4 Pageant and Poison (7 page)

***

As she stepped into the bedroom she found her mind wandering back to the two deaths. If Candy was murdered, poisoned, then Suzanne probably had been, too. Suzanne, who appeared to be Candy’s only real friend. So someone had a vendetta against both of them, or perhaps they just wanted to hurt Candy and Suzanne got in the way. But who would do such a thing?

Bekki sat down on the edge of the bed. She wanted to discuss the case with Nick,
but that wasn't an option. She was going to have to figure this out on her own. As she began to go back through her time at the convention center, she tried to focus clearly on what had happened between Candy and others at the pageant. She clearly recalled Martin's confrontation with her. Had he poisoned her to prevent her from firing him or pressing charges against him for his lewd behavior? Then of course there was Marissa, who was there the morning at the convention center when Suzanne was found. Did she get so furious over Candy's attitude about her impending termination that she decided to eliminate her? And Jemma, she certainly had a lot to gain by Candy’s death. Not to mention all of the parents and contestants that she had ridiculed on a regular basis. Any of them could be suspects. How they poisoned Candy was what was very important. Was it something Candy had eaten? Was it in something she drank…

"Oh no," Bekki gasped as her eyes wide
ned and she suddenly realized that she knew exactly who the killer was. She couldn't understand why Candy
would be killed too, but she had no doubt in her mind that she was right. She grabbed her purse and raced out of the hotel room, continuing to ignore all of Nick's calls.

***

Nick glared at his cell phone as his text went unanswered again. Bekki had been so abrupt and cold that he knew she was angry. He hadn't meant to make her upset, but he knew that the secrecy of the case was probably wearing on her. With annoyance he tried to call her again. When she didn't answer he slammed his phone down on his desk, nearly shattering the screen.

"Woah there cowboy," Agent Fox laughed as she perched on the edge of his desk. "Lady
troubles?"

"You could say that," Nick replied with a scowl.

"Well, what can you do?" Agent Fox shrugged. "You can't always please the ones you love. But you can do your job," she said snidely.

Nick watched her for a long moment. He had learned so much from her during the time they had been working together. Nothing slipped past her scrutiny, and he was certain that she was noting every single call and text he made. It made him uncomfortable, but it also made him aware of how much he missed being in contact with Bekki. He was about to tell Agent Fox that he would be continuing to try to contact Bekki so she might as well just write that down, when Morris turned up the small television.

"Nick, isn't this the pageant Bekki's working at?" he asked as he glanced over his shoulder at Nick.

Splashed across the television screen were bold
, bright red letters.

‘
Murder at the Miss Brilliant Beauty Pageant!’

A
reporter went on to describe how two people had been killed at the beauty pageant before it had even begun. The reporter attempted to interview a man dressed in a thick, white fur coat as he headed into the convention center but he waved them away.

"No comment," then he paused and added. "The show will go on!" before he disappeared inside the building.

"There you have it folks," the reporter said with a stern expression. "The show must go on!"

Nick narrowed his eyes sharply as he heard the reporter's words. If they had no idea who was killing people at the pageant, anyone could be next, anyone including Bekki.

When Bekki got to the convention center she went to find Martin first. She needed to confirm that she was correct about her suspicions before telling Liam.

She found him backstage looking drunk as usual. “Hi Martin, do yo
u have a minute,” Bekki asked in a flirtatious manner.

“Sure,” Martin slurred hopefully.

"I'm sure that you know by now that Candy LaRuse's death was not of natural causes. She was poisoned. It is suspected that Suzanne was also poisoned," Bekki explained to Martin. 

“Yes but what does that have to do with me?” Martin asked.

"Were you here this morning Martin, before Suzanne's body was found?" Bekki questioned.

Martin's blue eyes blazed as he looked directly at
her.

"What are you implying?" he asked as he narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not implying anything," Bekki said sternly. "I'm asking if you were here this morning, or perhaps if you didn't ever leave last night?”

"What is this a murder mystery night?" Martin snapped
. "I mean if you think it was me just come out and say it.”

“That’s not what I’m saying,
” Bekki replied.

Martin cleared his throat and glanced around him.

"Can you tell me what you think you are going to find out from this interrogation?" he asked Bekki sharply. "Because I have nothing to hide. I didn’t kill her."

“Well,
what were you doing with Suzanne last night then?” Bekki questioned.

"What are you talking about?" Martin demanded, his short tem
per showing as he took a step towards her.

“I know you were here with Suzanne last night. You were probably the last one to see her alive
,” Bekki replied feeling a bit scared but trying not to show it. She noticed Liam enter the room and felt relieved that there was some protection there.

"Oh
, ok if you must know, I’ll tell you. Suzanne was on the take from Candy to vote as she instructed, and I figured it out," he said with a gloating smile. "So I decided to blackmail Suzanne?"

"And money wasn't enough was it? That's why Suzanne was here so late last night. That's why you were
, too. You were taking advantage of what you knew, what you must have had some proof of, to get everything you wanted from her. Not just money, but her affection and submission as well. Isn't that true Martin?" Bekki asked.

Martin lowered his eyes as a dark blush rose upward in his cheeks, it was clear that he could not hide his guilt.

"I blackmailed her," he said through gritted teeth. "But I didn't kill her! I bet you Jemma or Marissa killed her. They both hated her.” As if on cue Jemma walked into the room.

“Did you kill them, Jemma?
” Martin accused.

“What? No, I did not!” Jemma shrieked out and glared at him. “You shut your mouth you alcoholic, I had nothing to do with this!”

“Of course it was you,” Martin gasped out as he stared with wide eyes at Jemma. “You wanted to be in charge, and you knew that the only way that could happen would be if Candy was dead! But why did you off Suzanne, too?” he demanded with frustration. “We had a really good thing going.”

"Enough Martin
, this is getting out of control," Liam stepped into the room and warned him in a hushed voice. “Go and sober up and I’ll speak to you later. I’ll speak to you when you’ve calmed down, Jemma.”

“What for, i
t wasn’t me.  I bet you that Jane did it. She hated Suzanne,” Jemma announced viciously.

Just then Jane, Abby and Monica entered the room.

Bekki couldn’t hold back. She ignored Liam’s glare and announced, "Candy and Suzanne’s murderer was someone who felt cheated. Who felt as if there would never be an honest chance for anyone to win the pageant. Someone who felt as if she had everything stolen from her."

Bekki was staring straight at Jane. Jane stared right back at her.

"What?" Jane asked innocently as she looked at her daughters and then back at Bekki. "You can't be seriously implying that it was me?" she asked with a gasp and a light chuckle. "I would never kill anyone!"

"Wouldn't you?" Bekki
asked as she studied her. "Your beautiful daughter entered the contest. You spent thousands of dollars on getting her ready for it. You were certain she would win, as were the other judges. But there was one little problem, Suzanne," she shook her head slightly and stared directly into Jane's eyes. "You didn't even mean to kill Candy. You had no way of knowing that Suzanne would give her a drink."

"What are you talking about?" Jane demanded as she glowered at Bekki. "Are you crazy?
Are you even a cop? I don't have to listen to this!" she insisted and started to turn away from her.

“
Enough Bekki,” Liam said in a strong voice.

“Did you spike my drink,
too?” Bekki blurted out.

"
Your what?" Jane spat out with frustration.

"My Natural Power! drink,
" Bekki said with a frown. "You were nice enough to share some of your supply with me. Did you poison them all, or just the ones you gave Suzanne?"

Jane's eyes widened to the point that it was clear that the full impact of Bekki's accusations were finally beginning to settle in.

"I didn't poison anything," she insisted as tears began to well up in her eyes. She looked over at her daughters who were also beginning to get upset. "I didn't do this," she insisted as she looked into their eyes. "I promise you I didn't."

Abby broke down into tears.

Liam stepped between Bekki and Jane. "Enough Bekki," he repeated.

An officer
ran up to Liam and pulled him aside to give him some information.

"We tested the two bottles of energy drink that were found in
both Candy's and Suzanne's garbage, and they are both positive for the drug used to poison them," Liam said as he turned slowly to face Bekki and Jane. "And we can prove that they came from your private supply, Jane. You're under arrest for murder."

Monica wrapped an arm around her little sister's shoulders and pulled her into a hug.

"It's okay Abby," she assured her as she glared at Bekki. "There's no proof. Mom would never do something like this.”

"No!" Abby cried out as she struggled to get away from her sister. "Don't do this, you can't do this!" she
pleaded as she looked at Liam.

“I'm sorry Abby,” Bekki said quietly and with genuine sympathy.

“If she did it, she did it for us,” Monica murmured to Abby. “Don't worry, she's not going to go to jail.”

Martin was pinned down by two officers taking down information about the blackmailing he had done, as well as what he knew about the bribery scheme and how long it had been going on. Liam walked up to Bekki who was starting to head for the hallway. He caught her lightly by the wrist
to draw her attention.

“Care to tell me how you figured
all of that out?” he asked as he met her eyes. Bekki pulled her hand free and offered him a mild smile.

“Well
, the thing about beauticians, is that they are always the first to know,” she offered in return.

“Hmm,” he nodded slightly and held her gaze as if he was still not quite convinced.

“Would you mind letting
me know how it all works out?” Bekki asked hopefully.

“I
’ll tell you what I can when I can,” Liam said.

“Excuse me, detective beautician!” Jemma called out in a crass voice. “Over here please!” she waved her hand obnoxiously at Bekki.

“Duty calls,” Bekki grinned at Liam as she walked away from him.

“You are still a beautician, right?” Jemma asked in an irritated voice. “I mean the show must open tomorrow, so I need you to get to work on some of these rats nests we have running around here. And oh, I guess that Abby girl will be out…”

“What, why?” Bekki asked with a frown. “She worked hard to get here.”

“Her mother's a murderer,” Jemma pointed out with a grim smirk.

“But she isn't,” Bekki argued back. “Don't you think she's been through enough? Why not let the judges decide who the winner is?”

Jemma a
rched an eyebrow slightly. “I guess that would be a change from how Candy was running things. All right, but if I hear one word from the media about it, she's out, got it?”

“Sure,” Bekki nodded as her cell phone ran
g. She glanced at the number and saw it was Nick. She felt a surge of excitement to talk to him, considering all that had happened. She hit the button to answer the phone but when she put it up to her ear, there was nothing but a dial tone. The call had been dropped. She sighed with frustration.

“Bekki let's go,” Rafael called out to her as he headed for the stage. “The designers are arriving, they want to see the girls in some of the clothes with makeup!”

Bekki frowned and tucked her phone into her pocket. Her apology would have to wait a little longer.

***

When Bekki was done for the day and everything was set up for the pageant opening the next day, she sent a text to Rafael to let him know she was going to head out. Then she headed down the hall towards the parking lot. As she turned the corner she nearly walked right into Nick.

"Nick?" she gasped with surprise as she drank in his brooding
, green eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think?" he asked with desperation in his voice. "You won't answer any of my calls or texts, and then I hear on the news that the pageant you've been working on has had
not one but two murders!"

Bekki cringed, she
hadn’t meant to alarm him, when she started ignoring his calls. Now that she realized she had, she felt pretty guilty for putting him through that kind of worry.

"I'm sorry Nick, everything's just been so crazy," she sighed and tried to manage a smile. "It's okay though, everything's okay now,” she smiled at him, secretly relieved that he had come all this way just to make sure she was safe.

Nick studied her for a long moment, still standing between her and the door. Bekki could tell from the tension of his lips and the tightness around his eyes that he wasn't satisfied with her answer.

"How do you know it's okay?" he asked her, his voice sounding much more like Detective Nick than boyfriend Nick.

"Well, they're pretty sure they have the suspect, I spoke with the police and…"

"Are you serious?" Nick shook his he
ad in amazement. "You managed to get in the middle of the investigation?"

Bekki pursed her lips and placed her hands strategically on her hips. "
I can’t help it if I worked out who the murderer is,” she stated. "Maybe if a detective I know told me more about his cases I would help him, too,” she gave him a lighthearted look but there was some truth to her words.

"Bekki," Nick shoved his hands deep into his pockets and rocked back on his heels slightly as he groaned. "I couldn't
tell you about this investigation. It just wasn't allowed."

"Fine," Bekki shrugged mildly. "But
, like I said, everything's okay," she tried to keep her tone as neutral as possible. Nick stepped forward to gently grasp her elbows. He ran his hands down along her forearms slowly until he held her hands in his own.

"Bekki?" he looked directly into her eyes, as her heart skipped a beat, despite her attempt to control it. "Are we okay?"

Bekki met his gaze with such uncertainty that it had to show in the deep blue shade of her eyes. She knew that Nick was just as perceptive as she was.

"I don't know why I was so jealous over Agent Fox," she finally admitted. "I know that I
should trust you, but…"

"Bekki
it's okay," Nick said with a slight smile. "Don't you think I lay awake wondering if you were out clubbing with Trevor?” Bekki tried not to wince at his words. He was a better detective than he gave himself credit for.
“Or that you would fall more in love with New York than me?" he squeezed her hands softly and caressed them with his thumbs. "It's okay Bekki. You don't have to hide how you're feeling from me. This is new for both of us, and it's better if we talk about it."

Bek
ki hesitated for a moment. She was pleasantly surprised at his words. Instead of accusing her, he was incredibly understanding. Yet again she questioned why she couldn't just let herself trust him fully.

"Does that mean you're going to stay?" she finally asked with hope in her eyes.

"Oh, I'm staying," Nick said sternly and drew her closer to him. "I've heard these rumors," he murmured as he released one of her hands and slid his arm around her waist so that he could steer her body even closer to his. "About this bathtub," he whispered just beside her ear, and then kissed lightly at the slope of her neck. "And I want to see if they're true."

Bekki felt herself melt at his affection and the warmth of his breath along her neck, she couldn't think of anything she wanted more than to be with Nick. No matter what she worried about when they were apart, as soon as he was touching her again, she knew without a doubt that he was the person she was meant to be with. It was just
those times without the reassurance of his physical presence that made it impossible for her to set aside the doubts.