by Zoe Arden
"It's actually refreshing," Lucy said to Felicity. "To see a candidate lose and not be all bitter about it. Grayson will do better next time. Do you know how Tazzie's holding up?"
"Kayla says she's fine, but who knows? I'd be a mess if I were her. That's why I could never run for mayor. Too much stress."
"I'd be surprised to see Tazzie here tonight," Lucy said.
"Yeah, I think Amanda Hollyberry is around here somewhere, though," Felicity offered. "But Tazzie... to come so close and not make it? She was just one point off. Less than a hundred votes. It's gotta break your heart." Felicity paused as a waiter walked past with a tray of mini cupcakes that sparkled with edible glitter. Her lips pursed slightly.
"The pastries look great," she said.
"Yeah, they do," I said, looking around the room. A ten-tiered vanilla and chocolate cake sat just off the floor, almost reaching the ceiling. Each layer was at least six inches thick, and the frosting wrapped around it in elegant swirls that made it seem like the cake was dancing toward the ceiling.
"You really outdid yourself," I told Felicity.
She looked at me strangely.
"I did?"
"Yeah... why? I just mean everything looks great. You and your mom must've worked really hard."
Felicity's eyes clouded with confusion. "Cakes and Creations didn't cater this. I assumed your store did."
I shook my head. "No, Mystic never even got a call about it."
"So if neither of us did this, " Felicity said, "then who did?"
"What about Creams, Cakes, and Creations? Edith Woodruff's bakery?"
"No, I already asked her about it earlier. It wasn't them."
An elegantly dressed woman in a navy-blue floor-length gown, mid-forties but could've passed for younger, strolled past us and placed a fresh tray of chocolate potato chip cookies on the table. Her blonde hair was in an updo that showed off the perfect silhouette of her neck. She looked at the spread with the discerning eye of someone who loves a good show. I watched as she straightened the tablecloth, wiped the smudge off a cupcake stand, and turned around.
None of us recognized her. When she saw us, though, her eyes lit up.
"Oh, goodness, you're all together," she said, walking toward us with her hand outstretched like a professional politician. "I've been meaning to introduce myself. Ava, right? And you must be Lucy? And Felicity Redfern."
The three of us looked at each other. None of us a clue who this person was.
"And you are?" Lucy finally asked.
"Wilma. Wilma Trueheart." She grabbed some champagne off a passing tray and offered us each a glass. "I'm so happy to be here," she began to ramble. "Heavenly Haven is beautiful. So warm. So bright. The people here are all so friendly, at least the ones I've met so far."
I tried not to show my shock. My heart hit the wall of my chest in an artless beat. This was our competition.
I stepped back, studying her. Wilma Trueheart. The name fit her. She seemed... authentic. Nice. Like someone my aunts would like. Her smile looked sincere. Her eyes shone brightly, a light blue-green that reminded me of sea foam. When she shook my hand, hers was warm and soft, like powdered sugar.
I really didn't want to like her as much as I did. I looked at Felicity and Lucy, trying to gauge their feelings. They were both smiling.
"So... you catered this event?" I asked.
She beamed at me. "Yes. I hope you and your aunts aren't upset. Or you, Felicity. I met your mom an hour or so ago. She's a lovely person. Very... quirky."
I suppressed a laugh. "Quirky" was a nice way of saying ditzy. Amelia Redfern was one of the sweetest women you'd ever meet, but she had a tendency to forget things, like what day of the week it was or what month we were in.
Felicity nodded. "Quirky. That's my mom all right."
"When Thaddeus asked me about tonight, I was so surprised. It never occurred to me that I might be stepping on anyone's toes until I'd already said yes. I was just so excited. You know, the new bakery in town... I wanted to get off on a good foot with everyone."
"Don't worry," I finally said, putting her at ease. "My family isn't mad. Your pastries look amazing. And that cake... I've never seen anything like it. Do you make your own mood extracts?"
"Of course, I'm no expert, though, not like you are, Ava. Your reputation as a mood extractor is near perfect. I just try my best."
I blushed and thanked her. She was laying it on a little thick but I thought she was just nervous. After all, she was meeting her competition for the first time, too. I wondered where my father and aunts had scurried off to. I wanted them to meet her.
I saw my dad on the floor, dancing with Sadie. Trixie was hovering near Eleanor and Sheriff Knoxx, a third wheel. I could tell Eleanor wanted to dance but she would never tell Trixie to back off. Trixie was still a little raw about the whole thing with Melbourne. He was back in Sweetland Cove. He was alive. But he refused to leave his house, which meant Trixie had no one to dance with.
Lucy's eyes suddenly turned toward the front doors. "Oh, my roses," she said. We all looked where she was looking. Tazzie Singer had just stepped into the room. She was wearing a flowing light gold gown that highlighted the gold witch's flecks in her eyes. Her gray-brown hair, mostly gray, was pulled into a French twist. She smiled nervously as all eyes turned to her, surprised to see her at a victory party for her rival.
Thaddeus Black's voice continued to boom through the air. He finally caught on that something had happened and turned with everyone else. His eyes widened a second before shrinking back down.
"Tazzie!" he cried. "I hoped you would come." He made his way over to her, graciously offered her his arm, and walked her into the party as the music resumed.
* * *
0 6
* * *
Things started out well enough. Tazzie and Thaddeus stood in the center of the room, offering each other their congratulations on a job well done. He supplied her with a large glass of wine, which she swallowed in two large gulps. He offered to dance with her, and she accepted. They spun around the room to one moderately paced song, Tazzie looking uncomfortable the whole time.
"I can't believe she's here," I whispered to Lucy.
Wilma had disappeared into the back again, in search of some more her sea salt caramel celebration brownies. Every time someone took a bite of them, they let out a loud "woohoo!" and pumped their fist in the air. I couldn't remember anyone ever reacting that way to my celebration brownies and made a mental note to strengthen my mood extract.
"She's got guts, I'll give her that," Lucy said. "I don't think I could show my face if I'd lost."
"I think she's just trying to take the high road," Felicity said. "You know, show that she's above all that."
"Sure," I replied, though I had the feeling there was more to it. Like maybe Tazzie wanted to see what was so special about Thaddeus that Mistmoor had elected him mayor and not her. Tazzie had been through a lot just to lose. She was the candidate who'd been attacked. She was the one whose daughter's life had been threatened. What had Thaddeus suffered through to win the election? Anything?
I kicked myself. That wasn't a fair comparison. Grayson and Amanda Hollyberry hadn't been attacked either. Despite the assassin's list that Lincoln had found, the only assassination that had actually been attempted was on Tazzie. And she was still in denial about it last I'd seen her.
It wasn't until after they finished their dance and retreated into a corner alone that things got ugly.
Everything seemed fine for a minute. Felicity went off in search of Lincoln. Lucy went in search of her own dance partner. Colt still wasn't here yet. I'd just checked my messages and saw in a text that he was running late. He'd be here in a few.
So, I meandered around the edge of the party until I found myself only a few feet from Thaddeus and Tazzie. His normally boisterous voice was suspiciously hushed. They were speaking in soft, angry tones.
"No," Tazzie said, "I won't listen. I want answers."
<
br /> "And I want you to leave me alone. This isn't the time or the place."
"That's where you're wrong. There's no better time or place than right now, right here."
Thaddeus made an angry, throat-clenched sound, like a motorboat backfiring.
I took a closer look and realized that both their faces had a savagery I would never have expected from them, especially Tazzie.
Her fists clenched and unclenched at her sides. Thaddeus’ right eyeball began to roll around in his head. Spittle flew from his mouth with each word he spoke. The more spittle, the louder he seemed to get. Finally, the hushed tones were gone and they were both yelling at each other.
"They are just RUMORS!" Thaddeus shouted. His head looked like a dried cherry.
"Sometimes rumors are TRUE!" Tazzie shouted back.
"I don't know anything about any threats against you or your family!"
"I think you’re lying!"
"Too bad for you!"
"It wouldn't be the first time you've lied. Would it, Thaddeus?"
Thaddeus finally had enough. Normally, he was the type who loved it when every eye in the room was on him, but not now. He liked being in control, and right now he was not the one in control. He picked up a bottle of wine and threw it against the wall. He wasn't afraid to show his temper, that was for sure.
"This conversation is OVER!" he screamed, wanting to get the last word in. He stormed away from Tazzie, heading toward the sliding doors that led onto a large balcony. The ballroom we were in was on the second floor.
"That's what you think!" Tazzie cried, going after him. She followed him out onto the balcony, where their argument continued. Behind the closed doors, though, it was impossible to hear what they were saying. The party went back to normal, with people dancing, music playing, food and drinks being consumed.
A few minutes later, Tazzie stepped back inside, her face flushed. A few people glanced her way but now that the excitement was over, they didn't pay her much attention. Her hair was slightly disheveled. Her dress looked dirty. She headed toward the bathrooms and disappeared.
A half hour later, I was dancing with Colt. "Took you long enough to get here," I said as he twirled me around.
"Sorry. I thought I might've had a lead on Sheriff Knoxx's body double, I wanted to follow through with it before coming here."
"And?"
"And nothing." He shrugged. "Another dead end."
"Well, at least the election came off without a hitch. I mean, other than Tazzie, no one else was attacked. Maybe the guy who washed up on Mistmoor Beach was the assassin, after all."
"Yeah, but if he was the assassin, then who killed him?"
I frowned just as the music stopped and people started clinking their champagne glasses.
Hadley Miner took the stage.
"All right. It's that time of the night... speech time!" She was smiling, even though something told me she would have preferred it if Tazzie had won. I wasn't sure that Thaddeus was quite her cup of tea. Would he even keep her on as his secretary once he was sworn in? The official ceremony was tomorrow morning.
"Mayor Black, get up here and give us your speech." Hadley beamed at the crowd, clapping her hands. We all clapped with her. Ten seconds passed, a minute... murmurs began to rumble through the crowd.
"Mayor Black?" Hadley said into the microphone. "Has anyone seen Mayor Black?"
People started searching for him. He was nowhere to be found. I saw Tazzie Singer look toward the balcony, but instead of going that way, she moved in the opposite direction. I went out onto the balcony myself. There was nothing except empty space.
I sighed and walked to the ledge. There was a lovely view of the ocean from here. The star light gave everything around us a soft glow. It was peaceful. Serene. A squirrel scampered down a tree. I followed it with my eyes. There was something at the base of the tree. A large, dark shape. It wasn't moving. I blinked, not convinced of what I was seeing. Then a cloud that had been passing in front of the moon moved, and the shadow grew brighter. I gasped.
At the base of the tree, lying thirty feet below the balcony, was Thaddeus Black.
* * *
0 7
* * *
Sheriff Knoxx, Lincoln Maxwell, and Colt carefully examined Thaddeus Black's body. He'd been face down when I found him, lying in a puddle of darkness. Word of his body had moved quickly through the party after I screamed. I kicked myself for behaving like such a girl. Screaming? Really? As if Thaddeus was the first dead body I'd ever seen.
Lincoln looked back at the gathering crowd.
"Everyone back inside," he snapped. "Nobody leave."
Sheriff Knoxx told Otis Winken to go in with everyone and make sure no one tried to sneak out. Deputy Elwin Muster, the newest man to join Sheriff Knoxx's staff, went with him. I could see Sheriff Knoxx breathe a sigh of relief once Tadpole was out of sight. I thought the absence of Tadpole was the more likely reason for sending Otis away, especially since no one at this party was going to try and leave, not with a dead body lying just outside. Who would want to miss all the excitement? Murder made for better gossip mongering than the election itself had.
"You, too, Ava," Colt said. "Back inside, please." He must have sensed my irritation at being ordered around like I was just another party guest, because he started trying to cover his tracks. "I need you to make sure that people don't get stir-crazy up there. Keep everyone calm."
He slipped his hands around my waist and kissed me gently on the lips.
"When you put it like that," I said, "it sounds a lot better."
I shot one last look to Thaddeus. Poor guy. He was sort of pompous, but that didn't mean he deserved to die. He'd barely had time to enjoy his victory.
Sheriff Knoxx picked up something off the ground to Thaddeus’ left and held it in his hand. The starlight gleamed off the shiny, metal blade.
"Is that a knife?" I asked.
Colt turned toward the sheriff.
"I thought Thaddeus fell," I said, confused. What was a knife doing here?
"He might have fallen," Sheriff Knoxx said, "but it wasn't the fall that killed him."
Felicity suddenly appeared at my side. Lincoln gave her a please help me look and she ushered me upstairs. I was too dumbfounded to argue with her. Eleanor, Trixie, and Lucy pounced on us when we got back to the ballroom.
"What's going on?" Lucy demanded. "Is Thaddeus Black really dead?"
I nodded.
"Oh, my roses." Trixie looked pale. We stood around for a while, most of the party guests wanting me to tell and retell my discovery of the body.
"Morbid curiosity," Eleanor said, patting my back. "It comes with living in a small town."
"It comes with living in a big city, too," my dad chimed in, coming up next to us with Sadie Belle on his arm. "When Ava and I lived in New York, morbid curiosity ran rampant."
Sadie nodded sympathetically. "That must have been so hard for you, being away from the witching world, living amongst so many humans."
I suppressed a laugh. I liked Sadie. My mom had died twenty years ago and it was high time my father found someone new he could share his life with, but sometimes it seemed as though she was trying a little too hard. My dad had actually liked New York, though he preferred Heavenly Haven. And living amongst humans wasn't so bad.
Sheriff Knoxx and Colt were back inside the party now, sequestering people in small groups. Lincoln was still outside. He'd been joined by Doctors Wallace and Dunne. I had no idea what they were doing with the body, but it seemed clear that the party guests weren't going anywhere until everyone was questioned.
Colt came over and asked us if we'd seen anything suspicious.
"You mean other than the fight Thaddeus and Tazzie had?" Lucy blurted. I smacked her arm. "What? Everybody saw that."
"She's right," Colt said, looking at me. "Everybody did see that. Only no one can seem to find Tazzie now."
"I saw her," I told him. "Just before I found his body."
&n
bsp; "Where?"
"She was just standing around the dance floor with everyone else, looking for Thaddeus." I left out the part about seeing her glance apprehensively toward the balcony doors and decide not to go out there, as if she knew what she might find.
"Did any of you overhear the specifics of their argument?" Colt asked.
"Just what everyone else heard," I told him. "Look, Tazzie didn't have anything to do with this."
"How can you be so certain? A few people said they saw her come in from the balcony looking like she'd been in a fight."
My cheeks turned red. "Because Tazzie Singer is not a murderer, that's how I know."
I wasn't sure why I felt so defensive of her. I liked Tazzie, but I didn't really know her that well. She was Mistmoor. I was Sweetland. Yes, our two sides mixed more than they used to, but not enough for me to feel this burning desire to stand up for her. Maybe I was just on edge, wanting to pick a fight. Luckily for me, Colt didn't take the bait.
"I think we've got something," Sheriff Knoxx said.
"What?" Colt asked.
"A witness. Someone saw Tazzie with a knife just before Thaddeus was killed."
"The same knife?" I asked skeptically.
Colt shot me a half-apologetic, half-annoyed look and followed Sheriff Knoxx to the back of the room. My aunts and I exchanged glances with Felicity and Lucy, then followed them to see who they were talking to.
Wilma Trueheart stood fanning herself, rambling on about how difficult this night had been. She was acting as though she'd been forever traumatized. Suddenly, she didn't seem nearly as likable as she had when we'd first met.
We crept closer, trying to make it look like we were examining the cupcakes on display instead of listening in. I noticed Grayson and Kayla inch closer, too. Apparently, everyone wanted to hear what Wilma had to say.
"Just tell them what you told me," Lincoln said.
Wilma blushed and cleared her throat. "Well, I was in the back, getting together another tray of sugar high life cookies, when Tazzie came in." Wilma paused, looking to make sure she still had their attention.