Dying for Devil's Food

by Jenn McKinlay

  Mel couldn’t imagine a world where Angie would do something like that to her. Real friends just didn’t do that sort of harm. She wondered how Megan had managed to get through the wedding or maintain any sort of friendship with Cassidy afterwards. Mel knew she would never have been able to do it.

  “You do realize that this story doesn’t help you at all,” Mel said. “The affair is bad but the background is even worse. It gives both you and Dan a real motive for revenge. Cassidy ruined your chance at happiness, she stole the guy who was interested in you; I mean, it’s bad. And Dan’s being stuck in a loveless marriage doesn’t help, either. Having you on the side makes it seem even more likely that he might kill to get out of his unhappy marriage.”

  “He didn’t,” Megan said. She put her hand over her belly in a protective gesture. “He would never put his family at risk.”

  Mel felt her jaw drop. “You’re having his child?”

  “Yes,” Megan said. “But you can’t tell anyone. It’s still very early yet, but neither of us would ever do anything that would take us away from our baby. He’d been working on asking Cassidy for a divorce. He was trying to convince her that it was best for both of them, but she wasn’t having it.”

  “Did she know about you or the baby?” Mel asked.

  “No,” Megan said. “She treated me just as she always had. I don’t think she was a good enough actress to pretend she didn’t know about our affair if she’d actually known about it.”

  “What are you and Dan going to do?” Mel asked. “You can’t just hook up, and with a baby on the way, or everyone will know.”

  “We’re hoping the police can figure out what happened to Cassidy,” Megan said. “That’s our primary concern, to see that justice is done. Yes, Cassidy did an awful thing by keeping us apart, but we’re together now and we have the rest of our lives to be together. But someone took Cassidy’s life away from her and I don’t think Dan and I can move forward until we know who did it and why.”

  “I can understand that,” Mel said. “I feel like the fact that Cassidy died at the reunion is critical. I really think it had to be someone who was angry with her. I know because of the bullying, I’m the obvious suspect, but it wasn’t me.”

  “I never thought it could be you,” Megan said. “Dan doesn’t, either. We agree that you’re far too nice and fair-­minded to hang on to an old grudge and commit murder.”

  “Thanks,” Mel said. “I’d like to think so. The question is if not us, then who? Brittany, who thinks she should have been dating Dan because she was captain of the pep squad and he was the school’s MVP, or Kristie, who lost her shot at being our homecoming queen when the envelopes ‘got switched’ that night?”

  “And that’s just two of many people who had issues with Cassidy in high school,” Megan said. “There was also Terry Gardner, who had the audacity to buy the dress that Cassidy had her eye on for our junior prom. Do you remember what happened?”

  “No, I didn’t go to prom,” Mel said. She hoped it didn’t come out sounding as pitiful as she feared.

  “Cassidy ‘accidentally’ spilled her cup of red punch all over Terry’s dress,” Megan said. “Such a beautiful dress and it was ruined.”

  Mel shook her head. Wow, just wow.

  “And then, of course, there’s Dwight,” Megan said.

  “Dwight?” Mel asked. “He was always her sidekick in bullying. I can’t believe he’d want to hurt her. He seemed to follow her lead.”

  “That’s because he was hoping she’d notice him,” Megan said. “He was desperately in love with her. That’s why he was so vicious to everyone. He wanted her to think of him as her protector.”

  “More like her enforcer,” Mel said.

  “Agreed.”

  “I don’t understand what these guys saw in her,” Mel said. “Danny, Dwight, Tucker, and the other men who seemed to flock around her. I mean, she was pretty but not stunning. She wasn’t funny, smart, or kind, so really, what was the draw?”

  “Dan and I have talked about it,” Megan said. “We both felt as if we were held hostage by her. She was a master manipulator. She reeled you in by making you think you were so important to her and then once she got her hooks in you, it was impossible to escape. She didn’t really befriend you so much as study up on your weaknesses so she could use them against you. I’d be willing to bet she did the same thing to all of the guys who hovered around her.”

  “What were your weaknesses?” Mel asked. “How did she keep a hold on you?”

  “Being the new kid, I was petrified that if I lost her friendship, I wouldn’t have any friends at all,” Megan said. “Looking back, no friends would have been the better choice.”

  “And Dan?” Mel asked. “How did she reel him in?”

  “In high school, she was the perfect arm candy,” Megan said. “And then when they met later in life, she pretended that she wanted everything he did. Marriage, kids, camping trips out on the desert, beach vacations, all of that suburban domestic stuff.”

  “And she didn’t.”

  “None of it,” Megan said. “She wanted to be a celebrity’s wife and be invited to all the biggest events, with all of the beautiful people, but she didn’t want to have to go alone.”

  “So she got admittance into the elite by marrying him, but then because he was on the road, she had to go alone anyway,” Mel said.

  “Yes, and the reality was, she had nothing to offer anyone but access to her husband and that was limited since he was always traveling,” Megan said. “She found out pretty quickly that because she did nothing, she had little to no value to anyone. It was a bitter pill.”

  Mel didn’t need to work too hard to imagine how poorly that would have gone over with Cassidy. It was important to her to have people bow and scrape before her and without that, Mel could only imagine how impossible she had become. Impossible or desperate?

  “Megan, you don’t think—­and I know I am reaching here—­but you don’t think Cassidy could have taken her own life, do you?”

  Thirteen

  “No, absolutely not,” Megan said. She was vehement and Mel wondered how she could be so sure. “I mean, yes, she was unhappy in her life, but to take her life—­that’s not how Cassidy responded to adversity. She was a fighter.”

  Mel thought about the Cassidy she had known and felt like this was a fair assessment, but they had gotten older, and maybe she had gotten depressed and miserable as she tried to navigate a life that wasn’t what she had expected. Maybe she felt as if there was no way out. Mel didn’t say it, but she wondered if Cassidy had found out about Megan and Dan. Maybe that had broken her spirit. Either way, she needed to get to Uncle Stan and tell him what she knew.

  “Mel, promise me you won’t say anything to anyone,” Megan said. “About me and Dan.”

  Mel winced. She’d been hoping Megan wouldn’t ask her that. “I don’t know if I can do that. I mean, someone murdered Cassidy and it really doesn’t look good for you and Dan.”

  “But if the media finds out about us, it could destroy his career,” Megan said. Mel stared at her and she had the grace to look embarrassed. “I know, it’s incredibly selfish of me to be worried about that when there’s a killer among our classmates, but I want to have a family and a life with Danny and if we start under a cloud of suspicion, well, I’m just worried that we won’t be able to salvage us.” She gave Mel a desperate look. “After all we’ve been through, after everything Cassidy did to keep us apart, I feel like we deserve this chance. Please help us, Mel, please.”

  Mel felt like she was the chewy, gooey center of a taffy pull. The right thing to do would be to show the picture of Megan and Danny to Uncle Stan. There was no question about that. He needed to know that the spouse of the murder victim was having an affair. But she couldn’t help but remember the girl who had helped her in that hallway all those years ago. She didn’t
believe Megan was a killer and she didn’t think Dan was, either. She was willing to give them some time.

  “I can’t promise that I won’t share what I know with the police eventually,” she said. “Especially if I find reason to believe that you or Dan are involved with the murder. But I will wait and give the police a chance to investigate first. That’s the best I can do.”

  “Thank you, Mel,” Megan said. She looked so relieved that Mel got the feeling that she believed it was just a matter of time before the killer was caught. “You won’t regret it. Dan and I are innocent. You’ll see.”

  * * *

  Mel arrived back at the car. She opened the door and slid in, collapsing against the seat.

  “What’s your damage?” Tate asked.

  “Heathers,” Mel said.

  “No, I was being serious,” Tate said. He fired up the car and drove away from the building. “I heard everything she said. Even after seeing the picture, I can’t believe they were having an affair, I really can’t believe she’s having Dan’s kid, and I’m shocked she asked you not to say anything. You’re absolutely going to say something, right?”

  “I don’t know,” Mel said. “I’m torn. On the one hand I believe her and on the other Cassidy is dead and, wow, they really have a lot of motives for her to be dead by their hands.”

  “Truly, which is why it probably wasn’t them who killed her,” Tate said. “It’s way too obvious, right? Isn’t that a rule?”

  “I think the rules got tossed out the window on this one,” Mel said.

  “Agreed,” he said. “So, back to the bakery to call Joe or Uncle Stan?”

  “Yes, but we need to make one stop first,” she said.

  “No.” Tate shook his head.

  “We have to,” Mel said. “I have to hear his side of it.”

  “Danny is the prime suspect,” Tate said. “It’s too dangerous for you to approach him.”

  “Good thing I have you with me then,” she said.

  When Tate sighed like someone had taken the last of his favorite cupcakes, she knew he was on board.

  * * *

  Unlike the day that Mel and Angie had staked out the wake, Danny’s house looked vacant. Mel wondered if he was even home. Maybe Megan had called and warned him that Mel was asking questions. She couldn’t really blame Megan but it would be annoying.

  As they approached the house, Tate moved so that he was standing in front of Mel. She wasn’t sure if he was expecting a brawl or if he was just being protective, but she moved him aside. When he gave her a blast of stink eye, she shook her head at him.

  “Dan barely knows you,” she said. “I was his English tutor. He’ll open the door to me. Maybe.”

  As if he’d been waiting for them, the front door opened. Dan stood there, holding his phone to his ear. He gave them an unsurprised look and said, “Yes, she’s here. I’ll call you later. You, too. Bye.”

  “Megan?” Mel asked.

  “She said she had a feeling you’d be dropping by,” Danny said. He stepped back and gestured for them to come in. “I don’t think I can tell you any more than Megan has.”

  His house was huge. Stairs at the end of the foyer led up to a massive living room, which had a white leather sectional, a large-­screen TV, and a fireplace. Windows on the far side gave a floor-­to-­ceiling view of Camelback Mountain rising above them. It was impressive and a little intimidating.

  Dan gestured for them to sit. Mel sat in the middle, Tate sat beside her, and Danny settled on the other side of the L-­shaped couch, keeping the glass coffee table between them. A basketball game was on the big-­screen TV and he switched it off, turning his attention to Mel.

  He met her gaze and said, “I know what you’re thinking, but I didn’t kill Cassidy.”

  “What makes you believe that I think you killed her?” Mel asked. She felt Tate stiffen beside her.

  “Because I have the most to gain by her death,” Danny said. “I can’t deny that, just like I can’t deny that I wanted out of the marriage.”

  “Did she know that?” Tate asked.

  “Yes, I asked her for a divorce a few weeks ago,” he said. “She said no. When I said I was going forward with it anyway, she begged me to wait until after the reunion.”

  “And you agreed?” Mel asked.

  Dan rose to his feet and began to pace. He was wearing basketball shorts and a tank top. It occurred to Mel that he had likely been shooting baskets on the court by the side of his house. His hair was mussed and his face was pink, as if he’d been out in the sun earlier.

  “She cried,” he said.

  Mel looked at Tate and he nodded. “That’s legit. When a woman cries, it’s pretty impossible to say no.”

  “It was more than the tears,” Dan said. “I felt guilty because I was leaving her for her best friend and she didn’t know. I felt bad that we were going to have to untangle our lives from each other and on the way there were going to be casualties, because there always are in breakups.”

  “Did she know there was someone else?” Mel asked. “Do you think she suspected?”

  “She accused me of it, a couple of times, rather dramatically,” he said. “But I denied it. I knew I didn’t want to become a bad episode of Real Housewives and I really wanted to leave Megan out of it.”

  “Don’t you think she could have had you followed?” Tate asked. “I mean, how careful were you?”

  Dan gave him a worried look. “I thought we were extremely careful. I mean, she never said anything to Megan. She even had her helping to plan the reunion.”

  “That must have been awkward,” Mel said.

  “Megan struggled with it, and there were a couple of times that I think she wanted to tell Cassidy, but she didn’t. We both felt that the news of our relationship had to come from me,” Dan said. “Megan was afraid that Cassidy would use it to destroy my career.”

  “Do you think she would have?” Mel asked. Personally, she had no doubt that Cassidy would have destroyed both Megan and Dan without hesitation if she knew that they were having an affair, but she didn’t say so.

  “Yes,” he said. “Cassidy could be ruthless and she wasn’t one to hold in her anger. I really think if she’d known about me and Megan, she would have done everything in her power to destroy us.”

  “Wow,” Mel said. “That’s fairly terrifying.”

  “Yeah,” Dan said. “What’s really crazy is I didn’t care. I’d have left it all behind, given her the house, the cars, alimony, my career, all of it, just to be free to be with the woman I love.”

  “Okay, you may want to keep that to yourself,” Tate said. “You sound like a man who was close to desperate. The police don’t know Cassidy like we do, and they won’t understand if you talk like that to them.”

  “I know.” Dan turned and looked at Mel. “I’m sorry.”

  Mel frowned. She studied Dan’s face. He looked weary, like all-­the-­way-­down-­to-­his-­bones exhausted, but she couldn’t imagine why he’d apologize to her.

  “What for?” she asked.

  “Cassidy picked on you unmercifully when we were in high school,” he said. “I knew, but I never did anything about it. I was so caught up in playing basketball and getting my scholarship that I didn’t think about anyone else. You were my tutor. You’re the only reason they even kept me on the team and, still, I never defended you from Cassidy.”

  “That wasn’t your job,” Mel said. She didn’t want to talk about this. She didn’t want to think about how miserable Cassidy had made her feel back in high school.

  “No, it wasn’t,” Dan agreed. “But it should have been. I ignored all of her nastiness because it didn’t impact me directly, but I shouldn’t have. She was a bully and a mean girl and someone should have called her out. I was dating her. It should have been me.”

  “Thanks,�
� Mel said. “I appreciate the thought but we were just kids back then. We were all trying to survive adolescence the best way we could, even Cassidy.”

  Dan gave her a dubious look and Mel smiled. Despite the horrible events that had brought them together, it was good to see Danny again. She did a gut check and felt positive that he was telling the truth. She doubted he had anything to do with Cassidy’s death. But if not Dan and Megan, both of whom had excellent reasons to poison Cassidy, then who?

  “Do you know of someone who had a recent grudge against Cassidy?” Tate asked. “Maybe it didn’t have anything to do with the reunion, maybe it was someone else in her life.”

  “Cassidy didn’t have a life,” Dan said. “The only thing she cared about over the past few months was the reunion. She was dieting, working out, having planning meetings; it became an obsession for her. Especially the thought of being crowned homecoming queen again. She repeatedly told me that she couldn’t wait to take the stage and wear her crown again. She even ordered a specially made tiara for the event.”

  Mel felt her jaw drop. High school may not have been her favorite years but suddenly she was one hundred percent okay with that. When she thought about the life she had carved out for herself since then, well, it had been a heck of a ride and she had enjoyed every bit of it. But Cassidy hadn’t had that. Her life had remained centered around her glory days. It made Mel feel badly for her but it also took away the likelihood that Cassidy had harmed herself, especially on a night that had been so important to her.

  “So, you don’t think there’s any way she would have taken poison on her own?” Tate asked. He must have reached the same conclusion that Mel had.

  “Oh, hell no,” Dan said. “She was living for the moment she got to strut her stuff in front of our class. Nothing short of murder would have caused her to miss it.”