The Begonia Bribe

by Alyse Carlson

“She’s really not supposed to do that,” Cam said. She was sure Mindy knew better, but there was no reason to tell the girls that. “She probably didn’t know, but I’ll tell her, okay?”

  “Next year I’ll be a junior. I won’t be in the kiddie pool, so it won’t matter,” Lauren said.

  Cam frowned. Lauren seemed likely to be as shallow as her mother for the next two or three decades.

  Cam knelt and whispered to Lizzie, “After the pageant, would you like it if I disqualified you in the future? No more Little Miss because you were entered in the wrong county?”

  “Can you?”

  “Only if that’s what you want.”

  “Yes!” Lizzie flung her arms around Cam.

  Annie came downstairs in a comfortable-looking sundress. Cam wished she was the photographer instead of the event coordinator. Her own pencil skirt, blouse, and heels she’d been so fond of ten minutes earlier seeming achingly cumbersome.

  “Looks like you made a friend,” Annie said.

  “I’ll explain later.”

  Annie helped her load the girls in the Bug and they headed back to the pageant.

  CHAPTER 11

  When they arrived, Cam sent Annie and the girls to get supper.

  “Protect their outfits, will you?”

  “It’s spaghetti, what could happen?”

  Cam’s eyes went wide before she realized it was chicken Caesar salad, offered either in a wrap and as a salad. Annie was just scaring her.

  “You’re evil!”

  “No, I’m naughty. I thought I’d explained that difference.” Annie took both girls by the hands and headed toward the tent as Cam headed to the amphitheater to check on lighting and sound.

  When she went behind the curtain, Scooter was dozing across a large speaker. She poked him and he started, almost falling over.

  “Sorry, Miz Harris! Only . . . I’m working long hours!”

  “You’re done with the setup. Aren’t you just guarding a six-hour shift? Then this is four more—I mean—I know that’s a long day, but it’s not unreasonable.”

  “See, for setup, I took a couple vacation days from my other job. But I got back to that yesterday, so it’s that, plus the security.”

  “Oh!” Cam hadn’t thought this through. She’d sort of thought these ruffians weren’t employed.

  “Why are you working so much?”

  “My girlfriend is pregnant, so I’m trying to put a little money away.”

  “For an engagement ring?” Cam blurted.

  “I don’t think she cares about that, but her job doesn’t have insurance. It’s my baby, so I need to help her.”

  “Oh, right. Does your job have insurance?”

  “Yeah.”

  Cam stared at him. She didn’t want to say it. It was a stupid reason to get married, except that it really wasn’t—the cost of a baby was huge, and if the difference between insurance and no insurance was a ceremony, it seemed stupid not to do it.

  That, though, set her thinking about Rob. She was not the kind of woman to trap a man, but how ridiculous was it, with their four years and moving to Roanoke together, to not be talking about it, when it so easily came to mind as a recommendation for someone else? Did she think she was better than Scooter? That marriage for her was a bigger deal? She admitted she was a snob about some things, but she hoped not about things like this.

  It took her a while to pull herself back to the present. “So you guys have done the sound and light check?”

  “We have. We did it at four. Shift change made most sense, as only one extra person needed to show up. Dylan will be back at seven to actually run stuff.”

  “He ran it Tuesday night, too. Is he the only one who knows how?”

  Scooter shrugged. “Not me, anyway.”

  Cam looked at her watch, thanked Scooter, and went to get some supper. She filled her plate with salad and turned, hoping to spot Annie or Rob milling among the girls. Instead she spotted Barry Blankenship. She stifled a groan when she heard Lauren yell, “Daddy!” and run to him.

  Cam steeled herself and walked over, taking Lizzie’s hand as she let go of her dad, and trying to grab Lauren’s, though Lauren apparently thought she was too old for such nonsense from a non-parent.

  “Where’s your mother?” Barry asked.

  “Girls, can I talk to your dad a minute?”

  They both nodded and went back to their suppers as if nothing had happened.

  “Mr. Blankenship, you are not on the list. I’m glad you’ve come to watch your daughters, but the pageant has very strict rules.”

  “That a stranger watching them is better than their dad?”

  “I’m sure that’s not true, but I’m not a stranger—Mindy and I have known each other since high school.”

  “Right. So that’s why you’re their godmother . . . or where we leave them when we go on a romantic getaway?”

  “I’m guessing Mindy’s sister, Miranda, or one of her closer friends, is godmother, but they aren’t here. And I’m sure there haven’t been many romantic getaways since you started sleeping with Officer Quinn.”

  Barry’s mouth did a fish imitation, briefly, and Cam went on.

  “In fact, I would doubt Mindy should have gone anywhere with you since your last class reunion and your attempts to date Evangeline a few years ago.”

  “That was not what I was trying to do.”

  “Well, then why don’t you, Mindy, Evangeline, and I sit down and you can explain what it was you were trying to do.”

  “You seem awfully eager to misconstrue everything.”

  “No. Actually, I’d prefer you were a nice guy. I like Mindy and I adore your daughters. I’d rather you were worthy. But when your current girlfriend is trying to frame your not-yet-ex-wife for murder, it gets sort of hard to see the good.”

  “Murder? Mindy’s been . . . what?”

  Cam was half making stuff up now. There was no proof as to who had done the planting of evidence, but no other story made sense and this particular story seemed likely to make the biggest impact. Cam was only partially confident in her judgment of people, but she thought Barry looked legitimately surprised. She wondered what that meant, but she had too much to do to dwell on it, so she spun and walked away.

  She spotted Annie across the crowd taking pictures of the girls and made her way over to her.

  “So I just suggested to Barry the creep that his girlfriend had framed Mindy. You mind keeping an eye with me? If he’s in on it, nothing. If not, he should confront Officer Quinn at some point.”

  “You sure have fun friends,” Annie said.

  Cam rolled her eyes, but she knew Annie would help in spite of her sarcasm. She was a reliable friend and probably as curious as Cam was, even if she tried to hide it.

  Cam had to find a quiet spot in the trees to gulp down a few bites of supper. She wasn’t known for being a diligent eater, but the night they were having made it highly likely that she and her friends would drink heavily after the pageant as they debriefed from the evening.

  Debriefed. That sounded official; but when there was a murder involved, it was pretty official. That was when Cam realized she’d been so focused on helping Mindy that she hadn’t done a thing to help Dylan. She made a note to think about what she’d do as soon as the night was over. For now, she felt like she just had to survive the next few hours.

  * * *

  The talent presentations were as fraught with bickering as they’d been two nights earlier. Cam even heard a mother scolding a grandmother: “You are not to hex that girl!”

  Cam wished she could laugh, but she thought the ill-will was genuine.

  Lauren and Lizzie both had their chances to sing. Lauren had real talent, but Lizzie seemed to be mostly getting by on cuteness. She could carry a tune, but her voice was still childish—she reminded Cam a little of Shirley Temple.

  And then, as Vonnie LaPear, prima donna supreme, began a pretentious scene from Othello, Cam saw trouble in the judges’ box. J
udith Towers-Stevens had pushed Clancy Huggins in the shoulder; obviously the row from the afternoon hadn’t been settled. Judith had the decency not to shout, but as she was not supposed to be there—facing backward in front of the judges—it could hardly go unnoticed.

  Cam rushed over, jostling people as she hurried by.

  “Judith, can’t this wait?”

  “She didn’t wait!” Judith pointed to Jessica Benchly.

  “And what did she do?” Cam whispered, trying to transmit the message that Judith ought to speak just as quietly.

  Judith looked Cam up and down and then huffed. “Well, I’d hardly tell you.”

  “You’re causing a scene. I thought we agreed you needed some time off.”

  Judith pulled her shoulder away. “I don’t need babysitting.”

  Cam looked around helplessly. The woman did need babysitting, and Cam had a show to manage. She finally found Rob’s reliable face and pleaded with a glance.

  He came over, pulling out all his charm. He suggested he and Judith take a walk and talk. For all Cam knew, Rob would come out of the night with the scoop of the century, but he’d certainly helped her with a potential bomb, so she thought he deserved it.

  Things fell back into routine and Cam tried to relax. The smug expression on Jessica Benchly’s face, though, was too much to handle. Cam made her way to her.

  “So what set Judith off so badly?”

  “Serotonin imbalance?”

  “That you caused?”

  “How could I cause that?”

  “Jessica, don’t play dumb. Serotonin imbalance was a good answer—smart—sarcastic. But it destroyed your ability to fool me into thinking you’re an innocent idiot.”

  “Telly left some money in a trust for me. Judith won’t have it. I just expressed my willingness to display . . . the true Telly if she refused.”

  “And what was the true Telly? Brutal? Corrupt?”

  “No and yes, but what I was really getting at was pretty.”

  She held up her phone to Cam and flashed a display. Telly Stevens stood with his hands on his hips. He was wearing a bra of sorts with what Cam would call a Tanga panty—it was more revealing than she cared to look at, but the phone was snatched away before Cam had time to avert her eyes.

  Clancy Huggins looked furious. “This was not for your games.”

  Jessica pouted and Cam stared back and forth.

  “Were you blackmailing Telly Stevens?” Cam asked.

  “Of course I wasn’t!” Jessica said.

  Clancy stalked off with Jessica’s phone, even though the next break wasn’t for ten more minutes.

  “How did he . . .” Cam began, but Jessica sat back.

  “I’m apparently in trouble. Never mind,” Jessica said. She turned away and wouldn’t answer any more questions, though she didn’t hide her satisfied smile.

  * * *

  Cam had to do some deep breathing, and still her thoughts wouldn’t sort. After the show, she went behind the stage curtain. She just wanted to hide.

  “Tough day?” Dylan asked.

  “You could say that.”

  “What did step-monster blow up over?”

  That was funny to Cam. It was how Annie sometimes referred to her father’s wife.

  “I think to call her step-monster, your father would have needed to claim you.”

  “Hey, if the slime fits . . .”

  “Jessica is trying to blackmail her for a piece of the inheritance.”

  Dylan nodded. “Seems the type. Blackmail-worthy material?”

  “If step-monster cares about Telly’s reputation.” Cam kind of liked the word.

  “Which she shouldn’t. Guy was an ass.”

  “What I don’t get is why . . . if you had means to blackmail somebody into compliance . . . you’d kill them.”

  “So you think she was the killer?”

  “I don’t know who I think the killer was.”

  “Not me, though, right?” Dylan sat next to her. She could smell he’d been under the hot lights in late July, but it was strangely less unpleasant than baseball stink. Their thighs touched and it occurred to Cam that flight might be a smart idea.

  “I don’t have a reason to think so, no. And I see some suspicious things in other places. I haven’t had time to poke too far, but at the very least, I think I could help a reasonable doubt campaign already.”

  “That’s my girl!” He kissed her forehead, then stood.

  It was such an odd, grateful, but non-sexual gesture that Cam felt wrong-footed. She’d always felt he might push the boundaries and she’d have to put on the brakes. Instead, at the moment when she might have been tempted to kiss him, he’d passed it by, offering instead familial gratitude.

  She rose and headed back out to Rob. He seemed to have gotten Judith calmed and back to the television booth. He gave her a questioning look.

  “Where were you?”

  “Just getting out of the public eye a little.”

  “Behind the stage?”

  Cam nodded.

  “With that Dylan guy?”

  Cam hadn’t even realized Rob knew who was back there.

  “Well . . . he was there, but I wasn’t with him.”

  “Annie went to the dressing room for the girls,” Rob said.

  The girls. How had she forgotten that, for the moment, she was responsible for two little people? “Great. Thanks.”

  Rob hugged her, nuzzling her neck. It felt strangely wrong after the chaste forehead kiss.

  “Let’s find them. Can Jake meet us? I think we can give him an earful.”

  “Oh, and he’ll love that,” Rob said. Cam stared back. He was usually above sarcasm.

  “We didn’t go looking for it. It just happened.” Cam felt defensive. Her work had solved the spring murders—the police had had wrong suspects across the board. It bothered her that Jake would still see her as interfering. Still, sharing with him was likely to get him to share back, so that was something. And it really was his job, not hers, to solve the murder.

  After Rob talked to Jake, he relayed the message they could all meet at Cam’s. The girls would need to be put to bed if Mindy didn’t arrive soon. He and Jake would handle snacks. Cam nodded and Rob left. Her forehead burned, making her frown. She was too old for baseless crushes. She went to find Annie.

  “Ready, Freddie?” Annie asked as Lizzie came out of the dressing area with her stuff.

  Lizzie giggled. “I’m not Freddie.”

  “Are you Betty?” Annie asked.

  Lizzie giggled some more. The two played the game for almost five minutes before Lauren emerged.

  “I want to see my mom,” she said.

  “Hopefully soon. She asked if you could stay with me until she sorted this out. Is that okay?” Cam said.

  “Can we watch a movie?” Lizzie asked.

  “Only until eleven. You have interviews with the judges tomorrow, so we need to be back here by nine in the morning.”

  Lizzie scrunched her face, but once Lauren agreed, Lizzie yielded.

  “Okay. Let’s go!”

  “Who’s an airplane?” Annie shouted, and rushed off toward the car with her arms out to the side, buzzing loudly. Lizzie followed immediately. Lauren looked at Cam, but finally gave in and ran after them. Cam wondered how it was possible Annie wasn’t a parent. That brought feelings of guilt, though. Petunia was about to be a parent, and Cam had been the world’s most negligent sister and aunt. She resolved to go online soon and order a fabulous aunt gift, whatever that entailed.

  * * *

  Unfortunately, when she crossed her threshold, it was all she could do just to get Lauren and Lizzie washed up and ready for bed.

  “When is our mom coming back?” Lizzie said.

  “As soon as she can.”

  “Why can’t we stay with Dad?” Lauren asked.

  Cam wondered how much to lie so these girls would blame the rules instead of their mother. They were smart, and she didn’t want to get
caught in the lie. Then again, who was going to negate what Cam said about pageant rules?

  “See, the pageant has rules that only the parent who checks you in can take you anywhere, so without your mom to take you to your dad’s, I can’t do it.”

  Lizzie nodded, though Lauren looked a little suspicious.

  “Do you girls take baths at night?” Cam asked.

  “I do,” Lizzie said.

  “I usually shower in the morning,” Lauren said.

  “Can Annie help me when I have to rinse my hair?” Lizzie asked.

  “I think so.” Cam looked at Annie.

  Cam started the bath, then settled the girls into her room. The futon was comfortable enough for one night, and she felt better with the girls in a back room rather than the front. She had a small television in her room and got Lauren watching, stopped the bath, and let Lizzie get in.

  “You holler when Lizzie needs Annie’s help, would you?” she said to Lauren.

  Lauren nodded without looking away from the TV. Cam thought maybe her mom limited TV viewing more than Cam was but wasn’t sure how else to entertain them. She turned on a small lamp, turned off the overhead, then joined her friends in the front room.

  “I am so not ready to parent!” Cam said as she sank onto the futon between Annie and Rob.

  Rob looked startled for a minute, but didn’t say anything.

  “I mean, how does a person find time to deadhead the roses and camellias between a day job and taking care of children?” Cam asked.

  Annie and Rob looked at each other and shook their heads, but at least Cam had calmed the parental panic she worried she’d sparked. The three were nearly zombies until Jake tapped the door and let himself in. It had taken months for Cam and Annie to train him that that was just how they did it—friends just entered.

  “Chinese!” Annie jumped to life when she saw the bags he was carrying. “Pot stickers?”

  “Always.” Jake grinned and kissed her.

  He put down his array on the chest Cam used for both a coffee table and a footrest. Cam retrieved plates and a mixed six-pack of beer.

  “Annie? Lizzie needs you,” Lauren said from the door.

  Annie gave each of them an unmistakable leer. “Right. I get two of those six pot stickers or somebody dies.”