A Deadly Bridal Shower (The Pink Cupcake Mysteries Book 2)

by Harper Lin

  Watching Adam get off a few pictures on his digital camera made Amelia wonder where all the time had gone. Wasn’t he just a baby yesterday? He turned around and gave her that pitiful look all teenagers had perfected.

  “I better go,” he mumbled, forcing only the tiniest grin.

  “Thank you for helping me,” Amelia said, standing in his way. “We’ll talk about your party, and I’m sure we’ll come up with something.”

  Reluctantly, he smiled and nodded his head.

  “Everything looks great, Mom!” he called out over his shoulder as he jogged back to where his father was parked.

  “Hi, Mom!” yelled Meg from inside the car.

  Amelia smiled, waved, and blew kisses as the car pulled away.

  Chapter Five

  Amelia walked over to where Darcy and Lila were standing. After a few routine compliments about the decorations and everyone’s appearance, Amelia asked when they’d like the cupcakes served.

  “Oh, you know, we’ve got the place for about three hours. We’re enjoying our premeal cocktails now. Then we’ll all have lunch, with more cocktails.” Darcy giggled and gave Amelia a gentle nudge with her elbow. “There are a few more games to play. I think whenever they want them, maybe they could help themselves. Just walk up to the truck? Or could you put them on the table over here? That would be perfect. Right, Mom?”

  Tabitha whirled around, even more wobbly than before, batted her eyelashes, and smiled broadly.

  “Anything you like, dear. My daughter, the police officer. She’s going to be married. She’s not a baby anymore.” Tabitha’s eyes welled.

  “Mom, I’ve been carrying a gun to work for the past four years.” Darcy looked at Amelia and Lila, rolling her eyes high up into her head. “I’m going to end up bringing her to the station and throwing her in the drunk tank, I just know it.”

  “You just take care of your mom, and we’ll get the sweets.” Amelia laughed.

  Wishing the ladies a fun afternoon, she and Lila went back to the truck, grabbed the finished cupcakes, placed them in their displays on the table Darcy had indicated for the women to see, and listened to all the gushing exclamations.

  “Oh, wow!”

  “Those are so lovely!”

  “Can you eat the flowers?”

  “That will taste so good with my Manhattan!”

  Without drawing any extra attention to herself, Amelia slipped a small stack of business cards next to the pretty pink trays and walked back to the truck with Lila, but before she got two steps away from the partygoers, the sound of shouts and swearing came from the left.

  For a minute, Amelia thought someone was shouting at her. Who that she knew used that kind of language? No one. When she turned, she saw the offensive tirade was coming from Dana Foster, who was cornered near the back of the bar and as angry as a bear that had just been poked with a stick.

  “If you’re going to call me names, have the guts to say it to my face!” she shouted at the girl Amelia had seen crying with her two friends. It was pretty obvious from the way The Crier swayed that she had downed a few more drinks after she guzzled that beer.

  “What are you going to do about it?” The Crier spat, holding her arms out wide at her sides, one hand holding a pink drink that looked like a cosmopolitan. “It isn’t like you know how to do anything other than lie on your back. You’re not even a good waitress.”

  The Crier’s words were a little slurred, but everyone knew loud and clear what the meaning was. Dana didn’t seem fazed at all. Amelia stood stone still, not sure if she should get involved, leave it to the bridal party or the owner, or just go back to the truck.

  “Well, someone has to take care of Cole Hansen. Tell me again when you guys are supposed to get married? Oh, yeah. That’s right. He dumped you for me. Then I dumped him. I remember.” Dana nodded her head, her pretty blond hair bobbing up and down with it.

  Without warning, The Crier threw her cosmopolitan in Dana’s face. From where Amelia was standing, she could see it was obvious the second the liquid left the glass that The Crier regretted her action, but there was no use crying over spilled cosmos. She turned to make a quick getaway, but Dana was faster and more sober.

  With catlike reflexes, Dana grabbed a handful of The Crier’s hair, and the fight began. There were a few screams, half a dozen curse words, and finally the booming voices of police officer Darcy, the mother of the bride, and Rusty, who pulled Dana back by slipping his arm around her waist and yanking her away from her completely mismatched opponent. Shorty and The Smoker got in front of The Crier, who was really crying now, with her hair messed up and black streaks of mascara covering her cheeks. The guests were all on their feet, looking to see what had happened.

  Mrs. O’Toole was the only one who didn’t seem to care as she strolled casually up to the table of cupcakes, took one, and began to devour it as if she hadn’t eaten in a week. It must have been good because she took another one and headed back to her seat, her raincoat reflecting the red-and-blue Pabst Blue Ribbon light closest to the bar.

  “You get in the kitchen!” Rusty yelled at Dana.

  “She started it!” Dana pointed at The Crier. “She threw a drink at me after calling me a…”

  “I said get in the kitchen!” he barked, rubbing his face.

  Dana gave him a steamy glare and stomped off through the Employees Only door.

  “She should be fired!” The Crier yelled in between gulps of air.

  “What in the world happened out here?” Rusty said, looking at everyone standing around.

  “She jumped at me!”

  Amelia shook her head, but before she could say anything, Lila stepped up from behind her.

  “I’m sorry, but I think a little more than that took place.” She didn’t look at Amelia for permission but stepped right up to Rusty. “There was some kind of history between those two. Words were exchanged, yes, but I’m afraid this young lady threw her drink on your employee first.”

  “It’s true. I saw it,” Darcy concurred, nodding her head at Lila. “What in the world is the matter with you?” She looked at The Crier and shrugged her shoulders.

  The Crier just cried some more and let Shorty and The Smoker lead her to an unoccupied picnic table where she sat down.

  “Some black coffee might be in order.” Lila grinned at Rusty, touching him lightly on the arm. He gave her a serious wink before going behind the bar to put on a fresh pot.

  Darcy turned to her guests, smiling. There were other brides-to-be who would have been mortified over an altercation like this. They had made television shows about spoiled little girls who would freak out over a lesser offense like a broken nail or a droopy bouquet.

  “All right.” She shouted, “Let’s everybody remember what is important here…me…okay?” Her guests laughed. “I think it’s time we eat and open presents. Nothing makes people feel better quite like watching me open presents.”

  Even Amelia laughed as she and Lila went back to the truck.

  “I’ll guarantee this isn’t over,” Lila said once they were safely away from anyone overhearing them.

  “Why did you step up like that?”

  “Hey, you own this business. The last thing you need is getting involved in some petty catfight between the town harlot and part of the bridal party that has paid you to cater their event.” Lila looked out the truck window. “This storm is just getting started.”

  It appeared that things had begun to settle down and roll into a pleasant groove as the guests stuffed their faces with Rusty’s delicious burgers and fries. Presents were opened, and a million oohs and aahs could be heard as fancy cutlery and thick bathroom towels and all the other necessities that a newlywed couple needed to survive were unwrapped.

  Looking at her watch, Amelia yawned. She and Lila had cleaned up the truck and made a list of what they’d need for Monday. While they were discussing the menu, a bleary-eyed Tabitha Miller approached the open window with her daughter by her side.
/>   “Your cupcakes were wonderful,” she said. A long strand of her red hair fell across her face, and she brushed it back into place.

  “They really were,” Darcy piped up. “We are going to tell everyone we know about them.”

  “Yes, everyone,” Tabitha gushed, handing Amelia a check that was even more generous than the price they had agreed upon.

  “Tabitha, I think you may have miscalculated. We had agreed on…”

  “It’s a tip. I saw your children when they stopped by here.” She took her daughter’s hand. “Before you know it, they’ll be off with their own lives.”

  Amelia smiled, biting her tongue to keep her tears back.

  “Come on, Mama. No more gushy stuff.” Darcy looked at Amelia. “I have thugs and drunks calling me all kinds of names, taking swings at me, and I don’t bat an eye. My mom gets all sappy and it’s like Niagara Falls.” She wiped the tears from her eyes, and both women laughed. Without another word, they turned and went back to say good-bye to their guests, who were slowly starting to trickle their way out of the Twisted Spoke.

  As was common in Oregon, the weather had decided it was sunny enough. Gray clouds rode on a cool breeze to cover up the sun. All the ladies in their pretty dresses were now covering up with shawls and jackets.

  The Crier had thrown on a long trench coat and was quickly shuffling away as The Smoker and Shorty were calling her name. Without responding, The Crier climbed into her car and sped away. Her friends quickly followed suit.

  “Some of them really shouldn’t be driving,” Lila teased.

  “I was just thinking that.” Amelia laughed then looked down at the check. “Lila, I think you earned yourself a bonus. None of this would have happened if you hadn’t, well, thrown me into the deep end, so to speak.”

  “Nope. Tabitha is right. Use it for the kids. I told you, I’m not in this for the money. I’ve got money.” She grinned.

  Amelia huffed and stuffed the check into the front pocket of her jeans.

  “What about Rusty?”

  “What about him?” Lila cooed, inspecting her fingernails as if the cure for cancer might be found on the tips of her red nails.

  “Don’t give me ‘What about him?’” Amelia laughed. “I saw…”

  Both women stopped speaking.

  Everyone stood still, frozen by something they hadn’t seen but heard, loudly.

  The screaming started and seemed as if it would never stop.

  Chapter Six

  “She’s dead!” came the hysterical cries of an older woman wearing a Twisted Spoke T-shirt and an apron around her waist. “She’s dead in there!”

  Both Amelia and Lila went running toward the bar area, as did Rusty, who had been behind the bar, Darcy, her mother, and a handful of the remaining guests.

  “Rita, what are you talking about?” Rusty yelled. “Haven’t we had enough excitement for today without…”

  She was pointing at the ladies’ room door, her hand trembling madly and her eyes blank with horror.

  No one moved. Over the speakers, George Thorogood was croaking “Bad to the Bone.” Even Darcy, trained to handle emergencies and tragedies, stood stone still, as if she wasn’t sure she was even at her bridal shower anymore.

  Rusty slowly walked to the door, placing a thick hand on Rita’s shoulder as he passed her. He pushed open the bathroom door, and Amelia watched him as his face went white.

  “Call 9-1-1” was all he said.

  Darcy, who had worn a lovely cream-colored skirt with high heels, snapped into police mode and stomped up to Rusty, ready to push past him and the door marked “Ladies.”

  “You’re not going in there,” he grumbled.

  “I’m a cop and…”

  “And you are off duty. You’re not going in there.”

  It was obvious from Randy’s demeanor that he had had more than his fair share of staring contests with police. Darcy, a well-off girl from the suburbs who had turned “Blue,” was no match. Her mother took her by the hand, and within minutes, sirens could be heard quickly approaching.

  “Who is it?” Lila whispered to Amelia.

  “It’s Dana Foster,” Rusty stated.

  Amelia looked at Lila with wide eyes and shook her head no.

  The Twisted Spoke had shifted to a weird kind of slow motion only to rev up when the police and ambulance arrived. As if someone had poked a hornet’s nest, people were swarming around, making phone calls, pointing, waving their arms, and talking fast to police.

  A slow thaw took over from there just as the plain brown sedan Amelia had seen before pulled up. Detective Walishovsky and his partner Gus climbed out of the car and, with slow, deliberate steps, walked up to Rusty, shook his hand, and followed him toward the ladies’ room door.

  “You know what I just noticed?” Amelia said to Lila, who was sitting on the back step of the truck as they waited for their turns to talk with the detectives.

  “What’s that?” Lila sighed.

  “No one is crying.”

  Lila looked around, and her eyebrows shot up on her forehead.

  “Not a single person looks distraught over this except for poor Rita, who saw it, but even she isn’t crying.” Amelia scratched her head. “I know Dana had a reputation, but was she that despised?”

  “I didn’t like her because she was a punk, but I didn’t know her family. And the rumors, well, if they are all true, then I can believe someone finally did her in.”

  “Lila!” Amelia gasped.

  Shaking her head and shrugging her shoulders, Lila rolled her eyes.

  “It’s true.”

  Before Amelia could ask what Lila had heard that differed from what she had heard, Detective Dan Walishovsky sauntered up to them. He stopped for a second, looking at Amelia, then quickly turned his attention to Lila.

  “Good afternoon, ladies.” He sounded like he was starting a speech. “I’d like to talk to you both, if I could, for a few minutes.”

  “About what?” Lila joked.

  “Really, Lila, do you think that’s appropriate?” Amelia stammered. The presence of Detective Walishovsky made her nervous. Not in a suspect-trying-to-avert-the-law kind of way but in a strangely attracted kind of way. She didn’t want to be attracted to the detective. At her age, she should just be focusing on her children and her business, right? Who had the time or energy for a love life? What was she thinking? A love life at her age was almost vulgar. Almost.

  “I take it you knew the victim, Miss Bergman?”

  “I think, Detective, you might be hard pressed to find anyone in this town who didn’t know Dana Foster.” She inspected her fingernails. “It’ll be even harder for you to find someone who is going to miss her.”

  “Lila and I were here because we were hired to cater the dessert for Officer Darcy’s bridal shower. We were outside all day. Neither one of us were out of each other’s sight the whole time. This is really one for the books, isn’t it, Detective?”

  “What do you mean?” His tone was serious, but in his eyes, Amelia saw a smile.

  “A murder at a police officer’s party? Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke.”

  The detective nodded his head and smirked just as his partner was approaching. Amelia watched him, wondering what went on in his mind as he immersed himself in these grisly situations.

  “Dan, I’m coming up with nothing.” Eugene Gus was the younger and less experienced detective. Compared to Walishovsky, he was a pleasant and inviting fellow who was more like a car salesman than a detective. “The women still here claim they didn’t see or hear anything coming from the bathroom. No one saw her go in. From the look of it, the victim didn’t know what was happening until it was too late.”

  “Can I ask? What did happen?” Amelia’s eyes bounced from one man to the other, but her body leaned back slightly, as if she didn’t want to get any of their words on her for fear they might stain.

  “She had her head smashed and throat slit. Nearly decapitated her,” Eugen
e stated as if he had seen this happen a million times before. “Multiple stab wounds in the back. We won’t know exactly how many until the coroner takes a look.”

  Amelia stood with her mouth hanging open.

  “Her head was smashed and her throat was slit?” Lila gasped. “And she was stabbed?”

  “My gosh.” Amelia put her hand over her mouth. Sure, she was in the consensus that Dana was a mess, but you didn’t have to carry a badge to know that to have your throat slit and be stabbed was a sign of an intimate relationship gone bad. What had Dana done that warranted this?

  “I’ll ask you ladies to keep the details to yourselves,” Detective Walishovsky whispered. “This is going to be a mess in more ways than one.”

  “Why do you say that?” Amelia asked.

  “Dana Foster comes from a wealthy family. These are always a mess.”

  Eugene leaned in to his partner, and Amelia overheard the words he whispered. They broke her heart in a way she never would have imagined.

  “Do you want me to make the phone call to the parents, or do you want to do it?”

  “I’ll do it. They won’t be able to get back to town for a few days. We can get her cleaned up by then.”

  Nodding his head, Eugene waved over the paramedics who, wearing latex gloves and rolling a stretcher, headed toward the ladies’ bathroom.

  “I’m sorry, Dan, that you have to make that phone call.” Amelia comforted Detective Walishovsky and placed her hand on his arm. Calling him by his first name instead of “Detective” seemed the right thing to do, but she couldn’t deny it made her feel tingles up her spine. Tears wanted to well in her eyes as she thought of being a mother and getting a call like that. It tore at her heart. Biting her tongue, she kept the tears back.

  He nodded and squeezed her hand, holding on to it for a moment.