Page 38 of Twice Baked Risky Whiskey Cakes (MURDER IN THE MIX #53)

LOTTIE

T he crowd around me blurs into a sea of green as I try to process what Keegan just revealed.

A scientist Sebastian dated.

Someone who took the fall for his crimes.

The pieces click together in my brain like the world’s deadliest jigsaw puzzle.

I’ve hardly taken three steps when I spot Eliza and Evie near a cotton candy stand, both of them looking like elegant swans in a pond of rowdy Irish ducks. I waddle over and give them both a quick hug, my belly serving as an inadvertent buffer zone.

“Mom.” Evie gives a little laugh. “I just felt one of the twins kick.” She puts her hand on my belly and it happens again.

“How are you feeling? Are these twins ever going to come out into the world?” She bends over and pats my belly again.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are. I can’t wait to squeeze you guys! ”

“I’m sure they’ll get here soon enough,” I say, craning my neck past them, and not sure I’m believing the words I just said either. “I’m fine,” I assure her, patting my belly as well. “We’re all fine. Eliza, where did Glinda go? I just saw her with you a moment ago.”

“Glinda?” Eliza’s perfectly sculpted eyebrows arch. “She said something about wanting to see the mayor’s big surprise at the lake before heading up north to visit her sister in Canada.”

“Of course.” I barrel ahead, my feet already moving before my brain can fully process the implications.

Canada.

She’s planning to flee . I’m shocked she didn’t do it sooner.

“Mom, you can’t walk to the lake,” Evie calls after me. “It’s like more than three blocks away!”

“The twins and I need the exercise,” I call back even though my lower back is already protesting the idea.

“Wait up, Lot!” Carlotta shouts, hurrying to catch up with me, her beads jangling like wind chimes in a hurricane. That’s basically Carlotta in a nutshell.

Sebby materializes beside me, his ghostly form zipping through the crowd in a spray of glittering stars. “Lolita! Your determination is admirable, but your waddling speed is concerning!”

“I’m moving as fast as a woman carrying the entire future generation of Baxters can,” I pant, navigating through the crowd with the grace of a bulldozer with a flat tire.

In what feels like both an eternity and somehow less than five minutes, we reach Honey Lake, where the parade finish line stretches across the shore.

The area teems with people, band members tuning their instruments, and members of the redheaded roundup gathering for one final photo op. It’s a glorious sea of red in every single direction.

“Well, would you look at that,” Carlotta whistles, taking in the scene.

“It’s like someone put a ring of fire around the lake.

That’s a lot of carrot tops in one place.

I’m sensing a disturbance in the force. Gird yourself, Lot.

Something wicked is about to bubble up in this sea of crimson.

This is nothing short of a bunch of bad luck run amok. ”

“Indeed there are a lot of carrot tops,” Sebby agrees, his ghostly ears perked up. “Though in fox culture, redheads are considered quite lucky. It’s the opposable thumbs we find suspicious.”

“You would,” Carlotta grunts.

I scan the crowd until I spot Glinda talking to Mayor Nash near the dock. They exchange a few words before parting ways, and I track Glinda as she moves to the edge of the lake, on the quieter side, away from the crowd and near the woods.

My heart pounds as I approach her. I take one look at her vivid red hair and that line of not-quite-gray roots and nod to myself. They’re not gray at all. They’re blonde .

“Glinda?” I call out.

She’s staring pensively at the boats all decked out for St. Patrick’s Day, their green and gold decorations reflecting in the water, not at all in tune to the fact I just shouted her name. Because she doesn’t innately recognize it as her name.

“You knew Sebastian Gallagher,” I pant from the trek over, one hand supporting my back, the other resting protectively on my belly.

“Her aura is flickering away like a campfire in a windstorm,” Sebby shouts, circling Glinda with suspicion.

Glinda turns around and squints at me before raking her eyes up and down over my very pregnant form. “Lottie? What’s going on? Yes, I knew of him,” she says with a casualness that feels manufactured. “I mean, he had a very lucrative whiskey business. A lot of people knew him from that.”

I shake my head. “You knew him far better. In fact, I’d go as far as saying you had a romantic entanglement with him.”

Glinda gasps, her eyes filling with fire that could melt steel.

“Unfortunately, that didn’t work out too well for you,” I continue, watching her face for any reaction.

“That didn’t work out too well for a lot of people,” Carlotta chimes in. “The man collected broken hearts like I collect cheap shoes. Which reminds me, I’m due for a shopping spree. Don’t worry, Lot. I’ve still got your credit card.”

Glinda lifts her chin. “Why don’t you ask your mother-in-law how well it worked out for her?” She gives a crooked smile. “After all, she was married to the cad.”

The three of us gasp in unison. Even Sebby’s transparent jaw drops.

“She was?” I tip my ear toward the woman. I’m positive I’ve misheard.

“That’s right,” Glinda doubles down. “And the monster stole all he could from her before leaving town.”

“Seems like Wiley’s actions were on trend,” Carlotta quips. “Stealing from women and disappearing was the hot new thing for men back then. Sort of like bellbottoms, but more financially explosive.”

I agree, after all, Noah’s father pulled the exact same vanishing act later on poor Eliza.

“Sebastian truly was the lowest form of human,” Sebby says with a spectral shudder and tiny stars spray all around him. “He made mud look like a good thing. I’m not surprised to say he really did take after his father in the worst possible ways.”

“So that’s why Eliza was so livid when she spoke to him,” I say, mostly to myself. “It all makes sense now.”

“Yes,” Glinda agrees, a bit too eagerly.

“It makes sense why she chose to kill him. Of course, she was caught up in the passion of the moment. I’m sure her son will make certain she spends a minimal amount of time behind bars, if any.

They have so many cushy women’s prisons these days.

She’ll feel as if she’s away on a spa trip. ”

“Is that how you felt, Maggie?” I ask, and the woman’s eyes nearly dislodge from her skull.

A loud air horn cuts through the tension. Mayor Nash’s voice booms over a loudspeaker as he congratulates everyone on another fantastic St. Patrick’s Day parade. “And now, folks, I have a surprise for the entire town of Honey Hollow!”

He waves a green flag, and all of a sudden dozens of boats begin to speed around the lake, leaving a trail of dark liquid in their wake. In seconds, all of Honey Lake transforms into a glittering shade of emerald.

The crowd goes wild with cheers and applause. I’ll admit, it’s a mesmerizing sight, but I can’t focus on that now.

Glinda tries to step around me, but Carlotta blocks her path.

“Hold it right there, Red. Or should I say Blondie?” Carlotta plants herself firmly in front of the woman.

“You’re not going anywhere until Lot gets to the bottom of this sticky, risky whiskey business.

And speaking of sticky, that lake is calling me.

Swimming in green waters is at the top of my bucket list, Lot. Wrap it up, would you?”

I roll my eyes. Carlotta’s bucket list needs a serious revision.

But I revert my attention where it should be.

“Glinda Van Jance?” I shake my head at the woman. “I should have known when you said you were a huge Wizard of Oz fan that something was up. And Van Jance? As in vengeance ?” I nod. “You practically wanted to be caught.”

She shakes her head vigorously. “No, don’t you see? Eliza did it. She had the motive! She took one of the vintage knives from the Fallbrook Sourdough Society. Eliza is the killer, not me.”

“So that’s where you got the pearl-handled knife,” I muse. “Of course. And I bet somewhere along the way Sebastian told you about all of his crooked conquests. That’s how you knew to befriend Eliza when you got out. Is that right, Maggie?”

Her eyes narrow and her fury builds like a pressure cooker about to blow its lid.

“That’s right, you nosy gnat. I killed the insolent fool ,” she hisses. “He framed me and left me to rot in prison while he went on his merry way. I thought he loved me. I thought we were a perfect match. But he just pushed me aside and went on to his next victim.”

“Why try to pin this on Eliza?” I shake my head. “It’s obvious why you wanted him dead.”

“Why not?” she scoffs. “That woman has had everything handed to her. Besides, I didn’t want anyone to suffer behind bars the way I had.

And once I realized her son is a prominent judge, I knew she wouldn’t.

” She glances past me at the dark belly of the woods.

“Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be.”

She tries to dart past me, but pregnancy has made me crafty—even though I’m not quick. I stick my foot out, and she trips, sprawling onto the grass with a yelp.

“Lolita!” Sebby zips around excitedly. “What athletic prowess! Using your center of gravity as a weapon is pure genius.”

“Get her, Lot!” Carlotta lunges forward as Glinda scrambles to her feet.

I’m not exactly built for chase scenes these days, but I manage to grab a fistful of her jacket as she tries to bolt. Carlotta throws herself at Glinda’s legs in a tackle that would make a football coach weep with joy.

“ Lemon ,” Everett’s voice booms across the green space, and I look up to see both him and Noah sprinting toward us, with their faces a matching set of panic.

Glinda wrenches free and makes a desperate break for the lake, with Carlotta hot on her heels.

Without hesitation, Carlotta dives into the emerald water after her.

They both emerge seconds later, drenched and dyed a brilliant shade of green from head to toe.

And by the looks of it, Carlotta is enjoying the heck out of it.

She would.

“ She confessed ,” I shout to Noah and Everett. “Her real name is Maggie Murray! She admitted to setting Eliza up. And she admitted she killed Sebastian Gallagher!”

“Come on in, everyone,” Carlotta shouts, treading water beside a furious, soggy Glinda. Both are lit up like a couple of toxic limes. “The water is fine! I’ve always wanted to be green. Brings out the sexy minx in my eyes!”

More like the mischief.

Noah wades in with handcuffs at the ready, looking less than thrilled about getting his clothes wet or green.

Sebby floats above us all, his ghostly form beginning to shimmer even brighter.

“It looks as if it’s my time to go, Lolita,” he says, drifting upward against his own volition.

“May the luck of the Irish be with you and your little buns in the oven!” He gives a little twirl.

“Tell Lyla Nell that Sebby will miss pulling her pigtails, but I’ll be watching over her always.

” With that, he disappears in a vat of green glittering stars.

Everett reaches me, wrapping his arms around me with careful tenderness. “Lemon, are you okay? Are the twins all right?”

The babies choose that moment to kick with Olympic-level force.

“They’re fine,” I say, leaning into his embrace. “But I have a sneaking suspicion they want donuts.”

“Of course, they do,” he sighs, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “They are your children— our children.”

We share a quiet laugh that turns into a heated kiss.

We pull back in time to see Noah leading a green-tinted Glinda back to shore in handcuffs.

I can’t help but think that justice, like revenge, is sometimes best served with a splash of color—and today’s special is definitely emerald green.

Everett lands a kiss to my cheek. “How about we leave the detective work to the detective from here on out and focus on our family instead?”

“I’m in,” I say, raising a hand.

“Rumor has it, we’re going to have twins.”

“If only the twins had heard that rumor,” I tease, and they both give a swift kick. “But whether or not they make an appearance anytime soon, we’ve got a birthday party to throw for a certain little girl. Lyla Nell is turning two.”

“I seem to remember my wife is about to have a birthday herself.” His lips curve with the thought. “Don’t worry, Lemon. I’ll make sure both of your special days are perfect.”

And I have no doubt he will.

He seals the sentiment with a perfect kiss to prove his point.