by Rena Marin
“Okay, you’ve convinced me, but if Austin and Caleb find out, we won’t have to worry about being murdered by evil. The guys will massacre us themselves. Just saying…”
Chelsea laughed, trying to cover the niggling doubt she had about entering the contest. She hadn’t come up with a plan for keeping this from Caleb yet. She just knew being in the pageant was her best bet for keeping Carmen and her friends safe, as for the rest, she was just going to have to wing it.
“I know that look. You have no idea how we’re going to hide this.” Mia groaned, “I feel like I’m back in school, being dragged into one of your stupid pranks that always landed us in hot water.” Groaning again, she finally forced herself to open the door. “Well, let’s get it over with then.”
***
Rheanon grabbed a bottle of water from the mini fridge in the back of the community center, relieved to have a break from every young woman in town trekking in to ask questions about the upcoming pageant. As much as she hated the idea of the town starting the Candy Corn Queen pageant up again, she put on her best smile, answered their questions, and took their admission forms and the money that would help the town.
Everyone could believe that this was to bring some joy back to the town if they wanted to, but she knew better. The admission fee to enter the contest and the money made from the festival would do a lot to boost the coffers of Dead Oaks, and that was all the mayor cared about.
Her mind drifted back to her own crowning, then veered off into her best friend lying in a casket, her own crown placed carefully on her head. She shied away from the thought, as she heard giggles coming from the front office. Patting her perfectly arranged hair, she smoothed down her dress and went to greet the newest contestants.
Twenty minutes later, Mia and Chelsea left the front office, instructions for the pageant in hand.
“Now, that was a strange woman,” Mia said, looking back at the woman who stood like a statue at the window, as she watched them cross the parking lot.
“Yeah, I know, right.” Chelsea looked back at the woman, wondering just what her deal was. “It was like she didn’t want us to sign up. I had to almost pry the pen from her hand to fill out the paperwork.”
“It takes all kinds,” Mia said, shaking her head. She was so busy looking behind her, she didn’t see the young girl coming up the steps.
“Whoa,” Chelsea said, grabbing Mia just before she plowed headlong into her.
“Sorry!” The girl said, “I wasn’t watching where I was going.” Tossing her long blonde hair over a shoulder, she stuck out her hand to shake both girls. “I’m Tori. Isn’t it super exciting!”
“What’s super exciting?” Mia asked, looking around to see what Tori might be talking about.
“Why the contest, of course, silly,” Tori giggled, showing her true blondness more than her hair ever could.
“Oh. Of course,” Chelsea giggled, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “How silly of me.”
“Well, we need to go,” Mia said, making a big production of taking out her cell phone to check the time.
“Oh, don’t let me keep you,” Tori giggled. “I need to get my form in before it’s too late.” She skipped up the steps, turning to wave bye-bye to them at the top and then disappeared inside of the admissions office.
“Okay, if that’s what we’re up against in this contest, one of us might have to worry about being the next victim.” Mia laughed, turning to hurry down the steps. “You do know we’re supposed to meet Caleb and Austin for lunch in twenty minutes, right?”
“Yep.” Chelsea glanced at her own cell phone, then back up at her friend. “You’re going to be able to keep this a secret right?”
“You wound me.” Mia put a hand over her heart and then hid her paperwork deep inside the large bag she carried.
“Yeah, we all know you’re not good at keeping secrets. Remember, the summer of sixth grade?”
“I’m not going to even dignify that with an answer. It was sixth grade,” Mia huffed, walking off towards the car and then sticking her tongue out at Chelsea over her shoulder.
Chelsea took a deep breath ten minutes later as they walked into the local diner to meet the guys for lunch. She was more than a little worried that Mia would spill the beans. Her friend was amazing, but keeping secrets from Austin had never been her strong suit, even when they were just friends. Oh well, it was what it was. Caleb wasn’t the boss of her, and if she wanted to enter the contest she would. He would understand that she was doing it to save lives, wouldn’t he?
***
Caleb had spent the morning trying to once again convince the mayor that the Candy Corn Queen contest was a bad idea. He smiled at the girls, standing to let Chelsea slide into the booth, then sliding in after her.
“From the look on your face, the meeting with the mayor didn’t go so well, huh?” Chelsea asked, smiling at Ruby, as she poured each of them coffee.
“Y’all want your usual?” Ruby asked, knowing them well.
The chorus of “yep,” all around put a smile on the older woman’s face, as she walked back to the counter.
Taking a sip of his coffee, Caleb shook his head. “Yeah, as usual, his reputation and the money that can be made is all the mayor cares about. He says we’re all worked up for nothing, and he might be right.”
“Come again,” Austin asked, pausing with his coffee mug halfway to his lips.
“Well, think about it,” Caleb said, “We have no proof whatsoever that the queens that died weren’t just horrible accidents.” When no one around the table agreed with him, Caleb decided to just let it go. “Either way. I’m just glad that you two girls aren’t into the whole beauty queen thing. Then I would be worried even more.”
“Yep…” Mia started to speak, receiving a swift kick from Chelsea under the table, warning her to just keep quiet.
Chelsea decided the best way to keep their secret was by changing the subject, so she guided the conversation to Austin’s work and how things were going at Critter Connection. For once, the friends were just that, friends having lunch together, laughing and talking about everything under the sun.
It was after they had eaten, that the call came in. Caleb tossed some money on the table, starting to rise. “Playtime’s over guys. We’ve had an accident at the community center. One of the contestants,” he looked down at his phone for the name, “Tori Crawford seems to have fallen down those steep stairs and broken her neck.”
“Tori!” Mia yelped and then turned to Chelsea. “Wasn’t that the girl we were talking to after we left the admissions office?” Realizing her error too late, Mia flinched, mouthing “I’m sorry” to Chelsea across the table.
“Admissions office?” Caleb asked, sinking back down into the booth, looking at them both in turn. “Okay, spill the beans. What have you two done?” He sat back, folding his arms across his chest, raising an eyebrow at his brother.
“Okay, Mia, spill it,” Austin said.
Chelsea just sighed, as Mia’s mouth opened and their whole plan came spilling out. She knew she had recruited the wrong sister. Chelsea sipped her lukewarm coffee and waited on Caleb to tell her how lame brained her idea was.
Chapter Five
Caleb didn’t want to let what he’d just learned mess with his mind while he investigated the horrible scene in front of him, but it was hard. Seeing the young girl lying there, head twisted in the wrong direction, made not worrying about Chelsea and Mia almost impossible.
“No one saw it?” Caleb asked as he turned to face the pageant coordinator and the gaggle of girls gathered around her. He’d taken all their names but for the life of him wouldn’t be able to pick them out in a lineup.
“No,” the coordinator answered as she stepped forward. Her dark hair and dark eyes reminded Caleb of why all the girls were gathered. They were all competing to be the prettiest in town. This woman didn’t mind showing that she was a force to be reckoned with in the looks department.
“And you’re
, Rheanon?”
“Yes, Deputy.”
“Can you attest to the whereabouts of all these girls?”
“Yes. They were in the main office with me. They’d already filled out their forms and were talking about the pageant. Tori,” she said looking back to the girl on the ground presently being covered by the coroner, “stepped out saying she needed to get back to work.”
Caleb nodded then looked up the steep stairwell. It was plausible the girl fell by accident. By the look of the high heels on her feet, keeping her balance couldn’t have been easy. “You ladies can head back to the office for now,” he told them. “I’m going to have a look around here.”
He wasn’t surprised when the chatter erupted among them. Slowly, they migrated back up the stairs to the office they’d been huddled inside when he arrived. He left the coroner to do his work while he walked the stairs himself, looking for any sign someone else may have been involved.
“It seems pretty clear cut, Caleb.”
Looking back, he saw the old man attending the body peering up at him. Sam Dickerson had been coroner for a while now. Caleb had reason to debate the man’s rulings. He often helped the Sheriff cover things up around Dead Oaks, and Caleb knew it.
“You sure, Sam?”
“Yeah. Her neck is broken. A break like this takes a lot of force. Falling down those stairs would easily do it. I don’t think we have many people with the kind of physical strength it would take to break it forcefully.”
“No, probably not,” Caleb returned. “We do have people in Dead Oaks who could push someone down the stairs though.”
“True,” the old man muttered. “Should I wait or take her on down?”
“Take her on down,” Caleb sighed. “Make sure the family is contacted.”
“On it,” the old man called back as he got off his knees and made his way to the door. Caleb listened as he called for the gurney and set to work on taking poor Tori down to the morgue.
Waiting until he was alone, Caleb took his time walking the steps. They did seem a bit dangerous. People had complained about them for ages, but the town hadn’t had the money to update the old auditorium. Now, maybe they’d get it done.
“Is it safe for the girls to leave?”
Looking around, he saw Rheanon looking out the office door. He could see the ashen look on her face. It’s completely possible she was surprised by what had happened to Tori, but he was in the business of second guessing everything. Especially, in Dead Oaks.
“Yeah,” he told her. “I have their information if I need to follow up.”
“You can go girls,” she told the mass of girls still inside the office.
He watched as they came out one by one, hurrying down the stairs. It was clear they wanted out of the auditorium quickly and away from what they’d seen. He couldn’t blame them. Still, even in their rush, he noticed none of them stumbled. No one came close to taking the spill Tori had.
“If you need me again, Deputy, I’ll be at home for the rest of the evening. I’ll be back here tomorrow for more preparations on the pageant.”
“Thanks,” he told her as she took her turn hurrying down the steps. When she stumbled about halfway down, grabbing the railing to right herself, he rushed down to her side. “You alright?”
“Yeah,” she answered, holding her chest nervously. “That scared me.”
“Me too,” he told then let her finish her ascent. He watched until she was out the door. With a shake of his head, he decided to let the mayor know about the stairs. If they were planning on having this pageant, they didn’t need more girls falling to their doom.
***
“Chels, I’m so sorry. You know I didn’t mean to say it. I just freaked out when I heard Tori’s name.”
“I know you did, Mia. It’s alright. I’m not angry.”
“How upset is Caleb?”
“I don’t know. I don’t care. He doesn’t own me. I can do what I want, ya know. You make it sound like we’re engaged like you and Austin. We aren’t even dating, Mia.”
“I know, but you guys are close. Anyone can see that. I didn’t want to cause problems.”
“I’ll deal with it,” Chelsea spoke into the phone as she watched Caleb’s cruiser pull to a halt in front of Wicked Treasures. “I have a customer. I need to go.” She finished as she quickly ended the call. She knew Caleb would be freaked out by what he saw and wanted to be ready for his mood.
“Hey,” she called out as he walked through the door.
“Hey,” he replied then shook his head. “I hate having to work scenes with young people like her. It sucks.”
“I can imagine,” she said thinking about all the things they’d seen over the past year. “Did you contact her family?”
“No. Sam was going to take care of that one. He may ask the sheriff to do it, I don’t know.”
“Was it an accident?”
“From what I saw, yes. If one of the girls pushed her, the others aren’t telling.”
“Some of them are bitchy enough to cover for one another, but not all of them. Was Carmen there?”
“No, she wasn’t. If she was, I would’ve been able to believe everyone a bit easier. Something just seemed off with all of them. Especially, the coordinator.”
“That’s what we thought too,” she told him as she hurried from behind the counter. “She kept staring at all the girls like she was jealous of them. I don’t get it. She’s beautiful but she isn’t a fan of the pageant being back in operation.”
“She seems like the type who’d love something like this. You sure that’s her issue? You don’t think you could be creating one where there isn’t one?”
“Caleb Rollins! I’m not the kind of person to do that. You’re becoming more and more like the Sheriff and all the others in this town. You want to hide what’s really going on.”
“You seriously think that? I’m the first one to rush in when things get all twisted around here. My priority is protecting the people of Dead Oaks. It always has been.”
“Well, then you need to open your eyes. This contest is cursed, like this whole town. If you don’t face it, then we’re all in trouble.”
“Seriously? You think the curse is real? I was thinking maybe you changed your mind since you decided to join the damn thing. And you took Mia along for the ride.”
Shocked at his words, Chelsea took a step back and stared at him. “I can’t believe you.”
“No, I can’t believe you. You don’t think I have enough to worry about when every time I turn around something in this town is dropping teenagers like flies. I’ve worked more crime scenes this past year than I care to remember. Those faces keep me up at night, Chels. Now, you go and put yourself and Mia at risk, and I’m the bad guy?”
“I didn’t say you were the bad guy, Caleb. I’m just saying…” she began then let her words drop. What was she trying to say to him?
“I don’t like worrying about you, Chels. You know that. It’s the last thing I want to do, but you keep putting yourself at risk. I like being able to talk to you about what’s going on in this crazy-ass town, but not if it’s going to make you think you’re expendable.”
Hearing how upset he was, took her by surprise. Caleb wasn’t one to share his feelings easily, but this time he was making them quite clear. “We’ll be fine, Caleb. I promise. Besides, we need to be there to help those other girls.”
“And what if I’m not there to keep an eye on you?”
“I don’t need a babysitter. You need to realize that. You always try to be in charge. I can make my own decisions.”
“I don’t try to be in charge, Chels. You put yourself in the middle of investigations. Not only is that against the law, but it’s dangerous. Now, you’re putting yourself in a situation where you think a curse is involved. I’m not sure what I believe yet, but the idea of you trying to get in the middle of it again is crazy. You and I both know this town has issues. It’s like you’re trying to make it wake up and pay
attention to the fact you’re trying to stop it.”
She rolled her eyes, tired of hearing the way he was dismissing her ability to take care of herself. Yes, the two of them had grown close since the Halloween they witnessed the terror Dead Oaks could unleash, but the thought of him trying to dictate to her didn’t sit well.
“I’m going to go,” he said finally. He knew if he stayed, they would end up arguing worse and that wasn’t something he wanted.
“You aren’t going to tell me what you found during Tori’s investigation?”
“I told you. Nothing. If something happened, none of those girls are spilling. It honestly, appears as though she fell. That’s how it will be reported.”
“I can’t believe you’re falling for that nonsense.”
“Without proof or seeing something with my own eyes, I have no choice,” he told her as he made his way toward the door. He stopped long enough to pet Smoky and then stepped out into the fall air.
Annoyed by his actions, Chelsea debated whether she should follow him out and continue the argument or let him cool down. Before she could make up her mind, she saw the cruiser pull away.
“Great,” she mumbled as she scooped Smoky into her arms. She knew Caleb would be upset, but she’d never imagined he would downright pissed.
***
“Carmen, it was insane!” Shelly announced as she paced the room. “We’d all been in Miss Nichols office. The paperwork was done, and everyone was chatting. She was giving us a rundown of procedure and what not. Then we heard the squeal. We all went running out. She was just lying there at the bottom of the stairs, her head turned in the wrong direction. It was so gross!”
“Oh, Shelly!” Carmen said as she stepped over wrapping her arms around her friend. It was clear being one of the people to find Tori had upset her. She could understand though. It would upset anyone. “Didn’t Rheanon tell you guys to get back in the office or anything?”