"Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Graber." I wondered if they were even aware of their daughter's scheme. "We're old friends of your daughter, Mitzi. Did you know that?"
Gina Graber's face gleamed. "Why, of course. I should have realized. Mitzi mentioned that she was in Colwestern the other day. I'll bet she was visiting you. Who would have known we'd be featured on the same show together? What a small world."
"Isn't it, though," Josie snorted.
Mitzi lowered her eyes to the floor. At least she had enough humility to look away.
"Would you mind if we spoke to Mitzi in private for a minute?" I asked.
"Of course not," Gina smiled as she addressed her daughter. "We're going to go grab something to eat, honey. We'll be back in a few minutes."
"Sure, Mom," Mitzi said, stealing a glance at the exit door.
When they walked away, Josie and I each grabbed ahold of one of Mitzi's arms.
"Let's go have a nice little chat in private," Josie hissed in her ear.
We went out into the hallway, past members of the studio audience who milled around. My mother waved, but I held up a finger to gesture that we'd be back in a few minutes. We found a ladies' room door that read Employees Only and ushered her inside.
Josie gritted her teeth. "You have some explaining to do."
Mitzi tossed her head in defiance like a teenager. "You can't prove a thing."
"You stole our recipe," I said. "You heard me say it was on the shelf in the back room that day. You knew we planned on using it for the competition. Why did you take it?"
Mitzi said nothing, but the color rose high in her cheeks.
"You had this planned all along, didn't you?" I asked. "I gave you a job you obviously didn't want. What I'd like to know is why."
"What do you have against us?" Josie asked.
Mitzi stared at Josie. "I don't have anything against you." Then her eyes met mine, and her face twisted into an ugly expression. "It's you I want to ruin."
I was thunderstruck as her eyes continued to shoot daggers at me. "What did I ever do to you?"
"You killed my boyfriend." Her eyes filled with unshed tears.
A sensation of dread swept over my body. Whom was she talking about? There was only one person I could think of who might fit this description. "Oh God. Were you seeing Colin? My ex-husband?"
The tears streamed down Mitzi's face, but she still managed to laugh out loud. "I'd never date that scum of the earth. But he is responsible for ruining my life."
"Would you please care to explain?" I folded my arms over my chest.
Mitzi wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "He killed my boyfriend, Stan. Almost a year ago."
Okay, Colin was a lot of things. But a murderer? That was crazy. "There has to be some sort of mistake."
"There is no mistake." Her lower lip trembled as she thrust a finger into my face. "Stan was killed in a drunk driving accident. The other driver was totally wasted. And it's your fault because your husband didn't cut him off at the bar that night."
I thought I might be sick to my stomach as the realization dawned on me. This was the girl Luke had mentioned. Colin had almost gone to jail because of an inebriated man he let walk out of his bar who had, in turn, killed someone—Mitzi's boyfriend.
Josie's mouth fell open in horror. "Oh my God. That's terrible. But you can't blame Sally. She had nothing to do with it."
Mitzi's eyes blazed with venom. "Someone has to pay for this. The drunk driver is in prison, but I'll be waiting for him when he gets out. And I've been planning for exactly the right moment to get back at that SOB husband of yours."
"You do know that Colin died the other night, right?" Then I sucked in a sharp breath. "Oh. You were at the bar."
She smirked. "Yeah, I saw the whole thing. I also know your boyfriend's going on trial for his murder. But it's not enough that Colin's dead. I decided that you have to pay, too."
Despite the rotten thing she had done to us, I couldn't help but pity the girl. I reached out and placed my hand upon her shoulder. "I'm very sorry for your loss, but I didn't have anything to do with it. Colin and I were already separated when this happened."
She jerked away as if I'd burned her. "Don't touch me! I need to get out of here. You'll never understand what I'm going through. Tell my parents I wasn't feeling well and had to go."
"Don't leave like this. You're not thinking straight," Josie said.
Mitzi reached for the door handle and then turned back to observe me. "We were in Florida for a vacation. That's where Stan proposed to me. We were supposed to be married at Christmas. Bet you didn't know that, huh? Instead, I had to plan his funeral. My entire life is ruined thanks to that lousy drunk and your scumbag of a husband."
I tried to reason with the girl. "Mitzi, Colin's dead. He's gotten his payback. I know it won't bring your fiancée back, but you can't let this hatred continue to destroy your entire life."
She snickered. "Yeah, wait and see if you sing that song when your boyfriend goes to jail for Colin's murder. As it should be."
Bile rose in the back of my throat. I glanced at Josie, alarmed, and guessed she was thinking the same thing. "Mitzi. You need to tell me the truth. Did you kill Colin and set my boyfriend up to take the fall?"
She gave a low laugh that sent a tremor of terror rippling through my body. "Guess you're going to have to figure that one out for yourself."
* * *
Having no choice, Josie and I went back to our workstation to prepare for Round Two. We had two hours to make the cookies but were both shaken by the recent confrontation with our former employee. I raced back and forth dutifully getting the ingredients Josie asked for, but Mitzi's words continued to haunt me.
I'd have to get in touch with Brian when we returned home and see if there had been any new developments. Mitzi's fingerprints would be in our shop. Maybe Brian could see if there was a match for them in the hotel room? Somehow?
My head was spinning, and when Josie reached out to grab the sugar from my hands, I jumped, sending half of it flying across the floor. A cameraman came running in our direction, his face glowing with excitement.
Josie held up a hand. "No drama here, mister. Only a simple accident. Try to control yourself."
While I grabbed a broom and swept up the mess, Josie clutched me by both shoulders. "Sal. You have to put it out of your mind for a little while, or we might as well pack up and go home. Get your head back in the game."
I blew out a breath. "You're right. Okay, let's do this."
"Fifty-five minutes left," Danny Durango shouted.
Josie put the biscotti into the oven while I concentrated on making the thumbprint jelly cookies. These were a huge favorite in my shop. People of all different ages raved about them. I grabbed the homemade strawberry jam Josie had prepared earlier in the week and placed a teaspoonful in the center of each cookie. This took some time, especially with my hand shaking. I glanced at the wall clock. Time was dwindling.
"Put in one tray at a time," Josie said. "Not every tray at once. We have to get some of these cooking."
I ran toward the ovens with one tray and barely managed to avoid Bunny as she ran past me with a piping bag full of frosting. Josie stuck her foot out, and Bunny and the piping bag went flying across the room. The camera crew raced over to the scene to snag a close-up of Bunny's face which was now streaked with frosting.
"Why you little—" Bunny glared at the camera, whose operator was hanging on her every word. "Witch."
Josie shot her a saccharin smile. "Sorry. I guess I slipped. Let's call it a knee-jerk reaction."
With only ten minutes left, I lifted the last tray of jelly cookies out of the oven and ran to insert them into the fridge to cool. The jelly portion was especially hot and would burn the judges' tongues at this stage. Josie made some intricate designs along the edges of some of the cookies and had cleverly inserted M&Ms into the mix for the brownie biscotti.
When Danny Durango finally yelled time,
I was about ready to drop. "I don't know if I can survive a third round."
Josie's eyes gleamed. "If we win this round, we're guaranteed at least a tie for first place. If someone else wins the final round, then we'd have to go to a tiebreaker."
"No tiebreaker, please," I groaned. "I'm way too old for this."
She waved a hand. "Ah, I'm just getting my second wind."
We washed dishes and cleaned our prep area while the judges tasted the cookies and tallied their votes.
The halogen lights overhead reflected off Danny Durango's teeth. "And the winner of the second round is…Kitchen D!"
Josie and I both clenched our fists while the Grabers squealed and hugged each other.
Olivia beamed at the Grabers from her seat at the judges' table, macaroon in hand. "These have to be one of the most delicious cookies I've ever sampled. The coconut was so fresh and the recipe like no other I've tasted. Originality wins my vote every time. I can't stand it when people rely on boring old trends to help enliven cookies—such as M&Ms."
I thought I spotted actual steam pouring out of Josie's ears. I managed to pry her fingers loose from the countertop that she had a deathlike grip on. "We still have a chance. It's not over yet."
Her nostrils flared. "If that little twit hadn't stolen my recipe, we'd be in the lead." A tear streaked down her cheek. "I worked so hard to perfect that recipe."
"I know you did."
Josie sniffed. "This isn't about the money or prestige for me, Sal. All my life, I've never won anything. Whenever we had competitions at the culinary school, I'd place second. Someone was always better than me."
My heart ached for my best friend. Even if we did win this, I would be the one to be recognized, not Josie, simply because I was the owner of the shop. Josie didn't know yet, but if we did win, I planned on giving her half of the prize money. "You are second to no one. Without you I would not have a bakery, nor would it be the success it is. Just remember that. This contest doesn't mean anything. You're already number one in my book."
She wiped her eyes and hugged me. "Thanks. I needed to hear that."
I glanced at the clock. It was three thirty in the afternoon, and I already felt like we'd been here for days. By some miracle, adrenaline had finally started flowing through my veins. Now I wanted to win this competition more than ever. It was no longer about the money. This was for my best friend. It had become personal.
"As we enter the final round, let's take stock," Danny Durango bellowed. "Team B has 25 points. Team D has 25 points. The final category is worth 50 points, so it's still anybody's game!"
"That's why they break it down like that," Josie whispered. "It's impossible for anyone to win before the third round. The best you could do is tie for first place."
Danny gestured to the blonde model, Suzie, who approached Team A with a metal can. "Each contestant will draw a slip of paper out of the container. There will be one word written on it. You will read the word aloud, and then you have three hours to make three hundred cookies associated with this word. The winner of this round will also win the competition and receive a check this evening for twenty thousand dollars. The three losing teams will go home with a consolation prize of one thousand dollars each."
Josie was chanting to herself. "I can do this. I can do this."
We watched as Team A chose their slip, and Bunny grunted out loud. "Home."
Gee, I wondered what they would make with that one.
Team C chose their slip. "Cows."
"Oh, man." Josie clenched her teeth. "I could have made black-and-white cookies. Why is everyone else getting all the good slips?"
Team D chose theirs. "Water."
"I don't believe this," Josie sputtered. "Icebox cookies. We'll probably get the worst one. There's always a bad slip in there. We'll get one marked camel or something like that."
Grinning from ear to ear, Suzie walked over to us with the camera crew following behind her.
"This is it," Danny Durango shouted. "Can Team B take home the money? And what about Team D? Or could A or C have a sudden come-from-behind win?"
I was getting to the point where I wanted to stuff a tray of cookies down Danny Durango's throat. I reached into the container and then glanced at the strip of paper I'd selected.
I read the word aloud. "Chance."
Josie's face broke into a wide grin. "Oh, we've so got this."
"On your mark, get set, go," Danny shouted.
For the next three hours, I listened to Josie bark orders as I ran to and from the oven, making sure to keep a close eye that the dial hadn't been tampered with by our vengeful competitors. I also wrote out fortunes on three hundred strips of paper. Okay, so some of them were duplicates, but I didn't think anyone would notice. Now I understood why Josie complained she didn't have time to write them out for the ones in my bakery.
As I removed the fortune cookies from the oven, it was quite a challenge to place the strips in the center of the cookies and fold up the ends as fast as we could since they hardened within seconds. Sometimes we weren't quick enough, so Josie got creative and filled several cookies with a vanilla white chocolate ganache she'd whipped up. Then she tied the fortune strips around the outside of the cookies. For the cookies with the fortunes on the inside, we dipped them into a chocolate sauce. We used a melted toffee chocolate bar for several and chocolate hazelnut spread for others.
I noticed Josie's hands were shaking as we neared the end of the second hour, a visible sign of how tired she actually was. Her face gave away nothing though, and her mouth was set in a fine, determined line. I knew that expression well. Nothing was going to stop her now. Meanwhile, my legs ached so badly that I was afraid I might keel over.
"More sprinkles and nonpareils," Josie barked.
I raced into the pantry again then back to Josie. I hurried to the ovens to take out the next tray. During the competition, the audience was allowed to cheer us on whenever a sign was flashed. Several voices could be heard, but my parents' drifted above the rest.
"Come on, Sal," my mother yelled. "Work it baby, work it."
I shut my eyes and sighed. For a brief moment, I wondered if twenty grand was worth all the public humiliation we would endure when the show aired in a few weeks. And, of course, it would be worse if we didn't win.
"You stupid twit," Bunny yelled at Biffy as I ran by their workstation for more ingredients from the pantry. "The frosting is too thin. Here, let me have it."
"Whatever you say." Biffy took a wooden spoon, inserted it into the bowl, and then smeared it down the side of Bunny's head.
A loud gasp emitted from the audience as the crew came running. Biffy turned and charged the head cameraman like a bull then dumped the entire bowl of frosting onto his head. A security guard appeared and dragged Biffy away, leaving Bunny to finish the cookies by herself.
"I need a do-over!" Biffy screamed.
"The terminator got terminated," Josie laughed. "I love it."
We had our cookies completed with five minutes to spare. Danny started the ten second countdown, but everyone, with the exception of Bunny, was finished and standing around waiting for the judging to start. When the show actually aired, we knew it would be fixed to make it appear that we were all panicking at the last second. That was another way to build up the drama. I vowed at that moment that I would never watch another reality show again.
Finally, we heard Danny yell, "That's it! Your time is up!"
Josie turned and staggered toward me, throwing her arms around my neck. I hugged her tightly while trying to hold her up in the process. "You did it, kiddo."
She grinned. "No. We did it."
I had to go before the judges with the three other lead contestants and explain our reasoning for making the cookies. When it was my turn, I gave them my best sugary smile.
"To me, chance means luck. The main theme to my bakery back home is fortune cookies. With every purchase, customers get a free homemade fortune cookie created by my fabulous hea
d baker, Josie Sullivan."
Josie blushed and stared at the floor.
Olivia examined her cookie. With the filling, it looked almost like a miniature cannolo.
"What a clever idea." Olivia sniffed at the cookie then unwrapped her fortune from the outside and laughed. "It says, 'Judge not, least ye be judged.'"
The audience howled at that one. Okay, so I had sort of planned that she'd get that particular fortune.
Olivia took a small bite then smiled at me. "These are the best fortune cookies I've ever tasted."
Pierre broke his cookie apart to examine it. "What is your personal take on fortune cookies? Do you believe there's any truth to the messages, Miss Mooch?"
I winced. "It's actually Muccio."
"Ah." He sniffed at his cookie. "Well, close enough."
I grinned in an effort to ignore his condescending attitude. "I don't believe there's any truth to the messages at all."
A shiver went down my spine.
I was dismissed and sent back to my workstation along with the other contestants. We were left to wait and speculate while the judges deliberated for a few minutes. Danny Durango chatted away with Suzie, and I wondered if he was asking her out. The cameraman returned with damp hair and all traces of frosting removed.
"Places everyone," the director yelled.
"Welcome back." Danny Durango's smile again filled the room. Had he ever been approached for Colgate commercials? "Our judges have made their unanimous decision. The winner of the Northern Cookie Crusades Episode is—"
Josie grabbed my hand in such a tight grip that I whimpered from the pain.
Danny grinned at the audience. "Okay, people, who do you think should win?"
"Team B," my father bellowed.
"Team A," another man shouted. "I liked it when she bitch-slapped the camera guy."
There were choruses of "Team D" and "Team B" until I thought my head might explode.
"For the love of God," Bunny screeched at Danny. "Just read the damn name!"
"The winner is," Danny Durango announced, "Team B."
Josie screamed so loud I thought I might go deaf. We wrapped our arms around each other with her sobbing hysterically in my ear. People started running at us from all directions. The whole scene was similar to a stampede. An old man grabbed me in a tight hug and refused to let go until a security guard led him away. Team C and D ran over to hug and congratulate us. My mother and father flew out of the audience, and my father lifted me up in his arms to give me a bear hug.
Baked to Death (Cookies & Chance Mysteries Book 2) Page 14
