by Zoe Arden
"Her boyfriend already asked me all this," she said, sounding slightly irritated. "Have you spoken to him?"
"Damon? Yes. He's quite worried about her."
She brought me a steaming mug of tea and offered me a seat at the table, taking the seat across from me. "I'll tell you what I told him. Betsey's fine."
"How do you know that?" I asked. "Have you spoken to her?"
"No, but I know my daughter, and she's tough. Far too tough to be in any real danger. Fairies are much stronger than people give us credit for."
"She's only half fairy," I pointed out.
Georgia's smile dropped for a second then sprouted back up brighter than ever. "The fairy side is the good half. The better half."
I got the feeling that whatever had happened between Georgia and Betsey's father, things hadn't ended well. She looked at me like she was waiting for me to say something.
I cleared my throat. "Damon said that Betsey hasn't been home since the night of the mayor's ball, according to what you told him."
She rolled her eyes. "Damon is a lovely boy but he just won't listen to me. I'm her mother and I know her far better than someone like him ever could."
Her insinuations weren't lost on me. "You don't like Damon?"
"He's a lovely boy, like I said."
"But?"
She pursed her lips. "He's human." She folded her hands in her lap. "I have no problem with full humans, you understand, but I'm just not sure they should be getting involved with fairies. Maybe if Betsey was only an eighth or even a fourth it could work but she isn't. She's half. Damon just doesn't understand that yet."
"I'm not sure I understand it either. Why shouldn't a human and a half-fairy be involved?"
Betsey let out a heavy sigh. She blinked and suddenly she was transformed. The five-foot body I'd been talking to became five or six inches long. Clear, sparkling wings sprouted from her back. An aura of yellow-gold surrounded her. It was the image I'd been holding in my head. It lasted no more than a few seconds before she returned to the woman I'd been speaking with for the last several minutes.
"Do you understand now?" she asked. "Betsey is so far removed from humans that there's simply no way she can ever be with one. Not permanently. She has certain needs... desires that Damon won't be able to understand.
"You mean... romantic desires?" I asked, not sure I wanted to hear this.
"In part but intellectual desires as well. All sorts of things. Did you know one of a fairy's favorite things to do is to wind sail? We allow our bodies to transfigure into our natural forms and simply float on the wind, sometimes for hours. It recharges us, like sleep does for humans. That's an important part of who we are, yet it's something she can never share with him. A wizard might be able to understand, to be a part of it somehow. But a human? Never."
Suddenly, I felt bad for Damon.
"So, you really think that she's all right?" I asked.
"I do."
I felt a little better. I wasn't entirely sure I could muster up the same level of certainty that Georgia had but at least I wasn't quite so worried as I had been. "What about Randall?" I asked suddenly. "Did you or Betsey know him?"
"Not very well. Just in passing and such."
"Do you know if he had any enemies? Any friends?" I knew that Colt and Sheriff Knoxx were both working the case but I also knew they'd gotten nowhere fast.
"I really couldn't say." She paused. "I was sorry to hear what had happened to him. I understand they've made no progress on the case."
"Not yet."
"Poor dear. He was always so polite whenever I ran into him." She sipped her tea. "Have you spoken about him to Natalie?"
"Natalie Vargas?" I asked, surprised that Georgia would mention her by name.
"Yes. She and Randall used to date some years ago, before she married her husband. She could probably tell you more about him than I could."
Natalie used to date Randall?! Of all the times she'd been in our shop, both before and after Randall's death, she'd never once mentioned that fact.
"Yes. Now, if you'll excuse me," she said, setting her empty tea cup down, "I've got a lot of work to do around here." She was making it clear that she was done speaking with me.
"Sure, thank you for the tea."
She paused just as we got to the door, her perfect skin crinkling along the brow. "Sheriff Knoxx doesn't think that Betsey's been hurt, does he?"
"I don't think so."
"She sometimes wanders off for a few days but she always comes home again. It's the way of fairies to sometimes seek solitude."
"Even with a killer on the loose?" I asked. "Randall was a wizard but whoever killed him did it so quickly he didn't even have time to put up a fight."
Georgia's eyes dimmed; her face darkened. She no longer looked or sounded as certain of her daughter's safety as she had been just a few minutes before.
"I'm sorry," I said, feeling guilty that I'd cause such an unsettled look in her eyes. "I'm sure you're right. I'm sure she's fine." I turned to go.
"If you do find her," Georgia called after me, "would you ask her to call me?"
"Of course."
I made my way back down the ladder and when I looked up, I saw Georgia still standing at the door, looking out over the trees, searching.
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CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE
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I couldn't shake what Georgia had told me about Natalie and Randall. Had they really dated? If that was true, then it explained why she'd looked so upset right after his death. I finally asked Trixie about it before going off to the bakery and she confirmed that it was true.
"It was a long time ago but they were quite an item. They started going together right after high school, as I recall. Then she met Bill and I guess that was that."
"You don't know why they broke up?" I asked.
Trixie shrugged. "Sometimes love is fickle. Not with me and Melbourne, mind you, but for other people it can just kind of fizzle out."
I wasn't entirely convinced. A lot of times relationships didn't fizzle out, someone did something stupid. Like dump the other person unceremoniously and break their heart. I wondered if it was possible that something similar had happened between Natalie and Randall.
Before we left, I gathered Snowball and Tootsie together and asked them for a favor.
"Snowball likes doing favors for Mama," she purred. "Snowball gets tuna when she does favors."
"Yes, and you'll both get lots of tuna if you help me."
"Tootsie likes bacon now," Trixie's furry orange familiar told me. "Rocky gave Tootsie bacon and it was dee-licious."
"Bacon for you then, tuna for Snowball." They both purred with glee.
"Remember, just follow Natalie, don't interact with her," I said, making sure Snowball knew not to go up to her like she had Renee. Natalie knew what Snowball and Tootsie looked like. That was part of the reason I'd asked them both to help. They'd have to stay further behind her when they were tailing her so she wouldn't see them. If she did happen to catch a glimpse of one of them, then she might not see the other one. Especially if they were following her from two different vantage points.
I left them to it. They both knew Natalie and could easily track her down. I only wanted to see if she was up to anything that I should know about. Anything that might explain Randall's death or Betty's disappearance. I didn't really think she was behind Randall's murder but... someone was. Without any better clues to go off of, this seemed the logical place to start.
At the bakery, Eleanor was in a great mood. She was excited about the new mayor's ball even though a date hadn't been set for it yet. I was glad Otis had decided to try it again; I hoped it went better the second time around.
"Even if we're not making the crowning cake this time, we can still outshine Sweets n' Treats. Why don't we make a cupcake tower?" she asked, looking at us
with excited eyes. "That's just as good as a cake, right? Maybe even better."
"That's a great idea!" Trixie said.
My dad frowned. "Won't that be stealing the thunder from Sweets n' Treats?"
"Not if they make a better cake than we can make a cupcake tower," Eleanor said
"I didn't know this was a competition," my dad said. "Besides, I thought we agreed to let them make the cake as a favor. Doesn't seem like much of a favor if we try to outdo them."
Eleanor frowned. "Well... maybe you're right. We don't need a cupcake tower, I suppose." She fixed a cupcake that was sitting unbalanced on the edge of a tray. "We can outshine them with our flavors and frosting alone."
"That's more like it." My dad was always the sensible one in our group. Normally Eleanor was right up there with him but sometimes she got carried away a bit when it came to party pastries.
Trixie sniffled.
"Are you still sick?" I asked. "I thought you were feeling better."
"I am. It's just that... achoo!... I'm still in the stages of getting over it. These pesky colds can linger even with the best elixirs." Her wand was poking out of her apron and the next time she sneezed, she almost poked herself with it.
"I'm meeting Lucy for lunch today," I lied.
"That's nice," Eleanor and Trixie said distractedly. They were busy with whatever mixes they were working on. At noon, I left them to meet Lucy. Only it wasn't Lucy I was meeting. It was Lottie, and we weren't exactly meeting. More like... I was following her. She was best friends with Natalie and if anyone would know anything about Natalie and Randall, it would be her. I just wanted to see what she did when she didn't know she was being watched.
It didn't take long to find her. I knew that Lottie usually headed to town center around lunch every day. I only had an hour or so unless I wanted to face Eleanor's wrath, so I knew I had better make it count. Lottie was sitting on a bench under Wanda's Willow—a giant willow tree people liked to picnic under—feeding some birds. I stood behind another tree, not quite as large as Wanda's Willow but big enough to hide me, and watched her for ten minutes before getting bored. Was this really how Lottie spent her afternoons?
She looked at her watch and jumped off the bench as if she'd just realized she was late for an appointment. She started moving fast now, walking with purpose toward the edge of town where Sweets n' Treats stood. She stopped just outside their bakery and I ducked into an alley, peeking around the corner. She looked around, making sure that no one was watching. I thought she was going to go inside the bakery but instead she hurried around the corner and out of sight. I followed after her.
I rounded the corner, stopped, then hurried back around it. I lowered my head and peeked around the side of the building. Lottie was standing there... with Renee. They were in deep conversation. It looked like they were arguing. I strained my ears, trying to hear what they were saying but it was completely lost on me. They were keeping their voices low.
I moved forward an inch to try and hear better and tripped over my own feet. I let out a grunt and when I looked up, Renee was staring at me. I hurried back out of sight but it was too late. I felt stupid and caught. I peeked around the corner and saw Renee and Lottie walking back toward me. Lottie's eyes were on the ground, and I didn't think she'd seen me. It didn't seem as if Renee had said anything.
I pulled open the door to Sweets n' Treats and ducked inside just before they came around the corner. If Lottie didn't know I was following her, I didn't want her to find out.
* * *
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR
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Wilma and Polly stared at me. From the corner of my eye, I saw Lottie walk past the window. I never saw Renee, though. She must have taken a different route. which meant they didn't want to be seen together.
"Hi, " Wilma said, looking at me expectantly. Polly had her arms folded across her chest. I stood there, uncertain what to say and wanting to leave but not wanting to make a big deal out of it. I hadn't really meant to come in here to begin with, I was just trying to get out of sight of Lottie.
"If you're here about Otis' party," Polly said, tilting her head back defiantly, "then fair warning. We've already started coming up with ideas for our cake and you're not going to take it away from us."
Wilma's eyes narrowed as if she was wondering the same thing.
I shook my head and walked further into the store.
"No," I said. "That's not why I'm here."
"Did you want to try some caramel crumble toffee cake?" Wilma asked hopefully. "It's one of our best sellers." I looked at their display racks and saw that although they weren't all full, they were far from being as empty as ours. I thought maybe my dad had been right about not stealing their thunder at the next mayor's ball. Wilma wasn't a bad person; I wanted her bakery to succeed.
"Sure, that sounds great," I said. She handed me a slice and when I took a bite it melted into my mouth like butter. Sweet, brown sugary butter. "Wow, that's amazing. You should make it for the party along with the cake."
"We are." Polly uncrossed her arms and started in on a mix she'd been working on when I came in.
"Good." I licked my lips, wondering if my being here wasn't a happy accident. Maybe now was the perfect time to ask them a few questions about Randall and Betsey.
"So, have you guys heard about Betsey LaGrange?" I asked, starting with the obvious.
"You mean how everyone thinks she's dead?" Polly asked.
"Is that what people think?" I asked, a little surprised.
"Not everyone," said Wilma, glaring at Polly.
"Everyone with any brains," Polly snapped.
"What makes you so sure she's dead?" I asked Polly.
She shrugged. "She's missing. There's a killer on the loose. I'm not sure anyone is taking Randall's death too seriously, so the killer's probably still out there."
"Some people think it was a tourist who killed Randall," I said.
"No way. It was an islander. I'm positive."
Wilma shot her a worried look. "What makes you so sure?" I asked.
Polly shrugged again. "Just a feeling."
"What Polly means," Wilma said, interjecting, "is that's what other people are saying. She really doesn't know anything about it herself."
Polly looked up from what she was doing, her eyes crossed. "Of course, I don't." She turned back to look at me. "Is that why you're asking me these questions? Do you think I had something to do with Betsey's murder?"
"Don't you mean disappearance?" I asked, suddenly sure that I'd caught her in a trap.
"She's been missing for days now," Polly said. "If she was alive, then she wouldn't be missing."
"What were you two talking about the night of the party?" I asked.
Polly's face turned white. Wilma stopped fussing with the display cases and came closer.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Polly said.
"The night of the mayor's ball, I walked in on an argument between you and Betsey."
Wilma's mouth opened slowly but no sound came out.
"It wasn't an argument," Polly said, looking at her aunt now instead of me. "We were just talking."
"About what?" I asked.
Polly licked her lips. "Cake. Different types of cake."
"Not Slater Winston?"
Now Polly's mouth opened. "No. Not Slater Winston. I haven't even thought about him in months."
Wilma suddenly turned on me. "You have no right to be interrogating my niece this way," she shouted. Part of me thought that Wilma was worried Polly really did have something to do with Betsey's disappearance.
"I was only asking about what I'd heard."
"Well, your interview is done," Wilma said and came around the counter. "Go on. Get out now. Polly had nothing to do with Betsey or Randall. So just get out and don't come back."
I left the bakery with more quest
ions than answers. The main two on my mind were: Why was Lottie meeting in secret with Renee? And why did Polly lie to me just now? I knew she'd been talking to Betsey about Slater.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I checked it and found a text from Eleanor.
TRIXIE'S NOT FEELING WELL. CAN U BRING HER A BRASS MONKEY WHEN U LEAVE?
A Brass Monkey meant I really had to go to Coffee Cove and not just say that's where I'd been. It wasn't far though, and was actually on the way back to Mystic. After everything I'd learned, I could use a little caffeine myself.
* * *
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
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I walked into Coffee Cove thinking that I would tell Lucy that I'd seen Renee and Lottie together and maybe she could shed a little light on it. She was good at coming up with new ideas and seeing things in different ways.
"One Brass Monkey, please," I told her. A Brass Monkey was one of Lucy's creations. It was basically a vanilla latte the size of a two-liter of soda and frozen solid. Trixie drank them like water.
"Trixie still under the weather?" she asked.
"Yep. Still fighting it. Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something when you had time."
Her eyebrows shot up. She turned her head to look behind her. William Carney, the second owner of Coffee Cove, was standing near the espresso machine drinking some himself. He was playing with his phone.
"Go ahead," Lucy said. "What's up?"
"Well, I saw Lottie Mudget today..."
She cut me off with a look.
"Ssh. The silencing charms are only around the tables, remember? Everyone can hear what you say up here."