Murder in the Mix Boxed Set 8

by Addison Moore

  “That sounds perfect. I’ll get us all another slice of cake.”

  We split up, and I head off to the dessert tent just as the first firework of the night detonates over the sky. I look up to see a colossal display of fiery glory, a giant white flower with red stars shooting out from the top while “America the Beautiful” blares from the speakers set up at the base of the lake.

  A sharp scream erupts from my left, and I glance that way just as Bizzy runs up.

  “Did you hear that?” she pants out the words while squinting into the darkness.

  Another scream erupts, and we dash in that direction, only to find Georgie Conner howling at the sky with her hands covered in dark sanguine liquid.

  “Georgie?” Bizzy takes a staggering step forward. “What’s the mat—”

  Before she can finish her sentence, we both spot exactly what’s the matter at once.

  Sprawled on the lawn lies a motionless redheaded woman with a long-handled knife plunged into her back, and a slice of flag cake sits next to her hand.

  Ambrosia Whispers won’t have to worry about writing another bestseller.

  Ambrosia Whispers is dead.

  Chapter 3

  In seconds, this stretch of grass, just yards from Honey Lake, where Bizzy and I are standing, is engulfed with sheriff’s deputies, and the grand finale in the sky hasn’t yet begun.

  It turns out, Noah, Everett, and Jasper were on our tails, and Noah called for backup as soon as he spotted the knife.

  Carlotta runs a water bottle over Georgie’s hands while the poor woman continues to wail away.

  “She’s dead!” Georgie thunders. “She’s really dead!”

  Sherlock Bones bounces around in a panic as if he were trying to calm the poor woman himself. Bizzy’s cat, Fish, is at my place with my sweet cats, Pancake and Waffles. For a second, I thought of bringing them along this afternoon, but now that I’m apprised of the murderous turn of events, I’m relieved the cats are home safe, spared of all the gore.

  Evie volunteered to watch over both Sherlock and Toby, Noah’s golden retriever, and they’ve been having a grand time today chasing beach balls up and down the sand.

  Bizzy swipes the bottle from Carlotta’s hand. “We could be washing away evidence!”

  “I don’t care!” Georgie howls as she wipes her hands down on her kaftan. “I can’t have a dead woman’s blood on me!” In one swift moment, she whips off her dress and she’s standing in front of us in a gray bra and day-glow white parachute panties.

  Carlotta balls up the dress and tosses it aside. “Don’t you worry, sister. I won’t let you stand alone!” She whips off her matching kaftan and tosses it aside as well, and now we’ve got another pair of parachute panties glowing in the dark. And I’ll be honest, in this murky light, I can’t decipher whether or not Carlotta has on a bra at all. I’m not going to scrutinize the situation either.

  Jasper comes over. “Georgie, they need a statement from you.”

  “I didn’t see anything!” she howls. “I tried to get the knife out. I’m innocent, I tell you. I can’t go up the river for murder one. Don’t let them take me, Carlotta!”

  Carlotta links arms with her. “Don’t worry, Gray.” Carlotta employs the cheeky nickname she’s given her old buddy. “I’ve got an in with both the homicide detective and the judge. If either of the them gives you grief, I’ll threaten to have my Lot Lot cut them off where it hurts—in the bedroom.”

  Georgie gasps. “Wait a minute. Didn’t she just give the homicide detective the old heave-ho?”

  Carlotta turns and glowers at me. “Way to go, kid. Now my bestie is going to roast.”

  The three of them take off just as my sisters crop up.

  “Bizzy,” I say. “I know it’s not an ideal time, but I’d love for you to meet my sisters. This is Lainey,” I say, pointing to my look-alike with her caramel curls and hazel eyes as she holds her enormous belly. “She’s due next month, along with Keelie. Lainey is older than me by a year. And since we look so much alike, I always surmised my parents were wrong about my adoption.”

  Meg rolls her eyes. “And I’m Meg, a year younger and cooler. I used to be a female wrestler back in Vegas, but I came home to teach the strippers their night moves.” She looks my way. “So who’d you kill this time, Lot?”

  “I didn’t kill anyone.”

  Lainey wrinkles her nose as Georgie continues to howl out her innocence. “Who’d the old hippie kill?”

  Bizzy shakes her head. “Trust me, Georgie wouldn’t hurt a fly. She said she just came upon the body. She’s a bit frazzled at the moment. I’m hoping once she’s settled, she’ll remember something.”

  Lainey moans while gripping her belly.

  “What’s the matter?” I squawk. “Oh God, it’s the baby, isn’t it? You’re about to give birth, aren’t you?”

  “What? No.” She bats me away. “I’m just sad that my sweet child is about to enter a world where killers run amok. It’s terrifying to think about. Just last week, I was worried about the teacher shortage in our local school district, and now I have to worry about a killer running loose in Honey Hollow. This mother thing is no joke.”

  Meg grunts, “I’d better get you home. I’ll stay the night with you since Forest has to work.”

  I turn to Bizzy as they take off. “Forest is Lainey’s husband. In fact, he’s one of the firefighters helping out.”

  I look over at the grisly scene with Ambrosia Whispers lying on the ground with the knife still plunged deep in her back. A coroner’s van pulls up to the lawn and the firefighters are doing their best to cordon off a large area. But a crowd has amassed and people are actually snapping pictures of the poor woman.

  Noah stalks over. “Lottie, Bizzy, did the two of you see anything suspicious at all?”

  “No,” I say. “I didn’t.”

  Bizzy shakes her head. “I just heard Georgie screaming, and then we found her with blood on her hands. I guess she was trying to help the poor woman. If the knife had any prints, I’m sure they’re gone. Georgie mentioned she was trying to pull it out.”

  Noah’s chest expands as he takes a look around. “Keep an eye out for anything suspicious. If you learn anything new, call me.”

  He takes off just as the man in a fedora lumbers his way over with a determined look on his face. He looks pale, curly dark hair peering out from under his hat.

  “Is it true?” He glares past us and a tiny smile curls on his lips. “I guess it’s curtains for Red.” He turns to leave and Bizzy and I exchange a quick look.

  “Excuse me,” I say, catching up to him. “Did you know the deceased?”

  “You could say that.” He takes off into the crowd just as Bizzy meets up with me.

  “Lottie, I read his thoughts. He said that witch had it coming.”

  “What?”

  “He also said something about getting her off his paperwork would be a bear.”

  “Paperwork?”

  Jessie Lane runs up. “Oh my God.” She covers her mouth with horror, her eyes locked over the body. “Oh, I can’t believe this.”

  “I’m sorry,” I say. “I’m sure you were good friends.”

  “I don’t know how friendly we were. Ambrosia wasn’t about making friends. She was about turning a dollar.” She shudders. “Anyway, I have access to all her social media. I should probably contact her family and then put out a message to her readers. She has a legion of fans.”

  The sound of a woman wailing in the distance picks up, and soon it sounds like a choir of howls and screams as word gets out.

  “Jessie, if you need any help, please let me know. My mother is the one that owns the inn, and I run the bakery in town if you need to reach us.”

  Bizzy nods. “And you know those closest to her. I’m sure you’ll be vital to the investigation.”

  A woman with dark hair and blue highlights catches my eye as she makes her way silently to the edge of the caution tape blocking off the area.


  “Hey, who’s that?” I nod to the woman in question and Jessie turns to look.

  “That’s Tallulah Velvet. Why?”

  “Oh”—I shake my head—“I just saw her having a heated conversation with Ambrosia earlier today. I guess I’ll have to let the homicide detective know.”

  Jessie’s shoulders sag with relief. “That’s right. Tallulah and Ambrosia were having it out. I tried to stop it. I guess things escalated.” She bites down over her lip. “I knew she had it out for her. But to kill her?”

  Someone calls Jessie from behind.

  “I’ll be back. I’m afraid this is going to be an all-nighter for me,” she says as she takes off.

  “Come on,” Bizzy says, leading straight over to the woman with blue hair without hesitation. “I think we should get right to work.”

  “I like how you think,” I whisper.

  The woman with the blue hair turns to leave, and I block her path.

  “I’m sorry.” She waves us off. “I’m not doing any autographs right now. A dear friend has been murdered.” Her lips curl at the tips.

  “Oh no.” I shake my head. “We weren’t looking for autographs. We’re so sorry for your loss. What was your name again?”

  She blinks back, looking insulted that I even had to ask.

  “Tallulah Velvet. I was one of the authors at the signing earlier today. Ambrosia and I have known each other for years.”

  Bizzy takes a breath. “I heard she wasn’t well liked.”

  Tallulah glances to the sky. “Let’s just say Ambrosia had a dark side. But then, don’t we all?” She glances back to the body as the knife gleams under the moonlight. “I have to go.”

  She sinks into the crowd just as the grand finale erupts overhead in a blinding display of lightning quick detonations. One thunderous explosion after the next goes off, so loud and deafening the ground under our feet trembles. It feels as if a war is going on all around us. And with the body lying just a few feet away, it’s proof there have already been casualties.

  Once the fireworks die down, the murmur of the crowd takes over.

  Bizzy leans in. “Lottie, when you gave your condolences to that woman, Tallulah Velvet didn’t reference Ambrosia as a dear friend in her mind. She called her a backstabbing witch. And then finished it off with she got what she deserved.”

  My mouth falls open. “Did you hear anything else?”

  She gives a quick look around. “Jessie said something about damage control. But I think it was business-related.” Her shoulders jump as she looks at something behind me. “Hey, there’s another author we met earlier today.”

  I turn to find Jackie Hart with her heavily teased hair and pink highlights as she stares hard over at Ambrosia’s lifeless body.

  “Any bead on her thoughts?” I keep my voice low, mostly because I don’t want to interrupt the process.

  Bizzy winces over at the woman. “She said—to the backstabber a backstabbing.”

  We watch as Jackie tosses back her hair before diving into the crowd.

  “That was ominous,” I shudder.

  “Somewhere in there is a springboard as to where to begin our investigation.”

  A bright pink aura appears near our feet and I look down to find a spray of stars swirling around the hair of a pot-bellied pig standing at least two feet off the ground.

  “I think another springboard just popped on up and her name is Bingo.”

  The cute piglet oinks our way and I quickly take up Bizzy’s hand. Not long ago, I discovered quite by accident that I act as a conduit for others to hear the dead. Not in a creepy, clairvoyant way, just in your run-of-the-mill old-fashioned telephone game for the dead sort of way.

  “Where’s my little Valerie?” The ghostly piglet sounds prim and proper with a hint of a British accent. “Has she gone to the other side? Has the killer been apprehended?”

  “I’m guessing Valerie is Ambrosia Whispers’ given name,” I say as I bend over and give the surly specter a quick scratch on the head. “I’m Lottie and this is Bizzy. Don’t you worry. With your help, the killer doesn’t stand a chance. Go out and try to listen in on whatever conversations you’re able to listen in on. We’ll do what we can on our end.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I expect answers quickly. I haven’t missed a Sunday buffet in the heavenlies since I crossed over to the great pigpen in the sky. And if that killer thinks I’m missing out on some good eats, they’ve got another thing coming.” She zips off in a blaze of hot pink glory and I straighten to look at Bizzy.

  “Something tells me this will be buttoned up before too long. Everyone knows you don’t get between a girl and her buffet.”

  Bizzy and I glance back at Georgie as she sobs her way through an account of what happened while both Noah and Jasper attempt to comfort her.

  “Let’s hope you’re right, Lottie.” Bizzy sighs. “With Georgie on the suspect list, things just got personal.”

  Chapter 4

  The Cutie Pie Bakery and Cakery sits in the heart of Main Street and has every sweet treat you can think of lining its shelves—chocolate croissants, raspberry hand pies, Bavarian cream-filled éclairs, fresh fried glazed crullers, napoleons, fudge brownies, S’mores brownies, cupcakes in just about every flavor with devil’s food cupcakes leading the pack as far as sales go, thumbprint, confetti, snowball, sugar, peanut butter, and chocolate chip cookies, and last, but not least, sheets and sheets of flag cakes. The walls of the bakery are painted butter yellow while the secondhand mix and match furniture is painted in every shade of pastel, and there’s a walkway conjoining us to the Honey Pot Diner next door.

  My grandma Nell once owned both places, and now both places belong to yours truly. The best part about the Honey Pot Diner just so happens to be the giant resin oak tree set in the middle of the restaurant. Its branches expand and crawl over the ceiling of the café portion of my bakery, and each one of those branches is wrapped in twinkle lights, giving off an enchanted feel.

  I came in extra early this morning and baked up fresh Danishes and croissants, enough scones and donuts to make sure all of Honey Hollow was able to have a wonderful start to this summer day. Of course, after that visit Everett paid me last night, I’m set to have a wonderful century. That man is no one-trick pony. He made sure I forgot all about the atrocity down at the lake. Heck, about an hour in, I forgot my own name.

  Bingo popped into the bakery as I was piping cupcakes this morning and she told me all about the farm she was born and raised on in Oklahoma. She also let me know that Valerie, aka Ambrosia, won a blue ribbon with her help in the 4-H section of the county fair. Bingo is a cutie with her pudgy belly, pink hair dappled with gray spots, and a flat velvet nose. I’ve let her in on the fact she’s able to gobble up just about anything she wants, and let’s just say she’s made quick work of all of the leftover flag cakes that I brought back from the festival at Honey Lake.

  Lily Swanson, a brunette cutie, works the register for me up front. Lily and I go way back. The truth is, Lily didn’t quite care for me while we were growing up. She was best friends with Keelie’s wicked twin Naomi back then, and they sort of made a sport of looking down on me for the most part. Okay, so Naomi isn’t quite wicked. But she’s not quite nice either.

  “Hey?” I look to Lily as the morning crowd begins to wane. “How are you and Naomi getting along these days?” They went from best friends to best enemies once they let a man get between them. And it just so happens that the man in question was Alex Fox, Noah’s younger brother. Alex has a knack for seeing more than one lady at a time, and he just so happened to be seeing both Lily and Naomi for a while there. Things ended badly, as expected.

  “I don’t know,” Lily grunts as she swats the counter with a dishrag. “She reached out about the baby shower and placed an order.”

  “Wait, I thought we were still debating on where to host it. Where does she want the order delivered?”

  “It’ll be at the Evergreen Manor. Naomi wants you to work yo
ur dark magic and bring something everyone will like—and lots of it. Her words, not mine.”

  “Will do,” I say. “It’s a privilege to get to bake for both my sister and hers. I can’t believe Honey Hollow is going to get two new residents next month.”

  Lily bucks with a silent laugh. “With all these deaths, it’s almost like you’re making room for them. Stop the slaughter, Lottie. I’m onto your murderous ways.”

  A couple of tourists glance in our direction and I quickly pull Lily to the side.

  “Would you keep it down?” I glance to the front of the café where Carlotta and Georgie are enjoying blueberry muffins while chatting it up with Bingo as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Of course, Carlotta has to do a lot of translating. That whole conduit thing seems to be one-off with me.

  Bizzy and Macy stride on in, looking fresh-faced and ready to tackle the second day of their already tumultuous vacation.

  “Good morning, ladies! What can I get for you? Anything and everything is on the house.”

  “Ooh.” Macy tugs at a blonde lock of hair. “I’ll take a chocolate croissant. Alex is meeting me here.” She gives a sly wink my way. “He’s giving me the grand tour of Honey Hollow today.”

  “Alex Fox?” Lily nearly spits his name out. “Be forewarned, that tour will most likely end in his bedroom.”

  Macy gives a husky laugh. “That’s exactly what I’m hoping for. Lottie, make that two chocolate-filled croissants and a large iced latte. It sounds as if I need to get my energy up.”

  Lily averts her eyes. “I’ll get right on it.”

  Macy heads off to take a seat with Carlotta and Georgie and I note that Bingo does a disappearing act. Unlike Georgie and Carlotta, Macy doesn’t know anything about Bizzy’s transmundane status, nor mine.

  Bizzy tips her head. “Just a glazed donut and a regular latte for me. Any news on who could have killed Ambrosia?”

  I shake my head. “Nope. But I did learn that Bingo once won a beauty pageant at the county fair. She makes Valerie, or Ambrosia, sound like a saint.”