by C. J. Anaya
“Of course, and brilliant idea. Why didn’t I think of that? Anyway, the trail of blood, murder, and mayhem continues,” she intoned dramatically.
“Are you saying there are more husbands involved?”
“Just one more. Sasha Putin, an internet marketing guru she met while on vacation in Europe. Net worth was in the millions, not quite the big fish she usually targets, but desperate times call for settling for millions, I guess. Married him within a few months of meeting him, and this time when he passed away—after an unexpected stroke at the ripe old age of thirty-five—she inherited quite the fortune and spent several months in Europe spending it.”
“She must have gotten wise with the will there.”
“Either that or she simply found a way to forge a new one. He did have extended family, after all, but everything went to her. Currently, her funds are nearly non-existent. You’d think with all the money she finagled she would have wised up and invested it. She could have lived off the interest alone quite comfortably, but why should investments and banking cross the mind of a seriously deranged serial killer?”
“Probably not as riveting as marriage and murder. Did she change her name with that last marriage?”
“Nope. Stayed the same. She wasn’t even under investigation since the coroner claimed the stroke stemmed from natural causes, whatever the heck that means.”
“It means she found an untraceable toxin to kill him with. I doubt anyone had a reason to test for toxins in his system.”
“She’s really refined her whole process. To be honest, I’m both frightened and morbidly fascinated by this woman. Of course, now she’s living on credit and targeting her next victim.”
“Brody,” Midge said on a strangled puff of air.
“Brody, and anyone else who gets in her way. Crap, Midge, I didn’t even take into account his interest in you. You have several kisses with him plastered on national television—nice cameo at the hospital and the interview by the way. Fabulous acting on your part—and it’s obvious he wants you since he refused to eliminate you when he knew he was supposed to.”
“Yeah, I think Felicia’s already started working on getting me out of the picture. Between my injured hand, my small stint in a locked supply closet, the snake bite, and the spider, I think it’s safe to say she’s working on attaining husband number four and dusting the competition in the process.”
“Wait, I missed out on the snake and the spider. What the heck has been happening over there?”
Midge quickly summarized the events surrounding Felicia’s last few attempts at threatening her.
“You have to tell someone, Midge. You have to tell Brody. You’re both targets now, and there’s no way this can end well for either one of you.”
“I agree that I need to be careful, but so does Felicia. She’s on national television. Her movements are in the public eye right now, and she can’t afford to get caught bumping off the competition. I have a feeling she’s been working with someone here on the show. Is there any chance you can start investigating the backgrounds of the cast and crew? I just don’t think Felicia would risk pulling any of this off on her own.”
“Email me a list of names, and I’ll get on it right away.”
Midge considered her options and then she wondered if they might not turn the tables on Felicia. “She can’t afford to have her previous marriages and the circumstances surrounding everyone’s deaths come to light either. Any chance you can get all of this research leaked to the tabloids?”
“Consider who you’re talking to. I’m all over it. I’ll give them so much smut and conjecture these tabloids won’t know what to do with themselves.”
“Perfect. That might just keep Felicia at bay while I try to figure out how to keep Brody safe.”
“From what I can tell, he’s safe until he actually marries the wench.”
“Yeah, but he has no intention of marrying her, and who’s to say that someone as deluded and crazy as Felicia won’t retaliate in a very lethal way if she decides she can’t win him over? She’s already struck at his company. She’ll go for the jugular next time.”
“You could just leave…with Brody. You’re kidding yourself if you think there’s nothing there between you two.”
“I’ll admit that recent events have convinced me that Brody isn’t playing around with my feelings, but I intend to proceed with caution.”
“Proceed with—seriously, Midge? Who talks that way about the process of dating? Date the guy and enjoy yourself. You analyze things way too much.”
“Just work on wrecking Felicia’s image and see if you can get anything concrete to pin her with. Maybe we can land this heinous woman in jail where she can’t hurt anyone else.”
“Can do. Stay safe and be sure to tell Brody about what we’ve discovered. He needs to know how to protect you.”
Midge hung up the phone and shook her head.
Advising Brody of the danger they were both in would cause him to go on a rampage. He was a good man and wouldn’t sanction death threats of any kind by anyone in the group. But if they tipped their hand and Felicia got wind of it she might bolt before Lisa was able to find solid evidence that pinned Felicia to any of the murders.
And Midge had no intention of allowing Felicia to continue to endanger anyone else ever again.
Midge stared in awe at the magnificence of Sababurg Castle, the original Sleeping Beauty Castle from the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. The castle had fallen into ruin many years previously, but parts of it had been restored into a romantic hotel with a restaurant, café, and theater. Rising up from a cluster of trees in the middle of the Reinhardswald Forest, the two massive towers and broad turrets made Midge feel as if she’d landed in the very heart of fairy tale land.
“Apparently, this is the very castle the Brothers Grimm frequented and modeled their story of Sleeping Beauty after. At least, that’s what many locals believe.” Brody’s lips were right next to her ear as the limousine drew closer to the impressive structure.
Midge shivered a little at the proximity of his lips near her ear.
“This castle is absolutely stunning, but it doesn’t look a thing like the castle from the Disney movie.”
Brody smiled.
“Disney is prone to take liberties when it comes to their versions of fairy tales, and I’ll never complain about that since I secretly watched every single one of those movies with my mom on the weekends as a teenager.”
Midge let out a delighted laugh.
“You spent the weekends with your mother watching Disney movies?”
Brody looked around the limo, feigning wariness at possible eavesdroppers even though the cameraman was sitting opposite them, recording every gesture they made and every word they spoke.
“If you ever accuse me of such unmanly things in public, I will fervently deny it and immediately turn the conversation to football stats and extreme sports.”
Midge shook her head, unable to picture this manly billionaire in raptures over Disney fairy tales.
“Disney’s Sleeping Beauty Castle was inspired by the Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria,” he continued.
“How do you even know these random factoids?”
“My business is romance, Madelyn. It pays to know my fairy tales.” He reached for her hand and helped her out of the limo. “Plus, I really like to read.”
“Good to know, Brody Prescott.”
Looking at the castle from a distance was one thing, but it was even more fascinatingly beautiful to stand right in front of it and take in the various colored stones of the castle turrets and the trellised vines covered with pink roses, snaking their way all along the walls’ surfaces. There were roses simply everywhere. It was the most vibrantly colorful display she’d ever seen.
Upon entering the lobby, the fairy tale feeling lessened only slightly as the more modern feel to the area set in. With only seventeen rooms in the entire hotel, Midge wondered how all of the contestants and the crew were going
to manage to stay there. She imagined she would have to bunk with one or more of the contestants.
The rooms were all nestled in one of the larger towers with a spiral staircase leading up to the very top where even larger more elaborate rooms were on display. Midge was surprised when Brody led her up the staircase and handed her the key to one of the biggest rooms available. She caught her breath as she opened the door.
“This room is sick,” Cambria whispered, behind her.
“Does that mean you’re bunking with me?” Midge asked.
Brody grunted as if he weren’t at all pleased with the sleeping arrangements, but what exactly did he expect? That her father would willingly put them together as if they were already on their honeymoon? Not likely.
“I’m in the room to the left. You girls take a few minutes to get settled and then head back down to the lobby for more instructions.”
Midge nodded as she continued to study the decor of the room. The large four-poster bed and its elegant bedding matched the light creamy peach coloring of the carpet and draperies on the windows. A rounded table with detailed floral etchings on the legs of the table and chairs sat in one corner while on the other side a bathroom with a jacuzzi held an inviting rose scent. There was beautiful artwork depicting the local countryside adorning the walls.
“I’m so stinking jealous of you two,” said Charlene as she joined them in their room and spun around to get a three-sixty experience of the decor. “I’m stuck in a room with Felicia Davenport of all people. How the hell did I get the short end of that treacherous stick? Don’t be surprised if you find a third bunk mate in your bed tomorrow morning.”
“My sincere sympathies,” Midge said.
“Can you believe this place? I already feel like a princess and I’ve been here less than ten minutes. It makes me want to grab a handsome looking stranger and begin waltzing with him.”
Midge chuckled as Cambria spun around the room in the arms of her invisible Prince Phillip while singing, “I know you I’ve walked with you once upon a dream…”
“Better keep an eye on that one,” Charlene said. “Cambria’s all about taking little souvenirs to commemorate each step of our journey.”
“Yes, I’m sure the proprietors of the hotel wouldn’t be too thrilled to find that the table, chairs, and four-poster bed are missing once we vacate the premises.”
“You’ve got me all wrong,” Cambria said as she continued to twirl upon the creamy carpet. “I’d pillage the doilies and artwork first.”
Les, Brody, her father, and the crew were already waiting for them as they entered the lobby. Midge dared a glance in Brody’s direction and couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corners of her lips as he mouthed the words I miss you before having his attention diverted by a question from Les.
Once the entire cast had gathered in the lobby, members of the crew began handing them large envelopes with their names printed on the front.
“Ladies, Brody has something wonderful planned for this evening’s entertainment, another group date challenge that I think you’ll all find extremely exciting.”
Brody stepped forward as all attention moved to him.
“Thank you, Les. My company offers a sister site that provides fun dating ideas and helpful feedback to make the dating process a little less daunting. I’ve used these ideas from this site to host several group dating functions for many of my clients, friends, and family members. Something I’ve found to be a regular hit is a murder mystery party.”
“Awesome. I’ve only been to one of those things, but it was so much fun,” Charlene said, adding her usually excited bounce at the end.
“For this event, we’re using a fairy tale theme entitled, A Happily Never After Murder Mystery. Your character assignment and a list of characters are in the envelope given to you. We expect you to study your personal role and arrive tonight, at the desired location and time, completely in character and wearing your appropriate costume. The stakes for this are high ladies because at the end of tonight’s party the winner will have won a date with me, and three girls will be going home before the next diamond ceremony tomorrow night.”
There was a collective gasp throughout the room at the revelation of this extra elimination round.
Midge didn’t allow the anxiousness that everyone else adopted to permeate her psyche. For once, she didn’t wish to be eliminated, but more importantly she was putting her faith and trust in this truce she and Brody had established.
“We’ll see you ladies tonight,” Brody said.
Midge caught Brody’s eye one last time before departing for her room. The tingles his smile gave her should have been illegal.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Arial Font? That’s my character’s name?” Midge said when she opened her envelope.
Cambria leaned over to read Midge’s character description printed next to a photo of her.
“Oh, that’s clever,” she said with a bounce. “They’ve made a nod to your profession as an author and you’re playing the role of Ariel from The Little Mermaid! Oh, look! Les gets to play Hans Christian Philanderson. Hilarious!”
Cambria grabbed her own envelope and sat down to read over all of the different characters.
“Who do you get to be?” Midge asked as she scrolled her eyes down the list of faces and names.
“Rap-Pun-Zel. Apparently, I spend my days locked in a tower thinking up lame puns to rap about. How incredibly stupid. I love it.”
Midge grinned and continued down the list of names and character assignments.
“Looks like Felicia got handed the role of the See Which. Is she blind as a bat or something?”
“Talk about type casting,” Cambria mumbled as she pulled out more materials. “That narcissist can’t see anyone else but herself. Charlene is Snow Fright. According to this, her character is afraid of huntsmen, forests, old women, and red apples. Can’t say that I blame her. Apples freak me out.”
Midge eyed her askance. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just utter that last comment. I really don’t want to know what caused you to develop such a strange phobia.”
“Fair enough.”
A loud knock at their door interrupted their perusal as Charlene breezily sailed her way through their door wearing the most awesome Snow White ensemble ever created.
“What do you think, ladies? Too cliché?” Charlene spun around and then struck a cheesy pose.
“OMGoodness, I want your costume. Where did you get it?” Cambria said.
“They’ve got everyone’s costumes down the tower on the bottom floor. You guys come with me and I’ll show you where to go.”
“Go ahead without me. I’m going to study this and then I’ll come down and find you in a few minutes,” Midge said.
She sat down on the bed and allowed herself to relax a little once Charlene and Cambria left. Sometimes Charlene’s energy was a little overwhelming, and there was simply no way to tone the bouncing down.
She pulled out the invitation to the party and read it to herself.
“Come one, come all, ye fairest in the lands. Prince Alarming, the last bachelor to be found in all of the fairytale kingdoms is throwing a ball in hopes of uncovering his one true love and living happily ever after. Who will the lucky girl be?”
Midge studied the beautiful pink roses adorning the corners of the invitation. A gorgeous picture of the Sababurg Castle surrounded by lush, green forests remained fixed at the top center between the roses. The rest of the invitation was written in flowing gold script.
“Fancy,” she said and then picked up her suspect list. “Arial Font spends her days pining for love and fulfillment just below the surface as she buries herself deep within the pages of human love stories, only coming up for air when it’s time for a new book. Though she’s comfortable on land, she feels like a fish out of water when faced with any type of dancing. Two left feet you see, courtesy of the See Which who is also vying for Prince Alarming’s attentions. H
ans Christian Philanderson and the Brothers Dimm have threatened possible changes in regards to everyone’s fairy tale endings, and it is absolutely imperative that Arial seek out her own happy ending with Prince Alarming before Hans and the Brothers have the chance to ruin her story.”
Midge snorted at the silliness of the premise, and then realized that this tongue-in-cheek theme fit in well with other murder mystery parties she’d attended. She might as well throw herself into the character and simply enjoy the party.
She reached for more materials within the large envelope and accidentally bumped Cambria’s purse off the end of the bed. Sighing, she knelt on the floor and began returning the spilled items to Cambria’s flashy gold bag. Her hand froze as she noticed a small square box that looked nearly identical to the one she’d received in Brazil.
It was ludicrous to think that the box had anything to do with Felicia or the recent harassment, but her trembling hands betrayed her.
With shaky fingers she lifted the box and let out a short puff of air as she found it completely empty. Shaking her head at herself she went to place the lid back on the box only to discover red markings on the inside of it.
This is your last warning before things get hairy.
Midge stared unseeing as the red words blurred together, causing her to blink back tears she hadn’t realized she’d been shedding. She knew Felicia had a partner on the side, executing her directives to avoid suspicion for herself while simultaneously giving her plausible deniability, but never in a millions years would she have suspected someone as sweet and kind as Cambria to have fallen in with someone like Felicia. Was Cambria planning to fill this box with something even nastier than the Wandering Spider and leave it for her to find?
Or was it possible that Midge hadn’t been the only one targeted by Felicia? Cambria, from what Midge had observed, had hit it off with Brody on their date, and they seemed to get along with one another fairly well, though she’d never noticed anything more than a friendly interest from Brody where Cambria was concerned. Was it possible Felicia hadn’t seen it that way and sent something awful to Cambria? If that were the case, then why was the box empty?