Weddings And Wickedness: Gold Valley Mysteries, #2 3c5t2u

Weddings and Wickedness

Gold Valley Mysteries, Volume 2

April Browne

Published by Corbett Publishing, 2021.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

WEDDINGS AND WICKEDNESS

First edition. March 15, 2021.

Copyright © 2021 April Browne.

ISBN: 978-1393033578

Written by April Browne.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Weddings and Wickedness (Gold Valley Mysteries, #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Thank You

About the Author

The Cemetery Turkeys

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins | Keto-ish Chocolate Zucchini Muffins | Ingredients

Recipe

Sign up for April Browne's Mailing List

Also By April Browne

About the Author

To my family

Hey, new reader friend! Make sure to keep in touch to find out about my books. I offer my reader group sneak peeks, the occasional giveaway, adorable dog pictures, and many other cool things that are just for my inner circle of readers. Follow me on FaceBook or my reader group. https://www.facebook.com/AprilBrowneFiction http://AprilBrowneFiction.com/updates

Copyright © 2020 by April Browne Cupcakes and Crime Gold Valley Mysteries, Book 1 By April Browne Cover Design by Melody Simmons

License Notes This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold.

All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. Published by April Browne. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, April Browne at [email protected] For more information please visit AprilBrowneFiction.com

Chapter 1

Like her mother before her, Sophia Bell was a witch, but thanks to the therian father she’d never met, she wasn’t a very skilled one. Still, her fox reflexes had given her the edge she had needed to save herself from getting shot earlier that summer. Now though, she wanted to ignore all of that and focus on keeping her bakery running in order to pay her three employees. Staying away from murder investigations was pretty high on her list, too. Even if that meant driving out to Blue Heron Casino in the middle of nowhere for her biggest wedding order yet. With Makayla because her parents didn’t trust the girl to drive on the windy roads. Sophia pushed the delivery truck to its limits as she wound through the oak treelined road. On either side of it, a ditch plunged ten feet if it were an inch. Trees parted occasionally, revealing cows grazing or endless rows of grapevines. Makayla glanced up from her phone just in time to see the van drifting across the yellow line to avoid the plunging ditch. “And my parents didn’t trust me to drive out here in a Prius.” Sophia’s phone pinged. Keeping her left hand on the delivery van’s wheel, she reached for the phone. “You are the worst. Driving with one hand, using your phone with the other.” Makayla’s eye roll was practically audible. “My parents make me lock my phone in the trunk when I drive.” Sophia squinted as she swiped the email open with her thumb. Your cakes are delicious. Everyone knew that. She scrolled down. “Put the phone down.” Makayla’s voice cracked. But Sugar Queen’s way cheaper. Another cancellation. Sophia sucked air in through her teeth.

“Just drive.” Makayla took the phone out of Sophia’s hand. “If you don’t kill us, my parents will for you playing on your phone with me in the van.” “I was working. It was a work email.” Sophia put her right hand back on the wheel. “You were trying to kill us. We’re on this windy road, doing seventy—” “I’ve been driving a lot longer than you.” Sophia tapped the brakes as she came around a downhill curve. “So? I’ve heard you complain about how this monster gets away from you.” Sophia fought the urge to roll her eyes. Here, the fields had long since turned yellow from the summer heat and the occasional cows clumped around creeks. Sophia sighed. She may as well tell the kid. “Sugar Queen sniped another order.” “What’s that mean?” Makayla asked. “It means I might have to cut back on people’s hours around the shop.” Sophia glanced at Makayla. “If she keeps underbidding me, I might have to let someone go.” Sophia’s cheeks warmed, meaning her pale skin glowed bright red. They both knew who that someone would be. Still, it wasn’t like Makayla needed the job. Besides, even if she was great with people, she was a nightmare in the kitchen. “Then bid lower.” Sophia shook her head. “If I knew how she was bidding so low and paying everyone, I’d do it, too.” At least if she could do it without cutting corners. Rosemary, who owned Sugar Queen, couldn’t be using magic since she didn’t have any. And as for cheaper ingredients, Mama had taught Sophia to make sure she always worked with the best. She’d been experimenting with different suppliers, but there was something to be said about quality. “Our desserts are better. Doesn’t that matter?” Makayla said.

“I hate Rosemary.” Sophia chewed her lip. The trees up ahead looked familiar. “Still, whatever she’s doing, it can’t be legit.” Makayla snorted. “Giving away cupcakes away for free isn’t helping.” Sophia’s cheeks grew even hotter. “Just one man. And he did save my life.” A small brown sign with a bird silhouette peeked out from between some trees. Just beyond it was a small gap in the oaks lining the road. “I heard you’d already knocked the gun free when that detective and the SWAT team—” Sophia stomped the breaks and cranked the wheel to turn down the casino’s narrow service driveway, making both Makayla and the tires squeal. “Told you we’d be early.” She grinned as she pulled up beside a food truck and threw the delivery van into park. “My parents were wrong.” Makayla released the handle over the door. “I so should have driven myself.” “This thing has a mind of its own.” Sophia pulled the lever by her feet to pop open the back. “Besides, I’m your boss.” When Makayla poked at her phone, Sophia pulled the keycard she’d picked up two days ago out of the glove box. She knew when she was being ignored. After the tragedy at the Magnolia Winery in the summer, Sophia had been extra careful with her magic. Since she didn’t need anybody else dying because of a magic induced confession, she made sure not a drop of extra honesty was in those cupcakes or the cake. Not to mention Lemon and Courtney had made the cookie dough, so no magic there. As Sophia’d stirred the cake batter, she’d focused on feelings of joy and love, imagining the way that Minnie and Daisy looked at her. Their heads cocked to the side, and their gray beards full of grass. Her furry girls were the epitome of true love. They loved her no matter what she did or how many hours she worked at the bakery. Of course, the treats might have something to do with it. “You okay?” Makayla stuck her phone in her pocket.

“Just hoping that this goes better than my last big event.” Sophia hopped out of the van. The scent of cigarette smoke lingered, even outside the casino. “You mean when you and Lemon found that body?” Makayla climbed out of the van, holding on to the handle for . “That sounded so cool.” “Like the opposite of cool.” Sophia smacked the Mama Ginger’s logo on the side of the van as she and Makayla walked to the back of the truck. “Let’s get this cake put together.” And avoid finding any dead bodies, Sophia added silently. She’d had enough murder investigations for one lifetime. Maybe she could even get Makayla to be a useful employee for once. Sophia opened the ramp and loaded the base layer of the cake onto the cart, and then she added serving utensils. Makayla helped stabilize the cart as they wheeled it down. “Do you need any help?” A woman stomped out a cigarette. That explained where the smoke was coming from. Sophia jumped. The cake knife bobbled in her hands. Sofia could use some of her own comfort cookies. Makayla took the knife and set it on the cart. The girl was growing up. “I’m Ellie. The maid of honor.” The woman waited with a smile on her face. No reason for Sophia to get startled. Not like anyone was getting murdered today. Ellie hadn’t changed into her bridesmaid dress yet. Instead, she wore jeans and a button-down blouse with a giant purse pinned under her arm. Her long, blonde hair was piled high up on her head with tight curls spilling out. Pointed ears seemed to poke through the curls, then the curls shifted, breaking the illusion. Pointed ears. What was Sophia thinking? Even if the bride’s family was cat therians, the bride’s friends weren’t, were they? She was still new to the whole therian thing, but when Detective Schmidt tried to get her alone to talk about it, her heart started pounding and she couldn’t focus on magic. So, she ran away, making a lamer excuse every time. “I’m so glad you’re here.” Ellie started to bring a hand to her head, as if to run her fingers through her hair, then stopped just short of ruining her curls. “Anna’s

starting to get antsy. Thinks there will be some sort of disaster.” “Every bride does.” Sophia forced a laugh, but it sounded too fake. She needed to get out of her head and stop thinking about dead bodies. There wouldn’t be any deaths here. “I’m sure everything will go just fine,” Makayla said. “The desserts we brought are delicious.” “And you have everything you need?” Ellie chewed her lip. “We haven’t had much chance to look around yet since checking it out the other day, but we should.” Sophia turned to go back up the ramp to grab one of the cupcake carriers. The less trips back and forth, the better. She didn’t like to leave the refrigerator running any longer than she needed to because it ate up a lot of gas. That money was better spent keeping the lights on in the shop and at home. “Are you sure?” Ellie grabbed the cart as if to help push it inside. “If there’s anything you need, anything at all—” “We’ve got it.” Makayla grabbed the opposite handle. “She’s right.” Sophia patted the maid of honor on the back, though she wasn’t so sure she trusted Makayla. If only she could have brought Lemon or Courtney, but Lemon was keeping the shop open and wedding planning was Courtney’s second job. Which meant she'd be around here somewhere. “Stop worrying.” Makayla smiled, her brown eyes sparkling. Despite being a teenager and horrible in the kitchen, Makayla was good with customers. “This is our job, not yours.” “It’s my job to worry so Anna doesn’t have to.” Ellie smiled again, but it didn’t reach her eyes. And her eyes had makeup caked under them, hiding bags. “I thought that was Courtney’s job?” Sophia asked even as she spotted her friend walking out of the small door that led to the bridal changing room. “The wedding planner has so much else to do—” “That I couldn’t help my friends from Mama Ginger’s?” Courtney smiled.

Where Ellie’s smile was tight and forced, Courtney’s was warm and genuine. She wore an emerald, flowy dress which along with her dark hair waved in the breeze. “I’m doing just fine, though the chairs should have been here by now. Still, you should be helping Anna and the others get ready.” “But what if—” “Nothing will go wrong with the dessert. We’ve got everything ready to go.” Makayla patted the cart. “Cake and cupcakes, check.” “The cookie dough for the dessert bar is prepped, and we’ve got enough sheet pans to keep the cookies coming—nice and ooey gooey, just like the groom requested.” Sophia grinned. “Trust me. Nothing could go wrong on our end.” Sophia would regret those words like, as Lemon would say, a cocker spaniel eating a ton of chocolate. Still, Ellie took them at face value and agreed to go check on the bride. Sophia turned to Courtney. “You’ve got this wedding planner thing down, soon you won’t need any hours at Mama Ginger’s at all.” “Don’t be silly. This is a nice side gig, but it’s not steady work. Besides, my daughter’s about to transfer to the four year.” Courtney shuddered and hefted the chocolate fountain box. “I don’t know how I’m going to afford that.” “Guess we’re on camera.” Makayla pointed out a sign showing a video camera that noted public areas of the casino were recorded. Then she shoved the cart into the kitchen. Sophia yanked her away from a steaming pot of soup before Makayla could knock an open jar of minced garlic into it. The poor girl had to be cursed. If only Sophia had Mama Ginger’s gift of the Sight, she’d been able to see curses around people and unravel them. After two years of employing the teen, Sophia felt she should fix the girl’s kitchen problems. If only so she didn’t accidentally poison someone. They pushed the cart to a metal table the caterers had left open for them to assemble the cake. The Edwards had gone all out. A multi-tiered cake, dozens of

Sophia’s famous Never-the-Rose cupcakes, and a plethora of cookies for a dessert bar. After carrying in two more full carts, Sophia almost sighed with relief that Makayla hadn’t caused any kitchen mishaps when the scent of sugar filled Sophia’s nose. And it wasn’t from anything on her cart. She twirled, looking for the source. Makayla stood next to the head caterer, who had a jar in his hands, heading towards a sheet pan full of steaks. “You know that’s sugar, right?” Sophia pulled Makayla to the swinging door to the conference room before the caterer could react. They’d just about finished setting up, anyway. “The ceremony hasn’t even started and we are ready to go.” “Only because Courtney helped us.” Makayla turned back towards the kitchen, as if to go to the parking lot. “I’m going to take a break before everything starts.” “Seriously?” Sophia grabbed her by the arm to make sure the girl didn’t cause any more chaos. The girl had to be cursed. How else could her mere presence make the caterer grab sugar instead of steak seasoning? “There’s a whole casino to check out.” “And I’m not twenty-one.” “You only have to be eighteen to gamble. They don’t serve alcohol here.” Makayla hesitated. “Come on. We’re just in the caterer’s way.” Sophia dragged Makayla out of the kitchen and into the conference room then froze in wonder. Floor to ceiling windows dominated the west side of the conference room. These were punctured by open sliding glass doors. Two of the caterers bustled around the conference room, spreading tablecloths on the round tables filling the massive room. In the adjacent lawn, a small stage stood beneath a white lattice arch. A bronzecolored carpet stretched from the conference room’s double doors to the stage. Beyond that, grapevines and orchards filled the rolling hills as far as the eye could see, other than the solid border of oak trees that blocked the view of the

road. The illusion of endless countryside was perfect. “Oh. Emm. Gee.” Makayla stared out at the view, frozen in awe just like Sophia. “No kidding.” Sophia laughed. “As if I’d ever have the money to get married here.” “Lemon would say you have to find a man for that first,” Makayla said straightfaced. “She’s pretty good at that.” Sophia snickered. “Didn’t she just have a date with John the other night?” “She said he’s not the keeper type.” Makayla flashed her oh-so-perfect smile. “Speaking of which.” Without saying a word, Sophia hurried out the double doors that led to the elevators. No way was she going to bring him up now. “You’re telling me that detective isn’t the keeper type?” Makayla raced after her. “Something is going on with you two.” “Nothing.” Sophia pushed the button for the elevator, eyes downcast. She refused to talk about her lack of love life with a teenager. “Nothing’s going on with us.” “Come on! He doesn’t come into the shop every morning for a free cupcake. If he ate all the cupcakes you give him, he’d be ginormous.” Sophia opened and closed her mouth, trying to think of something to say, when the elevator doors opened. A girl in a tight, gold dress clung to a man like bread dough to your fingers. A transparent, yellow cat’s tail flicked back and forth, poking out the bottom of the girl’s too-short skirt. A cat therian like the bride. Flushed, the couple pulled apart. The woman, despite her trim form, had to be in her fifties. The man late twenties or early thirties. Sophia snapped her mouth shut.

“Come on, Noah. We’ve got time to go back up to the room.” The woman tugged the man’s arm as he tried to step out of the elevator. “The bridal party is supposed to meet twenty minutes before the ceremony starts.” The man frowned at her hand on his arm. “I doubt Anna’s even in her dress yet.” While the woman tugged her gold dress down, the man darted out. Lips pressed into a narrow line, the woman stepped out of the elevator. Sophia yanked Makayla into the elevator before the couple could notice her staring. “Victoria, this has been fun, but neither of us expected this to last.” “What are you talking about?” Victoria examined her makeup in her compact’s mirror. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.” She lowered the mirror and frowned. “This is because of Ellie, isn’t it?” The elevator doors shut. “Oh my god! That was awesome!” Makayla squealed. “I don’t know.” Sophia pushed the button for the casino floor. “She said because of Ellie.” Makayla waited a moment, and once the elevator started moving, pushed the button for the conference room. “So?” Sophia pulled out her wallet. “Do you think?” “What?” Sophia snorted. “A love triangle between them and the maid of honor? As if. Things are never that juicy.” “You’re kidding, right? They’re so going to the Edwards wedding. I’m going back down. I’ve got to know more.”

Sophia chewed her lip. Even though the drama was tempting and she wanted to keep the girl out of trouble, Sophia had enough drama in her life. She did not want to get caught eavesdropping on the groomsman and Victoria. Besides, what trouble could Makayla get into in a short break?

Chapter 2

Sophia walked onto the floor of the casino. Smoke stung her eyes and burned her nose, which had become so sensitive since that night at Magnolia Winery when she’d stumbled into her therian magic. Still, she’d brought twenty dollars to feed the slots. She set a timer on her phone. If she left Makayla alone for too long, then she’d destroy the kitchen just as surely as Sophia’s dogs would. As much as she loved her fur babies—and Makayla, she supposed—she didn’t trust any of them in a kitchen alone. Not to mention, casinos made you lose track of time. Besides, with the way her senses sometimes swung into hyper-focus, she could get lost in all the flashing lights and awful smells. If only Lemon were here. Her bestie, for sure, would have wanted to come gambling with her after driving all the way out into the middle of nowhere to the Indian casino. Still, no way she would trust Makayla to cover the shop without someone to man the kitchen. Sophia shouldn’t have assumed that Makayla would stick with her if they had time to gamble. Didn’t eighteen-year-olds like rebelling and pushing limits? But, outside of the kitchen, Makayla was so responsible. And Lemon’s take on the elevator drama would have been better too. Yeah, Makayla wanted to snoop more, which would be great if Sophia didn’t need to avoid trouble like a fox avoided the hunter’s hound. But Lemon would have had her own thoughts on it, without having to follow to see if they were talking about Ellie. Or else she would have helped Sophia stick to her resolve to back off the gossip and avoid anything too crazy. Yeah, right. Better see if she could find some penny slots. This dollar slot business would eat her money faster than the junior college’s students ate her comfort cookies during finals week. Sophia wove her way through the slots. Just beyond the main lobby, a flashing seven-foot-tall and eight-foot-wide game caught her attention. A giant cartoonstyle fishing rod covered the top of the game. An animated fish swam through the many screens on the slot machine. Only two of the six stools in front of the oversized game were occupied.

It wasn’t a penny slot, but it looked fun. And she could use some fun. So, Sophia sat, leaving an empty stool between her and the man stubbing out a cigarette that was little more than a butt. She fed the machine her twenty, hit max bet—four dollars—then pulled the fishing rod that served as the handle. A dozen potential winning lines shone across the screen: straight across, diagonal, and zig-zag. Fish in rainbow colors pinged into their squares. Behind her, a man said, “She’s hiding something from me.” Three winning lines illuminated on the board, flashing like she’d won. Instead, she’d lost three bucks, but the machine called it winning a dollar. Sophia rolled her eyes. “Cold feet, Zekie-boy,” an older man said. Zekie-boy? As in Zeke, the groom? Sophia strained to hear what was going on. She’d already hit her max willpower by avoiding the groomsman gossip. “Dad, I’m not a kid anymore. I bought a house, I’m getting married, and—” “But you’re working in this rats’ nest.” Sophia pulled the fishing rod lever again. “I just showed you my office. I’m their ant.” A handful of lines illuminated. She'd won back three of her four dollars. Better, but still down. How did Doris do it? Sophia hadn’t even hit even yet. The groom spoke again. “It’s not like I’m out here dealing blackjack in my underwear.” “You could be a lawyer like—” “Noah’s not all sunshine and rainbows, either.” The groom walked off, leaving Sophia craning her head to catch sight of them on their way to the elevators. She stared after the groom and his salt and pepper father. They stuck out in their tuxedos, already dressed for the wedding. What could the groom be worried

about when he had this huge wedding planned? Was the bride hiding something from him? Should she follow them to find out? No. She was avoiding gossip and drama. She wasn’t eavesdropping—anymore— today. “Friends of yours?” the smoker asked. “Just an interesting conversation.” Sophia pulled the lever again. “I guess I just can’t help being nosy.” This time, fishing poles flashed on her screen in a line—triggering the multiplayer mode that had drawn her attention. Lights flashed overhead, lines lit up, fish swam across the screens. At one point there was even a treasure chest and a bucket of bait. The bucket of bait dumped out and Sophia realized that the community game ate up almost all her money, and in a couple more pulls her twenty disappeared. “Bad luck.” The man lit another cigarette. “Everyone always wins something on the group game.” Sophia sighed. She still had time on her timer, but she’d used up the whole twenty she’d earmarked for the casino. Might as well go see what damage Makayla had caused on her break.

THE convention room had become a hive of activity. The caterer’s staff was now laying out place settings in an elaborate dance. One worker would come through with an armload of plates, and behind them another would set out napkins, while the third wore an apron full of silverware. The DJ had arrived and was carting equipment to the corner behind the dance floor. Courtney almost hit him as she paced the dance floor, waving one hand in the air and clutching the other to her ear. “What do you mean the chair service doesn’t include set-up? Your website says it does.” She paced some more. “Saying your website is wrong is bad business. If you promise a service, you deliver.” On the patio, sweat soaked through the groomsmen’s undershirts as they scrambled to set up hundreds of white folding chairs before the guests arrived. “That’s the whole reason we rented your chairs instead of using the casino’s.” Courtney groaned. “No, I don’t want a discount next time I use you. If that driver doesn’t come back and set up the chairs before the ceremony, I’m not using you again and I’ll tell all of my clients and fellow planners that you don’t keep your word.” Right next to the dessert table the groom and one of the groomsman, maybe even Noah from the elevator, glared at each other, arguing too softly for Sophia to hear. She couldn’t find Makayla anywhere in this mess. So, the girl had to be taking her break in the kitchen. If Sophia didn’t go save the meal from Makayla’s bad luck, she had no clue what would happen. It might already be too late. As she made it to the kitchen door, the bridesmaids spilled out of the bridal changing room. Two still wore their normal clothes, but the other three bridesmaids had already changed into muddy yellow dresses. They wouldn’t have been so bad if they’d been a bright, cheerful yellow. “She wants Starbucks?” the bridesmaid with jet-black hair said. “Is there even a Starbucks inside the casino?” “She says after all that champagne she needs the caffeine and only Starbucks will do.” The woman tossed her head, but since her purple hair was in a tight

French twist, the effect was lost. “I think this is her wedding day freak out,” Ellie sai, still in her jeans. “I mean, she is getting married. It’s a pretty big deal.” “Jitters, I guess,” the purple-haired woman said. “But do we all have to go get her something different?” The bridesmaid with the big-framed glasses that nearly matched her mustardcolored dress looked around with wide eyes. “It’s like she’s trying to get rid of us.” Sophia tuned them out. Yeah, the bride having jitters after the groom was worried she was hiding something was interesting, but the pull of the groom’s argument with the groomsman was magnetic. The two men glared at each other, having paused their argument when the bridesmaids swarmed out. What had they arguing about? Once she checked on Makayla, she’d have to set up the dessert bar. If setting up the chocolate fondue let her eavesdrop, oh well. She’d already resisted so many juicy opportunities that day. Makayla shoved the swinging door from the kitchen, almost hitting Sophia. “Don’t be mad, but the cake knife’s missing.” “What?” Sophia whirled on the girl. Under her tan, Makayla had gone pale. “I swear I put it on the cart, but when I double checked—I swear, I didn’t screw this up.” Anger welled in Sophia, but she swallowed it down as best she could. The girl’s clumsiness hadn’t extended to losing things before. And Makayla’s till always came up right at the end of her shift. Other than her bad luck in the kitchen, she was so much more responsible than Sophia or Lemon had been at that age. If the knife had gone missing, then it couldn’t be Makayla’s fault. “I know I made sure it was on the cart.” Makayla blinked rapidly, her eyes shining with unspilled tears.

“It’s okay.” Sophia waited for her words to land. When Makayla made eye , the blinking stopped. “Really? You’re not going to fire me? I mean you were talking about Sugar Queen stealing—” “If business tanks so bad that I have to let you go, I will help you find another job that doesn’t involve cooking.” Sophia forced a smile. “Are you sure you’re not cursed?” Makayla laughed. “Like those are real.” Sophia took a deep breath. Curses were real and dangerous. If someone had cursed the girl, Sophia should try to unravel it before it got any worse. “Someone on the caterer’s staff might have moved it. Check with them. I’m going to set up the dessert bar.” Makayla wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “You’re okay, but wash your hands again before you touch anything in the kitchen.” Sophia patted Makayla on the back and, when the girl ducked back into the kitchen, headed to the dessert bar for a helping of eavesdropping. “It’s not like I wanted this to happen,” the groomsman said, resuming the argument once the bridesmaids were out of earshot. Sophia smoothed the tablecloth. With the table tucked into the corner, watching the argument was difficult, but not impossible. “I’m the one getting married here,” Zeke said. “But you’re the lucky one. Mom and Dad are so proud of you. ‘Why didn’t you go to law school like your brother?’ Never mind that you’re in student debt up to your eyeballs. ‘You could be successful like Noah.’” Sophia tried to keep her eyes focused on setting up the chocolate fountain, but she could listen while she worked. “I can’t help how our parents feel,” Noah said coolly. “It’s like you’re trying to ruin my life. Like winning so much at the slots my bosses think I’m helping you somehow.”

Sophia resisted the urge to freeze and, instead, unscrewed the cap for chocolate and oil mixture. She’d measured it out ahead of time so she wouldn’t spend hours cleaning out the chocolate fountain again. She’d been careful with her magic while she mixed it, too. “And even though you deny it, everyone knows you and Ellie are a thing,” Zeke said. “Then I catch you making out with Anna’s mom.” Sophia’s jaw dropped. The elevator woman had been the bride’s mother? “Shut up!” Noah looked around in case anyone was listening. Sophia managed to tune into her therian fox hearing. She didn’t need Detective Schmidt’s help. She could figure this out. He lowered his voice. “It’s not that simple.” “Simple?” Zeke hissed. “You’re screwing your boss and dating your coworker. You think that’s simple?” Zeke shoved his brother. “No, I’m not—” “Don’t let Anna find out. Her head would explode if she knew.” Red faced, the groom stomped outside to set up chairs with the groomsmen. Well, except for his brother who stormed off in the opposite direction. Sophia took her time making the dessert table look just right, then ducked out the sliding glass door to talk to Courtney. “Courtney, do you have a minute?” Sophia called as Makayla rushed back from the kitchen. “What do you need?” Courtney asked, leaving the chair set-up to the groomsmen. Makayla rushed back from the kitchen. She darted to the dessert bar, and not seeing Sophia in the open doorway, searched for her across the room. “I’m here.” Sophia rolled her eyes. The kid was too melodramatic.

“That perve grabbed my butt.” Makayla pointed behind her, but no one was visible. “I’m not going anywhere alone.” “Who?” Courtney demanded. Her own daughter was only two years older than Makayla. “I’ll kill him.” At the same time Sophia asked, “Wait, what happened?” Makayla rubbed the same spot. “I was bent over digging through the drawers on the cart, in case the knife somehow was in there, even though I already looked and—bam—all of a sudden this hand squeezes my butt. When I looked, it was that dude that broke up with the elevator chick.” “The groom’s brother.” Sophia shook her head. He sure moved fast. “Noah?” asked the purple-haired bridesmaid who had returned with a cup of coffee. “He’s a total creep. Thinks he’s entitled to everything and everyone.” “He’s a lawyer, isn’t he?” the bridesmaid with the glasses said, also returning. “He should know that’s assault.” “Yeah, he introduced Anna and Zeke,” the first bridesmaid said, playing with a loose strand of violet hair. “I think he’s dating Ellie.” The second turned her head and making her eyes look even bigger through the glasses. “We should go tell her what happened,” said the first bridesmaid. “I bet she’d dump him.” “It’s fine.” Makayla interrupted the women, who were already moving away from them. “I yelled at him. He let go and left the kitchen.” “Mack, we’ve got to teach you some self-defense.” Courtney caught Sophia’s wrist. “If someone grabs you, grab his hand like this, twist, and—” “Hey!” Makayla dropped to her knees. Courtney released Makayla. “If you twist far enough, you can break his wrist. Self-defense. Or you can twist just enough to give him second thoughts about

grabbing random girls.” The bridesmaids set off on their mission to find whatever else Anna had asked for. “She might not. I mean, I don’t know what she sees in that guy.” “Must be good in the sack,” the Purple Hair said, her voice drifting away. “Noah? I hope so,” the bridesmaid with jet-black hair said, ing the others. “He says him and Ellie aren’t serious.” “You work with both of them,” Glasses said. “You are not going to sleep with him.” “Are we that bad?” Makayla rubbed her wrist, watching them disappear. “Worse.” Sophia grinned. “Now go help with the chairs.” “Really? But I thought I was here to help—” “With the dessert bar. And that’s all set up.” Sophia had better keep Makayla out of the kitchen for the time being. Even though she didn’t think the knife was Makayla’s fault, if her bad luck now extended to losing things in the kitchen, she’d be letting the girl go sooner rather than later. And that was a decision she didn’t want to make. The poor thing tried so hard. She was a good kid, as far as teenagers went. So, Sophia checked with the head caterer again, who claimed he’d stayed away from their cart and table. Then, she took the cart back to the van for the portable cookie oven and the deep fryer for the donuts. The scent of floral perfume lingered in the parking lot. One of the bridesmaids had gone over-board. The knife wasn’t in the van either. Sophia had no idea where it could have gone. Sophia considered the impact it would have on her reputation if she asked to borrow one from the caterer as she wheeled the cart into the conference room. “Anna?” A poofy yellow dress burst out of the elevator lobby. “Anna, where are you?” Ellie’s voice took on a panicked edge. “Girls, I can’t find her anywhere.”

“Did she go upstairs?” Glasses asked. “I don’t think she came through here,” Purple Hair said, setting the fancy coffee on a nearby table. “You’re right. She’d have told us to make sure Zeke didn’t see her in her dress.” “I'm calling her cell.” Ellie pulled her phone out of a tiny clutch. But she didn’t answer. The bride was missing.

Chapter 3

“Is she gone?” Courtney pinched the gauzy fabric of her skirt, anchoring her hands beside her. Anna Taylor had seemed so excited about getting married when she’d come to Mama Ginger’s and tasted cakes and cookies. Even though tasting Sophia’s magic comfort cookies made people feel good, it had seemed like more than that. She’d seemed genuinely happy with Zeke. Why would she run off on her wedding day? “I don’t know about that.” Ellie returned her phone to her clutch, her eyes fixed on the glowing spot inside her bag. “But she’s not in the dressing room and she’s not answering her phone.” “How did you lose Anna?” Zeke stormed into the room, as pale as powdered sugar. “I mean she was already in her dress, wasn’t she?” “Yeah,” Ellie said. “I helped her pee about forty minutes ago, then I noticed the baker was here—” “You helped her pee?” Zeke asked. “That dress is so big and puffy and with the train, there’s no way she could go by herself.” Ellie laughed at Zeke’s puzzled look. “Right. You haven’t seen it yet. Luck and all.” Makayla made a face at Sophia. “I hope she washed her hands,” Sophia whispered. Makayla snickered. “Is this funny to you?” Victoria got right in Makayla’s face. “My daughter’s missing on her wedding day.” “I’m sorry, ma’am. It’s my fault. I made a joke about Ellie washing her hands after helping with the dress.” Sophia’s cheeks felt like crème brûlée under a blowtorch. “I’m sure she’s just gone up her room or something because of cold feet.” The last time someone had gone missing at a big event she’d worked,

Lemon had found his corpse. Sophia licked her lips and committed to finding the bride. Alive. “Of course we’ll help you find her.” “Where do you want us to look?” Makayla smoothed the front of her slacks. “You’ll have to split up.” Courtney frowned. “When we find her, text me, then I will text everyone. So, turn your phones’ volume all the way up. We don’t need the rest of the bridal party to go missing.” Everyone pulled out their phones in unison. As she checked the volume on her phone, Sophia willed the bride to be alive, safe and sound, just run off because of jitters. “You two, go check the rooms upstairs,” Courtney directed Glasses and Purple Hair, then pointed to another bridesmaid. “You can check the hotel’s front desk.” “What about me?” Zeke asked, tugging on his tie. Courtney frowned. “It’s bad luck for you to see her before the wedding.” The groom nodded, but he didn’t seem satisfied. “Why don’t you three check out the casino? Maybe she wanted to try her luck. Split up.” Courtney pointed to Ellie and the two remaining bridesmaids in turn. “Card rooms, penny slots, and quarter slots. Then, I don’t know, check with the cashier and at the restaurants. She could be hungry.” Three ugly yellow dresses disappeared down the hall that led to the elevators. “Sophia, why don’t you check the parking lot?” Courtney asked. That seemed like a good idea. “May as well check the van for the knife again.” “I swear I put it on the cart.” Makayla shook her head. “I didn’t lose it and I didn’t forget it.” “Don’t worry about it. We’ve got a bride to find.” Courtney smiled. “Makayla, could you—” “I’m sticking with Sophia.” Makayla latched onto Sophia’s arm.

Sophia resisted the urge to groan. She got it. If some creep had grabbed her butt, she wouldn’t want to risk running into him alone again, either. But that didn’t mean she’d be clinging to her boss like a toddler either. Besides, what if something terrible had happened to the bride? Sophia tried to tell herself she didn’t want to find a dead body by herself. Finding one with Lemon had been bad enough. But finding one with Makayla might be worse than finding one alone. Makayla was still just a kid. Sophia would have to keep it together for her. Well, Lemon had yacked. So, unless she threw up on the body, Makayla couldn’t do any worse. “Fair enough.” Courtney turned to the men. “Zeke, after we get everyone going, you and I are going to go stall the guests.” “What about the rest of us?” asked a sweaty groomsmen. Noah wasn’t with the other groomsmen. He must be avoiding Zeke still. Once they found the bride, she’d give him a piece of her mind. When Detective Schmidt came in for his cupcakes Monday morning, Sofia would ask him if Makayla should file a police report. “We need to finish setting up those chairs,” Courtney said. “The wedding still needs to happen when we find her.” They all groaned. “Don’t blame me.” Courtney tucked a dark strand of hair behind her ear. “Blame the chair service. Post online about how they screwed you over on your buddy’s wedding day. Leave reviews wherever you can.” She was right, though. The guests were trickling in from the casino and needed a place to sit. Besides, the men setting up the chairs gave them a plausible reason to delay the wedding until they found the bride and got her ready. So long as Anna was some place safe. No one would kill the bride on her wedding day, would they? Sophia chewed her lip, hesitating, not daring to mention, even in a whisper to Courtney or Makayla, her fears. “What are you waiting for? Go!” Courtney clapped her hands together, startling everyone into action.

Sophia headed to the kitchen with Makayla still clinging to her arm. “And as the most important person here, what am I supposed to do?” Victoria demanded. “Who are you again?” Courtney asked. “Why you impertinent little snot.” Victoria tugged down the too short skirt of her dress. “I’m the mother of the bride.” “Victoria,” Noah said in a warning tone. Sophia turned back, dragging Makayla with her like a puppy on a leash. How dare she talk to Courtney like that? Courtney was handling the disappearing bride like a champ. “Really?” Courtney plastered on a smile before Sophia could say anything. “You’re much too young to have a grown daughter. That’s why I didn’t recognize you, despite the resemblance between you and Anna. Since I knew Anna doesn’t have a sister, I thought you must be a cousin.” Sophia stood a few feet away. Zeke stood open mouthed, staring at Courtney. “Flattery will get you nowhere,” Victoria said, but her shoulders straightened at the compliment and a smile flickered over her face. “She might answer her phone for you. You are her mother.” Courtney steered Victoria to a table. “Please try calling her. And also, I’d love to know if you can think of somewhere else she might have gone or somewhere she might want to go.” “What are we waiting for?” Makayla tugged on Sophia’s arm. Behind Victoria’s back, Courtney mouthed to Makayla and Sophia, “I’ve got this.” Makayla and Sophia left through the kitchen. The rich scents of the different courses tickled Sophia’s nose. She fought the urge to sneeze.

When they stepped into the parking lot, the sour smell of grape skins piled along the roads and the musty scent of farm animals she couldn’t see hit Sophia’s nose. This whole therian thing took a lot of getting used to. A floral perfume mixed with the bite of dry champagne and salty regret. That had to be the bride. Sophia followed the scent, past her own delivery van and the caterer’s food truck. Her stomach tightened. She half expected to find the bride dead. But life wouldn’t throw a second dead body at her like that, right? Before, Sophia had assumed the other cars belonged to the caterer’s and the casino’s staff, but the perfume led her to a silver SUV. At first, Sophia couldn’t find the bride. “Makayla, you might want to stay back.” Sophia tried to pry the girl off of her arm. “Why?” Makayla clung to Sophia even tighter. White pumps stood on the asphalt under the SUV’s frame. The bride was on the other side, next to the driver’s side door. Relief flooded through Sophia. “Never mind. I found her.” Sophia led Makayla around the other side of the car. “You went right to her. Like magic.” Makayla grinned. Sophia shrugged. It was magic, even if it wasn’t the kind Sophia was used to. Even with hours and the help of the book of spells locked in her attic, she never would have been able to throw together a scrying spell to find someone. She wasn’t good at witchcraft like Mama had been. Anna banged on the SUV’s door, tears streaking her face and, for Sophia’s therian eyes, the yellow-y orange stripes of a tabby cat shone over the bride’s features. Her voice slurred. “Keys! I don’t have my stupid keys!” “Anna?” Sophia pitched her voice soft, hoping not to startle the bride. “Who are—oh the baker.” Anna hit the car one more time, then slumped against

it. “That’s right.” Sophia pulled out her phone to text Courtney, but Anna slapped it out of her hand. “I’m not going back.” Anna frowned down at Sophia. She wasn’t any taller than her SUV, but Sophia was short enough Anna stared down at her. “You’ve got to.” Makayla pulled out her own phone, careful to stay out of the bride’s reach. “You don’t have to text Courtney yet.” Sophia put a hand on the bride’s bare shoulder. “Everything will be okay. It’s just cold feet.” “No. It’s not. I can’t go through with this wedding.” Anna shook her head and slid to the ground, her wedding dress rubbing against the car. Sophia bit back a grimace at the thought of the grime rubbing on the back of the wedding gown. “Of course you can. You two looked so happy at my shop.” Sophia smiled at the memory, and from the relief that this missing person hadn’t ended up the way the manager at the Magnolia Winery had. “You two helped us take our minds off the murder.” “It doesn’t matter if we’re happy.” Anna hiccupped and the floral scent of champagne mixed with bile, making Sophia regret her therian nose. “It’s all built on a lie.” Sophia knelt next to Anna, one knee on the hard asphalt. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not that bad.” “He doesn’t know about Logan.” “Who’s Logan?” Makayla blurted. Anna wouldn’t say. Sophia herself was desperate to know, but from Anna’s reaction could tell it was best not to ask. “Go inside and find Courtney. Tell her I’m talking to Anna.” Makayla turned to go inside.

“Don’t mention Logan,” Anna shouted at Makayla’s back. Makayla stuck out a hand and might have nodded. “She won’t. She’s a good kid.” Sophia took the bride’s hand, even as she herself wondered if the bride had cheated on the groom with the mysterious Logan. “But all your friends are worried about you, and they should know you’re safe.” “I can’t believe I didn’t grab my stupid keys.” Anna pulled her hand back. Sophia didn’t tell the bride how happy all her friends would be that Anna had forgotten them. Anna didn’t need to be driving like this. Instead, Sophia rose to her feet and pointed at her van. “You can sit in my van until you’re ready to—” “I already told you.” Another alcohol and bile scented hiccup. “I’m not marrying Zeke today.” “Okay, okay. I’m not making you. I’m just offering you a clean seat. When you want to go back and change, you can do that.” Sophia knelt to pick up her phone and led the bride to the van’s enger door. “Why call it Mama Ginger’s?” Anna asked as she climbed into the van’s enger seat. “Do you have kids?” “What? No.” Sophia shook her head. Unfortunately, Makayla was right. She needed to find a man for that first. “It was my mom’s shop. Her name was Ginger, and she started it when I was so little, I still called her Mama.” “That’s so sweet.” Anna smiled, fiddling with the skirt. “She must love you so much.” “She’s dead.” Sophia chewed her lip. Her mom had loved her in her own hard way, she supposed. The bride let out a little gasp. “I moved to LA to make it on my own. Everything I could to get away from her, I guess. But now it’s too late and I’m back in Gold Valley.” Sophia frowned. Anna had turned this all around. She hadn’t meant to share so much with the bride. “But we were talking about your wedding, not about me.”

“It’s all based on a lie,” Anna said. “You can set him straight.” Sophia smiled and tried her best Mama Ginger impression. “The world could do with more honesty. Tell him about Logan.” The words felt bitter in her mouth though. Since the whole tragedy at the Magnolia Winery would have been avoided if not for the extra honesty in Sophia’s cupcakes. “He’ll never forgive me.” Tears streaked Anna’s makeup and a translucent orange tail curled into her lap. Still, Sophia hated to see the happy bride and groom broken up by a secret. “So, what? You’re just going to call it quits and not even try? That’s pretty sad. Tell him and see what happens. At least that way the ball is in his court.” As soon as the words left her lips, Sophia recognized them as more or less what Doris had told her about Detective Schmidt. She needed to tell him about the curse and why she didn’t want to date him. He had magic. He’d understand. Anna shook her head, rubbing her eyes and smearing her mascara. “I can’t. It’s way too late for that.” Sophia frowned. It had to be an affair, right? Or something even worse. “Let’s at least get you back inside and then you can change into normal clothes and wash your face.” “You’re just trying to get me to—” “No. No, I’m not.” Sophia laughed. “I brought the cake and the desserts. I get paid no matter what.” The joke fell flat. Anna didn’t look at her or move from her seat in the van. “Just drive me home?” “No.” Kidnapping a drunk bride was not the way to get more work making wedding cakes. “Why not? I’ll pay you.” Anna took on a fierceness that Sophia had not expected.

“First, that girl is my assistant. And I’m her ride. I can’t just ditch her.” The kid was a disaster in the kitchen, but her heart was in the right place. Besides, she was good with people. And someday, Sophia liked to imagine, the girl might get better with food. “She’ll get another ride.” The bride nodded to herself. “Second—” Sophia’s phone rang. Makayla. She rejected the call. The girl could figure things out. Sophia’s phone rang again. Courtney this time. They must really want to get ahold of her. “I’m sorry,” Sophia said to the bride, then snapped into the phone, “What?” “We need both of you to come back inside now.” Courtney’s voice came out oddly flat. “No can do. She won’t come back in.” To Anna, Sophia said, “Sorry.” “After Makayla came back, I texted everyone...” Courtney took a ragged breath. “Everyone came back and...” “And what?” Sophia felt a sinking dread in the pit of her stomach, but she bulled through it. She’d found the bride drunk, but safe. “We’re in the middle of something—” “One of the bridesmaids found Noah dead in the ladies’ dressing room.”

Chapter 4

Sophia led Anna to the kitchen entrance where two guards waited, blocking the exit. One of them took the bride by the elbow and steered them through the kitchen to the conference room. As soon as the kitchen door opened, Makayla rushed Sophia. A blur of black slacks and apron and dark hair wrapped itself around her. “It’s awful!” Makayla sobbed into Sophia’s shoulder. For a moment, Sophia wondered if Makayla had been the one to find the body, but no. Courtney would have told her that. The girl was just frightened. “You’ll be okay.” Sophia patted the girl’s back. If only she had brought someone else to help with the wedding. “They’ll think I did it,” Makayla whimpered. Why would anyone think that? “No one thinks you did it.” Sophia peeled Makayla off of her and looked around the conference room. “But—everyone knows he grabbed my butt.” “You’ll be okay.” Sophia smiled at the girl. “Those two—” Sophia nodded towards Ellie and Victoria as they approached the bride. “—were both sleeping with him. That’s way more motive than you’ve got.” While before, the room had been full of movement, now clusters of terrified guests huddled together. The large glass doors to the patio were shut and blocked by guards. The open room felt like a prison for the suspects and the guests. Only one person deserved to be locked in, but that didn’t matter until they found out who the murderer was. A slim guard with dark hair, who was really no bigger than Sophia, blocked the door to the dressing room. That must be where the body was. “Are you sure?” Makayla asked. “As sure as I am that my cinnammon rolls will rise.” Sophia led Makayla to an empty table to talk and try to get the girl to relax. “Besides, almost no one here liked him.” But who disliked him enough to kill him?

Makayla nodded but still pulled her chair so close she may as well have climbed onto Sophia’s lap. “Which one of these crazy people did it?” Sophia asked. But Makayla just bawled even worse. Well, that didn’t distract the girl at all. Would the security guards let Sophia into the kitchen to bake the comfort cookie dough? Makayla and probably most everyone here needed some them. “Once the police get here, they’ll take a list of everyone who is here—though there is a whole casino full of people that aren’t wedding guests that might have ducked in and out—and interview some people and look at the crime. And then let us all go home.” “Really?” Makayla wiped the tears from her dark eyes. “I’m not an expert, but that’s what happened at Magnolia Winery.” Sophia smiled. “For now, we can cry, or we can distract ourselves.” “Distract ourselves,” Makayla echoed, then pulled out her phone. Sophia blinked as Makayla’s thumbs started moving in a blur. Wow, a moment of real connection and emotion, the she was back to a cell phone zombie in less than a minute. For all the companionship Makayla was going to offer her, Sophia was basically alone. Zeke, the groom, stood a ways off from his groomsmen talking to an older couple. The man she recognized as his father. And, judging from the tear streaks running through the woman's makeup, she must be his and Noah’s mother. Would the police ask them to identify the body once they arrived? How horrible that would be for them. Sophia still had nightmares about identifying her own mother’s frozen body in the coroner’s office. What if one of the detectives who worked her mother’s murder was assigned to this case? Would Sophia be able to keep Makayla calm in front of that awful Detective Jaeger? Sophia shook her head to clear it. Best not worry about who might answer the call until they showed up. Best to focus on the question at hand: who killed

Noah? The bridesmaids and groomsmen formed an amorphous figure eight, with most of the women clustered on one side and the men on the other. Glasses sat in a chair, tears streaking her face in the middle of them all. She must have been the one who’d found the body. Would any of them want to kill Zeke? Probably not. A girlfriend might if she discovered he was cheating on her though. At the casino end of the conference room, the double doors swung open and another security officer led in Detective Schmidt and two uniformed police officers. One was the tall blond man and the other a short woman, Johnson and Sanchez. Coincidence, or was their police force stretched thin? Sophia sighed. Probably neither. Same day of the week and more or less the same time. Despite the long drive, they were on the far edge of the county, so it made sense that it was the same police officers as last time. Her senses snapped into a sharper focus and his tantalizing, masculine scent drifted across the room with a hint of hops and this morning’s muffin. A moment later, his eyes found hers, sending a jolt through her. Today, they looked hungry and green. Sophia’s licked her lips, but her tongue stuck like Velcro. That sticky, prickly feeling, worse than a cat’s tongue, resulted from the fox therian magic surging through her. Down, girl. Detective Schmidt might be cute, but dating him was out of the question. The family curse would leave her and him both broken-hearted and possibly broken. Plus, therian magic had its own complications and a whole undercurrent of interconnected people—therians. Controlling her witch magic was hard enough. She didn’t need more to worry about. While therians, so far as she understood, didn’t shape-shift, there was so much she didn’t know. Detective Schmidt stopped and ran a hand through his thick dark hair. “Hey,” Makayla said, lifting her head, “that’s the hot detective whose butt you and Lemon stare at every day.” Sophia choked.

Makayla snickered at her. “You like him, and he likes you. What gives?” Sophia glanced at the detective, but he gave no sign of having heard. He was still talking to the security guard at the door, with Courtney and Ellie both on an intercept path. Detective Schmidt’s mouth pressed into a thin line when the two women reached him. Both women spoke, seeming to interrupt each other, gesturing to the room where the body was, and then at the bridal party. He frowned and gestured to the room. Then, he left the two women standing there, staring at each other open mouthed. While Courtney would tell her what the detective said later, Sophia wanted to find out now. “What gives?” Makayla asked again, refusing to be ignored. Sophia sighed. “It’s not that simple.” “You’re both grown ups. You’re both single. It’s not like your mom forbid you from dating him.” Sophia chewed her lip for a moment. Not like Makayla had any right to ask her the question she’d been avoiding. “I’m still your boss, you know.” “Fine, whatever. Be weird about it.” Makayla looked back down at her phone, her thumbs a blur. Sophia got up, weaving her way through the tables full of guests talking in hushed tones. Courtney, Ellie, and a burly guard had ed the petite guard outside the dressing room. The two police officers stood inside the door. Detective Schmidt was somewhere beyond them. “I’m sorry. You’re not allowed in there.” The tiny guard spread his feet and put his hands on his hips to block her path. Despite his manly buzz cut, the guard was smaller than her. Sophia tried to peek past, but the two police officers almost blocked her view. The top of Detective Schmidt’s head bobbed as he bent to examine something on the floor. “That’s okay...” Sophia paused to read the guard’s name badge. “Alvin. I just wanted to talk to Courtney and maybe Detective Schmidt.”

Courtney pulled her aside and Ellie ed them. What did she want to say to them? Besides, asking Ellie who she thought murdered her boyfriend right off the bat would be pretty rude. Really, she wanted Detective Schmidt to tell her what was going on. Even if Makayla was starting college, Sophia still felt responsible for the girl and she’d seemed convinced she was a suspect. She’d worked for Sophia her junior and senior year of college. Of course, she could talk to Ellie and Courtney about those things. It just wasn’t the same as talking to the detective in charge of the case. “Are you two okay?” Sophia asked. “A little shook up.” Courtney played with a split end. Flyaways had appeared in her long dark hair. Ellie shrugged, her face wan. The yellow dress wasn’t doing her any favors. She hadn’t put her makeup on yet, so no mascara ran down her cheeks. Sophia pressed her lips together. The poor woman had no clue he’d been running around on her. “After... something like this, I know how hard being alone is.” Sophia felt the weight of Ellie and Courtney’s gazes as they wondered what she would say next. “I want to invite you and the rest of the bridal party to a zucchini muffin class tomorrow at my shop.” Would they come? The class was already full. But doing something nice might also satisfy her curiosity. “I mean, it’s not much, but at least you wouldn’t be alone.” “Thank you.” Ellie sniffled. “I appreciate that.” “What happened?” Sophia asked. “The poor girl over there hasn’t stopped crying.” “She only met Noah because we were all in the bridal party together, but she’s real sensitive,” Ellie said. “Finding him probably scarred her forever.” “Well, thank goodness you didn’t. You two were close, right?” Ellie nodded.

“That would have been awful.” Sophia asked, curiosity getting the better of her, “Any idea who might want to... you know?” “I’m sorry, ma’am,” Alvin said, interrupting them. “I can’t have you talking about that right now.” Sophia would have laughed if she weren’t so shaken up. “What do you think everyone is talking about? We’re all curious about what happened to Noah.” The guard blinked. Obviously, he hadn’t thought about the conversations at all the tables. Sophia straightened her apron and pulled herself up to her full height, which put her look down on the tiny guard. “You think we’re concocting alibis? If that were true, then it’s too late. Everybody is talking to everybody else.” The guard ran a hand through his close-cropped hair. “If I’d been in charge,” Sophia said. “I would’ve put the bridal party into individual rooms so they couldn’t talk to each other. That is, if you think there’s some kind of conspiracy. Otherwise, it’s probably just one person, right? Isn’t that what they say? Most crimes are crimes of ion, right? And that one person would do their best to blend in.” Just like Makayla. But, there was no way she did it. “Is that Sophia Bell?” Detective Schmidt asked from the dressing room. “Yes, sir,” said Officer Sanchez in a clipped professional voice. “Good. Bring her in.” Detective Schmidt stood, and Sophia could finally see him. He must have been kneeling the whole time. “Excuse me, sir?” Officer Johnson asked. “I said bring her in.” Detective Schmidt approached the door. “Give her some booties and gloves and get her in here.” The two officers helped her into booties that looked more like shower caps and handed her a face mask and gloves.

“Looking good, little fox.” Detective Schmidt’s eyes crinkled, hinting at a smile. “Need you to look at something.” “Me?” Sophia asked. This was a murder. Was he hoping she’d use some witch magic or something here? Her witch powers didn’t work like that. They only extended to food, and her therian magic remained a mystery. Schmidt kept trying to convince her to let him teach her about her therian side. Still, he pulled her into the room, where Sophia stared at the body of Noah Edwards. Beside the dead body, lay the lost cake knife. “Is that what I think it is?” Detective Schmidt asked. There was nothing to ask. It was clear what it was. Even though the caterers had bread knives, this knife was hers. Despite being splattered with blood, the Mama Ginger’s logo detailed on the handle remained clear. Sophia’s hand shot to her mouth. “Oh, no!” That meant Makayla hadn’t lost it. It had been stolen. That much was clear. But by whom? And that meant this crime couldn’t be a crime of ion. Whoever had killed Noah had taken the knife earlier in the day in order to murder him with it later. Sophia looked from the knife to Detective Schmidt, then back again. “We discovered it was missing an hour ago.” “Who had access to your things?” Detective Schmidt asked. Sophia swallowed the dry lump in her throat. Her hands trembled. “Anyone could have taken it from our cart.” Sophia’s tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth with that awful Velcro-y feeling that meant her therian magic was rising. “But Makayla realized the knife was lost after our break. She’s been looking everywhere for it.” Detective Schmidt and the other officers stared at her. “It’s not like our things were locked up.” Sophia stammered. “Anybody could have gone into the kitchen and taken the knife. The catering staff was in and out of there and anyone could go in there.”

“I’m not going to lie to you, Sophia. This looks bad. Really bad.” Sophia backed out of the room, tearing at the mask over her mouth face. It was blocking her air. Suffocating her. With each breath, the mask sucked into her mouth, against her nose. She couldn’t breathe. Everything was closing in on her. Courtney was there behind her and Ellie, too. They took her arms and helped her. Once the awful mask was off, she tore off the gloves and the booties. Detective Schmidt sent around the officers like last time to take people’s IDs, confirm information, and make sure everything was current. He requested the entire bridal party and staff get fingerprinted over the next couple days. For now, the girlfriends and the groom had the biggest motives. That, and poor Makayla being the last person to handle the knife by Sophia’s ission. Detective Schmidt would see right away that Makayla was just a kid and had never met the man before the wedding—but then half the bridal party had seen Makayla come running in after Noah had grabbed her butt and had seen how it had unsettled the girl. No, Makayla had to be all right. Then Makayla was there asking what was wrong. But Sophia just shook her head. She didn’t want to lay that on the teen. She’d already felt bad enough about losing the knife as it was. Makayla already thought everyone believed she killed Noah because he grabbed her butt. After a while, Officer Sanchez told the guests the could leave, but not the bridal party or the staff. Detective Schmidt was using the outdoor area to interview guests. When it was her turn to be interviewed, Sophia followed Officer Johnsons tall figure down the bronze-colored carpet to the front row of seats. Outside it was hot like the weather had forgotten it was fall. At least until a cool breeze blew past her, making the flowers in the arch wobble and carrying her scent to the detective. His head swiveled towards her. He cocked it to the side, his the rough fur and wet nose of his coyote side visible to her and any other therians who might be

looking. Then, he gestured to the chair right next to him and the coyote features disappeared. He had files spread on three chairs that he’d pulled into a circle in front of him. “Who do you think did it?” Sophia whispered as Officer Johnson walked back to the doorway. Detective Schmidt glanced back to make sure the doors were shut, and satisfied with that, he gave her a tight smile. “You know I can’t tell you that.” “Oh.” Sophia took a deep breath to tell him all about the victim and his girlfriends. “I think it was Victoria because—” “Sophia.” He licked his lips. He seemed nervous. Why would he seem nervous? This was his job. “You need to take control of your therian magic before it takes control of you.” Not what she wanted to talk about right now. “But, Detective Schmidt—” “Benjamin, please.” Sophia sighed, not ready to call the police officer that had saved her life by his first name. It seemed disrespectful somehow. “I promise I’ll look into this Victoria angle, okay?” He patted her knee. Her knee—and other parts of her—warmed at his touch. But she pushed the feelings away. She had to tell him a bout what she’d seen. “I know you are a witch and have control of your witch magic.” Sophia resisted the urge to snort. If only he knew how hard it was to keep her honesty magic from leaking out every time she cooked. “But being a therian is different. The magic is wild, more primal. It’s more like a partnership. He paused again, his eyes meeting hers. With the yellow grass in the distance, his eyes had turned darker. She looked away, swallowing down the rising attraction. She should tell him about the curse, but even though she had him alone and no one else could hear, a

murder investigation wasn’t the time. And he should know it wasn’t the time to talk about this either. For a moment, his scent turned sour. What did that mean? “You need someone to guide you with these powers.” And she just bet he wanted to be the one to do that. “If that’s all you want to talk about, then I should take Makayla home.” The detective’s mouth dropped open. Sophia hurried down the red carpet to the conference room. Alone.

Chapter 5

Sophia drove Makayla home, intent on going to her house afterward with a bottle of wine from the caterers and a vow to just experiment with some new recipes and play with Minnie and Daisy instead of winding up hung over like the last time she’d seen a body. Both times if she was honest because she hadn’t handled herself well after seeing Mama Ginger’s corpse at the coroner’s. If the case had ever been solved, she might have some sort of closure there. The whole drive home, Makayla barely said two words. Sophia wanted to tell Makayla lies about how she would be fine, that she wasn’t a suspect. But the cell phone never left the girl’s hands. So, Sophia was left thinking to herself how this cause wouldn’t be like her Mama’s. Detective Schmidt would catch the murderer and leave Makayla alone. Not like Detective Jaeger. Everything would work out fine. When they pulled up to Makayla’s house, the girl’s parents met her at the end of their driveway and wrapped her up in a hug. Sophia called Lemon as she waved and pulled away. “Lem, can you come over?” “What? You need help at the wedding? I’m still at the shop.” Sophia cursed. Of course she was. “Close up as soon as you can and come to my house. Please.” “Your house? Everything all right?” “No.” Now that she didn’t need to hold it together for Makayla, Sophia’s hands started trembling. She sobbed as she drove and told Lemon about the murder. Sophia hung up when she pulled into her driveway and found Lemon leaning against her front door, taking a long sip out of a cup Sophia was sure held sweet tea. How Lemon would ever sleep after all that caffeine was beyond her, but given what had happened at the casino, Sophia probably wouldn’t sleep much either.

Inside, the girls barked what Sophia called their big girl barks. Half Norwegian Elkhound, they were bred to bark loud to alert the hunter they were being chased by a moose. “You have a key.” Sophia’s hands shook so bad she couldn’t get the door open. “Like I’m going in with those fluffy monsters barking like that.” Lemon sighed and pushed Sofia away from the door. “For Pete’s sake.” “They’ll just jump on you and lick you.” “They’re so big, they knock me down.” Lemon unlocked the door but stepped away for Sophia to enter first. “Whose fault is that?” Sophia almost laughed as the cool air from inside hit her in the face. Lemon’s presence made things better all ready. She could think about something—anything—other than the crime. “You’re the one who let them jump on you when they were puppies. I told you they’d still do it when they got big.” “Whatever.” Lemon stayed behind Sophia. Daisy’s hit Sophia in the belly with big paws, the color of dirty snow. Sophia held her hand out in a fist. “Sit.” Daisy and Minnie both dropped their bottoms to the ground. Their brown eyes seemed to sparkle as they stared up at her expecting a treat. Between the two of them, three ears stood at high alert and the tip of Minnie’s floppy ear quivered as she struggled to straighten it. Tension eased out of Sophia’s shoulders as she dug her fingers into their fur, Minnie’s fluffy and Daisy’s wiry. Then, she reached in the dental diet kibble. “A crunchy cookie for you and one for you.” Lemon squeezed past Sophia, snagged the bottle of wine, dropped her bag on the couch, and headed for the dining room cabinet. Sophia went to her bedroom and changed into sweats. By the time she came out, a glass of Zinfandel sat on the coffee table next to Lemon’s sweet tea and the laundry had been tossed onto the floor.

Lemon had kicked up her feet on the couch’s built-in recliner and sipped her own wine. “After all this time, you’re still sleeping in your childhood bedroom?” “I can’t sleep in Mama’s room.” “Not if you’re still calling it that. She’s been gone for two years now. It’s time to move on.” Ignoring Lemon’s comment, Sophia ed the couch and hit Daisy with the toddler gate as she entered the kitchen. “That’s what you get for sleeping there.” “What are you doing?” Lemon asked when Sophia ignored the couch and the wine. “I need comfort cookies and a lot of them.” Sophia jumped to grab the flour from the top shelf. “Where’s the dough from the wedding?” “I didn’t bother loading it back in.” Sophia’s hand closed on the flour and some of it dusted her as she landed on the floor. “I needed to get out of there.” “I bet.” Lemon fought the footrest back into place. “And Detective Gorgeous was there?” “I guess it’s his case. Though that doesn’t mean—“ “What is your deal with him? You two look at each other all moonstruck, but if he says boo, you run away faster than green grass through a goose.” “It’s complicated.” Sophia jumped up to grab the baking soda. “This is what I’m talking about. Your mama always kept it up there, but you can put the baking stuff on the bottom shelf where you can reach it.” As Sophia grabbed the baking soda, she knocked down a bag of chocolate chips. Perfect luck! Sophia jerked the wine out of Lemon’s hand. “The murderer used my cake knife to kill that jerk.” “Excuse me?” Lemon blinked. “You didn’t say that on the phone.”

“Yeah. Makayla lost it—or I thought she did. But the murderer took it.” Sophia took a big sip of wine. She closed her eyes to savor the burst of sweet and tart on her tongue. “So right now, me, Courtney, and Makayla are the prime suspects.” “Oh, sugar.” Lemon grabbed for Sophia’s hands, but Sophia swatted her hands away and started dumping ingredients into a bowl. “You can’t bake your way out of this.” “Why not?” Lemon didn’t know about her magic, but maybe Sophia could do something to make her and the others seem extra innocent. Or a batch of honesty magic would make the killer confess. “Umm, because you still have to deal with this.” Lemon chewed her lip. “I mean, I wish I could eat my way out of feeling scared or whatever, but it won’t change Detective Gorgeous’s investigation.” “So, I need to do my own investigation?” Sophia took another swig of wine. “What?” Lemon asked. “No, I didn’t say that. I don’t want you to wind up dead.” But Sophia was already thinking of her own investigation. How she could find proof that none of her staff had been responsible for murdering that slime ball who had cornered Makayla?

THE next morning, Lemon lugged one of the bakery’s coffee percolator back to the kitchen to refill it. “I’m telling you, sticking your nose where it don’t belong is a good way to get it cut off.” “I’m not doing my own investigation.” Sophia turned away from the too bright dining area back into the kitchen, turning to talk to Lemon had been a mistake. “That was the wine talking.” “Too much of that last night.” Lemon set the coffee percolator under the hot water spigot to fill the reservoir. “My head is pounding.” “Me too. I promise I won’t get involved. I’m just... curious.” Sophia frowned as she spooned cream cheese and sugar onto the second round of cheese danishes. It was probably one of the bridesmaids. “And we both know it’s not Courtney or Makayla or you. You went over all this garbage last night, over the wine.” “And the cookies.” Sophia smiled at the memory. The cookies, gooey and sweet had been a better choice than the wine. “And the cookies.” Lemon frowned at Sophia. “You did that weird trance thing you do over them.” “Really?” Sophia hadn’t known that Lemon picked up on it when she worked her magic. “Close your eyes as you knead the dough. Like, you’re—I don’t know— communing with it?” Lemon released the hot water spigot. Sophia laughed. “I guess I like the way it feels to mix things up.” Makayla walked in through the front door, nodded to Sophia, then headed to the bathroom. “Girl looks like about ten miles of bad road.” Lemon said. “Being at the scene of a murder can do that to you.” Sophia brushed egg whites

over the danishes, trying to lose herself in the routine. “I .” Lemon shuddered, going ashen for a moment at the memory. “Poor thing. You, her, and Courtney are all on the chopping block, but her worst of all, huh?” “Here I was, blaming her for losing the knife when some murderous jerk stole it.” “Shut up about all that.” Lemon pointed to where Makayla had reappeared from the bathroom. “You don’t want to get her even more tied up in knots about everything. She’s already freaked out.” Makayla slunk behind the counter, tapped the keyboard on the to clock in, and plastered the worst fake smile on her face that Sophia had ever seen. Makayla didn’t just have bags under her eyes. No, she had a full luggage set. Poor thing must not have slept a wink. “You didn’t have to come in today, after—” “I’m scheduled to work.” Makayla didn’t even look up from the . “I know, honey, but after yesterday—“ “After you found Ken Hale, you didn't take a single day off.” Makayla pulled on an apron and grabbed a dish towel. “Because I own the place. I have to come in.” “Besides, it’s not like I saw the body or anything. I’m fine. Just... stop babying me, okay?” Makayla ran a hand through her hair. “I’m an adult now.” She might be legally an adult, but eighteen was still a kid in Sophia’s eyes. But Sophia wasn’t going to argue with the girl, so she sent Makayla out of the kitchen to bus some tables and wipe things down. A couple AA sponsors and their wards sat at the tables nearest the window. They’d be there for another half hour or so. But Makayla could always check on them and ask if they needed anything. Usually, she grinned the customers into buying something else. But, today... Sophia doubted it.

Sophia slid the danish pan into the oven, the familiar heat reassuring Sophia that today would be a normal day. Then, her tongue started doing that Velcro thing. Her senses came into sharper focus. Sophia frowned to herself. Not going to be a normal day after all. Instead it was going to be a therian magic out of control kind of day. The oven ticked softly, heating the danishes. The scents in the bakery formed an overwhelming combination of sweet, cinnammon, and savory. Lemon’s clothes rustled as she reached for her sweet tea. This one was light purple with the words, ‘I’m feline fine’ written on it. A cartoon grey cat twined itself through the words. From the arm chairs in the corner, Mrs. Pulido laughed. “I’m sure it wasn’t gambling debt, Bob.” “You think it was the bride?” Bob looked up at her from his crossword. Makayla moved to bus a table closer to the regulars and Sophia willed her to move back towards the Al-anon people. “Why would the bride kill her brother-in-law to be?” Mrs. Pulido frowned. “My money’s on the groom.” Makayla caught that last part. Her whole body stiffened and she turned to go back to the kitchen. “Makayla, darling.” Mrs. Pulido caught Makayla by the arm as she hurried past. “Did you hear about that nasty business at the casino?” Makayla made a little choking sound deep in her throat. Sophia made it halfway across the room before the door opened. Detective Schmidt, for his normal cupcake run. Though, today she wasn’t up to flirting with him. She needed to rescue Makayla from Mrs. Pulido’s gossip powers. “Well, it’s nothing to cry over, unless you knew him. Did you—” “Mrs. Pulido, we were providing the cake for the wedding and catering the dessert bar.” Sophia pushed Makayla away from the table. ”Makayla was there

to help me.” “Oh, dear, that sounds awful.” Mrs. Pulido leaned in closer. Detective Schmidt’s musky scent filled her nose as he approached them. His scent smelled almost sour, not the pleasant woodsy aroma she was used to. Not now, she begged the therian magic flaring inside of her. Not now. “It was.” Makayla sniffled. “I can’t get my mind off of it.” “Makayla, why don’t you go take a break?” Sophia put her arm on Makayla’s shoulders and tried to steer the girl away from the gossips’ table. “It’s okay dear, let it out.” Mrs. Pulido handed Makayla a pack of tissues from her purse. “Tell me all about it.” “I can’t stop thinking about how everyone saw me looking for that knife. I was the last person to touch it before—” “I am aware.” Detective Schmidt walked up behind Sophia and removed her hand from Makayla’s shoulder. Makayla wilted under his touch, shrinking in on herself even more. The normally bubbly girl, looked as if she had been destroyed. Tears puddled in her eyes. “Detective, I think the girl’s overwhelmed by your—“ “Makayla Jensen, would you step into the kitchen with me for a moment?” Detective Schmidt didn’t look at Sophia at all. “I’m not allowed in the—“ Makayla sniffled hard as the tears spilled down her face. “I doubt that’s going to make the poor dear feel better,” Mrs. Pulido said. “Please, Miss Jensen,” Detective Schmidt said. His mouth was set in a thin line. “I’m sure Sophia will make an exception.” Sophia’s stomach churned. “Detective, what’s going on?”

Detective Schmidt shook his head. He headed into the kitchen and Lemon shrunk back, clutching her sweet tea. “What’s going on?” Lemon mouthed to Sophia. Sophia shrugged. It couldn’t be the thought that made her stomach churn. Makayla wasn’t a real suspect. They pushed into the kitchen, letting the doors swing shut behind them. “Makayla Jensen.” Detective Schmidt stopped talking and patted his pants pockets. He produced a pair of handcuffs and small card. Makayla squeaked like a mouse. This couldn’t be happening. “She’s just a kid,” Lemon said. “She didn’t do it.” Detective Schmidt reached for Makayla’s hand. Sophia tried to put herself between Detective Schmidt and Makayla. “Don’t.” Makayla sobbed. “Don’t do anything to get in trouble. I’ll—” “Yours are the only prints on the knife.” Detective Schmidt clapped the handcuffs onto Makayla and stared down at the card. “Makayla Jensen, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent.” Makayla sobbed. Sophia ran a hand over her face. Detective Schmidt finished reading his card and slipped it back into his pocket. “I’m sorry. I don’t have a choice. Her prints are all over the murder weapon and no one else’s.” Detective Schmidt frowned. “It looks open and shut. The bridesmaids all heard about her confrontation with the victim.” The acrid smell of burnt dough and cream cheese hit Sophia’s nose. “She didn’t do it.” Detective Schmidt didn’t say anything. Sophia swallowed down the surge of bile. “Tell him you didn’t do it.”

“I didn’t do it.” Makayla’s voice was flat. “I have to take you in now.” Detective Schmidt led Makayla out through the back of the kitchen. Sophia stared at the back door, not wanting to believe what had just happened. Detective Schmidt’s scent lingered. Smoke drifted out of the oven. Lemon turned off the oven. “Girl ruined the danishes without even touching anything. Timer’s got another couple minutes.” Sophia kept staring at the back door. Lemon opened the oven and smoke billowed out. “How she managed it, I don’t know. It’s like she’s cursed.” Sophia didn’t say anything. Makayla was gone. Perky, disastrous Makayla had been arrested for a murder she hadn’t committed. Lemon took a long swig of sweet tea before speaking. “You better call her folks and tell them to get a lawyer.” A lawyer might help, but what Sophia needed was the real murderer wrapped up with a confession and a bow.

Chapter 6

Sophia stammered her way through the conversation with Makayla’s parents, struggling to find the right words. After everything that had happened, platitudes were useless. “She’s innocent,” Sophia repeated for the fourth time. But Makayla’s parents had hung up as soon as they understood that Makayla had been arrested. Lemon stepped into Sophia’s office. “Hey, sugar, how’s it going?” “She’s innocent.” Sophia hung up the phone, her eyes cold from unshed tears. “He arrested her, but there’s no way—” “We both know that. Sounds to me like even Detective Gorgeous believes it, too.” Lemon sat down on the other side of the desk. “Don’t you listen, girl? He said his boss told him to arrest her.” “So? How does that help Makayla?” Sophia straightened up some papers to try and feel like she was doing something. Lemon must have taken care of the burnt danishes. “That means someone powerful wants this case closed fast.” Lemon pursed her lips. “What are you saying?” “I thought you were smarter than a box of rocks.” Lemon stood and started pacing. “At least one of the lawyers from the wedding put pressure on the police department to hurry things up. Your crazy idea to look into it doesn’t seem so crazy now.” Sophia studied her desk. Last night, the wine had convinced her trying to figure out the murderer’s identity had been a good idea. Then Lemon and the light of day had convinced her that was foolish. But with innocent Makayla arrested, Sophia needed to take matters into her own hands. “Will you help me clear Makayla’s name?” “I’m no detective.” Lemon stopped pacing and yanked out her keys. “Of all the harebrained, cockamamie plans—I can’t believe I’m saying this. I don’t want

you dead like your mama.” What was that supposed to mean? Mama had died in a carjacking in the city. Before Sophia could ask, Lemon continued. “No matter what I say, you’re going to do what you want. I reckon you and Detective Gorgeous can figure it out, so long as you keep your heads down and he’s not helping you while he’s supposed to be working.” “I’ll see what Detective Schmidt can tell me.” Sophia stood and grabbed her change of clothes. She didn’t need to get fur on her work clothes. “The investigation’s over now that they arrested Makayla, right?” “I don’t know how all that works, but I think so.” Lemon was twisting something off her keys. Sophia circled back to her thoughts from last night. Was it Victoria? Noah had just broken up with her. Or else the bride. He might have threatened to reveal whatever had happened with Logan—whoever that was. And Zeke had been jealous. Not to mention, the bridesmaid with the black hair had wanted to sleep with him. “Use this if you get in trouble.” Lemon shoved a pink cylinder into Sophia’s hands. “I’ll take care of your class tonight.” “Class?” Sophia echoed, still confused about the pink cylinder. “You know, the muffin class.” Lemon crossed her arms, waiting for it to click. “Right.” Sophia headed for the bathroom to change. “I have to do that.” “If you’re running around trying to find out who murdered—” “Shh!” Sophia hissed. “What if someone is listening?” What would the murderer do to Sophia if they realized she was poking around? Whoever the killer was, they’d murdered one person and were pushing for the case to be closed quickly, putting Makayla behind bars to keep themselves safe. She’d have to listen to Lemon and keep her head down. She didn’t need another man waving a gun in her face.

“Who? You mean Bob and Deborah?” Lemon shook her head. “Who?” Sophia asked, before it clicked that Deborah was Mrs. Pulido’s first name. “Yeah. Those two spread gossip like wildfire.” “He’s half deaf, and I doubt they know anyone from the wedding.” Lemon rolled her eyes. “But use the pepper spray if anything happens.” Pepper spray? Sophia almost dropped the pink cylinder. “I don’t want you getting hurt.” Lemon closed Sophia’s fingers around the pink cylinder. “But I’ll cover your class.” “Don’t you have a date tonight?” Sophia asked. “I’ll cancel. Not a big deal.” “Lem, it’s my responsibility. And I invited the bridal party to the class. If any of them show up, that might help me figure things out.” Sophia chewed her lip. “Besides, I have to act like everything is normal. I can’t have the killer realize I’m trying to prove Makayla is innocent.”

EVEN though Gold Valley was a small town, parking downtown was miserable. Sophia circled three times before giving up and parking at the garage two blocks away from the police station. Somehow, she’d managed to avoid the police station when Detective Jaeger had investigated Mama’s death. Even though she wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but the drab building was not it. Dull bricks alternated with brown siding and large black tinted windows. Glass doors lined the front of the police station. Sophia held her breath and walked in. Inside the lobby, instead of criminals waiting handcuffed to be processed and rows of desks like she saw on tv, there was a small waiting room. The receptionist looked down through a window that spanned one full side of the lobby. A few holes near her mouth allowed sound to through from her. Another section of holes marked a place for a second receptionist, though none sat there. A small opening at the bottom of the window resembled the one at the bank where you handed your things to the teller. The scent of stale coffee attacked her nose, followed by the lingering chemical odor of someone’s nail polish. Did her senses going into hyperdrive come from being close to Detective Schmidt? Or did the focus come from the fear that someone might pop up and arrest her for interfering with a criminal investigation, even though she hadn’t done anything yet? “Are you here for finger printing?” The scent of tuna fish sandwich wafted out of the receptionist’s mouth as she spoke. “Um...” Sophia shook her head. “Sorry. This time of year, we get people coming in for fingerprinting for the schools and stuff. They all seem a little lost.” At least no one thought she was here with a crazy purpose, like finding a way to free her teenage employee. “I was hoping to talk to Detective Schmidt.”

“Oh.” The receptionist blinked. “I see. You’re here to see a specific officer.” The receptionist asked for her name, then told Sophia to take a seat. Sophia sat in an old, gray chair whose padding was so worn it may as well have not even been there. Sophia chewed her lip. She needed to find a way to talk to Makayla and her parents. Maybe she should call Detective Schmidt later. But she also wanted to be there for Makayla. Then again, she didn’t want to draw any attention to her quest to clear the teen’s name. While she waited, the door opened and a couple entered the lobby. Mid-forties, the man tall and fair, the woman shorter and amber-skinned. Both had salty tears streaking their faces and smelled of bitter grief and anger. Even though it had been over a year since they’d come into the shop to their daughter, she thought these were Makayla’s parents, but she wasn’t sure. “Can I help you?” the receptionist asked. “Our daughter has just been arrested,” the woman snapped. Definitely Makayla’s parents. “Name?” the receptionist asked. Sophia stood with her arms folded over her chest while the receptionist took down their information. “I’m so sorry about Makayla.” Sophia should have told the receptionist she was here to help her employee who had been arrested. Wrongfully arrested. The woman crinkled her forehead in confusion. “I’m her boss.” Sophia explained. “I was there when... I mean, I came straight here after I called you.” They stared down at her. This had been stupid. Makayla’s parents could do everything Sophia could and better. Not to mention, she had Detective Schmidt’s phone number. “I wanted to

help. I wanted to let her know that I was here for her and to talk to the police about why they arrested her. I mean—It’s stupid. I’ll go.” “Wait,” Makayla’s father said. “It’s not stupid. I appreciate the thought. We’re both... a little taken aback by this.” Behind Sophia, the door chimed announcing a new person in the lobby. “I understand. And I want to give Detective Schmidt a piece of my mind because I don’t get how he thinks Makayla did something like this. She’s so good with the customers.” Sofia would call the girl a good worker if she stayed out of the kitchen. Makayla’s father smiled. “We’ll you if there’s anything you can to do to help.” “That’s so sweet.” Ellie smiled at her. Beside her stood a young kid in a tailored suit. They must have walked in when the door chimed, but what were they doing here? “I doubt there’s much you can do unless you’re also a lawyer,” the kid said. He put a strong emphasis on lawyer. “Just a baker. I’d like to bake her up some justice, though. This isn’t fair at all.” Sophia forced a smile. “Well, I’ll have Makayla out in no time,” the kid said. Makayla’s mother smoothed her skirt. “We’ll let her know you came.” Ellie put her hands on Makayla’s parents’ shoulders. “I’ll be assisting your lawyer on the case.” The kid was the lawyer? Well, at least they turned up fast, even if he was baby faced. And Ellie would be helping him, but she was the victim’s girlfriend. Wouldn’t she want Makayla arrested? “Any idea who did it?” Sophia asked. “How—Why?” the kid stammered. “What are you asking me for?”

Sophia chewed her lip. This kid couldn’t even string two words together and was supposed to defend Makayla in court? “They’d have to let her go if we knew who the real murderer is.“ “As satisfying as that would be, we don’t do the police’s work for them.” Ellie tucked a hair behind her ear. “Our job is to make sure our client isn’t convicted.” “Detective Schmidt will be available soon,” the receptionist said. “I’ll call him later.” Sophia turned to Makayla’s parents. “Please keep me posted. I feel responsible. I’ve never had Makayla help at an event before, and now this.” “It’s not your fault,” Makayla’s father said at the same time as her mother said, “You should never have left her unsupervised.” “Honey, she's an adult now,” Makayla’s father hissed. Sophia blinked back tears. She wouldn’t cry now. Not in front of Makayla’s parents. They had much more reason to cry than her. “I’m so sorry.” Sophia stepped outside and headed back to her car. As she did, her senses dulled. Detective Schmidt had been in the building. Was being around another therian responsible for her heightened senses? When all this was over, she’d have to test it out. On the way back to her car, Sophia caught sight of Victoria and Anna sitting in a silver Lexus. As she approached, it became clear Anna’s face was scrunched up, and it took Sophia a moment to realize she was crying. Victoria’s face was red. Curious, Sophia felt along the path of her the therian magic. She drew on it the same as her witch magic, with a desire to hear everything they were saying. She used it, even though she knew the magic might have repercussions—not least of which was its interference with her witch abilities. But they might be fighting about the murder or Makayla taking the fall. Once she felt the magic warm and alive inside of her, she focused on the scents and the sounds of the city. The car exhaust. The scent of pee where a homeless person had gone at the far end of the alley near her. A pancaked animal starting to rot in the middle of the street.

Sounds snapped into focus next. In the distance, the freeway purred and a freight train rattled down the tracks. Then, the women’s voices came to her in fragments. “Don’t tell him,” Victoria said with a soft thud as she pounded the steering wheel. The cross walk changed, repeating its message over and over. “Walk sign across Vine Street.” “—have to—” Anna’s voice was uncertain. “—asking... trouble—” A car on the freeway blew its horn, drowning her out. “Logan is...” That Logan again. Sophia pretended she didn’t have a care in the world, strolling along as if she were going to go take Daisy and Minnie to the dog park. Anna shook her head. “I’m telling you it’s a bad idea. Zeke doesn’t need to know —” “We’re getting married. How can I keep this from him?” The sound of the train grew louder. Sophia had to concentrate more to understand what they were saying. Sofia reached for more magic. Her invisible fox ears strained towards the car. They were cat therians. Would they notice the way her ears were trained on them? “By keeping your mouth shut and visiting Logan—” “Keeping secrets from Dad worked so well, didn’t it?” What secrets had Victoria kept from Anna’s dad? “What? It all worked out in the—Is that the baker?” Sophia turned her gaze to the next car, when the train roared into town. Next to the overfill parking lot, the crossing arms started clanging deafeningly.

Her hands shot to those invisible fox ears, crushing them to her skull. She tried to release the magic, but it clung to her. Victoria spoke, but Sophia couldn’t make out the words. Sophia tried to push away the therian magic, but emotions bubbled through her like they did when she was cooking. The magic clung to her mental energy like sticky dough. Panic surged through her. The car door opened. Sophia whimpered and collapsed to the ground. The sound was deafening. She needed the therian magic to let go of her. “Are you okay?” Anna asked. Sophia’s eyes watered from the pain in her ears. How did real animals handle noise like this? From behind, two strong arms hooked under her armpits and lifted her to her feet. A familiar masculine scent mixed with hops and cupcakes overwhelmed her. Her back pressed against a solid body. Poop on a popsicle. Detective Schmidt, AKA Detective Gorgeous. Coyote therian. The one who wanted to talk to her about her therian magic. His voice thundered in her right ear. “I’m sure she’ll be fine.” “What’s wrong with her?” Victoria asked. Sophia wanted to bite her smug face off. Oh no, the fox magic was taking control. “PTSD. She was almost shot this summer. With all that happened yesterday, that car that backfired probably triggered it.” Detective Schmidt frowned down at her. Sophia wanted to die. Death by embarrassment was a thing, wasn’t it? Still, Detective Schmidt’s presence seemed to be calming her magic. She could almost focus again. The therian magic stopped clinging to her. The texture of the magic

changed, allowing her to roll it into balls, as if she had added more flour to bread dough. “Isn’t that right?” Detective Schmidt asked. Embarrassed, Sophia nodded. She did not need rescuing by Detective Schmidt. And how had he known to come find her? Schmidt grinned, and his coyote ears and snout overplayed his face for a moment, his smile on both his human face and his coyote face apparent in his joyful, laughing eyes. Anna and Victoria nodded and headed to the police station. “Were you using your therian senses to eavesdrop?” Detective Schmidt asked. Sophia collapsed against him, her senses now fully human, except for her nose’s inability to stop inhaling his tantalizing scent. “Will you talk to me about your therian side now, little fox?” Detective Schmidt asked. Sophia didn’t want to deal with being part animal. Witch magic had brought her trouble, so much trouble. Therian magic was just too much. Even though her fox reflexes had helped her be faster than Bill Poole, she might have been able to tackle him without the assist. And without being a witch, she wouldn’t have dosed her cupcakes with honesty in the first place. When she didn’t answer, he brushed a lock of red hair from her face. “You need help learning your magic.” “I’m a witch.” “So?” Detective Schmidt grinned, his eyes sparkling green. “Doesn’t make it any less true.” Sophia bit her lip to keep from groaning. She did not need to be taking lessons from Detective Gorgeous. Especially not if he smelled her emotions as clearly as she smelled his.

“How about tonight?” “I’m busy,” Sophia said. “We’ll trade lessons, I’ll teach you before I learn to make muffins.”

Chapter 7

Minnie and Daisy both squeezed into the front seat of Sophia’s Prius. The two huge fluff balls kept knocking into each other and Minnie would bump the gear shift. Since she had acreage—well one acre—of fenced land, going to the dog park was a special treat, but they seemed to know where she was driving. Sophia ed the line of cars parked on the street and undid her seatbelt. Daisy’s mouth hung open in a doggy smile, her tongue lolling out the side of her mouth, her brown eyes sparkling. Somehow, she’d managed to get herself out of her collar. Sophia sighed and wrestled it back onto the excited dog. Daisy was the Houdini of dogs. As soon as Sophia opened her door a crack, Minnie climbed onto her lap trying to get out of the car. There was no room for the sixty pounds of dog. Sophia got a whiff of pee and a mouthful of soft and wiry fur, a mix of topcoat and undercoat. Daisy shoved her head against Minnie, making her furry butt hit the horn. The blaring noise made everyone jump. Minnie shoved forward, pushing the door open. Daisy may as well have been glued to Minnie because she scrambled across Sophia with barely a paw to the bladder. Sophia caught their leashes as she tried to spit the thick fur out of her mouth. When she stumbled out after them, the girls were wagging their tails. But since their tails remained tightly coiled, they just flopped the entire coil from side to side. Sophia always cracked up at that gift from their Norwegian Elkhound side. Man, they were excited. Sophia wiped the fur from her mouth. “This is why we don’t come here every day.” Turning towards the entrance, Sophia caught sight of Detective Schmidt. Like Daisy, his dark eyes sparkled, and his mouth quirked up into a faint smile. She stuffed her keys and the pepper spray into her tiny pocket before he noticed the addition. Half the size of either of her girls, a small brown and white pit mix sat at his feet,

staring up at him obediently. The autumn wind plastered his shirt to his muscular chest. Sophia’s mouth went dry at the sight. She told herself not to think about that and focused on the girls instead. She didn’t want the breeze carrying her scent to him and letting him know how she felt. He caught the lower part of the leash in his right hand and held it down by his hip. The pit mix followed inches from his heel, just like they were at a dog show. “Great to see you.” “Wish I could say the same, Detective.” Noses to the sidewalk, Minnie and Daisy dragged Sophia past the detective to the gate. “Benjamin.” The patter of his footsteps followed after her. Her senses had clicked into focus. Next to the entrance, the stench of poop wafted from the trash. “I can’t call you that.” Sophia pushed away her therian magic as she opened the gate into what Lemon called the airlock. Minnie barked and tugged at her leash, trying to dart around the small area between the two sets of gates. “Why not?” Detective Schmidt followed her into the airlock before turning to his dog and holding out his hand in a fist. “Sit.” The pit mix’s bottom shot to the ground. Rhinestones sparkling in the pink collar as he unhooked the leash. “Good girl, Chloe.” Schmidt scratched the top of his dog’s head. “Chloe?” Sophia unleashed her own girls who had pressed themselves right against the inner gate. “She’s a rescue. Came with the name and the collar.” The detective opened the inner gate and clipped his leash onto the chain-link fence. Chloe remained seated while Sophia’s girls raced into the park. Sophia struggled to keep track of them as she followed them in. They ran

through the mud around the concrete picnic tables, over the hill in the middle of the park, then split up. Daisy ran back through the giant concrete pipe under the hill while Minnie ran around it. Daisy’s shortcut let her tackle Minnie right in front of Sophia and the gate. Tufts of white fur flew everywhere. “Release, Chloe.” He smiled as he watched her dogs rough housing. “They sure have a lot of energy.” Sophia snorted. “That’s one way to put it.” “Why won’t you call me my name?” He turned to the right and walked past the stinky trash can where flies buzzed. “You saved my life.” “All the more reason to call me by my name.” He turned back, perhaps to see why she wasn’t following him. “And you arrested my employee.” That wiped the amusement off his face. “I am sorry, but all the evidence points to her.” “She didn’t do it.” Sophia folded her arms, refusing to follow. Detective Schmidt kept walking, forcing Sophia to follow him along the fence to the back of the dog park. “Everything points to her. The prints, the murder weapon, the timeline, she’s even got a motive.” “So?” Sophia said. but the timeline did work. Makayla she had been alone for awhile after they’d last seen Noah. And she had been so afraid someone would think she had done it. Why would she think someone would think she’d killed him, unless... “What do you want me to do?” “She’d never hurt a fly—”

“Never hurt a fly.” Detective Schmidt snorted. “Did you know she got busted for fighting in high school?” “What? Makayla? Perky little Makayla?” That didn’t fit at all with the girl Sophia knew. The kid talked about pacifism and seemed so mature for her age. “Your perky little Makayla did a number on the other girl before they broke up the fight. That’s why she’s going to the junior college instead of a four-year. Colleges don’t like suspensions, no matter your GPA.” Taken aback, Sophia tried to wrap her head around that. How had the girl gotten into a fight like that? She’d have to ask Makayla about it. Well, not while the kid was in jail. Maybe the other girl had cursed her after the fight. “But I’m not here to talk about her.” He stopped walking near the back fence that ran along the frontage road. “I’m here to talk about your therian abilities.” “Shh!” Sophia put her finger to her mouth like she was in grade school. “We’re on the opposite end of the park from anyone else. There is a hill between us and whoever might be listening, and the freeway noises will drown out our words from anyone non-magical.” Chloe dropped a ball at Detective Schmidt’s feet. Sophia crossed her arms, but the sight of Minnie and Daisy chasing one another made her smile despite herself. “That train put you on the ground today.” He stooped to pick up the ball. Sophia stomped away, careful to watch for poop. You never knew when you might find some in the dog park. Too many owners didn’t bother to clean up despite the pooper-scoopers and free bags. “You have to be able to take care of yourself and use your powers when you want, not when they want.“ “Gah. You sound like my mother.” Mama’d used dozens of variations on that line when Sophia had been a kid. She’d harped that Sophia needed to learn to control the honesty magic before it caused her real problems, then at some point Mama had given up, claiming the world needed more honesty.

“Then she’s a very smart woman.” “Was.” Sophia spun on her heel to face him. “She was murdered. And your Detective Jaeger never found out who killed her.” “I’m sorry.” Detective Schmidt frowned and his eyes sparkled green. His looks short-circuited her brain and Sophia couldn’t think of anything else to say. “But it doesn’t make her any less right.” Minnie and Daisy stopped chasing each other up and down the hill and put themselves between Sophia and Detective Schmidt. Chloe wasn’t having this and growled at the bigger dogs. Minnie stared up at Sophia, puzzled. “Chloe, stop.” She returned to Detective Schmidt’s side. Why didn’t her dogs listen like that? Sophia walked a bit further, then turned back to Detective Schmidt. “What can you tell me about Makayla?” “Nothing.” He frowned. “I already told you too much. I can’t talk about my investigations.” “She didn’t kill him. I need to figure out who did before—” “Before Makayla’s parents’ lawyers clear her name?” “That young kid?” Sophia turned away when Minnie stared her in the face as she did her business. “You think he could find his way out of a paper bag?” “They called Victoria because she’s their normal lawyer, but given her relationship to the victim she decided—” “That’s why Victoria was there?” Detective Schmidt’s mouth shut with an audible click. “Dang it. My mouth runs

away with me sometimes.” Sophia should have kept her own mouth shut. He might have just kept talking there. Worse, that meant he couldn’t help her look into things. Since she didn’t believe baby-faced-lawyer would clear Makayla's name, Sophia was on her own. “Anyway, I think you should practice with your therian powers. Right here. Right now.” “No.” Sophia knelt to pick up Minnie’s poop with her poop bag. “This is the perfect place.” He gestured to their left as they walked back to the trashcan. “The freeway is loud enough to give you problems like the train did earlier.” “I don’t need to smell this—” Sophia swung the poop bag for emphasis. “—in high def.” He barked out a laugh. “When you’ve got a canine nose, poop tells you all kinds of interesting information. So does pee. That’s why they all sniff it.” “Gross!” Sophia flung the poop bag at the trash can from about twenty feet away. She missed. “Double gross!” “Fine. You don’t want me to teach you.” He picked up the bag for her. “There are no other foxes in the area, but I could find you another coyote. Maybe my sister—” “I’m not learning from you or your family.” She didn’t need his sister smelling her emotions and knowing how he made her feel all warm and tingly inside. “I already know you’re attracted to me if that’s what you’re worried about. I can smell it.” Heat rose in Sophia’s cheeks. “You telling me you didn’t know I like you?” Schmidt stared her straight in the face. Sophia chewed her lip. She wouldn’t lie to him, but with the curse there was no

way she could date anyone, let alone someone she liked as much as him. “What is it? That look on your face right there. You get that look every time I get a little too flirty, whenever I put myself out there. Or when Lemon mentions us dating.” Sophia choked. She hadn’t thought he’d overheard Lemon’s commentary. “Yeah, I hear her. Or I have.” He let his coyote face show over his own. “Coyotes have excellent hearing.” “But you never reacted or said anything.” “Even though we’re not known for being clever like foxes, there’s a reason Coyote is the trickster god.” Sophia checked the time on her phone. Not late enough to beg off to go take the girls home and get ready for her class. “Don’t run away on me today.” He caught her arm. Minnie growled at him—her protector. “I’ll find someone else to teach you. It doesn’t have to be me. But tell me why not.” “Detective—” “Benjamin,” he said. His soft voice set her heart racing. “Whatever.” Sophia took a deep breath, preparing herself to it it. “I’m cursed, okay?” “What?” Schmidt took a step back. He probably didn’t want to get too close. “The women in my family are cursed.” Tears pricked Sophia’s eyes. “Mama said it would carry forward at least seven generations and she was the third.” “What’s that got to do with me?”

“I can’t date. The curse will either drive us apart or else...” Sophia trailed off as a person walked by with their German shepherd. “Or else what?” Detective Schmidt asked when the other person had moved on. “Mama said it killed my father.” “Curses can’t kill people, can they?” “If you ignore them long enough. I guess my dad insisted they were destined to be together and that would protect him.” Daisy ran up to Sophia, then stared up at her with expectant eyes. When Sophia knelt to pet her, Daisy tried to lick her tears away, but her breath smelled like poop. Gross. Sophia shoved her away. “There’s no way to break it?” Detective Schmidt asked after a while. Sophia shook her head. “Mama never found a way—” Daisy sprinted at the fence nearest the cars parked on the street. Minnie took off after her. Both girls started barking like crazy. Were they chasing a squirrel? Even though this was a dog park, they shouldn’t throw their bodies against the fence. Embarrassed, Sophia chased after them. Her right foot hit a squishy spot and shot forward. Her left foot was already off the ground. Everything went into slow motion. Her stomach lurched. Detective Schmidt called her name. To catch her balance, she pinwheeled her arms, but she’d been going too fast. For a moment, she skiied forward on her right foot, then her butt crashed into a warm patch of squishy poop. The smell radiated around her. Her senses not in high gear, it just stank. Falling in dog poop in front of Benjamin—Detective Schmidt. Could things get any worse?

He jogged up to her. “Are you okay?” Sophia took stock. Yes, she was sitting in a pile of poop—probably from the German Shepherd, judging by how much of it had stuck to her shoe and was stuck to her—but even though her butt hurt, she didn’t think she’d broken anything. And she didn’t seem to have twisted her ankle. “Sophia?” Detective Schmidt asked. “I think so.” Sophia looked up at the detective. “Could you help me up?” Half the dog owners had seen her fall and rushed over to check on her. “I’m fine. I’m fine.” She waved them away, but a couple overly curious dogs stuck their noses against the poop on her butt. These she tried to shove away, but Detective Schmidt’s glare was more effective. Except for Strudel. Of course Rosemary was at the dog park with her tiny Pomeranian. “Really, Sophia, you should be more careful.” Rosemary scooped up the tiny ball of fluff and glared at Sophia’s dogs who were throwing themselves against the fence. “And try to control those monsters.” “Thank you.” Sophia took Detective Schmidt’s hand. “You’ll need to hurry home to get cleaned up before that silly class of yours.” Rosemary patted Strudel’s head. “Trying to draw in more business with teaching now?” “I thought the class would be fun.” Detective Schmidt hauled Sophia to her feet. “I was the first to sign up.” Rosemary sniffed and walked away. “Why don’t people pick up after their dogs?” Sophia as she limped towards the fence. Her ankle didn’t hurt, but her behind would be sore for a few days. By the time they got close, there was no squirrel. Still, the girls threw themselves against the chain-link fence. It bowed every time they hit it, making Sophia

worry it might break. Someone had pinned a paper under her windshield wiper, but there was no one walking anywhere near the car. None of the other cars had any paper on it, and no one would put fliers out in a residential neighborhood like this anyway. Her car was at the end of the line of cars, had she parked too far back and been in the red zone? Which meant she’d gotten a parking ticket while she was falling in poop. Could this day get any worse? “Let’s go, girls.” She gestured at the gate. Minnie and Daisy ignored her and kept barking at the fence. “If you want to go back to the car, you need to come with me.” Sophia walked to the airlock. Detective Schmidt made a sound low in his throat. Minnie and Daisy stopped barking and cocked their heads at him. “Go with her. She’ll take you out there.” Both dogs trotted to the exit. “How did you do that?” Sophia asked. “Magic.” He winked. “You should try learning about it some time.” She groaned. In the space between the two gates, Sophia leashed up the girls. Whatever magic Detective Schmidt had used wore off as soon as she stepped out the gate and they dragged her to the car. When Sophia opened the door, both dogs jumped in. She yanked the dog blanket out of the back seat and wrapped it around herself to cover up the poop. Then, she grabbed the paper. The woven texture told her it wasn’t a ticket before she even started reading. She blinked, trying to make sense of it. The note read, “What’s done is done. Let the secret stay dead and buried. Or else.” Sophia dropped the note on her hood. Who would have given her something like this? And who could know that she was going to try to dig into secrets?

“Detective!” She tried to shout, but her voice wouldn’t work. It came out a rasping croak. Fear had closed her throat off. “Detective!” Sophia snatched for the note, but the breeze carried it into the street. “Detective!” She dropped the blanket and scurried after the paper. “You figure out a way to break that curse?” In the middle of the street, Sophia caught the paper. Triumph. A car horn blared as a pickup bore down on her. Heart pounding, she jumped back onto the sidewalk. Inside the car, her dogs barked. “What’s wrong?” Detective Schmidt asked. “What’s that?” “A threat.” She held it up to the fence so the detective could read it. As he read, his mouth pressed into a tight line and the color drained from his face. “Guess I’ve got some work to do.” Detective Schmidt frowned. “Don’t think I’ll be making muffins tonight.”

Chapter 8

After cleaning herself up, Sophia rushed back to the shop. As she drove up to park in front of Mama Ginger’s—free street parking on Sundays—she spied Doris. Half a block away from Sophia’s front door, Mama’s best friend sat on a bench with her skirt fanned around her and scratchers piled on it. She used a smashed penny to scratch the lotto tickets. “Doris, what are you doing here?” Sophia asked, leaning in for a hug. “The bigger question is why is your hair wet?” Doris asked. Self-conscious, Sophia touched the braid she’d forced her hair into. “Wet hair and a tiny skirt.” Doris scooped up the pile of scratchers, and Sophia noticed the widow had taken off her wedding ring. “Do you have a date?” “No, the skirt was clean and I could find it.” Sophia fumbled for an explanation that left out Detective Schmidt and the poop. “I took the girls to the dog park and they got me dirty. What about you? Do you have one?” Doris grinned. “I had some big winnings at the casino, so I thought I’d splurge on a cooking class.” “Don’t they do all the cooking for you at the home?” Sophia asked. She waved Sophia off. “How does that matter? A woman likes to cook once in a while.” “If that’s the case, I could always put you to work,” Sophia joked. “Didn’t Mama teach you all her tricks?” Doris laughed and pinned her giant purse shut. “If you think your mother gave me any recipes, you didn’t know her at all. She guarded those like she guarded that grimoire of yours. Heaven knows why. Not like there were any other witches here.” “Not like I can do any of the spells in it.” “Please. Tell an old lady another joke.” Doris grabbed Sophia’s arm and let

Sophia lead her into the bakery. “Ginger used to tell me you’re so magic it leaks out without you even trying.” “I don’t have the control she had.” Maybe she should check the grimoire. Mama always said it had its own personality. And just because she looked for a spell, didn’t mean she had to try it. “Control.” Doris snorted. “Practice gives you skill, dear.” She dropped her purse on a table and climbed into one of the armchairs, tucking her feet underneath her. “Anything you want to talk about?” Doris asked as she pulled the lotto tickets back out of her purse. “This morning Detective Schmidt arrested my employee for murdering the best man at the wedding we catered.” Sophia plopped into the chair next to her mom’s friend. “So I heard.” Doris put a hand to her silver hair. “Why do they think she did it?” “Dude was killed with my cake knife.” Sophia tugged on the damp braid. “Mine. With the Mama Ginger’s logo on the handle.” “So why her and not you?” Doris frowned at her latest scratcher, not a winner. “Only her prints were on it,” Sophia said. “Makayla’s eighteen and horrible in the kitchen. She thought she lost the knife, but I guess the murderer stole it.” “I’m so sorry, dear.” Doris tucked the losing scratcher into her purse. “What awful luck.” “What if the curse on my family is why she got arrested?” It felt good to talk to someone about this. “The way she is in the kitchen, you don’t think the girl has her own curse to deal with?” Doris asked. “Mama had the sight. Not me.” Sophia ran her fingers along the arm of the chair. “But Detective Schmidt being the one to arrest her can’t be a coincidence.” “I don’t know about that. The department has what, six or seven detectives? This

could be problems from her own curse.” Sophia blinked, thinking about that. Makayla’s problems had been getting worse. If that were true, Sophia needed to figure out a way to break the curse on Makayla, too. “Still, you deserve be happy like Ginger never got to be.” Doris sighed. “Try to break the curse.” “Not you, too. I’m no good with magic. Besides, if it was too dangerous for Mama, how can I even think about it?” Doris clucked her tongue. “I already told you, practice.” At the very least, reading the grimoire couldn’t hurt too much. She had to look into the curse on her and the one on Makayla. Sophia’s phone buzzed. “That’s my reminder to get everything set up on time.” “Don’t worry about me.” Doris pulled out another scratcher and raised the oval shaped, squashed penny. “Come on, mama needs a night out on the town.” Sophia was running low on uniforms and had a week’s worth of clothes to wash, all sealed in their own ziplock bags. More work for her. When Sophia came out of the office, Mr. Turpin sat opposite Doris. His long legs stretched to her chair, like he would have played footsie if she would just put her feet down. “You do have a date,” Sophia said. “Yes, dear,” Doris laughed. “This is Walter.” Sophia blinked. She’d only ever heard him called Mr. Turpin. Everyone had a date tonight, except Sophia. Unless the bridesmaids showed up, she was the only one who wouldn’t be coupled up. Ellie walked in, bringing the scent of cigarette smoke with her. “Ellie, good to see you,” Sophia said. “Glad to not be the only sing—not half of a—” Sophia stumbled on her words, ing too late that Ellie was single because Noah had just died. “Any of the other bridesmaids coming?”

Ellie shrugged. “It’s good to be with people.” “You can sit near us,” Doris patted the open seat next to her. Ellie sat at a table instead. If more bridesmaids showed up, that would simplify Sophia’s investigation. She bet the bridesmaid with the black hair or glasses knew more than they’d it about the murder. With a batch of honesty cookies, they might even tell her what they knew. And hopefully no one revealed too much about anything that might get them killed. Sophia squeezed behind the counter. “I’ve got to set up in the kitchen.” “Is this the one who’s trying to solve the murder?” Mr. Turpin asked. “Poop on a popsicle.” Sophia’s heart leapt into her throat. Ellie made a snorting noise that turned into a cough as if she were trying to pretend not to be laughing. “How did you hear that?” Sophia asked Mr. Turpin. “Bob Martins was telling everyone at Golden Oaks about your plan to save your employee,” Doris said. Sophia groaned. That explained how someone knew to leave her the note. Anyone at Golden Oaks would have shared the gossip with the wedding guests. “Is it true?” Mr. Turpin—Walter asked. “Bob shouldn’t be spreading rumors.” Sophia’s face burned with anger. Mr. Turpin could have just risked her life because, from what she’d learned from tv and books, the girlfriend of the murder victim should be a prime suspect. “You don’t trust Edwards, Taylor, and Brown to clear her name?” Ellie asked. “We’ve got some of our best working on it.” “Your best? You’re telling me that baby-faced stutterer is one of your best?” Sophia growled and her invisible tail swished behind her. “I’m helping him.” Ellie waved her hand. “And he is one of the few people who

didn’t know Noah well enough to love or hate him.” Sophia stomped to the kitchen and snarled, “I’m going to make cookies.” “We’ll just talk out here until you feel more sociable.” Doris whispered something Sophia didn’t catch to Mr. Turpin, making him laugh. Sophia pulled out the dough she’d prepped for the next day’s cookies. She needed some comfort right about now. After the class ended, she’d whip up another batch to sit overnight. Sophia grabbed small gobs of dough to form into cookies. She’d already pumped these bad boys full of comfort when she’d mixed the dough, but with the last half-dozen cookies, she let the honesty trickle out. Not too much, just a dab of honesty. She put the honesty cookies on one side of the sheet pan, separate from the pure comfort cookies. The truth was important. Mama Ginger used to say truth made things better, but in Sophia’s experience, wine and cookies made all the difference. Either way, Sophia was ready for some bridesmaid truths. If whoever had left that note on her car confessed to being the murderer, Sophia could call Detective Schmidt with a roomful of witnesses and get Makayla out of the slammer. Sophia shoved the pan in the oven. As mad as she was about Bob Martins telling everyone, the senior gossip tree had its uses. Doris might have some juicy tidbits about who would want to kill Noah. Most of the bridesmaids hated him. Especially after he hit on Makayla. The girl had barely turned eighteen. And he was a lawyer. Late twenties at the youngest. As Sophia counted out muffin tins, the bell on the front of the shop jangled. Doris and Mr. Turpin greeted the newcomers. Sophia ducked in and out of the kitchen, setting up supplies at the tables marked with each group’s name. The class had sold like hotcakes, but she labeled the table Ellie sat at for friends of Anna and Edwards. The bell jingled again, and this time a man and a woman murmured hello. By the time the cookie timer went off, Sophia needed to start the class. She set

plates of cookies down at each table, with the half dozen honesty cookies going to the bridesmaid table, next to Doris and Mr. Turpin’s assigned station. “Try them, they’re delicious,” Doris said to Mr. Turpin and Ellie. He dug in, but Ellie declined. “I couldn’t. I’m on a diet.” “On a diet? What are you doing at a baking class?” Sophia asked. “Zucchini muffins are healthy, right?” Ellie asked, frowning at the cookies. Doris burst into laughter. “You're in for a treat dear.” Sophia snickered and surveyed her shop. Five young couples, Doris, Mr. Turpin, and Ellie all sat in the armchairs. None of the other bridesmaids had taken her up on her offer of a free class. What could she do but deal with all the couples? The detective would have been a nice reprieve. Sophia introduced herself and launched into the brief spiel she’d developed on her muffins. Tonight, they’d be making chocolate zucchini muffins. “I always use two or three small zucchini rather than one giant one for best moisture and flavor.” Doris whispered something to Mr. Turpin, and he blushed. Sophia did not want to see her mother’s best friend flirting with a zucchini as a prop, so when she finished her instructions, she stopped by Ellie’s table and grinned to see that one of the honesty cookies was missing. “How are you doing with everything?” Sophia asked. “It’s hard.” Ellie frowned. “But my wallet’s doing better than expected. Since Noah, I’ve sworn off gambling.” “Really?” Doris waggled her eyebrows as she took a zucchini from Mr. Turpin. “Blue Heron Casino is my favorite. It’s so awful about—well, everything.” “Thank you.” Ellie grated her own zucchini so aggressively that Sophia thought she might cut her hand on the grater. “I guess I liked it, too, but with everything that happened...”

“Careful you don’t grate your own fingers,” Sophia said, projecting so all the couples heard her, not just her intended target. “I guess I’m just stressed out.” Ellie set down the stubby end of the zucchini. “Maybe I should take up running like Anna.” “Running? Like for fun?” Sophia asked. “People do that?” “I don’t know how much fun she has. But whenever she’s stressed, she goes for a run. Always ends it at the cemetery, then walks home. Says it clears her head.” “Why? Does she like the turkeys?” Sophia hated the turkeys in the cemetery, but she could kill two birds with one stone, visit Mama and talk to Anna. Ellie laughed. She seemed glib for someone whose boyfriend had just died. “I don’t think so. But I bet she’ll be running tomorrow morning.” “She doesn’t have to work?” Sophia asked. “She already had the time off for her honeymoon, which isn’t happening now, but...” Ellie frowned, as if ing the death. “But I’ll help our baby-faced employee get yours out in no time. I won’t let an innocent kid go to prison.” Sophia reached straight for a comfort cookie. Chocolate-y goodness filled her mouth. “Going down to the station this morning was stupid. Her parents were already there and—” “ing your employee was sweet, not stupid.” Ellie scooped the flour with her measuring scoop. “Stop!” Sophia caught Ellie’s wrist before she dumped the flour into the sugar and eggs mixture. “Sieve it into the separate bowl or you’ll get clumps. Then do the same with the chocolate.” “Thank you.” Ellie nodded. “Again, I am so grateful to not be alone, after... after Noah.” “That must be so hard for you since you two were an item,” Sophia said, her forwardness surprising her. The word was they didn’t acknowledge they were a couple. There had been no announcements, just clear pictures of their dates on

social media. Sophia wouldn’t mind a look at that for herself. Ellie whisked together the cocoa powder and flour. “It wasn’t like that, or at least, we weren’t serious. Still, things are...” She trailed off. “Was it because of Victoria?” Sophia asked. What was wrong with her? Oh no! She’d eaten an honesty cookie. She needed to shut her mouth or do something to keep the truth from bubbling out. “Victoria?” Ellie asked. “What do you mean because of Victoria?” Sophia opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to keep the impulse to tell the truth in check. Instead, she turned to the class and directed them to slowly add the dry mixture to the wet. “What do you mean because of Victoria?” Ellie repeated, her voice soft and angry. “Umm...” Sophia bit down on her tongue. She wouldn’t do it. She wouldn’t answer. This was one truth the murder victim’s girlfriend didn’t need. Sophia measured the chocolate chips out for Ellie, doing everything she could to avoid the question. The truth wormed its way out of her mouth anyway. “Makayla and I caught her making out with Noah in the elevator.” Ellie’s mouth dropped open. “Victoria?” “Are you surprised?” Sophia asked. Even if she were doped up on honesty, she could still ask questions. “I wish.” Ellie balled her hands into fists. “She looked at him like she was going to gobble him up. Like he was the gingerbread man and she was the sly fox.” “Excuse me?” Sophia did not like the fox reference. Did Ellie know she was a therian? But how? Again, Sophia caught pointed ears peeking from Ellie’s long blonde hair. What was going on with her? This had to do with the therian stuff Detective Schmidt was trying to get her to deal with earlier. But Ellie’s ears weren’t any kind of animal’s Sophia knew. They were long, pale, and fur-less.

++ The rest of the class went smoothly. Everyone’s chocolate zucchini muffins turned out, despite Sophia’s doubts about two of the couple’s ability to hold a spatula. Afterwards, Ellie, Doris, and Walter stayed to keep Sophia company while she cleaned up the kitchen. “Thank you again for inviting me.” Ellie patted Sophia’s hand. “I just—it’s best I’m not alone after Noah.” “I understand. If not for my friends when Mama died...” Sophia trailed off and forced a smile. “If you need another friend right now, add me on social media or stop by the bakery.” “I will. And I have to keep reminding myself I’m not having as bad a time as Zeke and his parents.” Ellie examined one of her chocolate zucchini muffins before taking a bite. “It’s a pity.” Doris bit into a zucchini muffin and moaned. “Not so much of a pity if he was running around with Victoria.” Ellie shook her head as if to clear it. “Still, I feel sorry for Anna and Zeke. I mean, she didn’t get along with Noah, but it was their wedding day. Now it’s the day his brother died.” “I was wondering...” Even though it didn’t flow with the conversation, the honesty magic pushed Sophia to ask, “Who is Logan?” “Logan?” Ellie tucked a lock of blonde hair back behind one pointed ear. Her ear looked almost grey and sort of knobbly. She might be a bat therian, but Sophia’s nose didn’t detect any scent of bat. As much as she hated the idea, she should let Detective Schmidt find her a teacher. Walter ran a hand through his thin, white hair. A faint smile on his lips, as if he were happy to have something to say. “He’s Anna’s nephew, of course.” “Walter.” Doris put a hand on his, stopping the muffin from reaching his mouth. “Victoria and her husband didn’t have any other children.” “But he calls her Aunt Anna.” Walter shoved the muffin into his mouth. “If I

hadn’t grated the zucchini myself, I wouldn't believe it was there.” “No. The Taylors always complain Victoria only gave them one grandchild.” Doris set down her muffin. “He has to be Anna’s son.” “Her son? You’re...” Ellie bit her lip, resisting the urge to call Doris crazy. “... mistaken. Anna doesn’t have a son.” But all of a sudden, things were clicking into place.

Chapter 9

Later that night, Sophia grunted as she half carried, half dragged the ladder out of the garage. She stumbled up the steps from the garage into the dining room. The ladder caught on the top step, making her stumble. This was a bad idea, but Doris was right. Sophia had to try to unravel the curse. And figure out how to see what was causing Makayla’s problems. She groaned and set the ladder down. She took a moment to sit on the broken chair she had always meant to mend but just sat on anyway, hoping she didn’t tip the seat over. Mama’s kitchen set had been good when Sophia had been a kid, but now things were falling apart. Minnie pushed her head against Sophia’s leg. She ran her hand through the dog’s soft yet wiry fur. Where was Daisy? Usually she was the one demanding pets. “I know, girl. You had so much fun at the dog park. But it’s dark now.” Still, Minnie pressed her face against Sophia’s hand. When Sophia stood up, Minnie grumbled. “I know you want loves, but... I need to find some things out and can’t do it without the stupid ladder.” Sophia resumed her struggle to carry it across the house. The ladder thudded on the old wood floor. She needed to have the floor refinished sooner than later, but heck if she knew how she’d afford something like that. Or when she’d be able to leave her house long enough. After Mama had died, Sophia’d put the book of shadows in the attic with some other things she didn’t want lying around. Sophia was a good witch, but not a very talented one. Without Mama, she never planned on experimenting with magic or on using any of the more advanced spells. She thought she’d sticking to kitchen magic for the rest of her life. At the hallway, Sophia turned sideways. With the ladder balanced on both of her shoulders, it was too wide for her to head straight forward. Despite the light from the living room, the darkness in the hallway swallowed her. Sophia’s throat went dry. She set down the ladder and switched on the

bathroom light, the switch in the hallway that seemed to do nothing, and the light in the small bedroom. She stared up at the in the ceiling. If it weren’t for that stupid , there’d be a light in the hallway because the light switch she’d just hit connected to a light up in the attic. If she learned about her therian magic, she might keep it from interfering with her witch magic. And maybe, just maybe, she could figure out why her magic always oozed honesty into whatever she cooked if she didn’t concentrate hard enough to keep it out. Sophia climbed up the ladder, her stomach tightening with each step. Her yoga pants strained. It had been too long since she’d worn them for anything other than chilling on the couch, and the material was old. Minnie barked up at her. Minnie didn’t like it when anyone else broke the rules. She barked at off-leash dogs or when Sophia danced. Apparently, rule-breaking in Minnie’s book included climbing a ladder. Dust filled all the crevices in the popcorn ceiling. How was she supposed to clean that? A vacuum would knock the popcorn stuff off, wouldn’t it? Sophia sighed. She was just avoiding thinking about what she was going to do. The attic was awful. The house wasn’t old enough to have a real attic like they showed in books. Just a crawl space that scarcely fit the tubs and boxes she’d positioned on the eaves. When she lifted the wooden straight up and pushed it aside, the harsh light from the bare bulb blinded her. Dust filled Sophia’s nose, making her sneeze. Minnie and Daisy growled at each other. She glanced down, but didn’t see either dog. What were they doing now? She should just climb down to check on them. No, if she got off the ladder, she wouldn’t get the book. Whatever the girls were doing, she couldn’t use them as an excuse to avoid the attic and the grimoire. Hopefully, no weird stuff had happened since she’d put it up there. At the top of the ladder, her body half in the hole in the ceiling, Sophia panicked. The narrow space was full of giant tubes—ducts, she reminded herself—from the air conditioning system. They reminded her of snakes wriggling around.

Still, she’d braved the mess of ducts and the fuzzy pink insulation before. Once, when she’d had to help fix the air conditioner in high school, when Mama had refused to climb up there and again when she’d put the book in the attic. Mama had used to store other things up there, but as she’d gotten older, she’d refused to slither around on her belly in the attic. Staring into the narrow space full of shadows and grime, Sophia didn’t blame her. She climbed higher, putting her foot on the sticker of a red line slashing through a circle with a foot in it. The step said not to stand on it—even though the ceiling surrounding Sophia on all four sides made falling next to impossible, her chest still felt tight. Now, she really had to climb. She wriggled forward, inching through the space. The plastic tub sat a good fifteen feet away over Mama’s bedroom. Had she set it so far away when Mama had died? Unless the book had moved itself further away from the entrance. Mama had told her the magic in the book did funny things. No. She’d put it as far away as she could. She hadn’t wanted to get it just because she was tempted to try fancy spells—dangerous spells. Stupid younger, skinnier Sophia. Now she crawled, hands and knees on the two by fours that ed the ceiling. At least she didn’t risk falling through on accident. She wove through the ducts, and the strange shadows it cast filled the space, plunging her into darkness and sudden light from the one harsh bulb. Her throat tightened up. Below her, Minnie or Daisy started barking in the high pitched way meant they were scared. What was going on downstairs? She had to focus on finding the book, or she’d never come back up here. Sophia crawled through the attic. The hard wood dug into her knees and her yoga pants caught. She tugged her leg forward, and the pants tore—making a gaping hole over her knee and thigh. She groaned. The dry smell gave way to a musty, animal scent. She wrinkled her nose. Mice or rats. She’d have to come back up here to set some traps.

No, she’d hire someone to come up here to avoid the attic herself. She’d figure out a way to afford that. Someone young and skinny like Makayla would have an easier time of it. And Makayla was half the reason she was up here. Plus, if Sophia figured out the curse, she might have more influence over the detective and be able to get him to turn over the case against Makayla. Downstairs, her cell phone rang. Sophia groaned. She’d left it down there so she didn’t drop it up here, but now she wanted to answer it. Makayla might be out on bail. Maybe, now she was free. Who knew? Little feet skittered around the attic. Definitely mice or rats. She reached the plastic tub. She’d put it over Mama’s room because, even now, the book still felt like something forbidden that had belonged to Mama. Funny that. She’d been gone for two years. Sophia managed the books, ran the bakery, and paid the property taxes on the house, but Mama’s things still felt forbidden and dangerous. The book had the potential to be in the wrong hands. Like Sophia’s. Still, she wasn’t doing any spells that night. She was just looking for what she needed. Besides, it wasn’t like she was a dumb kid anymore. She put her hands on the tub and pushed. She was a grown woman with her own wants and desires now. She had responsibilities, and one of those responsibilities was finding out who was responsible for the murder at Blue Heron Casino. And the book might help her uncover the truth. “I wish the answer would fall into my lap,” Sophia muttered. Downstairs, something banged. What had the girls knocked over now? The dogs were going crazy. She could tell their barks apart. Minnie’s was high and panicked yapping. Almost like a small dog. Daisy barked deep excited barks. Sophia felt like she could almost understand them. “Get it!” they both seemed to be shouting.

Whatever they were doing, they were up to something naughty. Someone knocked on the front door. Sophia jumped, hitting her head on a beam ing the roof. She cursed. “Sophia, are you okay?” The walls of the house muffled Detective Schmidt’s voice. Of course it would be him. No wonder her senses had sharpened. “I’m fine!” Sophia shouted. She pulled the plastic tub across the joists so it sat in front of her and wriggled herself back around. He banged on the door again. This time it was the heavy pounding of a cop on the door. Not a simple three tap like most civilized people did. Still, she pushed the plastic crate across the attic. It caught in the gap between the joists and pushed down onto the soft insulation. She groaned and struggled to lift it back onto the wood. As she did, one of her nails tore on her left hand. She sucked air in through her teeth. That stung. Thud. It fell between the joists again. Detective Schmidt kept pounding on the door. Sophia grunted. Of course it had to be him. “Sophia?” Detective Schmidt called. “I’m fine. I’m just.” Grunt. “Getting something.” Grunt. “In the attic.” The plastic tub pitched down. Sophia caught the end, but it slid through her fingers, crashing down and hitting the ladder. She must have reached the hole in the ceiling. “Sophia?” The knocking stopped. The barking almost sounded like the anxious attempts to scare off Mama’s black

ceramic cat, when Sophia had set it on the floor. Except worse somehow. Sophia leaned over the hole. On its way down, the plastic tub had burst and knocked the ladder away from the attic access. Papers scattered all over the hallway. Her stomach clenched. She hadn’t realized she didn’t like heights, but now, needing to climb back down without the ladder, she felt scared. If she lowered herself feet first, it wouldn’t be a long drop. If she slipped while climbing down, though, she could do a doozy on her ankle. The front door opened. “Sophia?” “In the hallway!” Sophia shouted. “I really am fine.” Detective Schmidt appeared underneath her. “Can you put the ladder back?” Sophia was all too aware of the grime on her face and the tear in her pants. Detective Schmidt moved the ladder over. She dangled her feet down the attic access, her stomach in her throat, until her foot found the top rung. When she reached the ground, Detective Schmidt was gone and the girls had stopped barking. Sophia took in the mess that had spilled out of the plastic tub. The book sat in the middle of hundreds of loose sheets of paper. Sophia hadn’t put these in the plastic tub. She knelt to shut the book, but a phrase caught her eye. A truly powerful witch can work her magic without the aid of mediums or spells. Sophia shook her head. As if she’d ever be able to do what Mama hadn’t. She shut the book and put it back in the tub. She started gathering up the loose sheets or paper, touching her mother’s signature like she’d never seen it before. Hearts dotted the ‘i’ in Ginger and the ‘B’ was drawn big with dramatic flair.

Others were letters signed by Todd DeVos, her father. Still other papers were yellowed with age in old-fashioned, sweeping cursive. The dates on the top left from over a hundred years ago made it clear these were diary entries. So, when she saw the name Rosemary White at the end, Sophia gasped. Rosemary had been in high school with her and was not old enough for Sophia’s great-great-however-many-greats grandmother to have written about. Sophia stepped into the bathroom for better light and squinted at the dense cursive. It said Rosemary Wren, not Rosemary White. Still, she doubted the name was a coincidence. Sophia read the sheet, dated February 7, 1907. My sister blames me for Clarence choosing me, when he tells me he had no intention of courting her. I fear she will curse us both. She has abandoned our family name and is calling herself Rosemary Wren. This was it. This was why her family was cursed. Her grandmother’s sister had gotten angry about a man and had cursed her. Another page stuck out to her. November 13, 1910 As Thanksgiving approaches, I lose things to be thankful for. The curse is driving us apart. No matter what I try, I cannot unmake this thing. Nor will my sister take my letters or calls. Small things and large work to drive a wedge between Clarence and I. Detective Schmidt cleared his throat. Sophia glanced at him and looked back down at the note. Whether she will forgive me or not, I do not know. With our own child on the way and my sister unyielding, I fear only her daughter or children’s children will unmake the curse. She has put too much of herself into this thing. The magic is eating her away. “You might want to...” He gestured at Sophia.

She looked down at her clothes, realizing that other than tearing her pants, her shirt had pulled down, leaving her practical bra exposed. Sophia spun around, yanked her shirt up. Cheeks burning, she made sure she was presentable before turning back around. “What is all this?” he asked. “I needed to get Mama’s book of shadows.” Sophia pressed her lips together. Best not to tell him she wanted to do a spell to find the killer. “To try to unravel the curse.” “Not break it?” he asked. “I can’t smash someone else’s spell, but I thought I could pull some threads.” Sophia chewed her lip. Sophia needed to find Rosemary Wren’s descendants. “What are you doing here, anyway? Where did you go?” “I got something off the note you gave me.” He pointed at her dogs. “But these two troublemakers were playing with a rat.” “Playing with?” Sophia asked. “Running away from and turning around and barking at it again.” Detective Schmidt laughed. “The fluffier one was scared of it. The other one must have brought it in. She was having a great time until I stopped them.” “Umm... Where is the rat now?” “Outside.” Detective Schmidt shrugged. “Any luck on the curse?” “Mama never told me how it started.” Sophia frowned at the yellowed paper in her hands. This journal hadn’t been in her mother’s room when she’d packed up the book. “But my great-great grandmother’s jealous sister cursed us “So you can break it, and I can teach you to use your therian magic.” “My mom couldn’t untangle it, but if a descendant of the witch who cursed my grandmother helped me, we could pull it apart. Her participation is key. If she even believes in magic.”

This day was too much. A dead rat, an antique diary, love letters between her mother and father. If this diary was right, she needed to find a descendant of this Rosemary Wren to break the curse. She hoped the name was just a coincidence. That Rosemary White wasn’t named after this woman. Her rival had seen her fall in the dog poop before she found the note. The note! “What did you find out about the note?” Sophia set down the diary page so she wouldn’t ruin it by worrying at it with her sweaty fingers. “Still waiting on fingerprints. But the paper matches Lee, Taylor and Brown letterhead.” “Anna or her mother must have realized I was eavesdropping on them outside the police station.”

Chapter 10

The next morning, Minnie grumbled at the window as Sophia ed the grassy lot across from the cemetery. Sophia spared a glance and grinned. A giant flock of turkeys circled the lot, which meant that they weren’t in the cemetery or around Mama’s grave. With the girls, that was as good as Makayla not trying to come into the kitchen for a whole shift. Sophia pulled up on Pole Line Road, finding princess parking right in front of the plaque that declared the cemetery a wildlife refuge. Already, she felt a chill and pulled her sweater tighter around her. Minnie and Daisy squirmed in the front seat, eager to get out. Sophia checked her mirror and, when traffic was clear, hurried out of the car. The girls tried to rush across to her side, but she slammed the door in their faces. She pressed herself against the Prius as a car blew past. Pole Line was too busy for her to let them out into oncoming traffic. Cold greeted her as she walked to the enger side to gather up the dogs and the canvas tote with her Tupperware and thermos. Unsure if the cold meant an angry greeting from the graveyard guardian, Sophia shoved an umbrella from under the seat into her bag. Even though the forecast hadn’t called for rain, thick, dark clouds threatened to open over her. She’d never sensed the graveyard guardian before—Mama had always Seen her with the Sight—but even though others used the cemetery as a dog park, bringing the girls might have upset the guardian. Mama might not like her bringing the girls either, but if Sophia were going to confront a murder suspect, she wanted two furry bodyguards with her. Besides, the girls liked coming and she’d made sure they’d done their business before they got to the cemetery. Sophia braced herself for the guardian’s reaction when she reached the gate. Chill wind blew. Still, Sophia practiced her manners. “Hello, Elise. I’m sorry about the dogs. But they’re good girls, and they probably hate the turkeys as much as you.” The chill lessened. Sophia slid the girls’ leashes up her wrist, pulled out the Tupperware. From the Tupperware, she set a thumbprint cookie on the top of the brick pillar beside the gate. “I’m here to see my mother and, I hope, find proof to free an innocent woman accused of murder.” Sophia tried to share her feelings

about Makayla’s arrest with the graveyard guardian. Warmth enveloped Sophia. Taking that as a good sign, she headed into the cemetery, careful to keep the girls on the pavement. Sophia looked across the street, glad to see the turkeys staying out of the cemetery. Would Anna talk to her? Or would she think Sophia was snooping? Sophia took a deep breath, reminding herself she was also here to talk to Mama because that would help her feel better about all this stuff. Her heart rose in her throat as she stepped off the driveway and onto the grass. “Girls, be on your best behavior.” With each step nearer her mother’s grave, Sophia’s nerves grew. It had as much to do with bringing the girls to visit Mama as it did that she might confront a murderer in a little while. In her pocket, Sophia touched the pepper spray Lemon had given her. The pink cylinder would protect her from Anna if need be. “Mama.” Her voice came out thick, and Sophia was surprised to realize that some of her old anger at Mama had gone. “Mama, the curse has got someone that’s not family in its clutches.” A chill ed through her. Taking that as a bad sign, Sophia looked for anything that she might have done to offend Mama. She checked her outfit. Nothing new, but all respectable. Black slacks, a dark gray sweater, a plain brown shirt that didn’t clash with Sophia’s hair. Something appropriate for visiting Mama— something that Mama would have let her wear to visit Gran’s grave as a teen. Mama wouldn’t be offended by the toe-nail clippers she’d jammed in her pocket that morning after trying to fix her busted nail, either. No, it had to be the dogs. And Sophia’s forwardness. Sophia almost heard Mama’s voice in her head. Why did you bring those beasts to visit me? And Mama would have said, That was no way to talk to your mother. No ‘how are you?’ No ‘I hope you’re doing well.’ No asking after me? Sophia started over. “I’m sorry, Mama. That was rude of me. I hope things are going well for you wherever you are right now. I brought your favorite cookies.” Sophia set the

ginger cookies on Mama’s headstone, letting her fingers brush the carved name. The way Gran had told it, as a kid Mama had always thought the cookies were named for her—not that she shared a name with the ginger plant. Daisy lunged for the cookies, and Sophia jerked the leash tight and took a step back to keep the dogs away from the offering. “I miss you.” Sophia talked as she unscrewed the thermos. “You were always so sure of yourself and I’m so lost. I brought you coffee, too.” Sophia splashed a bit on the grave. Still, the chill, but now a scent of roses mingled with the warm smell of the fresh ginger cookies and rich bitterness of the coffee. “I know you don’t like dogs, but I might be in danger. And they look intimidating.” Sophia wiped the tears from her eyes as she knelt over her mother’s grave. She told her mom everything. About Makayla and her plan to ask about the mysterious Logan, who if Doris was right—and despite what Ellie had said, she usually was. And how she thought the curse had caused Makayla’s arrest to drive a wedge between Sophia and Detective Schmidt, even though Sophia had been avoiding him. She explained how she’d gone up to the attic to retrieve the book, and Detective Schmidt had let himself in. Then she explained how the diary scattered when the plastic tub fell, even though Sophia’d only put the book and some other magical paraphernalia need in there. “Why didn’t you ever try to untangle the curse with Rosemary’s help?” Sophia asked. “In high school, Rosemary might have thought it was neat to play at witchcraft. But now, she hates me. And I kind of hate her.” Sophia put the lid back on the thermos and tucked it into the canvas bag. “I mean, she’s stealing all your business and trying to ruin the shop. It’s worse than when she stole the recipe book.” The girls tugged at the leash, making Sophia stumble. The turkeys were crossing the street. “Now Makayla is all tangled up in our family curse, and I need to set things right. But I don’t know how. I’m not as strong of a witch as you.” Sophia smelled roses, so much she looked around to find the bush. But none were near. She felt a sense of laughter. Then, her nose flickered at the sweet smell of rot permeating the cemetery. The barnyard odor of turkeys and the grass

crushed under her feet mingled with the warm, sugary sweetness of her offerings and the woody scent of the cedar trees. The sound of the cars racing down Pole Line snapped into focus. Was Detective Schmidt or another therian nearby? “And why did you never tell me about my father?” Now Sophia was shaking. Her mother should have told her the reason her magic had never worked right. “When I wanted to move away after high school, I could have gone and met his family.” Maybe. Even here in the cemetery, she left her words about learning therian magic from her father’s family unsaid in case anyone was listening. Maybe she would have become a better witch for it. Minnie and Daisy tugged her away from the grave. Anna ran towards Sophia. Orange fur and pointed ear’s imposed itself over Anna’s face. A tail stretched out behind her with its end curved upward. First, a space right next to the cemetery, now the bride heading straight for her. How did she get so lucky? Anna’s mouth hung in a grimace as she sprinted toward Sophia. Anxious, Sophia groped for the pepper spray. She put her thumb on the trigger. “What kind of dogs are those?” Anna shouted, veering her path away from Sophia and the dogs. Sophia laughed. “They’re a mix. Bouvier des—” Anna recognized her. “Sophia? Is that you? Don’t tell me you’re one of those that uses the graveyard as a dog park.” “No, I’m visiting my mother.” Sophia pointed at the marker with the cookie sitting on it. Sophia offered the Tupperware. “I made extra.” “Thank you, but...” Anna stopped about ten feet from Sophia. She eyed the dogs, her cat tail swishing behind her. “Mama would insist I share. That’s why she started a bakery.” Sophia pulled out one of the ginger cookies. “These were her favorite.”

Anna hesitated, staring at the dogs. When Sophia made them sit, she darted forwards and snagged a tiny thumbprint cookie before retreating again. “My father’s buried here.” Anna indicated a spot somewhere behind Sophia. Oh, their parents’ were both buried in the old cemetery. Even though, Ellie hadn’t mentioned that Anna visited a grave when she ran here it made sense their parents were buried close together. The cemetery had graves dating back over a hundred and fifty years, but all the new plots nestled near the asphalt path. “My mom...” Anna nibbled the thumb print cookie. “She’s got her own opinions about how I should handle things, but I just keep thinking what happened with Noah is a sign.” “A sign?” Sophia echoed. Was Anna itting to what she had done without any prompting? “A sign I shouldn’t keep secrets. Noah was the king of secrets and now he’s dead.” Anna tugged at her ponytail. “I can’t base my whole marriage on a lie.” “You said that before, at the wedding—” Anna snorted. “Since we didn’t get married, can you call it a wedding?” “I guess not.” Sophia tried to smile. “Are you really running to clear your head?” “That and I didn’t want to be alone at home.” “Where’s Zeke?” Sophia asked. “You both must have had the time off for your honeymoon, right?” “He went to see his parents. Can’t say that I blame him. Here I am visiting my dad.” This wasn’t how Sophia had expected things to go with Anna. So, Sophia decided on the direct route. “Anna, who’s Logan?” Anna’s eyes narrowed at the mention of the name. Her voice got hard. “Where’d you hear that name?”

“You said it to me, before—before anyone found the body.” Sophia’s hand went to her pocket. “You asked how you could marry Zeke if he didn’t know about Logan.” “I forgot I said anything. I was freaking out.” That was one way of putting it. Anna couldn’t have smelled more like booze if she’d taken a bath in the champagne. “Now—” Anna snorted. “Are you answering me?” Sophia tightened her grip on the leash. “Sorry. He’s my son.” Anna pursed her lips. “He’s a sweet boy. I wish... Dad was already dead when Logan was born. If only I hadn’t let my mom pressure me into hiding him and giving him up.” Sophia blinked, taken aback at how easy this was. Wanting the whole truth, she pressed a little more. “You have a son?” “When I got knocked up my junior year, Mom sent me on a fake ‘study abroad’ thing, and I stayed with some family out of town. Then Mom made me give him up for adoption.” Did everyone have secret kids in this town? Anna crossed her arms and looked up at the clouds. Did they look thicker? “I shouldn’t be I’m telling you all this—” “It’s okay. I bet your emotions are going crazy after this. Mine are and it wasn’t my wedding or future brother-in-law.” Anna seemed to take this at face value. “I still see him. Sometimes, I take him to visit Memaw.” That squared with what Doris had said. But it didn’t tell Sophia who had stolen her cake knife and killed Noah. “What about Noah?” Sophia asked, trying to be a little more direct and circling back to the murder. If she wanted a cookie confession, she needed to steer the conversation to the murder. Anna shrugged. “What about him?”

“Did he know?” “Of course not.” The murderer would say that, but after eating the cookie the urge to tell the truth should overwhelm Anna. Anna looked up at Sophia, eyes wide. “You’re not saying that I— I mean I would never hurt anyone.” A straight up denial with an honesty cookie. “I wasn’t saying that at all,” Sophia said, backpedaling. “I was just asking, who knows about your son.” “Only my immediate family knows. And now, you.” Anna ate the rest of the cookie. “I wish I could tell Zeke.” “Why don’t you?” Sophia asked. “My mom says he’d leave me if he knew.” That meant Victoria was the one pushing to keep secrets. And Sophia had already seen Noah trying to dump her. Minnie whined, so Sophia pulled the leash tight. “Do you think he would?” Sophia kept her eyes focused on Anna’s face. She wanted to get every ounce of honesty out of this conversation that she could. “Over having a kid? No. Over me keeping secrets?” Anna chewed her lip. “I don’t know.” “Is that the kind of secret you want to keep the rest of your life?” Anna didn’t answer her. Instead, she walked over to a grave a ways away from Mama’s. “If only Dad were still around. Mom kept secrets—affairs—from Dad, and it broke his heart. I think that’s what killed him.” “I’m sorry.” Sophia frowned. Had Victoria had a chance to steal the knife?

Minnie grumbled and tugged at the leash. “He’s been gone since I was a freshman.” Anna frowned. “I want to tell Zeke. I just... How do I tell him about all the little lies?” Minnie started hopping up and down, whining. Daisy tugged the leash. Sophia turned to see a tom turkey fly over the fence. A smaller male ed him. The girls yanked her arm, lunging for the turkeys. But the turkeys kept coming into the graveyard. “Sorry, I’d better leave before these two get any naughtier.” Sophia yanked the girls’ leashes to her right hip and grabbed the second loop at the bottom of the leashes for extra control. She dragged them down the narrow path between the two rows of graves, wondering when and where Noah’s funeral would be. Sophia hit the paved path, only to find more turkeys outside the gate near her car. So much for the ‘good’ luck of parking close. Three of the girls’ ears pointed straight up, turning like radar dishes to catch a sign of the turkey’s approach. Even Minnie’s floppy ear strained to right itself, the folded over tip quivering. Sophia struggled against the girls, trying to drag them to the car. They didn’t want to leave the turkeys. Wildlife refuge. For turkeys. She snorted. They weren’t even native to California. The canvas bag fell to her elbow, the thermos bouncing out and rolling into the street. Sophia reached in her pocket for the keys and the pink cylinder made her laugh. She hadn’t needed it. Anna hadn’t killed Noah, but who had? Her stupid car needed a clicker. Pinning the leash to her side, she put her key in the trunk. Minnie growled, looking away from the nearest turkeys. It almost looked like the silver car pulling out of its space next to the empty field on the other side of the intersection was holding her attention. “Hush.” Sophia tugged on the leashes.

Daisy inched closer and Sophia used the slack to unlock the back of the car. Just as the trunk unlatched, the turkey behind her gobbled. Daisy jerked backwards, then raced forwards, leaving Sophia holding the leash. How did she do it? “This is why you don’t get to go places!” Dragging Minnie behind her, Sophia chased Daisy and the turkey towards the cemetery. The silver car smashed into the back of her hatchback. The pepper spray on her keychain burst making an orange cloud. Sophia spun to get a look at the driver, but a ski mask hid the driver’s face. The driver peeled out and flew up Pole Line. The wake of the car ing pulled the pepper spray cloud to Sophia. At first, her eyes stung and she backed away from the cloud. Then, they started to burn. Tears welled. She couldn’t see. Thin snot dribbled out of her nose, leaving a burning trail behind it. Then, her throat closed. Coughing forced Sophia to her knees. She couldn’t breathe. She took a ragged breath. Desperate, Sophia swiped at her face. Beside her, Minnie whimpered and tugged at her leash to get away from the cloud of pepper spray. Eyes swollen shut, Sophia crawled towards the cemetery gate. If Daisy hadn’t slipped her leash, Sophia and her dogs would have been killed.

Chapter 11

“Oh my gosh!” Anna raced across the grass to Sophia. “Are you okay?” Sophia yanked Minnie’s leash back, pulling her out of the street. Her heart pounded. On her hands and knees, she squinted after the car through puffy eyes, but it was long gone. A small voice in her head said she should stay at the cemetery and call the detective. But she didn’t feel safe. Her hands trembled. Minnie jumped up and down, barking. Sophia’s heart pounded in her ears. The coughing subsided, but she couldn’t get a full breath. Daisy gave up on the turkey and trotted back, hitting Sophia with her head. She took stock. Even though this felt like shoving habanero peppers up her nose and smearing them all over her face and into the nail she’d half torn off last night, she would be okay. Daisy was fine. Minnie cried like the pepper spray had gotten her, too. Sophia’s car was not okay. The back bumper dn’t led into the street. That car had been aiming for her, but she’d been fast enough, lucky enough, to get out of the way. Thanks to that stupid turkey and the girls. Sophia pushed herself to a sitting position. “Are you okay?” Anna asked again. This time she stood beside Sophia on the sidewalk. “Pepper spray.” Sophia gasped. “Went off. In accident.” A fresh round of coughing. “Leash her. Please.” “I’m going to call the cops.” Anna took the leash from Sophia. “Detective Schmidt.” Sophia rubbed at her eyes. “This. Because. Noah.” Sophia hoped dealing with the detective in a professional capacity wouldn’t make the curse cause any more disasters.

“Use this to wipe your face.” Anna held out her sweaty shirt. “Are you sure?” Sophia wiped her face with the shirt. Minnie pawed at her own eyes. “What if. Come back?” Sophia coughed. “With a gun?” “Where will you go?” Anna asked, holding out the end of Daisy’s leash. With the fence as , Sophia climbed to her feet. Hand over hand, she pulled herself to the gate. “Away.” “I live around the corner.” Anna put Sophia’s arm over her shoulders. “Do you want to go there?” Sophia nodded. “I’ll call the detective.” With her free hand, Anna pulled out her phone. She helped Sophia across the street, explaining what happened to Detective Schmidt. The clouds opened up in the middle of the street. Rain poured from the sky and soaked through Sophia’s sweater. The rain made the pepper spray worse. By the time they stumbled through a couple blocks of older, well-kept homes and past a small park, both women were shivering and Minnie was howling. The dogs’ fur hung in stringy clumps, all the fluffiness gone. When they got close, Anna hit the clicker hidden in her wristband to open the garage. The rain slowed as if Anna pushing the button had stopped it. “Milk,” Sophia demanded. Since drinking milk worked for eating hot peppers, maybe it would work for washing pepper spray off. “To wash face.” Sophia stumbled when Anna released her to go to the garage fridge. Her tote bag fell, hitting Minnie on the way down. Minnie grumbled. Something bounced out and hit Sophia’s leg. Anna pressed a half gallon of milk into Sophia’s hand. “You had an umbrella in

your bag the whole time?” Sophia started to laugh-cry as she splashed the milk onto her face. If she hadn’t been pepper sprayed, she would have thought to use the umbrella. She tried to chug some milk and choked. “I did.” When the burning lessened, she splashed it on Minnie’s face as well. Minnie snorted as the milk went up her nose. Shivering, Sophia splashed more milk on Anna’s shirt and pressed it to her swollen eyes. “I use children’s shampoo. Maybe that will help.” Anna rushed inside. A couple seconds later, a car pulled into the driveway. Panic filled her, she was defenseless and new person was there. Had the driver found her and come back to finish the job? Her eyes still swollen shut, Sophia stumbled for the door and tripped over Daisy. Pain shot through her knee. She rolled off her knees and onto her bottom. “Who are—what happened?” Zeke slammed the car door. “Are you okay?” Zeke sounded shocked by her state. The girls growled as Zeke approached. He stopped. “Pepper spray.” Sophia pulled the leashes tight. “Who pepper sprayed you?” he asked as she rolled back onto her backside. “Burst.” Sophia groped for Anna’s milk-covered sweaty shirt and put it back on her eyes. “What burst?” Zeke asked. “Or is burst a person?” “Pepper spray. On keys. Car crash.” The door opened as Anna returned. “Sophia almost got run over leaving the cemetery.” Anna handed Sophia a washcloth. “This has tear-free shampoo on it.” Through still swollen eyes, Sophia saw Anna had thrown on a sweatshirt and had

wrapped her hair in a towel while she was inside. Icy water trickled out of Sophia’s hair down the back of her neck, making her shiver. “How’d she get pepper sprayed?” Zeke asked. “When the car plowed into the back of her car, pepper spray went everywhere.” Anna helped Sophia to her feet and led her to the utility sink. “Ouch. Let me go get you a chair.” Zeke stepped closer to enter the house. Daisy snarled at him. “Right.” Zeke ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll stay here then.” “Sorry about her.” Sophia wiped her face with the soapy cloth. The girls didn’t usually act like that. They must be on edge because she was. If Zeke had tried to run her down, Sophia wasn’t sure if Zeke would have had time to switch cars before coming back home. “I brought her here to help her get cleaned up.” Anna offered Sophia a hand. “Maybe a shower would help?” Zeke frowned at Sophia’s dogs. “So long as those things stay outside.” “Staying with my girls,” Sophia said. It was getting easier to breathe as she cleaned off the pepper spray. “The dogs can stay in the garage,” Zeke said. “They’re dripping all over the floor.” “It’s fine,” Anna said. “We can towel them off first.” “And Ms. Clawson? No. They can stay out here.” No matter how enticing a shower sounded, Sophia did not want to go inside without her girls. “She’ll just hide,” Anna said.

“For a week after seeing those things,” Zeke said. Baffled by this exchange, Sophia rinsed the soap out of the washcloth and tried wiping her face again. The water made it worse. She found a towel Anna must have set on the washer and patted her face dry. Anna turned to Sophia and smiled. “He’s right. Our cat would be terrified if your dogs came in.” “I’ll stay here with my girls.” Sophia hated how her voice quavered. “Just shut the garage door, so they can’t find me.” “So who can’t find you?” Zeke asked as Anna pushed the clicker on her wrist. “It wasn’t an accident,” Anna said. “That’s ridiculous.” Zeke pulled Anna closer. “Hon, the car crashed into the back of hers, then drove off.” “Hit and runs happen all the—” “The driver was wearing a ski mask.” Her face feeling better, the cold got to Sophia. She peeled off her sopping wet sweater. Goosebumps prickled all along her arms. Minnie and Daisy chose that moment to shake themselves dry. Cold water sprayed all over. Sophia shivered as it hit her. Each droplet caused her face to sting again. Water made it worse. Good to know. “I’ll grab us some more towels.” Anna ducked inside, and now that the burning in her nose was less, the smell of cat pee hit Sophia’s nose. Ms. Clawson’s litter box needed changing. Zeke turned his back to her and studied the tools spread out on the work bench. “Why would someone try to run you over?” “Because they heard I want to find your brother’s killer.” Sophia wrung out her sweater. Wasn’t he an ant? Why did he have so many tools?

“Didn’t the police arrest her?” Zeke picked up a screwdriver and put it up on the peg board. “Makayla?” Sophia snorted, which was a mistake. It started her nose burning again. “She didn’t kill him.” “The police don’t arrest people for no reason.” Zeke closed his hand around a hammer. Sophia tensed. But the girls plopped their bottoms down in front of her. “That doesn’t mean that they have all the evidence yet. Someone put pressure on them to make an arrest fast.” Zeke turned to her, hammer in hand. He stared deep at her face as if studying every freckle. “You think the person who killed my brother tried to kill you.” Was he threatening her? He wouldn’t hurt her with his fiancée just inside the house, would he? And thanks to Bob’s gossip, the whole town knew about her plans to prove Makayla innocence. But if Zeke was the killer and had already found out about her plans, why ask her these questions? “Yeah, but after almost getting run over...” Sophia shook her head. She should be done. She should let the lawyers do their jobs. She was lucky only the car and the pepper spray had been crushed. Zeke took a ragged breath. He studied the hammer in his hand. Sophia tensed. This was it. He’d killed his own brother and now he was about to tell her to drop it or else. But how could she leave Makayla to rot in prison? Minnie and Daisy stared up at her, waiting for their cookie. “Please.” Zeke’s voice broke. His eyes grew wide. Sophia limped backwards at his intensity, bracing herself to run. Zeke’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “Please find whoever killed him.” “What?” Sophia blinked. “Yeah, Noah groped your assistant.” Zeke dropped the hammer back on the tool

bench. “And everyone hated him because he was a womanizer. I know that.” “Even you. You fought with him at the wedding.” “But he’s still my big brother.” Zeke swallowed again. “Please. Find his killer.” “They just tried to kill me.” Sophia shook her head. “I can’t—” “He deserves real justice. And his legacy shouldn’t be for an innocent girl to be convicted for his murder.” “I’ll think about it, but you need to tell me what else you were fighting about.” Zeke glanced at the door and dropped his voice. “I swear I just didn’t want Anna to find out he was screwing her mom—she was so excited he was with Ellie. She said Ellie would become her sister for real if she married Noah.” Anna came back again, wearing dry sweatpants this time. She must have caught the very last thing Zeke said. “I kept waiting for them to announce they were a couple. But they weren’t that serious yet.” Anna handed some towels to Sophia. “Hope I didn’t take too long changing.” “Not at all,” Sophia said. She’d only been scared for her life for a second. “I was surprised when they posted their first casino pics,” Zeke said. “I’d always thought they hated each other.” Sophia dropped her sweater on the garage floor next to the tote bag and rubbed her arms with one of the towels. Minnie pawed at her, demanding Sophia dry her off first. “I wouldn’t go that far,” Anna said. Sophia knelt to towel off the dogs. “You’re the one who told me Ellie said she hated Noah,” Zeke said. “Working with Noah—which, if you’re falling for someone, isn’t the best thing.

Besides, until he got killed, it was like a romance novel.” “What do you mean?” Foolish curiosity getting the better of her. Sophia should leave the investigation alone. “You know, the frenemies to lovers sort of thing. They didn’t get along at work and she was stressing about something. When Noah took her to the casino, things changed. She used to go by herself—said it helped her blow off steam.” Sophia frowned. Doris hadn’t gotten even a bite when she’d said Blue Heron was her favorite casino, but Ellie probably hadn’t talked because she’d been torn up about her boyfriend dying. “At work, things were still tense—but more because they tried to keep things secret. The firm has a rule against dating your coworkers.” Zeke made a strained sound. His mother-in-law-to-be making out with his brother had to break the company policy. “You okay, sweetie?” Anna asked. “Fine.” Zeke coughed into his hand. “Must have caught a whiff of that pepper spray.” Anna took that at face value. “It’s so awful. I’d hoped they’d make it. And Zeke’s parents are crushed.” “What about Ellie?” Sophia asked. Ellie had pretty much said she didn’t do it at the muffin class. “Devastated. She’s tried to be there for me and Zeke, poor thing, but you can see it’s hard on her.” The sound of a car pulling up sent a different kind of shivers through Sophia. She reminded herself the killer didn’t know to find her there. But when the car door shut, Sophia’s sense of smell kicked on. The lingering odor of pepper spray, car exhaust, sweat from the home gym, and the musty

smell of wet dog all snapped into focus. Then from outside the garage, the tantalizing mix of the detective’s scent with cupcakes and craft beer. “That’ll be the police.” Anna waltzed over to the button to open the garage. Clutching Minnie and Daisy’s leash, Sophia ducked under the opening garage door and into the driveway. Detective Schmidt stood in the driveway, looking as perfect as ever. Despite being soaked and how puffy her eyes still felt, Sophia’s stomach fluttered. She wanted to rush to him and hug him, but she hung back. “I won’t ask if you’re okay,” he said. “I stopped at your car on the way here.” “If Daisy hadn’t taken off after the turkey, I’d be a pancake.” Tears threatened to spill out of her eyes, bringing back the sensation of burning. Dang it! She had stopped crying from the pepper spray. Why did Detective Schmidt have to trigger this reaction? “Well, good thing Daisy chased that turkey.” He reached down and thumped Daisy’s side, then Minnie grumbled. When he reached to pet Minnie, Sophia snapped at the girls to leave it. At his puzzled expression, Sophia explained. “You’ll be stuck petting them forever, if I don’t tell them off.” “Have you called your car insurance yet?” Detective call-me-Benjamin Schmidt asked. She shook her head. Not like she’d been able to until she’d gotten the pepper spray off. That was something else she’d have to do now. “Don’t worry. I’ll give you a police report number and everything your insurance company needs.” He pulled a tiny notebook out of his back pocket. “Did either of you get a good look at the driver or the car?” “The driver wore a ski mask.” Sophia chewed her lip. “Silver car, with four doors.” “The car looked familiar.” Anna’s voice made Sophia jump.

The detective’s presence was so reassuring that she’d almost forgotten they weren’t alone. “You know,” Anna mused. “It might be a Lexus, like the firm’s cars. We have a small fleet—not a fleet—four cars that employees can use for business purposes. But it couldn’t be one of ours.” “Why not?” Detective Schmidt asked. “We have a strict lock-up procedure. The keys are in a locked drawer in the secretary’s desk, and the cars themselves are fenced off. No one can get in without g out the keys.” Detective Schmidt grabbed the radio off of his belt and called for somebody to go check on the cars at the law firm. “Is that necessary?” Anna asked. “I mean, you already have the murder suspect locked up, don’t you?” Detective Schmidt shrugged. “Didn’t you arrest the girl?” Anna said. “The evidence points to her, but we’ll see.” Detective Schmidt shot a pointed look at Sophia. “Someone doesn’t like Sophia sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong.” “Hey!” Sophia said, offended that he’d say that. “What’s that supposed to mean?” “Sophia, this is a police investigation.” Detective Schmidt crossed his arms against his muscular chest. “Who said I was doing anything I shouldn’t be?” Sophia puffed herself up like dough rising. “I just bumped into Anna at the cemetery.” Detective Schmidt narrowed his eyes. “My great aunt called my mom to ask why my—” He paused and made a face. “—friend is investigating a murder I already solved.”

Sophia chewed her lip. Bob spreading rumors had bitten her in the cinnamon buns again. “So, I have to ask.” Detective Schmidt tapped his notepad with his pen. “Who knew you were going to the cemetery this morning?” “I don’t know.” Sophia frowned. “With the way things are going, I bet the whole muffin class heard my plan and Doris’s date told everyone at the nursing home last night.” “You’d better figure it out before they try to kill you again.”

Chapter 12

“Thank you for offering to drive me home.” Sophia let the girls into the back of Detective Schmidt’s car. “It’s not that far.” Detective Schmidt turned on the heater as she spread Anna’s towels on her seat. It was far, but she needed the ride, so why argue? Feeling like a criminal, she climbed in and the nail clippers in her pocket jabbed her thigh. She pulled them out and switched them to the back pocket. Sophia’d never been in a cop car before. Even though this was not a marked police car, it still had the massive radio and a weird thing over the windshield. “Is that the siren?” Sophia asked, pointing at the weird thing. “Yeah. I’d show you, but I’d get in trouble.” He flashed her a smile. Her insides turned into the center of a chocolate chip cookie, ooey-gooey with some lumpy bits. Despite the wet dogs in the back seat, the heady scent of Detective Schmidt layered upon itself and filled the car. More and more, she realized how delicious he smelled beyond the lingering aroma of cupcakes. Sophia licked her lips, but her tongue stuck to her lips like Velcro. She turned her head and tried to unstick her tongue. “I won’t push,” Detective Schmidt said. “You’ve made your stance on us dating clear.” Did he really want to talk about dating her when she looked like a drowned fox? She needed to figure out that curse fast. Once she got her tongue inside her mouth again, Sophia turned to him. “Thank you.” “That said, I talked to my sister about helping you learn to deal with your therian side.” “You’re right. Now that I know about it, I need help, but...” Sophia pressed her

lips together “Someone not related to you, please.” “There are only so many canid therians around here. No foxes. My family is coyotes. I suppose I could try to find a wolf from a nearby town, but—” “I’m sorry, I don’t want to be more effort. I just...” Sophia her embarrassment making the scent of her own feelings rise. “There’s things that your sister might not want to know.” That was the closest she’d come to itting how much she liked him. Detective Schmidt let out a laugh that sounded like a yip. “I see.” He got her going more than anyone ever. Even her high school crushes hadn’t made her all melty inside like this. “Choices are rather limited, but I’ll see what I can—” The radio crackled. “Detective Schmidt, Officer Sanchez, you were right. We’ll need you here at Brown, Taylor, and Lee.” “Roger that.” Detective Schmidt turned to Sophia. “I have to go straight there.” Detective Schmidt slammed on the brakes, making Sophia flop forwards and stretching her seatbelt tight. This was her chance to talk to Victoria and maybe the bridesmaid with the black hair. Though, her money w more on Victoria at this point. She reached for the ceiling handle and pointed her toes to brace her feet against the floorboards. Then he jerked the wheel right, before spinning it left. Sophia crashed into the window. Her hand smacked the ceiling, and her feet skidded on the floor mat. He stomped the gas. She slammed back into her seat. Her seatbelt locked too tight against her chest. Behind her, the dogs yelped as they slid around the back seat.

He drove like a man. When he took a right on red and almost hit another car, Sophia closed her eyes. But the tires squealed around corners, and the groans of the engine straining to meet Detective Schmidt’s demands filled her ears. Closing her eyes made it worse. Somehow, she grabbed the ceiling handle. And the too tight seat belt kept her from banging around as bad. The poor girls slid off the seat, and one of them wedged herself between the back of Sophia’s seat and the bench part of the backseat. She’d rather not look like a homeless person and not be with a bunch of police officers who wanted her to stay out of her investigation, but she had to figure out if Victoria were the one to do it. She didn’t seem like the kind of woman to take well to being dumped. After way too long—and not long enough for a normal person to drive there— the car screeched to a halt in the Brown, Taylor, and Lee parking lot. Sophia opened her door and fumbled with her seatbelt. “Don’t get out yet.” Detective Schmidt put a hand on top of hers. “I need to find their fleet first.” Sophia shut her door, and Detective Schmidt drove behind the large grey building. The building was full of dark tinted windows. A small plot of half-dead grass stood to the west of the building. Straggly trees attempted to break up the sidewalk. The concrete box of a building was not the kind of place where nice people like Ellie and Anna should work. Around the back, two police cars sat blocking the tall chain-link gate. Three silver cars like the one that had tried to flatten her remained caged. Now she really looked at them she saw they were the same as the one Anna and Victoria drove downtown yesterday. “A bit like moving the glass after the milk spills.” Sophia eased her hand off the ceiling handle. “What?” Detective Schmidt put the car into park.

“You know, you can’t put the milk back in the cup. It’s already spilled.” Sophia reached for her seatbelt again. “I mean they’re blocking in the cars that didn’t try to kill me.” Detective Schmidt snorted. “I suppose you’re right, little fox.” Her seatbelt released and, feeling like she’d dodged vehicular death for the second time that day, Sophia stepped out to find Victoria and a frazzled woman in a long black skirt talking to Officer Sanchez. “I’m telling you, ma’am,” the frazzled woman said to Officer Sanchez. “The keys were in my desk the whole time.” “Then how did one of our cars drive off with no keys and almost hit someone?” Victoria waved her iced coffee for emphasis. “I don’t know,” the poor secretary said. “Wherever they got the keys, it wasn’t from me. My desk drawer’s been locked all day.” “I haven’t left my desk at all. You can ask anyone. I only left to come here. I haven’t even peed yet since my workday started.” “That’s more than we needed to know, ma’am,” Officer Sanchez said. “I’m serious. I’ve been slammed all morning. I never even left my desk. Between the phones, printing memos, and checking over everyone’s schedules, I have been so busy. Not to mention, preparing the job listing and the sorry-foryour loss cards for Ellie and for poor Noah’s family.” The secretary tugged on her braid again. Tears welled in her eyes. “No need to cry. No one is accusing you of stealing the car,” Detective Schmidt said as he ed them. “I thought that was exactly what we were doing.” Victoria’s to-go cup waved as she spoke. “How else could someone take the car if they didn’t get the key from her?” Sophia liked Victoria less and less. “Any number of ways, ma’am.” Officer Sanchez glanced at a notepad, not

meeting Victoria’s eyes. “They might have made a copy at the dealership or at the locksmith ahead of time. Someone could have programmed a blank key.” “Then how did they unlock the cage?” Victoria asked. “Maybe they stole it from her desk last night and replaced it when she was at the copier,” Officer Sanchez said. “I swear I didn’t leave my desk.” The secretary was near tears now. “Where were your keys?” the officer asked. “Where I always keep them, in the pencil drawer on my desk, but no one would ever—oh.” The color drained from the woman’s face. “I was only at the printer for a couple seconds. I swear, the keys were safe the whole time.” “As Officer Sanchez said, we don’t know how they got the car. But, since the key was where it belongs, I imagine we’ll find a copy with the car when it turns up.” “If it turns up.” Victoria glared at the woman. “As partner, don’t you have your own set of keys?” Detective Schmidt asked Victoria. “I understand the partners all have unlimited access to the company cars.” That was interesting. Sophia’s ears perked up at that. Why would Victoria berate the secretary so much for losing the keys when she had her own copies? It just made her look more guilty if she had her own keys. “Of course.” She laughed as if the thought was funny. “But I’ve been here all morning.” “Someone else got you that coffee?” Detective Schmidt asked. Victoria waved her drink and shook her head. “I guess I did leave to get this, but I locked the car I took in the cage. It’s right there.” “And did you see anyone else over here?”

“Not at all. I just assumed someone had legitimately checked out the car when I got back from my coffee run.” Victoria turned back to the secretary. “You are sure no one else asked for the keys.” “I need a new job.” The secretary tugged on her braid again. “Murders, missing money, and now this.” Victoria frowned, “You don’t need to—” “What missing money, ma’am?” Officer Sanchez asked. “Don’t answer her,” Victoria snapped. Sophia caught herself inching away from Victoria’s anger, even though it wasn’t directed at her. Then she decided to do something about it. She had a chance to protect the secretary from Victoria’s temper and talk a potential murderer in a more or less safe setting. “Victoria, would you mind showing me to the front of the building? Detective Schmidt was driving me back to my bakery after the accident, but—” Sophia paused, dropped her voice and leaned in to Victoria. “—he drives like a crazy man.” “I heard that,” Detective Schmidt said. “I drive perfectly safe.” “Who are you?” Victoria looked down her nose at Sophia. Sophia chewed her lip. Between the ruined outfit and the overfull canvas bag, she must look like a bag lady. Not to mention, the girl’s beards and fur were still more scraggly than fluffy. Despite how she looked, Detective Schmidt had been so nice to her. “I’m the baker for your daughter’s wedding. The one who almost got ran down by the car that’s no longer in your cage.” “Then what happened to you?” Victoria waved the almost empty coffee at Sophia. Sophia let the girls out of the back of Detective Schmidt’s car. “My car was

totaled and it rained.” Sophia left out the exploding pepper spray canister and turned to Detective Schmidt. To keep him happy, she used his first name. “Benjamin, you’re so busy with this investigation. I wouldn’t want to pull you away from your important work.” She turned back to Victoria. “Please, walk me somewhere that might be better to wait for an Uber?” Victoria laughed. “No one will let you and those wet monsters in their car.” Sophia chewed her lip. Victoria was right. She needed to call Lemon. “I’ll call a friend. But please, I don’t need to hang around the crime scene.” This might give the poor secretary a break, too. Sophia’s socks squelched as Victoria led her around the building. Anyone who worked in the office could have gotten the keys from the secretary’s desk to make a copy, or the killer could have made copies when they’d last checked out the car. “I’m so sorry about Noah,” Sophia said. “Why?” Victoria’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “Makayla and I saw you two while we were getting into the elevator.” “Oh, that.” Victoria laughed and waved her iced coffee. “That was nothing.” Sophia frowned. “I don’t normally make out with someone just because I’m in an elevator with them. And I’ve never had one tell me it was time to end things.” Or laughed about the relationship two days after he died, Sophia thought. “You have no clue what you’re talking about.” Victoria’s face turned a purplish red. “Are you trying to get under my skin for that detective?” The girls pressed against Sophia’s legs. “I just offered my condolences.” “That wasn’t condolences.” Victoria frowned. “That was prying into things you have no business knowing.” “I didn’t mean to pry. I guess I was a little curious.” Sophia frowned as Minnie

grumbled. “I’ll tell you what my mother always told me. Curiosity killed the cat.” The translucent cat ears sticking through Victoria’s hair became more solid. “Good thing I’m not a cat.” Sophia tightened her grip on the leash when both her girls growled again. “Besides, I feel responsible for Makayla. I want to learn about the man she’s accused of murdering.” “You’d think you’d feel responsible for you.” Victoria turned to the door. “You almost got run down today, and here you are digging secrets from their graves. , foxes don’t get as many lives as cats.” Sophia folded her arms across her chest, trying to pretend Victoria didn’t intimidate her. Trying to pretend that nearly getting hit by a car hadn’t terrified her. The girls ruined the effect by charging a squirrel jumping from skinny tree to skinny tree. “Leave it,” Sophia bit out. She planted her heels on the sidewalk and skied a few squares as the girls slowed to a halt. When they growled at the squirrel, again Sophia commanded, “Leave it.” “Good advice for you as well.” Victoria smirked. Angry at being threatened, Sophia pressed. “Your Noah groped Makayla, and then she got blamed for murdering him.” “First, he wasn’t ‘my Noah.’ Second, I’m not some naïve little girl. I didn’t think we had anything special. I certainly wasn’t jealous. I knew what he was.” Victoria chewed her lip. “But I didn’t expect him to end it at my daughter’s wedding.” “So you took my cake knife—” “I’m no murderer.” Victoria smiled, showing too many teeth. “No thief either.” Sophia arched an eyebrow at the older woman. Someone was. And the rebuffed cougar seemed like just the person. “He was the newest cute young thing. Even Anna will tell you I collect them.

Besides, he had the hots for Ellie.” “More than the hots.” Sophia thought of the social media pictures of them smiling at the casino with their winnings. “They were dating, weren’t they?” Victoria shrugged. “You said he was breaking up with you because of her.” Victoria rolled her eyes. “You didn’t hear his lack of a reaction when I threatened to tell Ellie . Either she knew or he didn’t believe I’d do it.” The more Victoria denied it, the more awful of a person she sounded. She had no problem screwing a long line of young attractive men, Anna had told Sophia that Victoria’s cheating had been part of what led to Anna’s father’s death. Sophia searched for another question, one that would trip Victoria up. “But you —” “I think you can find the way yourself.” Victoria shoved her keycard against the reader, then yanked the door open. “I’ve had enough.” If Sophia couldn’t get an honest answer, she’d have to confect a cupcake confession.

Chapter 13

Relief flooded through Sophia when the familiar car drove into the parking lot. Inside the car, Lemon’s mouth rounded in an ‘o’ of surprise. Sophia clutched her umbrella to keep the drizzle off her face and avoid the pepper spray burn starting all over. The girls pressed themselves against her legs, trying to stay dry. “Girl, what happened to you?” “I got stuck in the rain.” Sophia shrugged, like it was no big deal. Like she showed up drenched and puffy-eyed every day. Lemon gave her the look. She’d learned that one from Mama, one eyebrow arched and the other squinted just a bit like Mama used to do. “Uh-huh.” “At the cemetery, okay?” Sophia tried to open the back door, but Lemon had the car locked. “Are you going to let us in?” “Not with your girls all wet.” Sophia pulled the wet towels out of the tote bag and handed them to Lemon. “These towels are just as wet as those dogs.” But Lemon opened the backdoor on her side and spread them out. When she unlocked the car, the girls jerked Sophia’s arm as they rushed into the backseat. They piled on top of each other. Sophia shoved the wet umbrella into the bag and, as she spread out the last towel on her seat, leaned into the car to keep whatever was left of the pepper spray from getting hit by the drizzle. A few drops still stung her, but nothing like when it was fresh. The heater blasted warm air onto her feet, making them burn. Sophia hadn’t realized her feet had been so cold. Lemon threw the car into gear, bumping the sweet tea in the cup holder. “Now you going to tell me what happened?”

Sophia shook her head. “The cemetery is across town and you had to drive there.” Lemon pulled to the side of the road. “If you won’t tell me how you wound up soaked to the bone and stranded, you can get out and walk home. In the rain.” Sophia told her everything, except for the magic stuff. As Sophia talked, Lemon started driving, but said nothing. The wipers swiped back and forth across the windshield. When the heater started to smell like something was burning, Sophia switched it off and still Lemon said nothing. “You okay?” Lemon took a moment to glare at Sophia out of the corner of her eye. “I told you to keep your fool head down, not go sticking your neck out where it don’t belong.” Lemon’s accent came out so strong, she had to be livid. “I can’t let Makayla rot in jail.” The cold spread from Sophia’s feet and back into her core. She shuddered. The poor kid must be miserable. “If you can’t figure it out and keep yourself out of trouble, you might have to trust her lawyers.” Lemon turned up the wipers as the rain came down harder. “That’s the thing. Her lawyer is just a kid. Fresh out of law school. If I don’t help Makayla—” “Girl, you keep sticking your nose in, you going to wind up like your mama. Dead.” “Dead like my mom?” Sophia squinted at Lemon. Had Lemon been hiding something from Sophia and the cops? Had something other than dumb luck killed her mom? “You said that before too, but she died in a carjacking. Why are you blaming the victim? Nothing she did caused her to get carjacked.” The wipers rhythmically scraped the rain off the windshield.

“You know what I mean.” “No, I don’t think I do.” Sophia folded her arms across her chest. “Do you know who killed my mom?” “If I knew that, I’d have told the cops or I’d have killed them myself if the cops didn’t follow through.” Lemon ran her hands over the steering wheel. “When I moved out here, your mama was more like a mom to me than the aunt who took me in.” “You’re holding out on me.” “Fine. Mama Ginger tried to find out about an old crime, and then she got murdered.” Mouth open, Sophia blinked. “Why was she interested in some old crime?” “She wanted to find out who killed your daddy.” “I thought he died in a car crash.” Caused by the curse that Rosemary Wren’s descendants could break. “She never told you your daddy was murdered?” Lemon risked a glance at Sophia. “That’s not right. He died before I was born.” Because of the curse. “In an accident.” Lemon stopped in front of the old middle school. Sophia’s heart jumped into her throat. Why were they stopping again? What was Lemon planning? Anxious, Sophia licked her lips. “But, Sophia, both your parents were murdered.”

ALMOST being run down, getting pepper sprayed, and learning both of her parents had been murdered. This was turning out to be a great day. So she felt grateful when Lemon offered to wait while she cleaned herself up and talk. The water in the shower seemed to reactivate the pepper spray. It was almost like she’d just been sprayed all over again. Sniffling, Sophia threw on a robe and headed to the living room. Lemon held up the grimoire and asked, “What is this?” Sophia stood there with a towel wrapped around her head, mouth opening and closing before saying stupidly, “Put it down. That’s Mama’s.” “Your mama’s gone. Everything she owned is yours. And your mama didn’t truck with no nonsense.” Lemon tapped the cover. “What is this Belle Family Grimoire business?” Sophia paced between the coffee table and the tv. “It’s dangerous.” “You think you’re some kind of witch?” Lemon arched her eyebrow again. This called for the truth. Besides, Doris knew about Mama’s magic. Maybe Lemon would understand. “I am.” Lemon dropped the book on the coffee table. Sophia winced at the thump. The book had a mind—and probably feelings—of its own. Mama had told her, and now she’d seen it firsthand when it had given her those letters. Dropping it on purpose couldn’t be good. “I am a witch and so was Mama.” Sophia stopped pacing and looked down at Lemon on the couch. “Girl, that’s not funny.”

“No joke.” Sophia licked her lips, anxious to tell her best friend her secrets after all this time. “I can make people feel things through my food.” Lemon cocked her head to the side. “That’s why your comfort cookies are different than mine?” Sophia nodded. “That’s why you do that weird trance thing you do?” Sophia nodded again, not trusting herself to speak. “Earlier, you were talking about curses like they’re real.” Lemon’s eyes bored into Sophia’s, making Sophia uncomfortable. “You going to curse someone?” “No! Curses are dangerous. And I’m not a good witch—” Lemon’s face exploded into a horrified expression. Sophia realized what she’d said. “No, no, I mean I am a good witch, so I wouldn’t do curses or dark magic anyway, but I’m not like Mama. She could do the real thing. She was good at using the spells in that book. Me? Not so much. I don’t have that kind of talent. Just like I’m not a good basketball player. That’s what I mean.” Lemon ran a hand over her face. “You’re telling me, you and Mama—my best friend and my mentor—are witches and I had no clue for the last fifteen years?” Sophia chewed her lip. “You and Mama both lied to me?” Lemon asked. “Is not telling you the same as lying?” “It’s called a lie of omission, sugar.” Lemon picked up her sweet tea, but didn’t drink any. “Does this have to do with what you won’t tell me about you and Detective Schmidt?” Sophia crumpled to the couch. “I seen stuff in New Orleans before I moved out here. You better be telling me

you ain’t that kind of witch.” “I told you I’m a good witch, just not very talented. I stick to kitchen magic. That’s it. Sometimes herbs. My magic makes people feel happy or focused or comforted when I cook.” Sophia left out the part about how her honesty magic sometimes leaked out making people tell the truth even against their best interests. “That’s why your focus tea works like Adderall and mine doesn’t?” A sudden lump in her throat made Sophia swallow a couple times before she answered. “It’s my magic.” “If that’s the truth—what’s this book doing on your coffee table opened to a page on summoning the dead.” “What?” Sophia reached for the book, then thought better of it. “That’s black magic. My family doesn’t do that. It shouldn’t even be in there.” “You had it opened to that page and got stuck in the rain at the cemetery.” “I put that book in my bedroom this morning when I left.” She’d bound it up in the attic for so long because that book was trouble. “I ain’t going to stay here and get lied to.” “Lem, I’m not lying. That book has real magic. It does things on its own.” “You have a book with a spell to summon the dead, you went to the cemetery, and you’re a liar. Why should I believe you?” Lemon headed for the front door. Minnie put herself between Lemon and the door. Lemon frowned at the dog she’d seen grow from a puppy. “What about Minnie and Daisy? Are they more than pets? They your familiars?” “No!” Sophia said, but nothing was going to convince Lemon she wasn’t lying. Not after keeping her magic secret for their whole friendship. Lemon tried to move past Minnie to the door, but Minnie blocked her. “You tell

her to let me leave.” “Minnie, come!” Sophia ordered. Minnie laid down against the door and ignored her. “I promise I’m not a bad witch.” Though, using her cookies to force confessions might have moved Sophia into the gray territory. “I’ll tell you everything.” “I thought you already did.” Lemon stood. “Someone tried to kill me today. I told you all about that.” “And what were you really doing at that graveyard?” “I wanted to talk to Anna. But I didn’t tell you I gave her a cookie laced with honesty magic, so I could trust she wasn’t lying to me.” Lemon frowned and Sophia explained. She left out the therian stuff—she didn’t need Lemon worrying about that, and she had no business telling Detective Schmidt’s and the other therians’ secrets. But the witch stuff was all her. She told her about the curse, about how honesty magic leaked out of her, and how she could barely control it. She told her about it all. “What’s that all got to do with summoning the dead?” Lemon asked when Sophia finished talking. “I don’t know. I never even saw that page and would never do that kind of spell.” What she’d done earlier, talking to the graveyard guardian and Mama at the cemetery, was visiting spirits where they belonged. It wasn’t even real magic, just listening and watching for signs. But trying to pierce the veil and force someone back was all bad. “Don’t lie to me.” Lemon yanked the door open, hitting Minnie with it. Shocked, Minnie grumbled and stared after her. “I’ll be looking for a new job.” Lemon stormed out. The dogs stared at Sophia. She could almost imagine she heard them asking if

she was going to go after her friend. “I don’t know, girls. What should I do?” Minnie grumbled, and to Sophia it sounded like chase her. Sophia hurried after Lemon, but she slammed the driver’s side door as Sophia stepped outside. The Honda whined to life. Sophia raced to stop her. “Let me explain!” Sophia pounded on Lemon’s enger window while her friend— former friend—backed out of the driveway and then shifted into drive. “Back off.” Lemon glared at Sophia. “Don’t make me run over your feet!” Sophia took a step back and Lemon sped away. In the middle of the street, friendless and alone, Sophia cursed. “Sophia!” Mrs. Hernandez shouted at her. “What language!” Sophia turned to see her neighbor standing in her driveway with, of all people, Makayla’s parents. Makayla’s mother clutched a small Tupperware. Poop on a popsicle, Mrs. Hernandez was sending them home with food like she would if Makayla was dead. And if Sophia didn’t do something, Makayla might never get out of prison. It must feel the same to her parents as if she were dying. “I’m sorry. I was—” Sophia shook her head. There was no explaining the day she’d just had. “I’m sorry. I’ll just go inside. Sorry again about your daughter.” Stupid, she was so stupid. As Sophia rushed inside, the bottom of the robe flapped in the breeze making crisp fall air hit her behind. Just what she needed today—showing her butt to Makayla’s parents and the neighbor. Sophia needed to get her act together. Makayla was toast if Sophia didn’t find the murderer. No one at the law firm seemed to care about the kid. The poor girl’s lawyer was a baby-faced newby whose boss had it out for Sophia. Though, based on how upset Victoria had been with the secretary, Sophia doubted she was the killer. As awful as she seemed, she wouldn’t have berated the woman who had the keys when she had her own set. It was like incriminating herself and the other partners.

As much as Sophia didn’t want it to make sense, that left Ellie. She worked at the law firm and had supposedly hated Noah. She had denied being Noah’s girlfriend until after he was dead. She didn’t act quite like girlfriend in mourning. Yes, they had had casino ‘dates,’ but Sophia really needed to look at those social media pictures that convinced everyone they were an item. Plus, Victoria had said that Ellie didn’t even bat an eye when she found out about Noah’s relationship with their boss. And how did this all connect with the money missing at the law firm? Inside her house, she called Zeke. “I think I know who killed your brother. Can you get the bridal party together at the casino?” Once she got off the phone, Sophia picked up the grimoire from where Lemon had left it on the table. She had some reading to do. Then, she needed to bake up some honesty everything. Hopefully this didn’t blow up in her face, since getting murdered seemed to be a family tradition. After what happened with Lemon, if she got killed while forcing a confession, no one but Minnie and Daisy would care anyway.

Chapter 14

The next day, Sophia reached the front of the casino with her cart full of cookies and pastries. Since cookies and pastries were more relaxed than cupcakes, people would suspect less and eat more. Besides, she’d mixed in a dollop of comfort and a dash of self-righteousness with the honesty so that everyone would be more open. “No outside food,” the security guard pointed to a sign. “It’s for a private party. We’ve got one of the upstairs card rooms booked.” Sophia smiled what she hoped was a reassuring smile and offered him a Mama Ginger’s card. “I’m the catering.” He eyed the card. “Can’t have you bringing outside food through the casino.” He radioed for someone to escort her to the cardroom through the employee’s access. When she saw her escort’s slight build, Sophia suppressed a sigh. Alvin seemed as ill-suited to security as the first time she’d seen him. “Hey, Alvin.” The guard grunted, then did a double take. “You’re that baker, aren’t you?” “That’s me.” Sophia patted the Mama Ginger’s cart. “Catering another event here already.” “No more murders, I hope. Saturday was the worst day of my life.” Alvin ran a hand over his short dark hair as he led her outside. “Never thought I’d have to guard a dead body.” Sophia laughed. “Until this year, I never thought baking would be dangerous at all. Then murders ruined two events I worked.” “Hopefully, it’s not too dangerous to escort you to whatever meeting you’re catering.” Poor Alvin was joking, but getting a confession was dangerous. Still, all that should happen inside the card room. The tiny guard should be fine. When they walked through the door labeled employees only, it was like they

stepped into another world. Even though the area was spacious and led to a locker area and what looked like an employee cafeteria, no one was around. “Where is everyone?” Sophia asked, anxious about being alone. “Blue Heron doesn’t want to be accused of not responding to the murder.” The guard led her across the empty employee area to a set of elevators. “They’re running all kinds of trainings. If you’re not out on the floor, you’re in a training. And we’re on the buddy system now, even during breaks.” “Where’s your buddy?” Sophia asked as they stepped into the elevator. “Guess I don’t need one to escort you.” The guard tapped the radio clipped to his waist. “If things get crazy, I can radio for help.” Radio or not, he should have a buddy, too. Two big burly guards protecting her would make her feel much safer than one man who wasn’t any bigger than her. As the employee elevator rose, Sophia imagined its sides closing in on her. Or its doors refusing to open. Cigarette smoke stung her eyes and tickled her nose. “You smell the cigarette smoke even in the employee areas, huh?” Sophia asked. “I guess so.” Alvin shrugged. “After a while you either quit noticing it, or you quit.” Anxious, Sophia twirled her red hair around a finger. They were only going to the second floor. What could go wrong? Of course, for her plan to work, everything needed to go exactly right. “Should I have a buddy? Are you up to no good?” Alvin joked. “Just trying to trick a confession out of the murderer.” Sophia winked. “Yeah, right.” The guard shook his head. “If that’s what you’re really up to, keep me out of it.” Sophia patted her cart. “I’m charming a confession with sweets.” As the elevator door opened, Alvin turned to Sophia and laughed. “You had me

going there for a minute. A confess—” Before he finished the word, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed, blocking the elevator door. “Dang it!” Ellie slid her foot under Alvin and waved something pink at Sophia. “You stay the elevator.” Sophia tried to shove the loaded cart into Ellie, but she stepped behind Alvin’s crumpled form. He grunted when the wheels hit him. The cart stopped hard. Pastries fell from the top of the cart as Ellie stole the guard’s keycard. “Ellie? What’s going on?” Sophia tried to keep her voice light and curious. But this was the opposite of everything going right. Sophia’d planned on getting the murderer to confess over magical refreshments—in a room full of witnesses with her cell phone recording the whole thing. And Detective Schmidt nearby. Nothing was in place yet. “Don’t play dumb with me. I knew when Zeke wanted to get everyone together that you didn’t drop it. I don’t know why you didn’t just let things be. Especially after I tried to scare you off with that car.” “Scare me off? That car almost killed me.” Ellie grunted as she kicked the security guard out of the doorway. Before Sophia could stop her, Ellie yanked the cart from Sophia and shoved it out of the elevator. “You won’t need that magic food where you’re going.” She pushed a button on the side of the pink thing and electricity jumped between two metal points on the end. A stun gun? Sophia’s mouth went dry. Ellie couldn’t kill her with a stun gun. But what was she planning on doing? “Turn around.” Ellie shoved Sophia into the back corner of the elevator. “You should have just let things go.” “Makayla didn’t deserve—”

“I’d have gotten your assistant off on some technicality,” Ellie said as she yanked Sophia’s hands behind her back. “I thought you were only helping that kid.” A plastic tie bit into Sophia’s wrists, making her wince. “I’d have helped the girl. She was just unlucky.” Ellie kept pressing Sophia into the corner. The elevator dinged as it ed another floor. Where was Ellie taking her? Did she need to escape as soon as possible? Or could she wait until they got where they were going? “But since you can’t just leave well enough alone, I’ve got to fix things.” “How are you going to fix things?” Sophia’s throat felt like she’d choked on a clump of baking powder. “Where’s your phone?” “In the apron,” Sophia said before Ellie could find the nail clippers in her back pocket. If she could just turn around so Ellie wouldn’t notice her getting them out. “Not like it would work in the elevator, anyway.” After the elevator ed three more floors, Sophia asked, “Where are we going?” “The roof.” Sophia’s stomach sank. She didn’t have to worry about getting taxed. She was going to be pushed off the roof. And, with Sophia unable to call for help, who knew how long it would be before anyone found her? The casino was too big to search before it was too late. She had to turn around now and get this zip tie off. “You want to make it look like I killed myself, don’t you?” The elevator continued to rise. Even though she was planning on killing Sophia, the lawyer must not want to incriminate herself anymore. “If you’re going to kill me, can I at least know why?” Sophia tried to turn from

her corner to look at Ellie, but Ellie waved the stun gun in her face. “This is your fault.” Ellie pushed Sophia into the corner again. “If you kill yourself and leave a confession, your stupid assistant will get released, and no one will look at me.” Sophia couldn’t just stand in the corner and let Ellie march her to the edge of the roof and throw her over. She needed her hands free to fight back. And she wanted to see Ellie’s reactions while she tried to figure things out. Ellie hadn’t looked happy in the social media pictures with Noah. They didn’t look like a new couple, not really. “You weren’t dating Noah, were you?” Sophia turned again towards Ellie again. Even if she couldn’t get her hands free, she could go limp and make Ellie drag her to throw her off the roof. If Ellie used the stun gun on her, it would take longer—but, since no one knew where she was, wouldn’t save her. “I never said I was.” Ellie pushed Sophia. “Get back in your corner.” “Where am I going to go?” Sophia asked. “You’ve got my hands zip tied behind my back. Do I really need to sniff the corner?” This time, Ellie didn’t push Sophia back, so Sophia turned the rest of the way around. Small victories. “Everyone just assumed and Noah leaned into the assumption. If I told anyone we weren’t dating, they’d ask what I was doing with such a creep.” Sophia swallowed, trying to connect the rest of the dots as she struggled to get the nail clippers out of her back pocket without Ellie noticing. The elevator pinged again. Ellie spent a lot of time at the casino by herself, and someone had been taking money from the law firm. “He caught you taking money from work to pay for your gambling addiction.” Sophia said it like it was a fact, not like a question.

“I wouldn’t call it an addiction.” Ellie’s long ears twitched. “If you got caught, you’d get disbarred.” Sophia schooled her face as her fingers closed on the nail clippers. “Whatever.” Ellie lowered the stun gun. They were getting close now. Whether her hands were free or not, Sophia was going to run for it when they reached the top. “The pictures of you two on social media go back months, so what changed?” “If he stuck to blackmailing me, I’d never have killed him.” “What happened?” Sophia strained her wrists against the zip tie, trying to work the clippers against the plastic. “He was a pig.” Ellie snorted. “Blackmailing me for money was one thing—but he decided it was time for me to put out. Eww.” The elevator pinged. Sophia inched closer to the doors. “How did the casino fit in? I mean—you were losing—that’s why you were stealing money from work, but Noah won big every time when he came with you. Big enough his brother got in trouble with work. How?” “You really don’t know anything, do you?” Ellie asked. “Goblin magic won’t work for my benefit, but I could charm the money to him.” A goblin. Sophia had noticed the ears. If she’d just asked Detective Schmidt what Ellie was, she would have figured out how going to the casino worked with Ellie’s magic before. Still, that didn’t make sense. Wasn’t giving money to her blackmailer benefiting her? Or was Ellie’s magic not that smart. Ping. Three more floors to go. “That was clever, not using your own car to try to run me down,” Sophia said. “But I can’t work out where you got the keys.”

“I stole Noah’s keys so I could get the evidence he had against me from his place.” Sophia blinked. “Noah wasn’t a partner.” “No, but he’d made a copy of Victoria’s keys—all of them.” Ping. Sophia flexed her legs, trying to get into what, years ago, her high school PE teacher called ready position. “What are you doing?” Ellie raised the stun gun again. “Nothing,” Sophia lied, straightening up. She should have waited until the door opened and just took off. “My fingers are going numb.” Ping. “What do your arms have to do with bending your legs like that?” Ellie asked, reaching for Sophia. Sophia squeezed the clippers. They bit into the zip tie, but not enough to cut all the way through. Ellie tried to taze her, but Sophia kicked straight forward. Her foot hit Ellie’s wrist. The stun gun flew out of Ellie’s hand. Sweet luck! Also, she needed to work on her bendiness. Her foot had only made it as high as Ellie’s thighs. Ellie clutched her hand. Ping. Sophia squeezed the clippers again. They bit into the plastic. The door started to open. Closing her hand tight around the clippers so she didn’t drop them, Sophia wedged herself into the opening. But the door moved slowly. Ellie scrambled to

recover the stun gun. Sophia pushed one hand down and pulled up with the other, trying to break the damaged zip tie, but it only gave a little. She tried to squeeze her hands through, but they stuck. When the door opened wider, Sophia stumbled backwards onto the top floor. Relief flooded through her, this wasn’t the roof. But the whole hallway was empty. Her hands tied behind her back, Sophia raced for the stairs. Maybe she could get away from Ellie. Ellie caught her and jammed the stun gun against her back. She didn’t use it. Yet. “No more funny business.” Ellie held Alvin’s keycard to the key pad for the last flight of stairs. How was she going to get out of this? It seemed like her best bet was to make Ellie stun her and hope that someone found them while Ellie tried to lug her to the roof. But Sophia didn’t like those odds. The door to the roof was getting closer. Sophia hesitated and Ellie pushed her back harder with the stunner. Sophia’s fox therian abilities or witch magic might help. But pictures of witches on brooms notwithstanding, neither foxes or witches knew how to fly. Besides, she couldn’t force food into Ellie’s mouth to make her feel guilt or fear. The door to the roof took a keycard, too. When it beeped, Ellie tugged the handle. Sophia used it as a moment to rush outside—away from Ellie and the stunner. A raised ledge about waist high ran around the entire perimeter. Up high, the wind whipped Sophia’s hair. Far below, the parking garage roof was dotted with cars. Think, Sophia, think. She worked the nail clippers open. She was on the roof with

a murderer who was also a goblin. Too bad Sophia hadn’t even known goblins existed until the elevator ride. Ellie blocked the entrance to the stairs with the pink stunner in hand. Sophia clipped again at the rough part of the zip tie. This time, it bit deeper into the plastic. What could she do to stop Ellie? The fox side had helped Sophia’s reflexes before. Still, if Sophia could force Ellie to feel something, maybe she’d stop trying to kill Sophia. The book of shadows had shown Sophia pages that proved some of her more powerful family made people feel things without using food spells. And Mama had told Doris that Sophia’s honesty magic leaked out because of her raw power. Ellie advanced on her. She pushed the button on the side of the stunner. Electricity crackled between the points. Sophia inched backwards. Fear coursed through her, but it wouldn’t work on Ellie. Ellie was doing this because she was afraid of getting caught. Afraid of getting disbarred. She had to try a different emotion. If only she had control. The last time she’d tried to do something like this, she’d manifested as a fox therian for the first time. When she got out of here, she’d have to find someone to let practice on them. Sophia let the magic build, imagining the feel of dough in her hands. She let the tingling feeling of magic fill her and focused on guilt. If Ellie felt guilty enough, the goblin might let her go. Guilt magic meant Sophia’s own guilt bubbled to the surface. She’d failed to protect Makayla from Noah and then let her get blamed for his murder. Eighteen-year-old, perky Makayla was still in jail for something she didn’t do. Everything she’d ever done—the time she’d screwed over someone for parking. Minnie and Daisy were going to be left without a mom because Sophia had let herself get caught up in another murder investigation. All her fault. The magic rippled through her arms now.

“Knock it off. I hear your magic.” Ellie advanced on Sophia, stun gun in hand. She tried to focus on the living, but all the times she’d failed to call back her mom, especially in the week before her mom’s murder. Would Mama have told her the truth about her father’s death if she’d just picked up? Sophia had moved away to get away from Mama’s control freak attitude, but now she regretted the move. Her mom had been trying to protect her from her own lack of control with her magic. This had to be enough guilt. The power was filling her up from head to toe, just like last time she’d tried this. With no food, the guilt magic surged through her. Ellie lunged for her and Sophia jumped back. Focus on the guilt. Her mom might not have gone after her father’s killers if Sophia had been home. Tears pricked Sophia’s eyes. If only she could make things right with Mama. “Whatever you’re trying to do, I won’t let you.” Ellie lunged again. Sophia willed the magic across the small space between them. Her fox ears manifested, but the magic jumped at Ellie. Guilt poured through the air. If only she’d listened to Mama, things might be different. Ellie screeched, and the stun gun clattered onto the roof. The magic gone, the world swayed under Sophia’s feet. “This is all my fault,” Ellie whispered. “If I just stayed out of the casino. My parents told me to stay away from gambling. Money calls to us.” Sophia yawned, exhausted. If she survived this, she’d only use magic without food during emergencies. Ellie walked to the ledge circling the roof. “Tell them I did it.” What was she doing? With all her strength, Sophia jerked her hands apart.

The plastic dug into her wrists. The zip tie broke, leaving bloody tracks on her wrists. Ellie got one foot on the ledge. “If I’d listened to them, Noah would never have been able to blackmail me. No one would be dead.” Sophia snatched the stun gun and sprinted for Ellie. Already lightheaded, Sophia pumped her arms. Ellie stepped onto the ledge with her second foot. She would not let Ellie kill herself. Not when the guilt was from Sophia. “No!” Sophia grabbed the back of Ellie’s slacks with one hand and jerked backward, squeezing the sides of the stun gun. Lightning crackled between the metal prongs. Ellie leaned forward, pulling Sophia double. Sophia threw herself backwards. She slammed the stun gun into Ellie’s side. The back of Sophia’s head smacked the roof. Just as she pushed herself up, Ellie’s full weight came crashing down on her. The world swam. Sophia gasped. Sharp pain pierced her lungs. Maybe she should take up running like Anna. She crawled out from under Ellie. “Sophia, what have you done?” Mama’s voice was so clear. The guilt around using her magic like a weapon—and using a weapon were so strong, it sounded like Mama was beside her. Like her voice wasn’t in Sophia’s head at all. Feeling silly, Sophia looked for the source of the sound. Transparent, Mama floated next to the elevator. “I thought I raised you better than this.” “Mama?” But that was impossible. Sophia hadn’t tried to raise the dead. She hadn’t intended anything like that.

Chapter 15

“Sending guilt through the air. Summoning spirits.” Mama’s ghost shook her head. “What are you thinking?” “That I don’t want to die.” Sophia dropped the stun gun and started dragging Ellie away from the edge of the roof. “And I won’t let her kill herself.” “I should hope not. Sending negative emotions, that’s borderline dark magic, but calling me—” “I didn’t mean to bring you back, Mama.” “After my mother died, I taught you not to work magic using the joy she brought you—or the fear you felt visiting her when she was sick.” Sophia reached the elevator. “You never told me why.” “I need to get back before things go bad,” Mama said. “Mama?” Mama didn’t answer. “What things, Mama?” Sophia looked up at the spirit, but Mama’s translucent form was gone. As Sophia straightened, pain shot through her head. Maybe she hadn’t summoned Mama. She might have imagined it, but she’d avoid thinking of the dead anytime she worked magic. Even if she needed to summon guilt or any other dark emotion. The elevator wouldn’t come, and Sophia ed Ellie running her hand down the inside of the elevator. Ellie had pushed all the buttons so that Sophia wouldn’t be able to escape her. She’d have to take the stairs. “Good thing you’re so skinny,” Sophia said as she lugged Ellie to the stairwell. “I’d never drag you this far otherwise.”

Sophia took the keycards, so Ellie couldn’t get back on the roof, then stumbled down the stairs. Two flights later, she reached a floor open to guests and hurried across to the guest elevators. As the elevator descended, Sophia thought back on things. Ellie’s confession to the murder almost wrapped everything up, but Ellie had been surprised about the note from the dog park. Besides, it wasn’t like Ellie had known Sophia was going to be there. That meant someone else from the law firm had left Sophia that threatening note. And Sophia knew just who it must be. When she reached the second floor, Sophia discovered guards and police officers everywhere, preparing to canvas the hotel. “The murderer is upstairs!” Sophia limped to the nearest security guard. “You’re the one that stunned Alvin!” The guard caught Sophia by the wrist. “What?” Perplexed, Sophia blinked as he handcuffed her. “That was Ellie.” The guard pushed a button on his radio. “I’ve got the suspect in custody. She’s sustained some injuries, so I’m brining her to the EMTs.” “I didn’t taze anyone. Well, just the murderer.” Sophia protested as he led her to a chair in a room where Alvin sat with an EMT hovering over him. “You have to get Ellie,” Sophia told the guard again as Alvin insisted he was fine. “Before the police get here to arrest you, the EMT will check you out.” The guard who arrested her pushed her into a chair. “The back of your head is bloody.” “Send someone to get Ellie.” Why wouldn’t he listen to her? Even if she had stunned Alvin, someone should arrest the actual murderer. “They taze us in guard training, you know.” Alvin told the EMT.

“And they catch you so you don’t hit your head.” The EMT scanned Sophia. “What happened to you?” “The murderer tried to kill me—until I guilt tripped her.” “They already arrested the murderer.” The EMT shone a light in Sophia’s eyes. “Makayla is not the murderer. She was just unlucky. Ellie is the murderer.” “Who’s Ellie?” the EMT asked. “The maid of honor. Everyone thought she was Noah’s girlfriend, but he was blackmailing her because he caught her skimming money.” The EMT frowned. “Let’s start with something simpler. What’s your name?” “The murderer is semi-conscious at the top of the employee stairwell. She tried to throw me off the roof.” Detective Schmidt walked into the room. Thank goodness, someone who would be on her side. “Ellie tried to—” “I’m sending officers up there now,” Detective Schmidt said, and then radioed for them to go up there. “Sir, this is the woman who stun-gunned Alvin.” “I doubt that.” Detective Schmidt put his hands on Sophia’s shoulders. “Sophia was the one who invited me here and arranged the little shindig in the card room.” “Then who did?” Alvin demanded. “I was in the elevator with her, and the next thing I know I’m on the floor.” “Ellie zapped you and killed Noah.” Sophia shook her head, but that was a mistake. Blackness swam through her eyes. Her stomach lurched. “Ma’am, I’m have to ask you not to move your head while I’m examining you.”

“Not a problem.” Sophia closed her eyes while the EMT touched the lump on her head. Pain radiated out from that spot. “Ellie should be ready to confess. She was feeling very guilty and almost threw herself off the roof.” Sophia didn’t mention how her mother’s ghost had appeared to her and lectured her ing her magic to create negative emotions. That had been just the head injury, hadn’t it? “I need to talk to Victoria and Anna.” She needed that threatening note cleared up. It hadn’t been Ellie after all. “We should let the EMT finish examining you first.” Detective Schmidt leaned forward. “I’m fine,” Sophia insisted. “I can’t agree with that.” The EMT slipped the light into his pocket. “In fact, I recommend you go to a hospital for observation. You have a concussion.” “I’ll go to the hospital. But please, let me talk to them first.” “Why?” Detective Schmidt asked. “Didn’t you already catch the murderer for me?” “Because one of them is responsible for the note at the dog park. Like my mom used to say, we could all do with some more honesty.” “Sophia.” The detective’s voice held a warning tone. “Benjamin, please.” The use of his first name worked. He took off the handcuffs and brought her to the card room where the wedding party now sat under guard. “What’s she doing here?” Victoria snapped. Her ever-present iced coffee sat in front of her. “I invited her.” Zeke sat with his arms crossed and his back to his bride and future mother-in-law. “If we’re going to plan the wedding again, we’re still going to need a baker.”

Victoria harrumphed. The bridesmaid with the glasses looked back and forth between them.“You look like you’re having a very bad day.” “Sorry you got caught up in all this.” Anna clasped Sophia’s hands. “She’s a snoop and—” “Oh, please, Mom.” Anna rolled her eyes. “You have plenty of secrets, don’t you?” Zeke’s eyes shot from Anna to Victoria and back to Sophia. “Before I go to the hospital, I’d like to ask—have you told Zeke yet?” Anna frowned. Glasses turned to Purple Hair, eyes wide, like she was getting the best show ever. “She’s not going to,” Victoria said. “Tell me what?” Zeke asked. “Nothing,” Victoria snapped. “Tell him.” Sophia imagined dough under her hands. Despite the exhaustion, the familiar desire for truth was there. She put her hand on Anna’s shoulder as if for balance. “Please.” Magic spilled into Anna. Sophia felt even more light headed and did need the help balancing. “Before we dated—” Victoria caught Anna by the collar. “I said don’t tell him. Nothing good comes from the truth.” The room spun. Detective Schmidt caught her under the arms. Sophia wanted to disagree with Victoria. Sometimes bad things came from the truth, but the good usually outweighed the bad.

“I’m not you, Mom. I can’t hide Logan forever.” “Who’s Logan?” Zeke asked. Anna took Zeke’s hands in hers and ignored her mother. “He’s my son. I had him junior year of high school when I left to ‘study abroad.’” Zeke blinked a few times, trying to take it in, before asking, “You have a kid?” “This is a disaster,” Victoria said. “He’s almost ten now.” Anna’s eyes watered. “Nothing to do with you, but I treasure him—” “You have a kid and didn’t tell me?” “I’m sorry. I just...” Anna shook her head. “You know how my mother is.” “Excuse me?” Victoria demanded. “Where is he now?” Zeke asked. “What?” Anna blinked. “This kid of yours. We live together, and it sounds like you see him?” “He got adopted by a nice family.” Anna smiled. “They let me visit him every week.” Realization dawned on his face. “That’s where you go on Saturdays.” Anna nodded. “Do you hate me for lying?” “I can’t believe you were going to marry me without telling me the truth.” “I wanted the secrets to stop—that’s why I was hiding in the car when Noah...” Zeke kissed Anna. “I’m glad the secrets are done.” Sophia grinned. “All right, Detective. I’m ready to go.”

“I didn’t I hit my head that hard.” Sophia said, using Benjamin’s arm for balance as he walked her to the ambulance. “Then why are you so dizzy?” His muscles felt solid under her touch. “Probably because I just ran down the stairs and fought for my life. And because...” If she didn’t hit her head that hard, how could she explain Mama’s appearance? He stopped about fifty feet from the ambulance. An EMT started walking towards them, but Benjamin shook his head. She felt a little giddy being so close to him. “Did I see you use your magic without food in there?” he said, his voice soft. “Maybe I’m getting a hang of sorting out my witch magic from my therian side.” Sophia giggled. She might have a concussion after all. Giggling didn’t seem like the right way to react reaction. “You still need someone to help you with your therian side.” He brushed a hair from her face. “My sister would be perfect.” “I’ve been thinking about that.” Sophia took a step back, creating extra space between them, proud of herself for only wobbling a little bit. “Does it have to be a canine?” He blinked. “Usually, your parents teach you how to manage your—” “Since you inherit your magic from your parents, they’re the same kind of therian. But can’t a squirrel teach me? I’m already pretty good friends with Amy.” Benjamin took his time answering. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before asking, “Is that what you want?” “She’s already my friend and hears things I’m not comfortable sharing with your sister.”

“I’d still like for you to meet Brianna at some point, but...” Detective Schmidt shrugged. “If Amy can help you manage your abilities, I’ll stop pushing for you to work with my sister. If there’s anything she can’t handle, please talk to me or another canid therian. A squirrel is a prey animal. They might—things might be different for her.” Sophia stifled a yawn. She needed a good night’s sleep. “You should take Ellie’s confession before my magic wears off.” Benjamin leaned in as if to kiss Sophia. Her heart leapt into her throat. Sophia’s head spun and she tipped backwards. Benjamin caught her flailing arms. “Let’s get you onto the ambulance.” That stupid curse. If only Sophia could get rid of it. The EMTs checked her out and drove both her and Alvin to the hospital. If the doctors would let her sleep, Sophia didn’t care what they did. After a little while, Sophia got her own room at the hospital but was on strict orders not to sleep. Lemon stormed into her room. Sophia blinked up at her friend. “What are you doing here?” Sophia asked. How had Lemon had gone from looking for a new job to visiting her in the hospital? Had she forgotten reconciling with Lemon? No, that was something she would concussion or not. “What am I doing here? I’m your emergency —and Detective Gorgeous called me to ask me to take care of you since he can’t. What are you doing taking on a murderer?” “Ellie’s a twig.” “A twig that’s a head taller than you.” “Besides, I didn’t mean to take her on alone. I planned to trick a confession out

of her in a room full of people.” “With your magic?” Lemon narrowed her eyes and dropped her voice so no one could hear. “I might have brought some goodies to the meeting.” “Magic goodies?” Lemon asked again. Sophia shrugged. “Then Ellie hijacked me in the elevator and tazed the guard. No magic goodies were used in the production of this concussion.” Magic had been, but she didn’t need to go there. Lemon pursed her lips and stared at Sophia. “I promise, I’m not that kind of witch. I would never try to raise the dead.” Accidentally was another question, and Sophia still wasn’t sure if she’d brought Mama’s ghost back or if it was a side effect of the concussion. Lemon, though, took her at face value. “I guess I can keep being your friend if you promise to be honest.” “Honesty is my specialty.” Sophia grinned, happy to have her friend back.

THE wedding march began and everyone stood. The simultaneous rustling of fabric filled Sophia’s ears. Logan walked down the aisle with a white pillow. He had his mother’s and grandmother’s dark hair, with a dusting of freckles. Makayla and her parents stood on one side of Sophia. The girl had been released shortly after Ellie’s arrest, once all the legal things were taken care of, but she wasn’t her usual perky self anymore. Still, Anna and Zeke had insisted that she come, hoping to make amends. Lemon stood on the other side of her, forming a barrier between Sophia and Detective Schmidt. But the scent of him still filled Sophia’s nose. Craft beer, man sweat, and a hint of cologne that he’d put on to cover it up. Not to mention the sweet bit of chocolate from the cupcake he’d snuck earlier that had gotten stuck in the grooves of his fingers and he’d wiped on his pants. No one could see it, but she could smell it. His sister stood next to him, wearing an elegant blue dress. She looked like a female version of him, thin and sweeping lines and similar face structure. He was making sure she met his sister and had her phone number, as he said, just in case something went wrong with a predator learning from prey. Even though she was a squirrel to Sophia’s fox, Sophia thought Amy would be a good teacher. Besides, figuring out her therian magic might help her control her witch side. If the two magics weren’t competing, maybe Sophia could figure out how to do more, like unravel the curse that was keeping her from trying to date Benjamin. Behind Logan, the remaining bridesmaids and groomsmen followed down the aisle. This time around, neither Anna or Zeke had a maid of honor or a best man. Then Anna stepped into view. Her long white dress had been cleaned and pressed again for the wedding. Burgundy ribbon wove its way in and out of the bodice. Zeke grinned at the sight of his bride. After the ceremony, Sophia excused herself to prepare the cake and the dessert bar. The cookies, this time, were not laced with honesty, just joy and happiness. Emotions appropriate to the situation.

While she served the cookies and set up the cupcakes, Lemon and Courtney cornered her. “All this bad stuff going on around you, you need to get out of the bakery and leave all this negative energy behind.” “Negative energy? That sounds like a west coast hippie thing, not one of your down home—” “Fine, girl. Honey badger might not care, but you sure do.” Lemon took the tray from her hand. “You need a break before one of those murderers catches up to you.” Courtney smiled. “We talked Amy into hosting a paint night at Magnolia Winery and we will all be going.” “Umm... Is that such a good idea?” Sophia asked. “Why wouldn’t it be?” “It’s just... I don’t really want to do a paint night there after everything that happened,” Sophia said. “What if we have paint night—I don’t know— anywhere else?” “All right. You’re on.” Courtney grinned.

Thank You

Thank you for reading this book. If you enjoyed Weddings and Wickedness , or even if you didn’t, please leave an honest review. I ask because reviews are like gold to the independent author—or like Yelp reviews to Mama Ginger’s. Reviews are proof that someone other than the author and the author’s mom has read the book, which encourages new readers to take a chance on it. Amazon review: Http://AprilBrowneFiction.com/GV2Review GoodReads review: Http://AprilBrowneFiction.com/GV2GoodReads

About the Author

I’m a mystery author and a toddler wrangler. When not tripping over Thomas and his friends, I can be found writing in the race car bedroom because somehow the toddler took over the master bedroom along with the rest of the house. Otherwise, I’m probably working in the garden or cleaning up Minnie Dog’s fur and missing our Daisy. Unfortunately, we lost our Daisy Dog to cancer before this book was finished. As such, 15% of profits from this series will be donated to canine cancer research. The dogs in the book are based on our own Minnie and Daisy. Their fluffy white fur does get everywhere and sticks to everything, just like in the book. Visit AprilBrowneFiction.com/Updates to get pictures of Minnie and Daisy, giveaways, future releases, and other cool stuff.

The Cemetery Turkeys

Gold Valley is a mishmash of Lodi, Galt, Davis, and a dash of Santa Rosa (where I have only visited never lived). The cemetery is based on the cemetery in Davis. It’s at the corner of 8th and Pole line if you ever get it into your head to go visit it. While I took a bit of liberty since there are no new graves there, the cemetery was used as a dog park by many Davis residents and also has a plaque that declares it a wildlife refuge. Just like in the chapter, the plaque does not specify, but turkeys are indeed the animal that is taking refuge there. When we lived across the street, the flock was huge and all the neighbors complained about how they were a menace. Once, we watched a turkey chase a jogger down the street. Another time, we came home from walking Minnie and Daisy to find turkeys on the roof of our apartment building, one even directly over our door. The turkey chase in this book was inspired in part by that jogger, and in part by my husband. The week I was working on that chapter, he was walking Minnie and stopped to take pictures of baby turkeys. He came home to report that the tom turkey chased him and Minnie down for daring to look at its babies, and that Minnie didn’t bark. Instead, she bravely ran away from the turkey. Some furry bodyguard. Though people often refer to turkeys as foolish and dumb animals, they are actually aggressive and quick. I learned while working in Folsom that turkeys actually attack and eat rattlesnakes. So perhaps foolish, but also very quick.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Keto-ish Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients

• ½ cup (1 stick) melted butter, plus more for pan • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for pan • 1 ¼ cup almond flour • 1 tsp baking soda • ¼ tsp kosher salt • 1 cup 1:1 sugar replacement or sugar if you’re not keto • 2 large eggs • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract • 3 small zucchini—grated • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips • ½ cup walnuts halves and pieces

Recipe

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter or grease 2 muffin tins. We add a lot of walnuts and more chocolate chips than the original recipe. Dust muffin tin with cocoa powder. If you prefer, you can use cupcake wrappers, but I find this way is less messy. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt. In another large bowl, stir together sugar substitute, vanilla and eggs until smooth. Add melted butter and mix until smooth. Fold in the zucchini. Gradually add the flour mixture. Then fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Bake 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean.

This recipe has been adapted from “Death by Chocolate Zucchini Bread” by Delish. I’m much too impatient to wait 50 minutes for the whole loaf pan to cook, and we’ve switched to a keto-ish lifestyle so we use almond flour and sugar substitute. Also, my husband likes walnuts and extra chocolate chips in all his baked goods. The original recipe can be found here: https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipeideas/recipes/a48378/death-by-chocolate-zucchini-bread-recipe/

Don't miss out!

Click the button below and you can sign up to receive emails whenever April Browne publishes a new book. There's no charge and no obligation.

https://books2read.com/r/B-A-ACIJ-XVGLB

Connecting independent readers to independent writers.

Also by April Browne

Gold Valley Mysteries Cupcakes and Crime Weddings and Wickedness

About the Author

April Browne lives with her husband, toddler, and a beautiful Minnie Dog. Unfortunately, we lost our Daisy Dog to cancer before this book was finished. As such, one quarter of profits from this series will be donated to canine cancer research. The dogs in thisbook are based on our own Minnie and Daisy. Their fluffy white fur does get everywhere and sticks to everything just like in the book.