by M E Harmon
Madison sighed, and turned to face me, as if she couldn’t bear to look at Gwen anymore. “A therapist, but who isn’t? But if you mean if she’s on medication or anything like that—no, unless she started since I moved out about two weeks ago.”
I glanced over her shoulder. Gwen’s fingers were almost a blur as she typed furiously on her cell. “Has she ever threatened anyone in your circle?”
“Oh, no. No. She’s always a sweetie to us.” Madison said, then tilted her head to one side. “Well, now that I think about it, there was this one time in freshman year before we all got to know Gwen. She had some type of falling out with her roommate, woke up half the quad, the R.A. had to break them apart. The other girl left school later that semester. But like I said, that was before the rest of us really got to know her.”
Madison took a step closer to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “I know this stuff sounds horrible. But Gwen is a good girl, these...” She searched for the right word. “These bouts, if you will, happen with long gaps in between. And now after talking with you, I’m not mad she sent me that ridiculous text anymore.”
At the mention of a text, my ears perked up. I couldn’t have been more riveted, but I was getting the feeling that bit of info had been tossed out like bait. What reason would Madison have to throw out a lure?
Despite my growing suspicion, I nibbled at the line. “What did she say in this text?”
“I’ll show you,” she said and flipped open the black leather purse hanging from her shoulder. She pulled out a cell with a gold case, tapped at its surface, and then held it aloft. “See, she sent it last night.”
I took the phone. And sure enough, a message had come in from an unknown caller.
A green speech bubble had been delivered at 7:03 pm the night before.
I know what you did and I’m going to tell...
Following the original message were several more blue speech bubbles sent from Madison.
Who is this?
Who is this?
Gwen is this you?
Stop playing around, Gwen. This isn’t funny!
Madison’s replies went on for a while, each one becoming more frantic. All of them went unanswered.
She held the phone up for a minute longer, an imploring look in her eyes.
“What’s going on, Madison?” I blurted letting my instincts take over.
She tucked the phone away and fiddled with the envelope under her arm. Her eyes dropped to the ground. “Nothing,” she said almost too low for me to hear. Then she straightened and said louder as if gaining confidence, “Nothing. Gwen is just having one of her bouts.”
I nodded at her purse. “How do you know that text was from Gwen?”
“There’s no one else who could’ve sent it,” she said too quickly.
“Who accused you of something?”
“What?”
“Earlier,” I said, “you mentioned you didn’t like being accused of doing something you didn’t do.”
Madison leaned back on a foot as if ready to leave this conversation. “Oh, that. Gwen thinks I cooperated with some imaginary investigator she dreamed up.”
Good heavens. What did I get myself wrapped up in?
“After everything you told me about Gwen, is it possible that someone could be investigating her?” I said, “She’s really spooked.”
“It’s all in her head. And when you talk to her, remind Gwen I moved out because I was tired of getting wrapped up in this type of craziness. I have my own problems. Look, I have to get this envelope to the house, so if there’s nothing else?”
“You work for Jenna’s father?” I pointed at the envelope.
Madison smiled. “You are observant. Yes, I’m a junior security broker. Though I don’t work with Dorrick directly. I’m in a different department. In fact my coworker just dropped this report off and asked me if I could give it to Dorrick since I’m attending the tea. Now, if you don’t have any more questions.” She turned away, feet crunching on the gravel.
Co-worker, huh? Those car windows were fogged up too much for that man to have only been someone she worked with. And besides, it had been parked two doors down. Why didn’t he just drop the envelope up at the house if the contents were important enough to deliver on a Saturday?
Again I blurted out what came to my mind. “What’s your secret, Madison?”
She stopped mid-step, tilted her head back, and laughed. The long dark hair swung from side to side. Then she whirled. “Think I have a secret? OK, I’ll bite, Miss baker-slash-detective. I’m in love with Abby’s boyfriend Jamie. He works at Dorrick’s firm too. I’ve been praying they would break up and then we could... Anyway Jenna has a thing about women who break up relationships, and she has her father wrapped around her little finger. So, it’s not crazy to think I won’t have my six-figure job if it comes out I broke up Jamie and Abby.”
She inhaled deeply and let the air out with a smile. “Whew, that felt good to get out into the open.” Then the smile dropped like a corpse with cement boots. “I have contacts in the mayor’s office. If you breathe a word of this, I’ll have the board of health shut your little bakery down.”
Madison straightened her skirt, and the smile magically reappeared. “Ali, so nice talking with you. Thanks so much for helping Jenna out. I’m sure you’ll figure this mess out. Though, if I were you, I’d make sure to give Gwen a good talking to. See you inside.” She finished with a wave of a hand. Her feet sent gravel rolling as she sauntered off.
Did that woman really just threaten me? Me? My belly twisted. My cheeks prickled. I got a flash of launching myself at her back, and my foot twitched with the thought. Instead of doing a running tackle, I gulped a huge breath of air.
“Hey Madison,” I called hoping one of her heels would catch in the driveway and send her tumbling. “Look up at the house. See those black semi-circular thingies under the eaves?”
She didn’t stop walking, but Madison’s head tilted slightly up as she scanned the Carter home.
“See how they’re dispersed in regular intervals going around the house? Those are cameras for a top-notch security system. The Carter’s spared no expense. I know this because I’ve been shopping for a security system for my little bakery, as you called it.
I know for a fact that those cameras have an exceptional, exceptional range. They can see and record for up to a mile. So since the Carter’s house sits on the top of a little hill, there’s no doubt at least one or two of those cameras captures everything on this block. Which means your little make-out session with Abby’s boyfriend was recorded and is on some hard drive somewhere.”
Madison jerked to a halt as if she’d smacked into an invisible wall. From the way her headed darted back and forth, she’d entered panic mode. I would’ve paid money to see the look on her face.
“So,” I said in a bit of a sing-song voice, milking the moment, “one little word from this baker, and those recordings could be looked at any time—,”
“—I wasn’t kidding when I said I have friends in the mayor’s office.”
“So what? So do I.” I snapped back at her. “The difference between us is that I can bake anywhere, out of my own kitchen if I need to. You’ll lose a high-paying job and be blacklisted by Anna Carter. I have less to lose. So let’s play nice going forward, shall we?”
I could almost hear the gears clicking in her head. She flicked a lock of hair over her shoulder and then gave an almost imperceptible dip of her head. “See you inside, Ali. I can’t wait to sample your cupcakes. Jenna raves about your baking skills.” She continued her sashay up to the house.
The small nod of acquiescence was enough of a white flag for me. I watched her prance away for a second, then glanced at the eaves of the house. The cameras were real, but I had no idea of their range. It’d been a plausible bluff. I turned around shaking my hands. The adrenaline rush had set my fingers to tingling, and it would take a few minutes before I felt like myself again.
Suddenl
y I had a craving for chocolate. It always calmed me down, even if the sugar did little for my hips.
As if my thoughts had conjured him, a silver car (a BMW) turned into the driveway. I hurriedly stepped onto the grass border to let it pass. This time I knew the driver. Dorrick winked as he drove by. As he did I spotted the brown paper grocery bags in the backseat.
The chocolate bars I used for the cupcakes were in one of those bags. I had put them on the list. My sugar monster flared into a huge giant thing that wouldn’t be ignored. That man had better not have forgotten my chocolate.
Madison had just reached the front door and it opened before she could grab the handle. Jenna appeared and the two women exchanged words. Madison pecked Jenna on the cheek and stepped into the shadows of the house. Dorrick, who’d parked on the driveway, busied himself pulling the groceries out of the backseat. Jenna saw me, waved, and then went to help her father.
I was about three-quarters of the way up the driveway when the buzzing began. Jenna and Dorrick stepped into the house, leaving the front door open for me. Was the sound coming from the house?
Whatever, I needed to get to that chocolate. I could already taste the cocoa sweetness on my tongue and just that thought calmed my nerves a bit.
I was a foot away from the red front door when I heard the scream. It hadn’t come from inside the house but from behind me.
I turned to see Gwen running full tilt toward the house.
Gwen! I had forgotten all about her when my chocolate craving hit.
Skinny legs pumped under her peach sheath dress. Gwen pointed at the sky as she sprinted up the driveway. “Drones, they sent drones after me!”
Sure enough, the buzzing I’d heard earlier became louder. I scanned at where she pointed and my mouth fell open. Something flew into sight. It kind of looked like a black and red spider in the sky. The thing had four legs that jutted out at the sides. Small blades rotated in ebony blurs on top of each limb. A small square hung from the belly of the small beast.
My goodness. It was a drone.
The thing approached from the direction of the street. It rose in the sky until it was fifty feet in the air. And yes, it followed Gwen’s trajectory as she darted for the house.
Gwen rushed past almost knocking me over. She fled inside. I remained by the door, gawking. The drone’s forward flight stopped the minute Gwen crossed the threshold. Now it hovered in place above me.
Oddly enough, I was more amused than afraid. And super curious. I regarded it and the drone hovered as if it was checking me out, too. The buzzing intensified, like an irritated swarm of bumblebees. Closer now, I could see bright cherry colored stripes painted across the black legs. The pattern seemed familiar but I couldn’t quite place it. The square thing hanging from the mid-section looked like an obsidian box with a cyclops eye.
Wow. A camera.
I waved. The drone’s left side dipped then straightened. If I didn’t know better, I’d think the thing had just waved back. It then rotated in place and shot away like a small jet. The whirring, buzzing sound faded slowly.
I jogged down the drive a little in an attempt to track its movements. But I was too slow and lost sight of the thing quickly.
A drone. A real drone.
I searched the skies for a while longer and strained to catch the whirring sound. Nothing. With a sigh, I grabbed my baker’s tool box from the van before heading back to the house. I had the feeling the mystery I’d been hired to solve wasn’t the only mystery afoot.
Yeah, I definitely needed some chocolate.
Gwen, Again
Dorrick met me in the foyer. He jabbed a thumb at the second floor.
“They’ve barricaded themselves in Jenna’s room, so it’s safe to go in the kitchen.”
“Thanks for the update,” I said. “I’m going to stay clear and get to baking.”
“Before Gwen ran in here like a mad woman, Jenna told me how you’re helping out. Thanks for that.” He put a large hand on my shoulder and smiled. If the lighting had been brighter in here, I suspect his teeth would’ve twinkled.
Magnus walked out of a room to our left. He waved a familiar-looking manila envelope like a flag. “Rick, c’mon. Someone from the office dropped this off. We need to go over these things before it gets too late.”
Dorrick gave my shoulder a squeeze before letting go. “Duty calls. All the groceries are in the kitchen. Have fun. I look forward to tasting all of your goodies.”
I flashed a grin but rolled my eyes the second they both turned away. Tasting all of my goodies? Did he think that was the slightest bit charming? But Dorrick was a very attractive man. I bet women swooned at the cheesy one-liners. His cologne lingered in the room, and my mind involuntarily conjured images of steamy nights on a Caribbean beach. Something about him was ambivalently irresistible. It was sort of like sweet and sour candy. The bitter outside hid a cache of yummy sweetness that made the sourness endurable.
I wasn’t sure if there was anything sweet under Dorrick’s outer layer. His good looks made it seem like there could be a yummy payoff if you accepted his advances. I doubted it, but I could understand the temptation. I’m sure lots of women (heck, maybe some men, too) swooned aplenty. Anna Carter likely had to endure a boatload of shenanigans over the years. It may not have been any easier for Jenna. She would’ve had a ringside seat for her parents’ marital woes. No wonder they were stalwarts for fidelity.
My aunt had mentioned Dorrick’s hedge fund as highly coveted and by invitation only. Supposedly people begged to be part of the exclusive investment company. Aunt Beatrice never invested with him, and bragged about being intelligent enough to thwart the Dorrick Carter charm.
Could the poison text that had been sent to all of the bridesmaids just be a mean prank by someone wanting to get back at Dorrick through his daughter? Maybe someone who didn’t get into his exclusive club? Or perhaps someone who did get in and didn’t like the returns?
Pondering the possibilities, I headed for the kitchen. Thankfully it was empty. Empty and quiet. Brown paper bags sat on the counter waiting for me. Chocolate, here I come.
I don’t remember tearing the bags apart, finding the candy, or ripping the wrapping paper off. Oh, sweet sugar rush. When I came back to my senses, I leaned over the counter with two squares of candy in my mouth and bits of silver cellophane scattered over the island.
Embarrassed, I scanned the room. It was just me and the appliances. Good. What can I say? I’m a stress eater.
Emotional cravings satisfied, I cleaned up the evidence, and then got busy doing what I do best. Baking soothes my nerves as well. I’d adopted the habit after my father disappeared on a scientific expedition when I was a teen.
Thank heavens, I never made a delivery without my baking gear. I learned a long time ago how important it was to prepare for the unexpected, especially when dealing with clients.
Now to find some mixing bowls. My head was stuck in the third cabinet I tried when Jenna stomped into the kitchen.
I told her what I was hunting for, and she crossed to my side of the island. She said while shaking her head, “I came down to make some tea for Gwen. She was babbling about drones.”
I slipped an apron emblazoned with the HoneyBun’s bumblebee logo, Marge, emblazoned across the front. “There was a drone.”
Jenna froze in place and stared at me open-mouthed. “No way. I thought she was just having one of her episodes.”
“No, I saw it too. Gwen was on the sidewalk in front of the house and it followed her across the lawn.”
She pulled steel bowls and a pot from a cabinet hidden inside the island. They clanged against the countertop as she dropped them unceremoniously. “OMG. What has she gotten herself into now? Madison always told us how Gwen gets into trouble but it hardly happened around us. We thought she was exaggerating. You saw a real drone? Like the military uses? Should we call the police?”
The tendons on Jenna’s neck bulged, and I could see her pulse throb. I spo
ke up quickly to ease her nerves. “No. Don’t call the police. Not yet. It was a drone, but it looked more like something someone could get in a hobby shop.”
Jenna scoffed and tossed a muffin pan onto the marble countertop with another clang.
I let her know I had my own pans then said, “Listen, I talked to Madison who said some interesting things about Gwen. Do you think there’s a chance Gwen’s latest episode would cause someone to follow her?”
Jenna crossed to an overhead cabinet. She pulled out a yellow mug and paused to consider my question. Her mouth opened and shut once before she shrugged. “Honestly, I have no idea. I think Madison kind of kept Gwen in line when they were living together. You know, kept her out of trouble and focused on positive things. But since Maddie moved out...” She shrugged again and filled the mug with tap water.
I frowned at another attempt of speaking to Gwen, but it was the next logical thing to do. Right now, she seemed to be the weak link. Maybe the drone had nothing to do with bridesmaid Armageddon.
As if reading my mind, Jenna asked, “So, have you figured out what happened yet?” She put the mug into the microwave and pushed the 30-second speed start button a few times.
Technically, no, I hadn’t figured anything out. Right now, I had more questions than answers. But I didn’t cop to that right away. “Well, your fiance’s name hasn’t come up at all, so I don’t think he has anything to do with this.”
Jenna said, “That’s a relief.”
“However,” I continued, knowing I would burst her bubble of relief, “someone is definitely trying to cause trouble with your bridesmaids.” Then I told her about the anonymous text Hannah, Abby, and Madison received the night before. “I haven’t talked to Gwen and Bree yet, but I bet they got the same message. Did you get one?”
The skin between Jenna’s perfectly shaped brows creased. “No. No one sent me anything.”
I lined up the ingredients I needed. Dorrick did a good job of getting everything on the list. The oven was a beautiful stainless-steel model. I turned it on to pre-heat. Then I pulled open a plastic bag that held HoneyBun cupcake liners.