by E. M. Moore
Chapter 4
Saturday…the day I’d been dreading for weeks.
Tiny knots had been forming in my stomach all morning long. After I returned home from picking up my dress, I couldn’t bring myself to get up from the couch where I sat with Maxie. He was so snuggly this morning. Too cute to leave behind for what was sure to be a torturous evening. Finally, however, barely leaving myself enough time to make myself decent, I pulled myself up and headed toward the bathroom where I did my hair and makeup. Afterward, I gave Maxie one last pat on the head and walked slowly out the door to my car.
All smiles, my sister bounded down the steps behind me. We were such completely different personalities it was almost laughable. “You heading over? I was about to leave too. You want to ride together?”
I pulled my jacket tight around me and shook my head. “You’re probably staying late, right? There’s no way I want to stay there longer than I have to.”
Mel giggled to herself. “Suit yourself.”
She and I both got in our own cars and drove away. The quick drive into Historical Downtown didn’t take me as long as I would’ve liked. After parking, I walked in the side entrance to the Danvers’ banquet room.
The Danvers Hotel was the most popular place to stay in Salem. Everyone who visited wanted to stay here because of its haunted reputation. I didn’t blame them, that’s what Salem was known for, but on the flip side, the Danvers Hotel was beautiful, too. The architecture was stunning with its high ceilings and perfectly-crafted moldings. It was the epitome of the fashionable New England style that was common here. Tourists may have booked a room for the ghosts, but stayed due to its beauty and old-world charm.
Lately, however, there were rumors that the Danvers wasn’t doing so well. The Danvers had brought in a ghost hunting TV show to prove they had ghosts. Just another marketing ploy, except it did the exact opposite. The ghost hunters hadn’t found anything. Instead of getting an uptick in reservations because of the TV show, rumor had it their occupancy had slid because of it.
It would be a shame to see this place close. I hoped it would never get that bad because I had great memories of Derek in this room. Prom, for one. However, those memories were about to be pushed aside for something way more intimidating. Not to sound dramatic, but come on? Auctioning myself off to the highest bidder? I’d hit a new low in my quest to raise enough money for the library’s new elevator. Mrs. Adams better be impressed with this.
I stopped in the middle of the room, thinking about Derek, when my sister walked past me and right onto the stage. She waved at Katrina Danvers, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Danvers who owned the hotel. Katrina hovered over a table near me, rearranging a vase of flowers in the middle. Her boyfriend Kevin was at the table next to her doing the exact same thing except with a lot more muttering.
My heart lurched inside my chest once I recognized what they were doing. Those were Victor Paladino’s flowers. I’d seen his floral shop’s van outside the Danvers last night. They’d wheeled his gurney right past the white van with the bouquet of roses on the side. He’d more than likely been making his last delivery when he somehow wound up in the freezer.
His journey to becoming a florist was an inspiring one. After Mrs. Paladino’s death, he took the life insurance money, retired from his plumbing job, and started a floral shop. Apparently, Mrs. Paladino wouldn’t let him give up the security of his plumbing business when she was alive. With her gone, however, he could do as he pleased with the money.
“Move it to the right,” Katrina Danvers said. She looked toward her boyfriend and frowned. “You’re doing it wrong. Put it in the middle like this and then face it toward the stage. It’ll make a better impact that way.”
Kevin huffed. He looked like the exact opposite of the type of guy who would want to arrange flowers on a table for ‘Win A Date With Salem’s Finest’. “I’m an IT professional, not a floral arranger. If your parents could afford some real help, we wouldn’t have to do this.”
Katrina shot him a look. My cheeks bloomed red, embarrassed—and sad—for them both. Rumors verified, I thought to myself. It was a shame, too. Who needed a haunted house when you could stay in the beauty of the Danvers? Whether or not it had ghosts, the hotel had a lot to offer this area. It had the best rooms, authentic New England flare, and all-around great staff. Mr. and Mrs. Danvers were great people. Katrina was a couple years ahead of me in school, and although I didn’t know her that well, I figured she was much like her parents in that way.
She peeked at me and then back at her boyfriend. “I’m sorry a dead body ruined your night’s plans. If he’d just waited a little longer to die, you wouldn’t have to do this.”
Kevin’s cheeks blushed pink. After a moment, his eyes darkened and he stood up straight to regard his girlfriend. “I didn’t mean it that way and you know it.”
Sensing I was about to witness a fight, I hurried into the side room where all the other auctionees waited.
I wasn’t the first to arrive nor the last. Stella, the clerk who worked for the town offices was here. There was Joe Foster, a regular Salem fixture who liked to dress in pirate costumes. Scilla Longbottom was another one. She was involved in the mess with my sister a few weeks ago. I could still see the remnants of the attack she lived through. Slight bruising colored the area under her eyes with soft purples and blues. She also walked with a limp. With my eyes closed tightly, I once again thanked the goddess that my sister and I had gone through the ordeal unscathed. It was too bad Scilla couldn’t say the same.
Troy Levine was the only other person auctioning themselves off tonight. He was a married man, but what everyone wanted from him was his business sense. His high bidder would get a one-on-one meeting where they could pick his brain. Mel really wanted to win him. Unfortunately, since she was a member of the Salem Business Association, she couldn’t bid on anybody. Not even me. I almost backed out when I’d found that out.
Stella looked me up and down when I walked in. “You look so nice, Maddie.”
“Thank you,” I said, almost choking on my words. Just as I’d feared, the women wore floor-length gowns. Stella herself wore a black dress with sequins along the chest area. She looked like she just stepped off the runway, while I looked like I just stepped away from a tea party.
Sighing, I placed my jacket on the back of a chair. Now that I was here, I couldn’t wait for it to be over with. I was more anxious about walking across the stage than I was about who would bid on me at the moment. Twisting an ankle was not at the top of my to-do list. This was all for the library, I reminded myself. Since the ‘Win A Date With Salem’s Finest’ was originally Mrs. Ward’s idea, my sister had talked the Salem Business Association into donating the proceeds from my auction to the library. I was glad she was able to work that out with them. Though I loathed the fact that within an hour I would have to walk across the stage in front of people, I was happy that at least I was doing this for the library.
Eliza Penn walked into the room, her pen poised over a checklist. My sister was hot on her heels, glancing at me with raised eyebrows and a small smirk. Eliza was the woman I’d beat out for the Library Director position. “Smile, Madison,” she said to me. “This is all for a good cause, you know.”
My sister stepped right up. “Oh, she couldn’t be more excited. Trust me. She’s been waiting for weeks for this night.”
If my sister hadn’t winked at me, I probably wouldn’t have understood the fact she was picking on me. Eliza always put me on my guard. I got the sneaking suspicion she didn’t like me very much after I was chosen for the position over her. At least some people recognized that just because you were old, wore your hair in a bun, and had a necklace attached to your glasses, it didn’t mean you had the required skills to be a good librarian. It was more important that you were a certified Public Librarian and had gone to school to do such things. Jeez. Here I was all fired up again. I took a few calming breaths. Nothing got me going more than when people thought ju
st anyone could do my job.
Eliza smiled tightly at my sister. “I’m so glad to hear that, Mel. Who wouldn’t want to bid on the Public Library Director?”
Mel waggled her eyebrows. “Good question.”
Those of us who were about to be auctioned formed a semi-circle around Eliza. Scilla and my sister kept some distance between them. I wasn’t sure how much they’d spoken after their friends Casey and Pepper were murdered, but if I had to guess, not much. Both needed to deal with the murders in their own way, but I made a mental note to ask my sister about her current relationship status with Scilla anyway. She really liked being a part of that coven even though it was for such a short amount of time.
“So, you’re all here,” Eliza said. “Excellent. As you all know, I’m the emcee for the night. There’s nothing to worry about, just go out on my cue. Mel Styles here will walk you onto the stage where we’ll hold the auction process. With all the business men and women in the audience, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about anyone not being bid on. However, if we should run into a disaster such as that,” Eliza said, and I swore her eyes flicked to mine. “We have a plant in the audience who’ll put in a base level bid. We wouldn’t want anyone to have their feelings hurt, would we? Again, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about it, but just in case. We have such a great group of volunteers and I have no doubt the evening will be a great success. The Salem Business Association thanks you for donating your time. Excepting Madison Styles, of course. Her proceeds go toward funding the library’s new elevator.”
“Also a good cause,” Mel offered.
I sent her a smile of thanks. I was glad to have someone looking out for me.
After that, Eliza and Mel left the backroom for the stage, telling all of us just to wait for our name to be called. Once our own auction ended, we were allowed to go out into the audience and mingle. With the smells of the food wafting through the velvet curtains, I couldn’t wait until I got to that part. I’d been too nervous to eat earlier.
Three names were called before mine. Mel peeked her head around the curtain and motioned for me to move forward. I hesitated at first, the butterflies swarming inside my stomach, then I made my across the room to her. “You’re going to do great,” she whispered.
“Promise?”
She nodded, but only because Eliza Penn called my name. Then, she pushed me out onto the stage.
I almost tripped-almost-when I saw how many people were in the crowd. I hadn’t thought of the size of the audience earlier, perhaps because I didn’t realize how many people could fill the banquet tables. There had to be more than a hundred people here. I stumbled forward and walked to the center.
The lights were a little blinding, but once my eyesight adjusted, my first thought was, the Salem Business Association was raking in the money tonight. Not only did they keep the proceeds from the auction, but everyone here also had to pay a price per plate. I was happy for them. I’d be happier if I wasn’t thrust into the middle of this, but still, the SBA was a good organization. If your business belonged to the SBA, you got free marketing in town, including being added to the sales brochures that were handed out at all the museums and the visitor’s center. They even had billboards up around the city.
I tried to smile, but my lips shook on my face. I noticed Mrs. Ward and Jackson sitting off to the right. Focusing on their friendly faces, Mrs. Penn rattled off my intro. She talked about my accomplishments, my degrees, even more of my accomplishments. The more she spoke, the more embarrassed I got. Even the crowd began to stir at one point. I looked over my shoulder and noticed Mel beaming to herself. She must’ve written it. It certainly wasn’t Eliza Penn.
Finally, Eliza ended the intro with a quick note about me loving my dog and then opened up the bidding. The spotlight froze on me, and I wanted nothing more than to hide inside my shell. To me, the best part of my job was being behind the reference desk. It wasn’t standing up and talking at board meetings, or being caught in a murder investigation, and it definitely wasn’t auctioning myself off in front of a bunch of business men and women.
The bidding was already at a few hundred dollars before I realized anyone had even bid at all. A voice spoke up in the back, and I trained my eyes to see through the blinding light to match the face with the voice. It wasn’t until the spotlight moved from me to the back that I recognized who it was. Pete Frawley. He was an ex-boyfriend of mine I’d dated in high school before Derek. He was a divorcee who lived in Salem on the other side of the bridge—not near Historic Downtown at all.
My stomach rolled. It wasn’t that Pete was a bad person, I just didn’t want to give him any ideas that there was a possibility for a relationship. No, definitely not. Why my mind went from winning auction to date to marriage, I had no idea. Eliza was counting down, asking if anyone else was going to beat Pete’s bid. My hands started to shake and my stomach rolled. I stared at Mrs. Ward’s table just as Jackson held his hand in the air.
Thank the goddess.
From behind me, Mel said, “We’ve got another bidder.”
My sister sounded way too perky, way too excited about this. I didn’t even need to look to know Mrs. Ward shared the same look, but I didn’t care at that point. There wouldn’t be any awkwardness with Jackson. He was safe.
“Detective Ward, how nice,” Eliza Penn said.
The countdown started again and, thankfully, Detective Jackson Ward won me. My whole body shivered, revolting at the idea of someone winning me. When all this was over, I was going to give Mrs. Ward a piece of my mind. There was no way I was ever going to do this again. To be put through something like this in the twenty-first century was unheard of. I didn’t care if it was just ‘all in good fun’ or not.
My ears rang as the whole room applauded. Eliza Penn called out, “Please, claim your prize.”
I stiffened, then walked toward the part of the stage Jackson was closest to. He held his hand out to help me down the stairs. At the request of one of the local reporters, we turned around and stood together while cameras flashed in front of us. With a smile, he leaned down and whispered in my ear, “You look like you’re going to kill me.”
I shook my head. “No, not you.”
I glanced at his mother and he chuckled. “Your feminism is coming out in full force, isn’t it? I wondered about this. I remember you going off on Derek about something similar when we were in college. You, Madison Styles, are not a prize to be won.”
I stared up at him and smiled. That was kind of…nice. But also not. “Well, when you put it like that, it sounds insulting.”
He shook his head. “You just won’t give a guy a break, will you?”
I was not in the mood for breaks, that was for sure.
Finally, the cameras stopped flashing, and Jackson led me to the table with his mother. She pushed a glass of wine toward me. “I know you need it.”
“Thank you,” I said. I took the glass and downed it. “You have no idea how much.”
Jackson raised his eyebrows and stared down at the empty wine glass. “Don’t judge,” I said. “That was terrifying.”
“You literally can’t help getting yourself involved in murder investigations, but a little stage work and you can’t handle it?”
Sounded exactly like me. Helping out Jackson with investigations, though potentially dangerous, was useful. I could utilize my intellect and deciphering skills to make sense of something. I could not make sense of auctioning off someone for money, even if it was for a good cause. Now that I’d done it though, I only had one question. “How much did I get?”
“You weren’t paying attention?” Jackson asked.
“Too scared to.” I looked toward Mrs. Ward. “Was it enough to pay off the rest of the library elevator?”
“Almost, honey.” She patted my hand on the table. “We’re almost there. I told Jackson to bid again, but he wouldn’t.”
“Mom, I can’t do it again when no one bid against me. If Petey had bid again, I would�
�ve outbid him.”
“Thanks for that,” I deadpanned. “Nice to know there weren’t that many people bidding for me.”
Just then, Pete walked up to our table. I stood and gave him an awkward hug while Jackson shook his hand. “Didn’t think I should outbid you, Jackson. Take care of her, okay?”
Then, Pete was gone. He walked out the doors, letting in the dusk light for a brief second. I stared after him in shock. Afterward, I looked to Jackson. He just shrugged.
“Well,” Mrs. Ward said. “I’m so glad that’s over. Jackson, tell her the other news.”
Jackson sent his mother a look. “You know I can’t do that, Mom. If you hadn’t been in the car when I answered my phone, you wouldn’t know it either.”
“Well, I do know it, and Maddie deserves to know too. She was there when Mr. Paladino’s body was taken away in the ambulance.”
My throat closed. With my mind preoccupied over the past hour or so, I’d forgotten about Mr. Paladino and his ghostly wife. “What is it?” I pleaded.
He shook his head and downed his own wine glass. He mumbled something about never being able to say no, and then took a deep breath. “Mr. Paladino’s assistant, Daisy Lambert, came into the station today. Mr. Paladino hired her to take care of the techy part of the floral business—emails, voicemails, online orders. She found an email today she thought would be important to the investigation. It was.” He ran his hands through his hair and stared at me. I noticed he used the word investigation. That couldn’t mean anything good. “Mr. Paladino’s cause of death has been moved from natural causes to undetermined. We’ll need to investigate this email further and also figure out what else might be warranted to look into.”