Wedding Cake Carnage, page 2
part #11 of Murder in the Mix Series
“How are you holding up?” Noah dips in to catch my gaze, and I close my eyes a moment.
“Please, it’s a circus in here with the blinding light and the animals roaming free. I can’t believe I pushed myself to do this.”
“You had to.” Keelie pops over. Keelie is a gorgeous, perky blonde whom I’ve known since preschool and we’ve been best friends since. “Lottie, I couldn’t let you stay in bed much longer.”
“You slept in for the first seven days.” Lily clicks her tongue. “You’re lucky you had Margo willing to open up the shop and bake for you.”
Margo is a five-star chef who works at the restaurant conjoined to mine called the Honey Pot Diner. Keelie happens to manage the Honey Pot and graciously lent me Margo for the week.
“I wasn’t in bed. I was pounding the streets looking for him. Ask Noah. He was right there with me.”
“That she was.” He takes a deep breath. “But I’ll admit, it’s good to see you back in action.” He glances at the myriad of cake samples being snatched up at record pace. “What have we got here?”
Lily hops over to the miniature sampler plates set out. “Coconut cake, raspberry and white chocolate, Bavarian cream—my favorite, lemon cake—perfect for summer weddings, chocolate fudge cake, pink champagne cake—yes, made with real champagne, red velvet, hazelnut vanilla, and we’ve got two dozen additional flavors that the happy couple can choose from.” She hops up on the balls of her feet and cranes her neck as she looks in the distance. “And before I forget to tell you, A Cake Above Bakery is here, too. They’re advertising installation pieces, Lottie. They actually have cakes suspended from the ceiling. We really need to up our game. Do it for Essex. He would have wanted you to.”
I can’t help but frown when she uses his formal moniker. Everett was quite the ladies’ man before we got together. And every single lady whom he happened to hit the mattress with has come away with the privilege of calling him by his proper first name. He’s not that crazy about his formal name, though.
Everett comes from money, thus the one hundred thousand dollar reward his mother quickly ponied up. My God, his mother and sister have all but gone insane over his disappearance. They wanted to offer far more money—into the millions—but Noah cautioned against it in the event this was a money grab.
Personally, I don’t think it was a money grab. Just weeks prior to his disappearance, a strange woman came snooping around Honey Hollow looking for Everett, spying on the two of us. She left a bouquet of black roses on his porch one night and a black paper heart attached to his windshield. On the day he disappeared, she left a black paper heart on my desk in the bakery with the words he’s mine scrawled across the front. It’s clear a deranged lunatic has him, and I have a feeling no amount of money could pry him out of her psychotic little hands.
My eyes snag on his framed picture. Everett is far too handsome for it to ever be legal. Hair black as night. Eyes the color of the deepest part of the ocean. He’s serious, and loyal, and far too sexy to ever be safe—as evidenced by his abduction. Every woman with a pair of functioning ovaries pays him his due attention, and apparently, this woman, whoever she is, was one of them.
Noah gets right to testing out each and every flavor just as Jana March comes up, hand in hand with a tall man with light brown hair and a boyish face. He’s dressed in a mint green polo and chinos, and he has that wealthy preppy vibe about him.
“Hello, Jana.” I muster all the smile I can afford. “Don’t tell me. You’re hiding from my sister so soon?” I’m teasing. Jana is Lainey’s wedding planner, and my big sister has been a bit of a bridezilla as of late. Lainey and her fiancé, Forest Donovan, are both here and have been making the rounds. They said they’d be back to do an official cake tasting in just a bit.
Jana tips back her dark hair. “Lainey is no trouble at all.” Jana looks gorgeous in a flowing pink dress with gold lame flowers pressed into the fabric. Her eyes squint tightly whenever she smiles. She’s the nicest person on the planet, and thankfully so since she deals with ornery brides-to-be for a living. “Lottie, this is my fiancé, Pierce Underwood. He owns Underwood Investments. You’ve probably heard of it. It’s his first time at one of these events, so I thought I’d bring him to your booth first. There’s a direct line to his happiness, and it’s right through his stomach. Believe me, nothing could make him happier than to taste your samples.”
“Please, help yourselves.” I extend a hand his way, and he offers a hearty shake. “Lottie Lemon. I own the Cutie Pie Cakery and Bakery. And if you find something you like—or not, I’d be happy to work with you on making all of your wedding cake dreams come true.” It comes out without an ounce of emotion, wooden as if I just read it off a script, and technically I did—the pamphlet in front of me that we’ve been passing out by the dozens.
“That’s very nice of you.” He picks up a plate of coconut cake and moans through a bite. “Wow. You just knocked it out of the park with my first bite. But, of course, I’ll have to try them all just to be sure.”
We share a warm laugh as a young girl about my age saunters up and screams with delight once she spots Jana, and the two of them exchange a quick embrace. She’s a little shorter than Jana with long dark hair that’s wild and curly. She has large green doe eyes and lashes that look as if they’re an inch long at least.
Jana leans my way with tears glistening in her eyes. “Lottie, this is my best friend, Jackie. She’s the one that set me up with Pierce to begin with.”
“Ah—so you’re Cupid,” I say, extending my hand.
“Jackie Nagle.” The girl’s handshake is icy and limp. “Pierce is my boss, and there’s a strict no dating clause in my contract. So, I thought, heck, if I can’t have him, I’ll toss him to my bestie!” She snorts as she laughs, and she and Jana laugh all the more because of it. “Anyway, they clicked right away. The wedding is set for next June. Jana is booking only the best.”
Jana nods frenetically, her eyes set wide as if she were trying to convince me. “I’m booking Lottie for sure. Her cakes are to die for.” She quickly hands Jackie a plate and snaps up one for herself, but before she can take a bite, a redhead with a look of rage in her eyes comes this way. Jana clicks her tongue. “And here we go.”
“Jana.” The redhead blinks a smile over her face. “Can I speak with you for a moment?”
“Sure thing.” Jana glances back my way. “This is Amanda Wellington. She’s an event planner from Ashford.”
“A little friendly competition, huh? I like that.” I’m about to introduce myself, but the redhead has already navigated Jana into the crowd.
Pierce and Jackie wander off to the next booth, and I watch as they lean in close as if they were having a private conversation of their own.
“He seems like a good man,” I say to Keelie and Lily. “And I’m glad about it, too. Jana deserves the very best.”
Noah steps up and opens his mouth as if he’s about to say something before he does a double take at the table and nearly jumps over Lily as he retrieves another slice of cake.
He glances around quickly as if he were shaken.
“Whoa,” I say, pulling him in. “It looks like someone likes the chocolate fudge.”
Noah yanks his plate back as if he were afraid I was about to cram my face into it and devour it. “I’ll be right back, Lottie. Promise me you’ll stay right here.” Noah hurdles over the ice chest next to me as he dives into the crowd.
“What in the heck was that about?”
Lily bumps her shoulder to mine. “I don’t know, but rumor has it, Detective Fox has been spending the night at your place.”
Keelie nearly gags as she plucks the fork from her mouth. “Lottie Lemon! Why do you always keep the juicy details away from me?”
“That’s because they’re not juicy,” I say, handing her another slice of raspberry vanilla cake. “Noah has been sleeping on the couch. He doesn’t like the fact that whoever took Everett knows where I work and live. I can assure you, it’s been perfectly platonic.” It has. Noah has been picking up a pizza from Mangias every night and we talk about how we might go about finding Everett. And when there’s a bump in the night, I don’t worry about it because I know Noah sleeps with one eye open and a finger on the trigger of his gun. I’m sure Everett would appreciate knowing that I felt safe at night. “Hey, Keelie? Would you please go get another raspberry vanilla cake out of the van? The box should be marked,” I say, giving her the keys, and she’s quick to take off.
A man in a suit walks by the booth with a couple of miniature poodles on a leash. There’s a sign sandwiched over his chest that reads rent a lovable fur creature to walk your rings down the aisle in style.
“What do you think of that?” Lily shudders as if it didn’t sit well with her.
“I think it’s adorable. In fact, if I could train Pancake or Waffles to do something like that, I think it’d make my whole wedding.” Pancake and Waffles are my adorable Himalayan cats. Both have cream-colored fur, a rust-tipped tail, and eyes of the bluest sky. “I can see why people would want to have a lovable pet at the ceremony. It would add levity and make everybody relax a bit. I know I would. But that tiger.” I shake my head in dismay. “That beast was at least six feet long.”
Lily bubbles with laughter. “Lottie, that was a Saint Bernard. They’ve been walking an entire cast of creatures past us for the last hour.” Her expression dims quickly. “I just knew when Essex went missing, it would mess horribly with your mind.”
Naomi trots up on a pair of heels that qualify as stilts. Naomi Sawyer is Keelie’s twin sister, my cousin by proxy. She’s a brunette stunner with a mean streak wider than any human measurement allows. Her hatred for me started in high school, which just goes to prove she can hold a grudge longer and stronger than most people are capable of. She’s actually here manning a booth of her own today. The Evergreen Manor in Honey Hollow happens to be a premier wedding reception venue, and it just so happens to be where Lainey is having her big shindig after the ceremony.
“Please.” Naomi yanks Everett’s picture forward. “He’s not missing. He left town just to get away from you.” Her eyes flit to mine accusingly. “He’s probably in Hawaii with a Mai Tai in his hand. Face it, Lottie. You smothered the man right onto the next available flight out of Vermont.”
“Not true,” I grit through my teeth. I’m about to let into her for being so crass when that white furry beast strides by again and every muscle in my body freezes. Keelie was wrong. That’s no domestic animal. It’s indeed a tiger.
The enormous creature pauses and turns its magnificent face my way. Its eyes are slate blue. Pale gray stripes run through its fur. A thunderous roar escapes it—more of a cross between a roar and a yawn—but the sound was perfectly ferocious.
“Lily, that’s no Saint Bernard.” My heart ratchets up into my throat, and I can hear it pulse right through my ears.
“What are you talking about?” Lily waves me off as she and Naomi start in on a conversation of their own.
The beast moves in a few steps and vocalizes as if its paying job was to put the fear of God into me. And by the way, mission accomplished.
“Oh my goodness,” I hiss as I note it’s not leashed, and not a soul seems to mind its menacing presence. “Somebody help.” It comes out weak as the beast lands a thick heavy paw onto the table with a thud. It tips its nose toward the chocolate fudge cake and starts licking away, but the cake doesn’t seem to dissipate. I’m pretty sure chocolate isn’t good for cats in general, but I’m not about to argue with it about its diet. However, I can’t help but note it’s not really getting anywhere with the task at hand.
Oh. My. God.
It looks up, and I’d bet my soul its lips just curled into a smile.
“You’re one of them, aren’t you?” I whisper mostly to myself.
Its paw sinks right through the table as it proceeds to stride through the furniture as if it weren’t even there. It walks right through my body before slinking down the hall just as Keelie comes up.
“Oh, wow.” I stagger for a minute as I struggle to catch my breath.
“Lottie? Are you okay?” Keelie does her best to hold me up as she asks.
“I’m fine. But somebody here is not.” I give a quick look around.
Anytime an animal, pet as it were, comes back from the other side, it almost always means death is about to strike its previous owner.
Now if I could only figure out who that could be?
A tiger? An exotic tiger at that?
A few months back, I had to deal with the ghost of a bear—a BEAR—and come to find out, Eve Hollister’s father owned a circus when she was young. It was Eve who was murdered. And that ornery bear and I worked together to land her killer behind bars. But this creature, I have no clue what the backstory on it could possibly be.
I take a deep breath as I look to Keelie. “I think I just need some air. Hey, where’s the cake?”
“I couldn’t figure out which one it was. Sorry.” She pulls me close by the arm, the way she usually does when she has a bit of juicy gossip at the ready. “On my way out, I heard Jana and that girl that hauled her off ripping into one another. Something about a client list? I’ll admit, I got waylaid a bit as I tried to listen in.”
“Sounds ugly. I’ll get that cake. And hey, if you see Noah, tell him I want to speak with him before he leaves.”
I glance back and spot Ivy Fairbanks—Detective Ivy Fairbanks, Noah’s partner at the Ashford Sheriff’s Department—standing by the photographer’s booth with her arms firmly folded, her gaze dead set on me. Ivy is a gorgeous redhead whom I’ve long suspected has more than a platonic interest in Noah.
“Huh. I wonder if Noah is having me watched?” I shake my head. “Of course, he is. This whole thing with Everett has him spooked, and rightly so. I’ll be right back. Man the fort for me?” I ask while taking the keys from her, and Keelie happily obliges.
As soon as I get that cake back to the booth, I’ll take off and explore the expo to see if I can find that glorified cat once again. It was a beautiful beast. A boy judging by the junk dangling as it took off in haste. As much as I don’t want to get near it, I do want to see if it’s following anyone. It sure seemed as if it were looking for whomever it came for.
I head down the hall that separates the back of the convention center from the party going on inside and the din of voices grows smaller and smaller. A part of me wondered if I’d bump into Jana and her angry friend, but it looks as if that good time is over for now. Not that I mind. The last thing I want is to get mixed up in something else. In fact, if I do see that ferocious poltergeist milling about, maybe I’ll just go the other way. I have my hands full with finding Everett. The last thing I need on my plate is a homicide investigation.
Every muscle in my body freezes as a horrible thought comes to me.
What if it’s here for Everett?
Wait a minute—it can’t be here for Everett. You would think having a tiger as a pet would have come up once or twice by now. The only odd conversation we had was when he confessed that a woman who was pregnant with his child slid off an icy embankment six years ago, killing both her and the baby. That was heartbreaking to hear. Everett admitted that sadly he didn’t know her too well, but he was ready to step up and be a father to that child. Nonetheless, Everett isn’t physically present at this venue today. Or is he?
No, he’s not. And that’s exactly why I’m going to forget all about that pesky poltergeist. In fact, I’m going to spend the rest of the day minding my own business.
I head out into the scalding July sun as I make a beeline for the refrigerated van and pull out the first cake box I see. Keelie is right. They’re not marked correctly. My brain has clearly taken a leave of absence. I can’t blame myself too much. The stress of these past nine days has been insurmountable.
I close the van and note a small pink purse on the ground near the dumpsters.
Great. Some poor woman is probably running around frantically looking for it. I know that feeling. I’ve misplaced a handbag or two before I started running around with one strapped to my back. And on a day like today, I’d lose my head if it weren’t attached. I usually despise that tried-and-true euphemism, but in my case, especially as of late, it’s horrifically true.
I head over and balance the cake box in one arm as I lower myself to pick up the tiny pink satchel, and, as soon as I do, my eyes flit to a leg connected to a body wearing a familiar pink dress with gold lame flowers pressed into the fabric.
A scream gets locked in my throat.
Jana March lies on her stomach, her hand still clutching a fork with a bite of my pink champagne cake attached to the tines. A crimson bloom expands over her back, and a horrible groan comes from me.
Jana won’t have to worry about my sister’s wedding, or anyone else’s wedding for that matter.
Jana March is dead.
Chapter 2
A scream shrills from me as I struggle to pull the phone out of my bag, and my gun tumbles out instead.
“Oh my God,” I shout as I scramble to land on it.
A crowd shuffles this way with Ivy leading the pack.
“What’s happening, Lottie?” she barks it out as she yanks a weapon from the holster in her back. Ivy spots the purse and trots over to the dumpster and takes a step back when she spots the body.
Within seconds, it seems as if the entire parking lot is blanketed with sheriff’s deputies.
Noah runs up and helps me to my feet as I stuff my weapon back into my backpack.
“What the hell happened?” Noah takes a few steps out toward Ivy and gets a look at the grisly scene. Ivy checks Jana’s vitals before shaking her head our way. “Everybody back,” he shouts as a crowd begins to build. “Lottie, don’t move.”
Half the people here gasp my way as if I were the killer. Noah puts a call in on his phone before making his way over to me again.
