Fern Michaels' Godmothers Bundle: The Scoop, Exclusive, Late Edition, Deadline & Breaking News

by Michaels, Fern

  “It sounds like you’re getting along just fine without me, which is a good thing because I may be here longer than I thought.”

  “You live in Charleston, Mother. Of course you’re going to be there for a while. Los Angeles is just your . . . hangout.” Abby laughed.

  “How are things at The Informer?” Toots knew already, of course, as she checked her e-mail daily. As the power behind LAT Enterprise, it wouldn’t do for her to miss an e-mail. Who knew when something super-duper important might happen that would require her attention?

  “Great. We’re ranked at number two now, just below The Enquirer. Not a bad place to be in this business. Though I have to admit, I’m running out of stories for my column ‘Ghostly Encounters.’ I doubt I’ll ever top the Marilyn Monroe thing, anyway. Vampires are all the rage in Hollywood now. I need to search for a Dracula look-alike.”

  Toots smiled. “It’s all those crazy movies, and I absolutely refuse to watch them. When I was a young girl, I was terrified of vampires and werewolves. Bela Lugosi, I’ll never forget him. He starred in the first Dracula movie.”

  “Mom, is there something you wanted to tell me? It’s late, and I’m tired.”

  “Oh, Abby, I’m sorry. You should hang up on me when I ramble. No, there isn’t anything I wanted to tell you. Just wanted to hear your voice. Night, night.”

  “Good night, Mom,” Abby said, then clicked off.

  She’d rambled on so much, she’d forgotten to tell her about the bakery. It would keep until later. Before she could change her mind, Toots placed another call. This one to Chris. Just in case there was something to this Thomas poison theory, she wanted to make sure Ida was out of harm’s way.

  Five rings, then his voice mail picked up. “This is Toots. I have a favor. I always say that, don’t I? And I love you.” She hung up the phone, slightly annoyed at herself. It seemed the only time she called Chris was when she needed a favor, a bit of legal advice. She made a note on her ever-present mental shit-to-do list to stop asking Chris for favors all the time. He really would think of her as his wicked stepmother if this continued.

  After seven, Toots hurried upstairs to shower and dress. She hated wasting one minute of her day. She wasn’t sure what the girls had planned, but whatever they had, it was bound to be something out of the norm.

  She dressed in a faded pair of Levi’s she’d owned forever. A dark green blouse complemented her auburn hair. She pulled her hair up, securing it with a dark green hair clip. More blush than normal, as she looked washed-out, tired. Who wouldn’t, she thought, after last night? A swipe of coral lipstick, and she was good to go.

  Downstairs, she was greeted by Mavis, who was about to take Coco out for a stroll.

  “Want to come with us?” Mavis asked.

  “I’d love to.”

  Again, Mother Nature had worked her magic, Toots thought as she and Mavis dragged Coco to the back lawn. The azaleas and camellias painted the landscape with an array of brilliant colors. Magnolia and oak trees provided just enough shade from the sun. Toots couldn’t imagine a more serene place. It was spring, a time of renewal, and new beginnings. She inhaled the misty morning air, catching a whiff of her favorite night-blooming jasmine. Mother Nature’s perfume.

  Content to sniff and inspect the variety of shrubbery, Coco led them along a stone pathway Toots and Abby had constructed when she was in high school. Each stone had its own story, a memory. Toots wouldn’t have traded the old rocks for solid gold.

  “I don’t know when I’ve seen you this happy,” Toots commented.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy!” Mavis exclaimed. Her sparkly blue eyes shimmered with excitement. “I’m really a totally different person than that potato-chip-eating, soap-opera-watching, obese woman that I was a year ago. I don’t even have the same thoughts anymore. I suppose that’s a good thing.” Mavis chattered away, and Toots simply listened. A quiet moment with a dear friend on a day exploding with possibilities was one to treasure forever.

  Coco spied a squirrel in an oak tree, stopping to growl, revealing tiny white teeth and pink gums. Toots was sure that Coco was more frightened than the squirrel.

  “No, Coco,” Mavis said. “Mind your manners.”

  The back door slamming jolted Toots and Mavis to attention. Sophie came running down the path, portable phone in her hand. Huffing and puffing, she held the phone out for Toots. “It’s Jamie. She says it’s an emergency.”

  Toots took the phone from Sophie. “Hi, Jamie. What’s up?”

  “It’s a disaster, a total and complete disaster! The place was ransacked, with flour dumped everywhere! My baking sheets are ruined! The display case was shattered! I don’t know what to do! I called the police. They came and wrote a report. They said no businesses in the area had been vandalized except ours. I guess I just need a shoulder to cry on. I really don’t know what to do.”

  “Oh no. Are you at the bakery?” Toots asked.

  Sobbing, Jamie answered, “Yes. I had to let my apartment go. I wanted to tell you, but it didn’t seem appropriate after all you’ve done. I’ve been camping out in the kitchen at night, scrubbing up in the ladies’ room. It’s not that bad, really. Or at least it wasn’t until this . . . this catastrophe!”

  Toots remembered thinking right after Leland died how boring her life was, that she needed some excitement. It seemed she was getting her wish and then some. “Stay there. I’m on my way. And, Jamie, don’t worry. I’m very good at fixing things.” She gave the phone back to Sophie. “I’m going to the bakery. It’s been vandalized. If you want to come along, meet me out front in ten minutes.”

  Toots raced back up the stone path as though her life depended on it. Inside, she grabbed her purse and cell phone, found Ida pouring coffee in the kitchen. “I’m going into town. The bakery’s been trashed. If you want to go, meet me out front in ten minutes.” Toots said this as she raced through the house, searching for her car keys. Finding them on the counter, next to the creepy scribbled papers from the previous night, she scooped them up and raced to her Lincoln. She looked at her watch. She’d give the girls the allotted ten minutes; then she was leaving. She slid behind the wheel, waiting, thinking again that it was a good day for Bernice to stay at home. If she got wind of the bakery incident, the whole haunted-witch-ghost theory would be rehashed again and again. Toots didn’t even want to go there.

  Mavis, Ida, and Sophie, along with Coco in her carrier, came out the front door with one minute to spare. Toots hit the automatic unlock button. Sophie rode up front, with Ida and Mavis in the backseat. Mavis placed Coco’s carrier between them.

  Toots broke the speed limit, crossing her fingers that a patrol officer wasn’t hiding in a copse of trees, as they were known to do. They all remained quiet on the ride to the bakery, each content with her own thoughts.

  Half an hour later, Toots lurched the giant vehicle in between a compact car and a Harley. She practically sprang out of the car. The girls trailed behind.

  The door was locked, and Toots tapped on the glass. She cupped her hands against the glass, trying to look inside to access the damage. What she saw made her cringe.

  Jamie hurried to unlock the door. Toots was amazed that it hadn’t been shattered. Poor Jamie looked deflated. Her perky blond hair was dull, flattened against her head. Azure eyes were shadowed. She was covered in flour. Had the situation not been so disastrous, Toots would’ve laughed. Not giving it a second thought, she wrapped her arms around Jamie, just as she would if it were Abby.

  “Thanks for coming so quickly.” Jamie raked a dusty white hand through her hair. “I’ve cleared a path, but be careful. There’s broken glass everywhere.”

  Toots assessed the damage as she followed Jamie through the bakery. Hundreds of pounds of flour looked like volcanic ash. Cookie sheets were crunched in half; giant wooden spoons, which Toots knew were used for making pralines, were shattered like Pick-Up Sticks. The large display case was completely destroyed.

  �
��This is the worst.” Jamie pointed to a giant mixer in the corner of the kitchen. “This is the best money can buy. I paid twelve thousand dollars for this piece of machinery. How an eight-quart commercial mixer with a high-torque direct-drive transmission, steel gears and shafts could be so easily destroyed is beyond me. Whoever did this must’ve had an ax or something.” Jamie shook her head as she showed Toots what was left of a Vollrath commercial mixer. Though she didn’t know that much about commercial kitchen products, Toots knew quality when she saw it, and this fit the bill.

  “There’s more,” Jamie said. “Here.” She stopped in front of two giant ovens. Each held at least a dozen baking sheets. “This is another major expense. The two of them cost more than I’ll earn in the next two years.”

  Tears brimmed in the young woman’s eyes, streaking down her face and leaving silvery ribbons from the light dusting of flour still on her face. Jamie blew her nose on an apron, tossed her hands in the air. “We’re totally ruined. Totally ruined.” Jamie plopped down on a wooden chair and bawled like a two-year-old.

  Toots stooped down to Jamie’s eye level. She brushed a strand of sticky blond hair from her cheek. “Jamie, I’ve always said things can be replaced, but people can’t. This is fixable, trust me. I’m very good at fixing things, and people, too, sometimes.” Toots looked to Sophie, Ida, and Mavis, who remained in the front of the bakery, out of harm’s way.

  “She is. She’s helped every one of us. This will be a breeze for our dear Toots,” Mavis added. “And we’re going to do whatever we can to help, too. Right, girls?”

  “You’re damn straight,” Sophie said, sounding more like the old crude Sophie they all knew and loved.

  “I’ll do whatever I can to help, too,” Ida chimed in, though she didn’t sound as if her heart was in it, but she had other things to worry about. Like a dead husband who might’ve met his maker too soon.

  “Now dry up your tears. We’re in this together. Remember, I’m your partner, too. First, I want to know how you managed to sleep through this if you’ve been living here,” Toots said, not out of nosiness, but out of curiosity.

  “I spent the night at the YMCA. I’m so ashamed, but I needed a real shower, and they’re free. I guess I should be thankful, but if I’d been here, maybe I would’ve been able to stop whoever did this.” Jamie started crying again. “Now not only am I out of business, but I’m gonna have to find a place to stay while I take care of this mess.”

  “What about your insurance?” Ida asked.

  “It will cover some of the damage but not enough to make a difference, certainly not enough to get the place back in operating condition. I can get my old job back at Publix. Thank God I left on good terms.”

  Toots was thinking. She needed a plan. She’d helped Mavis out of her dilemma, and so far she remained free. She hadn’t heard anything on the news and hoped that this Mr. Jay C. King would accept the ten grand she’d left behind and forget about it. That material Mavis used was a bit on the ugly side as it was. Toots felt sure there wasn’t a massive demand right now but knew that there would be soon because Mavis’s Good Mourning line was on its way. She felt it in her bones.

  Okay, she had a plan. “Did you get a copy of the police report? We’ll need that to file the insurance claim.”

  What she didn’t voice was that she was glad she hadn’t been here when the police arrived. Who knew? She could be on their local most wanted list. She made a mental note for her shit-to-do list. Call Henry at the bank. If anyone would know if an arrest were imminent in the warehouse break-in, he would. He might also be suspicious if she was too inquisitive. She’d play that by ear. Later.

  “Yes, I have it here, somewhere.” Jamie shuffled through a stack of papers on one of the large stainless-steel tables that had survived the destruction. “Here it is.” Jamie gave Toots the report.

  Toots scanned the report, saw the list of damaged items. Then where it said, “Remarks,” Toots saw where the responding officer wrote, No signs of forced entry. She looked at Jamie. “Did you read this? It says there are no signs of a forced entry. How can they possibly think that?”

  Jamie motioned her over to the front and only door. “See. The lock is intact, and there are no markings. The police think whoever did this had a key. Besides you, no one else has a key. I can’t see you breaking into a bakery,” Jamie said, a little bit of her spunkiness returning.

  If she only knew, Toots thought.

  “Unless I destroyed this myself, it looks like the police are writing this one off. I doubt they’ll spend more than an hour investigating. This is a tourist area. You would think that would be some kind of incentive, but apparently they don’t consider a bakery break-in top priority.”

  “I agree. Now I have a plan. Let’s go down to that little coffee shop around the corner, The Daily Grind. They have the best cappuccino in town. We can walk. I need to smoke.”

  “Me too,” Sophie added.

  Jamie laughed a real, genuine laugh. “You all smoke? OMG, this is hysterical. Let me grab my backpack.” Jamie ran to the kitchen, where she retrieved a lavender JanSport backpack stuffed so full, the zippers looked as though they were about to pop. She grabbed a ring of keys from the outside pocket. “Let me lock up. I don’t know if it will do any good, but old habits are hard to break,” Jamie said.

  The five women walked slowly down the street. Carriages full of tourists being led by a team of horses clip-clopped down the street. Tour guides with groups of people wearing bright-colored shirts, cameras hanging around their necks, milled about the many historical landmarks. The occasional cry from an infant reminded all that not everyone wanted to spend the afternoon discussing history.

  The Daily Grind was buzzing with customers. “Sophie, find us a table outside, and I’ll get the drinks. Jamie, what are you having?” Toots asked.

  “I’ll have a green tea frappuccino, light soy, two Splenda, no whip.”

  Toots laughed. “I see you’ve been here before.”

  “Yes. Late nights, when we were getting the bakery ready, I ran over for a few double shots of espresso.”

  Toots placed their order. The barista gave her a metal sign with the number thirteen, telling her to place it on her table and they would bring their drinks when they were finished. She did not like that number. “Miss, may I have another number? I haven’t had much luck with thirteen.”

  The barista laughed and replaced it with a nice, safe number seven.

  “Thank you.”

  Sophie, Ida, and Mavis were seated at a round iron table. A red-and-white-striped umbrella shaded them from the sun. Coco sat in Mavis’s lap, taking in all the different sounds and smells.

  Once their drinks were served, Toots leaned in close so the other patrons wouldn’t hear her.

  “Okay, here’s the plan.”

  Chapter 22

  “First and foremost, you will not be staying at the YMCA. I have a perfectly nice guesthouse that’s sitting empty right now. You can stay there as long as you wish. It’s fully stocked with all the essentials. You can shower whenever you like. There’s even a Jacuzzi tub if you’re one of those soakers. I am myself. There’s nothing I like more than a good soak with a stack of tabloids and a nice bottle of wine.”

  Jamie shook her head. “I can’t accept your offer, Toots. You’ve already done more than anyone ever has. It’ll take me years to repay you.”

  “You better take her up on her offer. She can be ruthless when she wants to be,” Sophie informed her.

  Jamie just laughed.

  “Second, I’ll have Pete make arrangements to have the bakery cleaned. Jamie, order all the new equipment you need and send me the bills. We’ll work the financial details out later. Also, we’ll want to install a top-notch security system, one that’s monitored. I’m going to buy a full-page ad in the paper. Sort of like a new grand opening or something. We’ll do a buy-one-get-one-free sale. Jamie, how good are your cupcakes?”

  “I’ve been told they beat
those at Magnolia Bakery in New York City.”

  “I’ve sampled those myself. They’re dry,” Ida said. “I never saw what all the fuss was about. It was that show Sex and the City that brought them so much fame, not the quality of the cupcakes.”

  “That’s good to know. Then we’ll use that in our ad, in a subliminal way, of course. Jamie, how quickly can you order and replace the ovens and that giant mixer?”

  “I can’t let you do this! You hardly know me!”

  “I always go with my gut instinct, and I’m rarely wrong,” Toots said. “And my gut instinct is telling me that you’re good people. You need a break, and I intend to give it to you. I have a daughter your age. She lives in LA, runs The Informer.”

  “The gossip paper? OMG, I love that paper! I buy it every week.” Jamie was ecstatic.

  “Me too.” Toots almost told her she was the owner, but that wouldn’t be fair to Abby, since she still assumed she was working for a big corporation, LAT Enterprise.

  “It would be wonderful to have a youngster in the house,” Mavis said.

  Sophie and Toots both rolled their eyes.

  “I’m thirty-one. I don’t know if that qualifies as a youngster,” Jamie said.

  They finished their drinks, and Toots went inside to order a second round. At this rate, with this much caffeine, they’d be up for the next three days.

  When she returned, Toots asked, “Did I give you enough time to accept my offer?”

  Jamie grinned, showing a movie-star smile. “Okay, I accept, but I want to draw up some sort of agreement where it says you’ll take your investment back before I’m allowed to take any of the profits.”

  “You’ll want to pay yourself a salary. You can’t live on sugar alone,” Toots said.

  Ida, Mavis, and Sophie all turned to stare at Toots. Then they burst out laughing.

  “Toots lives on sugar and nicotine. Talk about a true case of the pot calling the kettle black. Toots lives on Froot Loops, coffee, and nicotine,” Ida informed Jamie. “She hates healthy food. Mavis lost more than one hundred pounds in a year.”