Vanilla Beaned

by Jenn McKinlay

  “Holly, are you all right? We were so worried. Then Fancy made me take your place and I was sure I wasn’t ready,” Sunny gushed. “But she said the show needed me and Levi needed me and that I had no choice. I was so scared, my knees were knocking, actually knocking, but then I got up there and I did it.”

  “That’s wonderful, Sunny.” Holly patted her friend’s back as if looking for the quick-release button. “Okay, can’t breathe.”

  “Sorry, I’m so sorry.” Sunny let her go. “I’m just so excited and so scared for you. Honestly, I’m a mess!”

  “Don’t be. I’m fine. Now, didn’t I tell you that you could do it?” Holly said. “You just needed a chance.”

  Sunny’s eyes moved over Holly’s face. Then she looked sad. “Oh, no, you didn’t.”

  “Didn’t what?” Holly asked.

  “You didn’t rig all of this so I’d have to step up,” Sunny said.

  “Really?” Holly asked. “You want to know if I knocked out a detective and tied him up and then stuffed myself into an air duct to see if I could get you to take my place for the second half of the show.”

  “Well, when you say it like that, it sounds . . .”

  “Crazy?” Holly asked.

  “Well, yeah,” Sunny said.

  “No, I didn’t set this up,” Holly said. Her voice cracked and she cleared her throat. “Manny and I were attacked and we don’t know by who. You didn’t see anything strange backstage, like an Elvis roaming around, did you?”

  Sunny’s forehead crinkled in thought. “Not before intermission, and afterward, I was so freaked out . . . I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay, but if you think of anything, let me know, okay?” Holly said.

  “I will tell you right away,” Sunny said.

  “Knock knock,” Levi said before he entered the office.

  His face was sweaty from his time on the stage, but he also looked flushed with exhilaration. “Holly, did you see? Sunny took your place and it was . . . she did . . . it was okay.”

  “Are you kidding?” Sunny interrupted. “It was better than okay. You had the audience in the palm of your hand the whole time. I’ve never heard people laugh so much.”

  Levi puffed up with the praise, and Mel forced herself not to roll her eyes. It was official. Levi Cartwright was the biggest, most narcissistic jackass who ever drew breath.

  “I’m really glad the show went so well,” Holly said.

  “So, what happened to you?” Levi asked. “Did you get sick? Is Sydney okay?”

  All right, he did ask about her daughter. Mel thawed a little bit toward him.

  “Actually, I was attacked,” Holly said.

  “What?” Fancy Leroux pushed into the room with Detective Barnes right behind her. “What are you talking about? The detective said you were abducted, but I thought he was just being dramatic. I thought you were ditching.”

  Mel saw Barnes run a hand down his face as if he was trying to rein in his patience. When he removed his hand, he nodded at Holly, letting her know it was okay to tell the others what had happened. Mel suspected he wanted to watch their reactions to the story.

  He stood by the door with his arms crossed over his chest while Holly brought everyone up to speed. There were gasps and cries of disbelief, but when Holly was done, the biggest surprise was that Fancy, Levi, and Sunny all moved forward as one and enveloped her in a huge hug.

  “You poor, poor thing,” Fancy said.

  “Just let me get my hands on whoever did this to you,” Levi said. “I know how to throw a pretty decent haymaker. I’ll lay them out.”

  “Much as I appreciate that,” Barnes said, “what would really help is if anyone saw anyone backstage who didn’t belong. Anyone wandering around, looking lost or anything like that?”

  They all shook their heads.

  “We could check the security cameras for the theater,” Fancy said. “They don’t cover the backstage area since we do costume changes back there but they would show if anyone came backstage who shouldn’t have been there.”

  “Do you think either of you would be able to identify your assailant?” Barnes asked.

  “I would,” Holly said. “My Elvis wannabe lost his glasses for a moment right before he knocked me out, and I saw he had crazy eyes. I’ll bet I could pick him out in a sea of Elvises.”

  Manny put his hand on the back of his neck. He looked chagrined when he said, “I wish I could. He clipped me from behind. I never even saw him coming.”

  Mel knew that admission cost him. Holly seemed to sense it, too, and she squeezed his arm in reassurance.

  “Elvis?” Fancy asked. “An Elvis did this to you?”

  “Don’t worry,” Mel said. She knew exactly what Fancy was thinking. “Your Elvis wasn’t the one. He doesn’t have crazy eyes.”

  Fancy looked at Mel from under her eyelashes in a coquettish look that might have been ridiculous if she weren’t so earnest. “Are you sure about that?”

  “Quite,” Mel said. She didn’t think she imagined that Fancy looked a little disappointed by that.

  Two crime scene officers arrived and Detective Barnes dismissed everyone while he and his people went back to the stairwell to see if they could bring up any fingerprints or other evidence.

  He cautioned them to be careful and to be in touch if they had any cause for concern. He pulled Manny aside and the two of them had a whispered conversation that Mel was dying to eavesdrop on, but she didn’t. She figured she’d muscle the information out of him later.

  Angie had stayed downstairs to change after showing Barnes the stairwell and then she and Tate headed over to the all-you-can-eat buffet. For once in her life, Mel wasn’t hungry, not in the least.

  As soon as Holly and Mel had changed into their street clothes, Manny hustled them back to their suite at the top of the Blue Hawaiian. He was in full protective cop mode so Mel let him do his scanning-the-lobby thing while looking considerably forbidding without badgering him with questions.

  When they got into their elevator, he flashed his badge at a group of tourists and refused to let them get on. One guy with his Hawaiian shirt unbuttoned to his navel and sporting a carpet of chest hair not seen since the heyday of shag looked like he was going to balk, but Manny quirked an eyebrow at him and he stepped back, feigning interest in his reflection in a nearby mirror.

  “Thanks,” Holly said. “I think that guy’s cologne would have knocked me out for the second time tonight.”

  Manny gave her a look of such intensity that Mel suddenly felt like an intruder into whatever was happening between the two of them. She glanced away and then back. She couldn’t resist the impulse to see what unfolded.

  “You are an incredibly brave woman,” Manny said to Holly. “A lesser gal would have been reduced to hysterics by what happened to you.”

  Holly stared back at him as if her world had shrunk to encompass just the two of them. She whispered, “Thank you.” As if the tension between them was just too much, she added, “I’d feel better about the praise if I hadn’t been taken out by a crazy Elvis. I mean if I had to get abducted, why couldn’t it have been a young, hot Elvis, instead of a short, kangaroo-bellied Elvis?”

  “Tell me about it,” Manny said. He rubbed the spot on the back of his head where he’d been clobbered.

  “Kangaroo-bellied?” Mel asked with a laugh.

  “Yeah,” Holly said. “That’s what Sydney calls Lisa’s belly. She seems to think people procreate like marsupials and I haven’t had the heart to enlighten her as to the real deal as yet.”

  Mel grinned. “I don’t blame you. I don’t think that’s an easy chat for any parent. So, you think your Elvis had a beer gut?”

  “He certainly seemed to fill out his jumpsuit,” Holly said.

  “That might help narrow it down,” Manny said.

  T
he elevator opened up to their floor and Manny checked the area before allowing them to step out. When he signaled for them to follow, Holly looked at Mel and gave her a wry smile.

  “I feel like I have my own security detail,” she said.

  “I think you do, actually.” Holly gave her a questioning look and Mel said, “He definitely likes you.”

  Holly beamed at her and Mel blinked. She didn’t know how a relationship between a cop in Scottsdale and a cupcake baker in Vegas would work out, but she was pleased to see the feelings between them were mutual.

  Once inside, Manny had them wait by the door while he checked the entire apartment. Probably she was overtired and overwrought, but Mel held her breath as she strained to hear any sound coming from the suite. As the seconds ticked by, her tension level mounted to the point where she felt as if her nerve endings were frayed beyond mending.

  “All clear,” Manny called as he reentered the room. “Stand down.”

  “More like fall down,” Mel said as she collapsed into a chair.

  “I’m going to take a shower,” Holly said. “I feel grubby from the outside in from being trapped in that air duct with five pounds of greasepaint on. I don’t want anyone confusing my actual profession for, well, something less savory.”

  “Go for it,” Mel said.

  With a small wave, Holly left them. Manny watched her go and Mel watched Manny.

  “So, what do you think of her?” Mel asked.

  “No, just no,” he said.

  “What do you mean no?” she asked.

  “I am not talking about this with you,” he said.

  “Why not?” Mel asked. “I thought we were friends.”

  “I know you did, but what you had going on in your head and what I had going on in mine were two very different things.”

  “I know, I never meant to lead you on in any way, if I wasn’t already . . .”

  “Taken, yeah, I know,” he said. “You’ve always been honest about how you feel, and I appreciate that even though it wasn’t what I wanted.”

  “But now there’s someone else that you want,” Mel said.

  She wiggled her eyebrows at him and he glowered at her, but it lacked heat. He shook his head as if trying to shake her off. Mel thought he should know better than that by now.

  “Still not discussing this with you,” he said.

  “Aw, come on, I could offer you relationship advice as your friend.”

  Manny snorted. “Listen, friend, I don’t know that you’re the best person to impart any dating wisdom. I’ve seen you and Joe together, apart, together, oh sorry, I’ve lost track. What is your status lately?”

  “Apart,” Mel said. She almost added that it looked to be permanent, but then she realized she couldn’t toy with Manny like that. If he had feelings for Holly and she returned them, then Mel didn’t want to do anything that might mess it up so she added, “Or was it together? Even I can’t remember.”

  Manny must have sensed from her expression that there was more going on than she was saying. He stepped close to her chair and gave her a big hug.

  “It’s going to be okay,” he said. “If ever any two people were meant for each other, it’s you two.”

  Mel felt her throat get tight. She nodded against his shoulder. Then she pulled back and said, “So, you want me to ask Holly about you and see how she feels? I could pass her a note and have her check yes or no and tell you at fifth period?”

  He stepped back and dropped his head to his chest as if he was embarrassed. “No.”

  “Are you sure? Really, I could put in a good word for you,” she offered. “I promise I won’t oversell you.”

  “No, really, thanks.” He glanced around the room and his eyes lingered on the large screen television. Then he tipped his head as if considering something. “I need to make a call.”

  “Okay,” Mel said. Manny took his cell phone and left the room.

  She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Now that she had stopped moving, her adrenaline spike had ebbed and she felt more tired than she could ever remember being. Her body twitched and she knew she was about to doze. She thought she should fight it, but the idea of a fifteen-minute power nap was too tempting to ignore.

  “Mel, wake up,” a voice roused her.

  She opened one eye but it was an effort. Manny was crouched beside her.

  “I’m going downstairs to talk to the security personnel about making the tapes viewable in our room,” he said. “I think it will be easier for Holly to view them up here than to drag her down to the office.”

  “Good idea,” Mel said. She still had just one eye open.

  “A security guard will be posted out front to watch the suite. Do not let anyone in except our people. No one else.”

  Mel just looked at him. “I got this.”

  “Really? Because you look like roadkill.”

  “Thanks,” Mel said. “I’m feeling a little flat, now that you so gallantly mentioned it.”

  “Sorry,” he said. He cupped her cheek with one hand. “You know you always look beautiful to me.”

  They stared at each other for a second with the same awareness that always snapped between them. Though she never intended to do anything about it, it gave Mel a little lift to note it was still there.

  “Ahem,” Holly cleared her throat as she came into the room.

  Twenty-four

  Mel started and Manny snapped up to his feet.

  “Okay, then, I’m just going to do that thing,” he said. He jerked his thumb at the door and backpedaled out of there so fast, Mel was surprised he didn’t leave skid marks. He was halfway out the door before he turned back. “Remember what I said.”

  “On it,” Mel said.

  The door shut and she turned to look at Holly. In a fluffy bathrobe with her dark brown hair in a ponytail on top of her head and her face free of the layers of makeup, she looked much younger than she was, younger and more vulnerable and emotionally fragile. Mel felt like a heel.

  “That”—Mel waved her hand in the air before she continued—“wasn’t what it sounded like.”

  “Huh, interesting,” Holly said. She looked grumpy. “’Cause it looked like you lied to me.”

  Mel gasped. “That was blunt.”

  “Sorry, but I’m feeling a little abused right now. It’s been a rough night.”

  “I get that,” Mel said. “But let’s remember who found you behind the grate and act accordingly, shall we?”

  Holly put her hands over her face and sighed. “You told me that there wasn’t anything between you and Manny.”

  “There isn’t.”

  “Please,” Holly said. “I know a guy who is pining when I see one. This is Vegas. The city is rife with dudes who are trying to forget.”

  “Manny and I are just friends. That’s all we’ve ever been, and that’s all we’ll ever be.”

  “He doesn’t look at you like you’re a friend,” Holly said. It sounded as if the words cost her. As if she’d been trying to deny the truth but was now forced to accept the stark reality of what she had seen when she’d walked into the room.

  “Manny and I have a connection,” Mel said. “But I’m in love with someone else and have been since I was twelve years old. It’s not going away and it’s never going to change even if he and I don’t end up together, which is sadly what I’m afraid is going to happen.”

  Holly sighed and gave her a sympathetic look. Then she sat down beside Mel and put her arm around her. “I’m sorry. That blows.”

  The unexpected compassion made Mel’s eyes tear up. She hadn’t really allowed herself to dwell on the situation with Joe since their phone call. Abductions and crazy Elvises had a way of distracting a girl from these things. Holly’s sympathy felt sincere and it made Mel realize how much she was hurting over Joe and the end of wh
atever it was that they’d had.

  “Listen,” Mel said. She cleared her throat. “If I wasn’t in love with Joe DeLaura—”

  “DeLaura?”

  “Angie’s older brother—long story—I would absolutely arm-wrestle you for Manny Martinez. But . . .”

  “But you are in love with Joe,” Holly said.

  “Yeah,” Mel said. “And Manny knows it and has always known it. I can’t ever be with Manny because he would always think he was my second choice and he deserves to be someone’s first choice.”

  “So what’s wrong with this Joe guy? Why hasn’t he put a ring on it yet?” Holly asked. “Clearly, you’re a catch and I’m not just saying that because you’re a hot cupcake baker. You really are the whole package.”

  “He tried. He asked and I said yes, but . . .”

  “Uh-oh, that sounds like a Baby Got Back–sized butt,” Holly said.

  “It is. I freaked out.”

  “Oh,” Holly said. “So you’re the weak link.”

  “I was but then I proposed to him,” Mel said.

  Holly leaned back and studied Mel’s face. “Wait. Do we need wine and cupcakes for the rest of this story?”

  Mel laughed. She really, really liked Holly and not just because she was offering to drink and eat with her but because she seemed to understand that things with Joe were complicated and she wasn’t being judgy about it.

  “That might help,” Mel said.

  Holly went and grabbed an already open bottle and two glasses. While she poured, she asked, “So, you asked him and . . .”

  “He said no,” Mel said.

  “What?” Holly handed Mel her glass and took a sip of her own. “Why? Did he explain?”

  She ducked back into the kitchen and returned with a plate full of cupcakes.

  “No,” Mel said. “He just said no and he left.”

  “I would have gutted him like a fish.”

  “He’s a county attorney, a prosecutor.”

  “A really nasty paper cut then,” Holly said. “Or two.”