Page 54 of Beaches, Bagels & Babes

Daisy

T his was not how Daisy wanted to go. Not that she wanted to do any kind of going, but drowning in a drunk tank was nowhere on her metaphorical “I’d be cool dying like this” list.

Fucking Janice .

The woman’s sweaters were as ugly as Candace claimed. After meeting Demi, Daisy went to shake Perry’s secretary down for information. Before she could get more than a word out, the woman called security, and they tossed her into a glorified closet. Then, clearly, they had forgotten about her.

A minor inconvenience turned deadly thanks to the hurricane that flooded the pier offices.

Whether it was rain or ocean, water found its way inside, and it was surging.

Daisy, meanwhile, was trapped. Kicking the reinforced entryway gave her a jammed toe.

There was a door window; however, it was too small to be useful.

Her phone sat within sight atop a desk right outside of her cell, but there was no way she could get it.

As it vibrated, each missed call was a gut punch of someone trying to reach her.

Demi was the only one who might have any idea where Daisy had gone, and it would be a Sherlock-level guess.

“Goddamnit,” Daisy yelled. “I don’t have time for this!”

It was hard to gauge how long it had been. Every second was one that took Daisy further away from saving Candace. She needed to rescue her; to prove, after everything they had been through, she would try. By now, that bastard Perry could have stashed her anywhere.

In the end, there was nothing Daisy could do.

While the water continued to pool under the door over her feet and up her ankles, she wallowed in dread.

Why? Just when she’d found drive—found love —life had to hit her with a new, fresh tidal wave of bullshit.

As the water rose higher, and her breaths grew shorter from panic, Daisy clung to thoughts of Candace.

Candace, with her pouty, pink lips when she was trying to get her way; all her meticulous outfits that so perfectly toed the line between professional and sexy; those eyes…

If Daisy had the choice, she would do it all over again. From that very first bagel to now, she only regretted that they had not gotten over their stupidity sooner. Candace was the one for her. Spoiled, adorable…

And, as it turned out, wildly reckless.

“Daisy? DAISY?? Are you—?”

“Here!” Rushing to the door, Daisy let loose something between a sob and a laugh. “Holy fuck, I’m in here!”

Candace’s face appeared on the other side of the window. She was drenched, shivering in an oversized hoodie and the same shorts Daisy lent her that morning; she never looked hotter, like some kind of magnificent mermaid girl-next-door.

“Dummy,” Candace chided, though the love in her voice was obvious. “I warned you Janice would call security!”

“What can I say? My girlfriend was in trouble, and I wasn’t about to let some assholes take her away again. ”

“Well, she wasn’t going to let them either.”

Candace mirrored Daisy’s giddy smile. However, separated by two inches of steel-plated plywood, their happy reunion turned serious.

“You wouldn’t happen to have that employee key card on you?”

“I don’t, but…”

Candace’s attention drifted to the side. In tandem, they had the same idea. Thank goodness for home renovation knowledge. They owed the Property Brothers a fruit basket. If you could not unlock a door, take it down.

In a single breath, Candace promised, “There’s a maintenance closet down the hall—be right back!”

Daisy waited and did her best to keep calm while the water continued to climb up her calves.

The lights flickered until only a few struggling emergency bulbs remained.

Under her feet, all around, she could hear the waves beating against the pier’s foundation.

How long would the bulwark supports withstand the violent undercurrent?

She forced visions of falling deep into the ocean depths, sharing the same fate as her parents, from her mind.

As Candace returned, screwdriver in hand, she set to work on the hinges.

From the top down, she removed the bolts until the door fell under its own weight.

Daisy stumbled over it and into Candace’s embrace.

She wished they had the time for a passionate kiss or a repeat of last night’s activities.

Instead, Daisy was distracted by the sand castle pail Candace lugged onto her shoulder.

“ What the—? Is that…?”

Inside, looking none too pleased as she scuttled against the side of the bucket, was Horace the Horseshoe Crab. Daisy blinked down at the crab and swore she flipped the finger with her needle tail.

Candace explained, “I saw her clinging to the boardwalk right where I docked and couldn’t just leave her there. Now, c’mon! We’ve got a rough ride back! ”

“Ride??”

Together, Daisy and Candace stumbled through the flooded office halls to the exit.

They burst out onto the pier in an alcove near the Manta Coaster’s line queue.

Outside their shelter and its emergency lighting, it was difficult to make out much of anything.

Sideways rain that was littered with debris ripped past at a roaring volume.

Mountainous waves crested up over the pier guardrail and even broke through loose boards to burst up like geysers.

Candace pointed.

“There! I tied Ted’s boat right to the pier, it’s—”

Gone .

Whatever boat Candace came in on was nowhere to be seen. Daisy did not feel particularly upset about sticking to land. Same problem, same plan: stay alive . Holding Candace’s arm, she tugged.

“Screw it! We’ll go to the cafe.”

“No,” a genial voice told them, “you won’t.”

Steady despite the howling wind, Vinny Lamarka rounded the corner of the building. The gun he held was trained straight on Candace and Daisy. They froze at the edge of the coaster alcove, facing the man as he advanced on them.

A spitfire even in the face of certain doom, Candace snarled, “I should’ve known you’d follow me. You’ll do whatever your boss wants, won’t you?”

The smug upturn of Lamarka’s moustache spoke loud and clear. He did not feel remorse for what he had done or what he was going to do. This was a job, one he enjoyed doing.

“You know why your uncle and I get along? We’re both traditional. Everything I’ve done has been for family.”

“ I’m family,” Candace argued, and Daisy heard real pain in her voice. “All he had to do was accept me for who I am.”

“Selfish as ever. It’s not all about you.

Mr. Perry, see, he understands… sometimes, family as an institution trumps blood.

Here in Wonderwood, we’re making a place for the right kind of family.

If I have to get my hands dirty, I’ll be a man and do it.

You and the DeMarcos, those annoying, hippy Panopouloss, gays and gender-whatevers—don’t belong here. ”

Daisy surged a step, yelling, “Who the fuck are you to decide? All you assholes say the same bull and act like Wonderwood is falling apart… No shit, a lot of places are for a lot of different reasons. You’re sure as hell not helping.”

Lamarka shifted his aim to Daisy. She gritted her teeth and did her best to not give him the satisfaction of showing the fear that jolted her insides. The man took a few strides closer, gesturing at Daisy with his piece.

“Right now, I’m the one with the gun. On your knees.”

With no other choice, Daisy complied. She grimaced as the rough concrete pad bit into her skin.

Candace rushed forward, only to stop dead in her tracks as Lamarka turned the pistol on her. She threw her hands up and dropped Horace’s bucket straight down with a plunk beside Daisy. Despite the waver in her voice, Candace mocked him.

“So, what? You’ll murder us, and tie things up for him in a neat, little bow? Go home to Sue and the kids, pretending to be such a nice, family man after you wash the blood off your hands? Is it really that easy for you?”

The man shrugged.

“It’s never easy. I’ve had to extort the coroner to play nice. There’s usually someone who gets suspicious and needs bribing. And don’t get me started on getting rid of the bodies. Thankfully, the ocean should take care of that last part. Reminds me of your parents going over that bridge, DeMarco.”

The man looked down at Daisy as he finished speaking. His words, their implication, fell over her like an icy mantle. In a horrified murmur, Candace put the pieces into place.

“You don’t mean… What happened to Daisy’s parents wasn’t an accident, was it?”

“They really should have sold. Mr. Perry came to them with a good offer, and they were ready to accept. Something about downsizing to fund their daughter’s college tuition.”

“What…?” Daisy blinked, shaking her head. “But they never said…”

As she thought back, she recalled working more hours as her parents went to ‘appointments.’ They mentioned making changes over the next year.

Daisy always thought they were going to have her take over the business, not get rid of it.

A tornado of regret and bitter realization ripped through her emotions.

“The paperwork was all but signed,” he went on. “But, when the DeMarcos heard about Mr. Perry’s future plans to build a world-class resort, they reneged on the deal and decided to look for more ‘environmentally conscious’ buyers. Mr. Perry was very disappointed.”

“So you killed them,” Candace concluded with a crack in her voice.

“You destroyed a beautiful, loving family because they wouldn’t do what you wanted.

You had access to everything. All you had to do was forge the dates and signatures to make it look like my uncle made the purchase before their deaths.

Between his friends in the county clerk’s office and the PD, he had all the right angles to slip a shady deal like that through. Daisy, I’m so sor—”

As Candace reached to comfort Daisy, Lamarka cocked his gun. She sucked in a bracing breath. “You’re monsters.”

“I told you before: it’s just business, Candy.”