Page 7 of Twice Baked Risky Whiskey Cakes (MURDER IN THE MIX #53)
LOTTIE
“ I ’m fine and so are the babies.” I pat my belly to assure my mother of the fact as we stand just shy of Sebastian Gallagher’s body outside of the community center. “Carlotta and I just found him like this.”
My mother and Meg take a moment to cringe at the body among us.
“Well, not exactly like this,” Carlotta interjects. “Five minutes ago he was just your garden-variety corpse. Now thanks to Lot Lot, he’s Honey Hollow’s hottest tourist attraction.”
I shoot her a look. Although judging by the size of the swelling crowd, she’s not wrong.
Meg peers around the hedge at Sebastian’s body. “Cool knife. Good choice of a murder weapon, Lot. That’s a Victorian handle, right? Now that’s some vintage craftsmanship.”
“ Meg .” I shake my head her way.
“What?” she grunts back. “Someone has to appreciate the finer points of homicide. You’re really honing your craft.”
“You always say the sweetest things.” Mom pats Meg’s arm before turning back to me. “This is becoming quite the nasty habit, young lady. Now that the twins are almost here, you really should find something else to occupy your time.”
I suck in a quick breath. “ Mother . It’s not like I pencil it into my schedule.
Tuesday—bake scones, find corpse, prenatal yoga.
” I toss my arms in the air in a fit of frustration.
Although I would write deliver twins with a Sharpie on every wall in the house if I thought that they were guaranteed to arrive that way.
“Oh, never mind, honey,” she says, giving me a quick hug as best she can. “Get yourself inside, Lottie. It’s freezing out here.” Mom wraps an arm around my shoulders. “You poor thing. This can’t be good for the babies.”
Ivy strides by and stops cold in her tracks when my mother says those words. “Yes”—Ivy snips my way with those dead eyes of hers—“because finding a dead body is normally so beneficial for fetal development.” She takes off to document the scene with her phone.
“Ignore her,” I say to my mother. “And if you don’t mind, I think I’m going to stay out here for a minute longer.”
“That’s right.” Carlotta nods by my side. “Lot likes to keep an eye on her work.”
“Have it your way.” My mother wraps her coat tighter around her body. “Come on, Meg. Let’s go.” She begins to scoot my sister in the direction of the community center once again and I pull her back by the elbow.
“Wait. What had the two of you so heated inside?” I’m pretty sure it had nothing to do with Sebastian Gallagher’s murder, but my inquiring mind demands to know.
This is the exact kind of thing that can rob me of a good night’s sleep, and heaven knows I’ll be losing enough sleep soon enough times two .
Okay, fine, so I don’t sleep these days at all, but it doesn’t change the fact I love to ruminate on all sorts of odd things at all hours of the night.
And I would definitely ruminate over what could have worked my mother and sister up in a tizzy.
And with my quirky mother, the possibilities are endless.
Meg rolls her eyes. “I was tapped to perform in Las Vegas in a month and I’m going to accept the offer.”
I gasp at the thought. “You mean perform in the ring?” Meg was a pretty famous female wrestler for years.
“Are you reprising Madge the Badge?” That was the character she played, and let me tell you, she was so popular that girls still emulate her in costume form each year at Halloween.
And I’m super proud of my big sister because of it, too.
When Lyla Nell comes of age, she’s so going to be Madge the Badge—and maybe it’s high time I don that costume myself.
“Yup,” Meg says. “And I’m going, too.”
“What about the baby?” I ask.
Mom gives a frenetic nod. “That’s exactly what I said.”
Carlotta belts out a wild whoop. “Who cares about the little yipper. We’re going to Vegas, baby!” She and Meg exchange high-fives.
Mom groans. “And I guess that means I’m going as well. Someone has to watch little Piper back at the room while Mommy is in the ring. I’m sure her daddy will want to be in the audience cheering you on.” She gives a reluctant shrug at my sister.
“Cool beans,” Meg says. “Thanks, Mom. I really appreciate it. It was going to cost me a fortune to kennel her for two weeks.”
“ Meg .” Mom swats her, and my sister cackles as if there wasn’t a body less than six feet away.
“Come with us, Lot,” Meg says as my mother begins to drag her inside again.
“I wish,” I call out after them. “I’m guessing I’ll be a bit busy in one month’s time. You guys have fun out there; I’ll have fun right here.”
About ten different people openly glare at me and I suddenly remember where I am and which body I’m standing over. And believe me, there’s nothing fun about these dirty looks.
Noah finishes his call and steps our way. “Lottie, I need to ask you and Carlotta what you saw.”
“What we saw ?” Carlotta gyrates as if she were just electrocuted. “What we saw was Eliza the Ripper trying to perform impromptu open-heart surgery with a cocktail knife. Very innovative approach, but her technique needs work. Patient satisfaction rating is zero stars.”
A round of gasps and screams circles the crowd at her words and I don’t hesitate to swat her.
“Would you stop?” I snip. “We saw no such thing. Noah, we just came outside for some fresh air,” I explain while holding my belly as if it might fall off if I didn’t give it the extra support. “We walked over and found the poor man like this.”
“That’s right.” Carlotta happily corroborates my story, as she should. “And the Country Club Carver was standing over him with blood on her hands.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake.” I glance in Everett and Eliza’s direction, but thankfully it doesn’t seem they heard. Although I can’t say the same for the sixty-plus people pressing up against us with looks of outright horror.
“Did you see anyone else?” Noah asks, and if I’m not mistaken, he has a pleading look on his face.
I know for a fact that the detective in him wants to arrest anyone but Eliza. She was practically a second mother to him in a roundabout way. And with Suze Fox as his primary sourpuss of a maternal figure, I’m sure he really appreciates Eliza.
I shake my head. “Just Eliza,” I confirm, lower than a whisper. “But she says she found him already...well, you know.” I make a vague stabbing gesture that I immediately regret—mostly due to the gasps and screams that ensue because of it.
The entire Ashford Sheriff’s Department seems to arrive in droves with their red and blue lights painting the vicinity in alternating splashes of color. The partygoers are quickly herded back inside for questioning, and just like that, their festive mood is thoroughly shattered.
Venus catches my eye from the crowd. Her face is pale with shock as she clutches her mother’s arm, and poor Keegan Meryl looks as if she might faint.
Glinda Van Jance stands off to the side, and yet her expression is unreadable as she watches the sheriff’s department secure the scene. The only one who is nowhere to be seen is the other redheaded woman Sebastian was arguing with earlier—Della Crane.
“I should check on Everett and Eliza,” I tell Noah, who nods absently while already coordinating with the arriving officers.
Ivy walks by and just about blocks my path. “Don’t even think of leaving town, Lottie,” she calls after me as she strides on by, not bothering to hide her suspicion in a crowd of thousands—or at least it feels like thousands.
“I’m nine months pregnant with twins,” I call back as she makes her way to the other side of the body. “I couldn’t make a quick getaway if I tried!”
Although, I’ll admit, it’s not looking so good right about now. A getaway, quick or slow, might just be necessary.
I waddle my way toward Everett, who happens to be sitting with his mother on a bench safely away from the chaos. That cute little ghostly fox comes to mind, but it’s nowhere to be seen at the moment. And honestly, I’m thankful for that. Right now, I want to focus on the living.
Carlotta falls in step beside me because, let’s face it, she’s harder to shake than the glitter Lyla Nell peppered the house with.
“Well, Lot,” she sighs, “I guess I won’t have to worry about making Sebastian Gallagher my next mistake after all. When you’ve been in as many relationships as I have, you start to appreciate when fate does the dumping for you.”
I shoot her a look.
“What? I collect near-miss relationships with future murder victims. We all have our hobbies.”
I glance back at the body, now fully surrounded by officers and crime scene technicians.
A night that began with happy little shamrock cookies and whiskey-glazed donuts has ended with the Grim Reaper and flashing lights.
Someone in this sea of redheads turned this auburn affair into a death sentence, and unfortunately for Eliza Baxter—she’s looking like the prime suspect.
I know for a fact the only way for Everett and me to put our focus back on the birth of these babies where it belongs is to solve this case.
And whether Everett or Noah likes it or not, that’s exactly what I’m about to do.