Distortion Control (A Makayla Rose Mystery Book 3)

by Audrey Claire

  “Should so many people be in here?” I queried as I walked into the room. “How are you, Talia?”

  Talia turned sharp eyes in my direction. “Well, if I was dead, you would miss it, wouldn’t you?”

  “Your friends are all here. That’s what’s important.” I had not included myself in the friendship group, and she noticed. Thin lips compressed, and she crossed her hands atop the covers in a great imitation of the pitiful invalid.

  “Talia has had a mild heart attack, Makayla,” Edna said. “You shouldn’t tease her, dear. We are lucky to have her still with us.”

  “You’re right, Edna. I’m sorry.” I moved closer to the bed and gave Talia a brief hug. She preened. After I was done giving Talia the attention she craved, I turned to Edna, who appeared almost as pale. I hugged her with more genuine concern, and Edna patted my arm. When our gazes met, I was relieved to find her calmer.

  “I was so scared,” she whispered. “Any time something like this happens, I panic. I don’t want anything to happen to my friends, but it also reminds me my time may be shorter than I think.”

  “Don’t say that,” I insisted, feeling my own chest tighten. “You’ll be around for many more years.”

  “I called you all here,” Talia announced over my conversation. Edna and I fell silent. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms to hear what Talia had to say. Ollie stood closest to Talia as her fiancé and waited with obvious bated breath for her words, as did Talia’s two other friends. Edna raised an eyebrow with skepticism radiating from her being.

  “For attention?” I muttered under my breath in answer to her words. Talia glared at me. Nothing wrong with her hearing at least, although that surprised me with the way she blasted music on a daily basis.

  “I called you here,” she said again, “because I just couldn’t wait. With my delicate health in the balance, making the most of every day is important.”

  Delicate health? She had to be joking. I longed to see the doctor’s report. Surely, if it was that dire, she wouldn’t have been allowed the number of visitors that crowded her room. Even still, it was probably against hospital policy for the amount of visitors that stood around Talia. We were talking about Talia, of course, and she tended to get what she wanted by hook or by crook.

  Talia reached for Ollie’s hand, and the poor old guy turned beet red from his neck to his glistening bald scalp. He ducked his head, staring down at the bed as if he found it fascinating. Talia had no such bout of shyness. She met every gaze with her chin high and a superior glint in her eyes. “I’ve decided to have the wedding on Valentine’s Day, and Peony’s bakery will cater it.”

  This announcement was met with silence. For my part, I was shocked that she would decide this apparently without Ollie’s input. He appeared just as blank as I assumed everyone else was. Let me say that we all knew Talia and Ollie were engaged and intending to get married. She had already arranged with me to do their photos, and in true Talia fashion had informed me that I needed to do a good job because her dress would be risqué.

  Now when you’re able to draw a breath from the thought of Talia Johnston in a revealing gown—I wasn’t convinced she meant it, mind you—you will also note that Peony’s bakery was in the middle of a renovation with a grand reopening scheduled for Valentine’s Day.

  I leaned around Edna to catch a glimpse of Peony and found her mouth agape and eyes wide. Peony on the best of days appeared frazzled. Running a business and handling a new baby was a lot for a woman to take on, especially now being a single mom. Then Talia drops this ridiculous bomb without even talking to the caterer?

  “Talia, there is no way Peony can handle your wedding with her reopening scheduled the same day,” I scolded her. “And from the look on Peony’s face, you never even talked to her about it. You should be ashamed.”

  “Why should I be ashamed?” Talia snapped. “It’s my big day.”

  “It’s Peony’s big day too,” I countered.

  Talia glared at me. “Makayla, this has nothing to do with you. I think Peony can speak for herself.”

  All eyes swiveled to Peony, who paled all the more. She raised a thin hand to her frizzy hair and pushed it back from her forehead. “It’s a tall order with all I have to do, Talia.”

  Talia’s eyebrows crashed low. “You don’t even have to do the cooking! All I need is the sweets and the cake. Edna can do it, can’t you, Edna?”

  “I—” Edna began.

  I grabbed hold of Edna’s arm and linked mine with hers. “How about the day after, or better yet, a week later?”

  Talia ignored me and focused on Edna. “Ollie would love it if you would do this for us, wouldn’t you, Ollie?” She bumped his arm, and he glanced up for the first time.

  Edna stared at Ollie. He looked at Edna then away. “It’s a little inconvenient, Talia. You should have talked to me first.”

  “Good for you, Ollie,” I cheered and got a scowl for my pains. “Stand up to her.”

  He straightened his back. Ollie mostly didn’t care about anything except his work and doing a good job. He loved to gossip, and he left Talia to do whatever she wanted. However, with all of her drama, he didn’t let her bully him.

  “Sooner or later is okay, Talia. It’s just a ceremony after all. It’s not like I’m some young buck and you’re—”

  “Ollie Sandstone, don’t you say it,” Talia grumped, apparently insulted. “You’re an old goat, but I’m still raring to go. I still got my looks about me, too.”

  David chuckled and snapped his fingers. “You tell him, girlfriend.”

  I shook my head and groaned. “Don’t encourage her.”

  At last, Edna spoke. “I’m sure I can handle it, Peony dear, if you’d like me to. Plus, my stove at home is commercial quality. I can make everything there and stay out of your way.”

  “I for one still think it’s unnecessary. You shouldn’t let Talia bully you, Edna.”

  She smiled at me. “It touches my heart that you’re worried about me, sweetie, but this is what I love. Plus, making a wedding cake, well that’s the most amazing thing I could ever imagine doing.”

  David snorted. “Until you’ve made it to Talia’s specifications, and she changes her mind a dozen times.”

  “I beg your pardon?” Talia said.

  No one looked at Talia, but we all waited for Peony’s decision. All the time I had known Peony, she had been under the thumb of her husband, subject to his whims and decisions. I of course had known little of this until he was removed from the picture. The fact that Peony was redesigning her bakery and even changing much of its focus said a lot about the woman and her vision. She had been suppressed a long time, but with my little interactions with her, I saw strength there too, more so maybe because of the baby.

  “I appreciate your business, Talia,” Peony began in her quiet, serious tone. “Like Edna said, it would be a great boon for her and my business to make a wedding cake.”

  Talia beamed, but I noted a bit of darkness around her eyes. She was growing tired.

  “However,” Peony continued, “it’s inconsiderate of you to choose the very day I’m reopening to have your wedding. You knew my date for weeks now, and you didn’t ask me about it. You announced it. So, even if I’m spiting myself, my answer is no, thank you.”

  Gasps rose all around the room, and my mouth fell open.

  “Well,” David said. “She’s got spunk.”

  I agreed.

  Edna protested, and I knew her motivation was mainly because she wanted so much to please Ollie. Talia knew it too and had been counting on it, but Peony was Edna’s new boss, and if she said no, it was no. I assumed Edna could do the job on the side, but something told me Talia wouldn’t view Edna making the cake as a favor and not officially the same way.

  “If you’re going to be difficult,” Talia snapped, “then I can take my business elsewhere.”

  “Talia,” Ollie protested.

  Peony smiled. “You’re welcome to do that. I hop
e you feel better soon, Talia.”

  With that, Peony spun away and left the room. Edna bustled forward, hands fluttering. “Don’t you worry, Talia. I’ll talk to her. I’m too excited to let go of the idea of making your cake. Why I see pink flowers made of spun sugar decorating it, and—”

  “Don’t bother, Edna. I’m not sure Peony’s little shop is good enough anyway.”

  The hurt on Edna’s face made me step forward. “You’re holding the reception in the basement of the church, Talia, following afternoon bingo. Peony’s bakery is the best in Briney Creek, and you know it. You’re just angry because this little court session didn’t go in your favor.”

  Talia’s complexion turned splotchy. I wrapped an arm about Edna’s shoulders and tugged her toward the door. She resisted, but at last stumbled along with me. I stopped near the exit.

  “Now when you’re ready to stop behaving like a child and more like your age, I’m sure Peony will be open to negotiations. I hope you feel better, too. Get some rest.”

  My retreat signaled to everyone else to leave, and we all filed into the hallway. I looked toward David, hoping to get a word, but with a quick hello and good-bye, he was on his way with an excuse that he had to get back to his jewelry store. Our friendship hadn’t returned to normal since I learned he had been involved with Inna’s boyfriend, but I didn’t believe I held it against him. In theory, I understood the weaknesses of the heart. That didn’t change the fact that David and I were awkward with each other, and unless one of us did something to change it, things would continue that way.

  Turning to Edna, I gave her another hug. “Don’t let Talia get to you, sweetie. She’s always looking to manipulate others around her. Trust me, she will give in and let Peony handle the wedding order.”

  Edna harrumphed. “She’s stubborn, Makayla. She will do all she can to get someone else.”

  “There is no one else. At least no one she would want. She faces potential embarrassment, and if I know Talia, she wants to look more important than she is. Peony’s bakery is the answer.”

  Edna pouted. “I hope you’re right.”

  “I am,” I assured her. “While we’re on the subject, has Peony decided on a new name? I know she didn’t want to keep calling her bakery The Donut Hole because it didn’t have the sophistication she was looking for when she decided to handle special orders.”

  “Yes!” Edna brightened and clapped her hands. “It’s going to be called Sasha’s Sweet Dreams Bakery and Cafe.”

  “Oh how sweet,” I said. “After the baby?”

  Edna nodded. “Sasha’s a dream too, such a cute little thing. I love the name. It’s perfect.”

  “I agree.”

  When I had said good-bye to Edna, I checked the time and noticed I had a while yet before my appointment with Paul. First, I returned home to clean up at a more leisurely pace and to wear something more appropriate to both the meeting with the attorney and for stopping in at the studio. When I received the call about Talia, I had jerked on old jeans and a jacket. Good thing I hadn’t forgotten myself and removed it in the hospital. No one would want such an unexpectedly candid view. Okay, I hoped someone would, but not in those circumstances.

  I returned to my studio in time to see Ash walking at the opposite end of my block with another man. I squinted, trying to make out who it was but couldn’t be sure. Ash I knew because he moved so much like Spencer it produced an ache in my chest. That along with his height and bearing made him unmistakable.

  While Briney Creek was a small town with somewhere around fifteen thousand citizens, I didn’t know them all. I did, however, know at least by face most of those who frequented this part of Main Street. From my distance, the mystery man’s identity escaped me. The blond-headed, slender man Ash walked with might be older or younger.

  At the corner, just before they turned out of sight, Ash cast a look behind him in my direction. I paused outside my studio and raised a hand in greeting. I’m pretty sure he saw me, but he came off more furtive than anything else. He ignored my wave and placed a hand on the other man’s upper back as if to compel him along.

  I frowned. What in the world was that about? For a few moments, I stood there, wondering if I should jog down to the end of the street and see which way they had gone. Ash’s actions made me both curious and suspicious. I believed he had his brother’s best interests at heart, but what did I really know about him? He showed up claiming to be Spencer’s brother. Okay, that was undeniable unless he was a madman who had had plastic surgery to look…

  I let go of these fanciful thoughts and mentally encouraged my ire to ease. Whatever Ash was doing, it wouldn’t stop me from learning the truth. Ash might use his way of investigating, but I wouldn’t forget that Spencer had asked me for my help. I unlocked the studio door and entered, blocking out thoughts that at the time he asked, Spencer had little other choice than me.

  Chapter Five

  I arrived outside the police station a full twenty minutes before I was due to meet with Paul Jacobs. Sitting in my car with the heater blasting, I refused to freeze my bum off outside. My nerves were a jangled bundle of mess because I did not look forward to the time when Spencer and Paul faced each other. Paul and Spencer had history—bad history, and what I wanted to know was what was Paul’s secret?

  When Spencer suspected Paul of murder, he alluded to some dark past. Unfortunately, I wasn’t told the details. However, today I intended to ask Paul myself before he met with Spencer just what it was in his past Spencer found out about. I needed to know if it would affect the case today.

  My car windows began to fog, and I brushed a hand over the windshield. Paul was just pulling up in his candy apple red Camaro. I reluctantly turned off my car engine and stepped out to meet him.

  Paul was dressed in a gray pinstriped suit with a burgundy tie and crisp white shirt. At least I knew he was serious about his business, and I hoped it meant he would do all he could to help Spencer.

  As I approached him Paul stuck his hand out to shake mine, and I reached to clasp his warm palm.

  “Paul, thank you for coming,” I said. “Before we go in, do you mind if we have a little chat?”

  Paul frowned. “Look, Makayla, I’m only here because I need the work. After that last fiasco, I lost a lot of clients and a lot of business. For me, this is about taking care of my family, so if you’re going to feed me a bunch of ‘poor me. My boyfriend’s been framed or misunderstood,’ I don’t want to hear it.”

  I folded my arms over my chest and met his angry case. Paul had changed. Not that that much time had passed since that last incident, but I hoped we could move beyond the mistakes and the accusations that had almost landed him beneath a murder charge himself.

  “Are you saying you’re going to hold what happened between you and Spencer against him?” I demanded. “You’re not going to give him the benefit of the doubt?”

  He sneered. “As far as I’m concerned I don’t care if he’s innocent or guilty.”

  “You’re kidding, right? How can you represent a client if you don’t believe in him?”

  His lip curled in derision. “Exactly as I said. I don’t care if he’s innocent. I don’t care if he’s guilty. I will represent him and try to get him off. Outside of that, I don’t make any promises.”

  A light mist began to fall, but I ignored it. I strolled a few steps away from Paul, my mind filled with turmoil. Was he the right person? I wanted to fire him right on the spot and say we would get someone else, but I wasn’t the one who hired him. Ash was, and possibly as family he had every right to.

  “Makayla, are we going in or not? I don’t have all day.”

  I bristled. Paul had very little sympathy for Spencer’s plight, and I hadn’t expected him to. He also still had an anger problem. One thing had been on my mind, and he hadn’t satisfied it yet. I determined if nothing else, I would learn the truth about his past. He owed Spencer that much.

  With this thought in mind, my stomach knotted. I
faced him and looked into his eyes. “Paul, I want to know about your past. I want to know what Spencer found out about you and the reason you moved to Briney Creek.”

  He stilled, anger radiating in his eyes. His hands closed into fists at his sides. “My past has nothing to do with you or with this case.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Really? Well, I want to know. I feel it’s important for me to determine whether you’re the right lawyer for Spencer.”

  If I thought before I was one of Paul’s least favorite people in the world, I was even less so at that moment. Now was his turn to pace, and as he marched along the sidewalk headed toward his car, I had a brief fear that he would keep going. Panic rose in my chest, and I took a step in his direction. We needed him. Spencer needed him. I opened my mouth to call out, but Paul turned and headed back my way.

  He pointed a finger at me, his jaw tight. “What I tell you, you keep your mouth shut about. You don’t tell anyone. If you do…”

  I blinked at him in shock. He was threatening me, without remorse and without hesitation. He was doing it in front of the police station. I didn’t take him seriously, but I wasn’t crazy enough to think that what was in his past couldn’t motivate him to hurt me. In fact, I wondered if he might have had something to do with this case. After all, he didn’t like Spencer. Their fight may have been a minor one, but I had learned many people held grudges or blew their problems out of proportion and therefore committed acts of violence on others because of it.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” he demanded. “I’m not some type of monster. I know what you think of me. I know what all of them think of me, and I don’t care.”

  “Paul, this isn’t about you. This is about Spencer. Please tell me so I can make an informed decision about where we go from here.”