything yesterday? Hear anything? Besides the screams."
    "Who are you? The police? No. All I heard was the screams of that PA that found him."
    "Producer," I corrected him. "Justin is a producer, not a PA."
    "Well, whatever. I didn't see anything before or after that. I was more focused on myself." Big shock. "And my own audition, than on anything anyone else was doing."
    I thought about this. "Did you think your audition went well?"
    Adam glared at me. "I know I gave the best audition of anyone there. I'm sure I would have gone through to the next round as well, but I'm not sure we'll ever know now, will we?" Adam flicked his bangs again, sadly. "Who knows if the show will even film now? It's a tragedy. I was made for TV, Rachael. I just can't believe all of this is happening."
    Adam looked over at Pippa. "So are you going to purchase one of those or not?"
    Pippa backed away awkwardly. "I'm going to have to think about it, but I'm honesty really very interested."
    She kept backing away until she was right at the door. I bid farewell to Adam and quickly followed her out.
    "YOU'RE going to bake my wedding cake, right?" Pippa whispered to me as we ran past the shop front.
    "Pippa, I've never made a wedding cake before!" I said, opening the car door. "But yes. I will." I shot one last look back at Adam's shop. "I wouldn't trust anything that had been made by Adam."
    It was midday and the sun was glaring down. Even with the air conditioning on full blast, we were sticking to the seats. But with the windows down and my foot on the accelerator, our trip through Belldale with our hair flowing in the wind was fairly pleasant.
    "You were right, he really doesn't like you," Pippa said. "He DEFINITELY still holds a grudge." Pippa mused over this for a second. "Do you think he could have killed Pierre to get back at you? Because you got through and he didn't?"
    I sighed a little, pulling my sunglasses on. "He said he didn't even know I was there. And he seemed pretty convinced that HE was the one who got through."
    "And do you believe him?"
    I thought about that for a moment. "I'm not sure."

Chapter 6
    " P leaasssseee ," Pippa begged, stretching out every vowel so that it sounded like the word had five syllables. She clasped her hands together. "I promise that he won't let you down."
    My face was frozen in a look of shock and horror like I had been covered in lava at Pompeii and made to stand that way for all time.
    Pippa waved her hand in front of my face. "Rach? Are you still alive in