4 Pageant and Poison (4 page)

“Are you still drinking that garbage?” a woman in a bright pink dress asked with a hint of superiority in her tone. “Really Candy, do you have any idea what that does to your
adrenals?”

Candy stared at the woman with less animosity than she did most, which made Bekki think that they might actually be friends.

“I have to stay on my game somehow Suzanne, not all of us can be young forever,” she laughed in a high tinkling tone.

“You should try this,” Suzanne said as she held up the drink she was carrying. When she lifted her arm Bekki noticed the bright orange ribbon she was wearing that i
ndicated she was a judge. The bottle she was holding was dark green and clear, and declared itself Natural Power! on the label.

“What is that?” Candy asked with a scrunched up nose as Jemma swirled the coffee cup in her hand. Bekki walked past the three and tossed the clean shirt to Martin who was still fuming at the edge of the stage.

“Thanks,” he winked lightly at her, and then passed a lingering glare in Candy and Suzanne's direction. “Those two deserve each other,” he muttered to himself and then headed off to change.

Bekki shook her head at the pageant politics, something she dreaded about working on these kinds of shows. She walked toward
s a pair of sisters who were speaking quietly to their mother. It was easy to assume they were all related because of their dark red hair. The mother and eldest daughter were very pretty with an ivory complexion paired with light green eyes, but the youngest daughter, who wore the number five on the back of her dress indicating she was a contestant in the pageant, was stunning. She really didn't need any makeup to accentuate her high cheek bones, or her deep green eyes. She had naturally pouted lips and the curve of her chin was something plastic surgeons could only dream of creating. Bekki knew in that instant that this young woman would be the winner, or at least she should be. She held her breath as she walked up to them, hoping that they wouldn't turn out to be insufferable.

“Hi I'm Bekki, I'm the stylis
t that will be working with you on your hair and makeup,” Bekki said, used to the refrain by now.

“Hi,” the youngest said with a shine in her eyes. “I can't wait!”

“It's not that big of a deal,” her older sister admonished as she folded her arms across her stomach.

“Shh, Monica, let Abby enjoy herself,” their mother hissed at her oldest daughter. “Bekki
, I'm Jane, it's a pleasure to meet you,” she held out her hand to Bekki. Bekki was a little surprised by this as most of the mothers treated stylists as if they were just another staff member, too insignificant to personally greet. Bekki shook the woman's hand with appreciation.

“It's great to meet all of you. Don't worry, it's going to be a fantastic show, and I'm sure you'll do
great,” she smiled knowingly at Abby. Bekki was careful not to play favorites when she had worked at these pageants in the past, but she always had an inkling of who the judges were likely to vote for.

“Here drink this,” Monica offered her younger sister a bottle of
Natural Power!

“No thanks,” she said quickly.

“What is that stuff?” Bekki laughed as Abby scrunched up her nose.

“It's this amazing drink made by a fantastic herbalist,” Jane explained with a bright smile. “It's made completely from herbs, and not only does it give you energy, but it also helps you lose weight.”

“Oh really,” Bekki frowned slightly. “Are you sure it's safe?”

“Of course it is,” Jane laughed. “It's all natural, try some,” she pushed a bottle towards Bekki.

“Sure, thanks,” Bekki smiled and accepted the bottle.

“Everyone's drinking it,” Monica pointed to a few of the other contestants who were also drinking the same green liquid. “Trust me it's delicious, I drink almost a dozen a week,” Monica laughed.

“Okay then,” Bekki smiled. “Thanks again, and I'll see you l
ater,” she pointed with a smile at Abby. Abby nodded eagerly, her eyes shimmering with that same star struck expression that Bekki was used to seeing on the first time contestants. Bekki was soon swept up in the excitement of the first rehearsal of the day. Each of the contestants would be fitted with their outfits for the day as well as a dry run of hair and makeup to ensure there would not be any surprises. Bekki as well as a few other stylists worked together to create beautiful but light examples of the hair and makeup the women would be wearing on the days of the actual show. The show would take place over two days, starting on Friday and ending on Saturday.

“Testing, testing,” a deep voice spoke into the microphone on stage. The lighting was turned up, and Bekki caught sight of the presenter. She was a willowy woman, tall and very thin, which made her deep voice a little surprising. She looked like she was in her thirties, which by beauty pageant standards probably meant she was in her late forties or early fifties.

“Hello and welcome to the annual Miss Brilliant Beauty Pageant!” she announced to an audience of empty chairs spread out before her. There was a long runway that extended out through the chairs that guests of the show would be sitting on.

“Get on with it Marissa!” Candy snapped from the side of the stage. She tapped her shoe against the floor and folded her arms. In time with Candy's insistent proclamation the piano player
, who would provide live music during the show and the interlude between wardrobe changes, began playing a dark and frightening number.

“Very funny Milo,” Candy called out to the musician who immediately stopped playing.

“Candy, I'm just practicing the introduction,” Marissa began to explain.

“You've been doing it for ten years now Marissa, if you don't know it by now, then you might as well give up. Of course, you won't have to worry about that, will you?” she laughed haughtily. “This is your last year after all.”

Marissa was fuming as she turned back to the microphone. Bekki looked in Candy's direction, she wondered if there was anyone in the whole world that Candy actually liked. Then she recalled her interaction with one of the judges, Suzanne. They had at least seemed friendly, but Bekki had overheard a lot of the parents gossiping about Suzanne. They said she would only choose the contestant that Candy told her to, and that in the past she had scored great contestants very low. The only other judge, Justin, had yet to show his face, and Bekki was wondering if he would. This was his first year as a judge. She was a little disappointed with the way the pageant was being run, as glamorous as it was supposed to be, it seemed more chaotic than anything else.

She took a moment to text Nick while the contestants began to take the stage.

Miss you. Any news on this weekend?

She stared at the phone for a few seconds, hoping to get a response. When nothing came she tucked her phone back into her pocket and decided to watch the girls practice their routines for the show. All of the girls looked absolutely gorgeous and performed the dance number flawlessly. As the girls sashayed off the stage and the announcer began to introduce the next segment, the music died down for a brief interlude. As soon as the music began to fade, it was replaced with a cascade of shr
ieks that were coming from backstage. Bekki jumped up and went running around the curtain to see what was happening. By the time she got there several of the girls were in hysterics while others were running for the emergency exit with tears ruining their makeup.

“What's happened?” Bekki asked as she pushed through the crowd of onlookers. Sprawled out on the floor was Candy LaRu
se, her perfect hair mussed, her beautiful dress tangled around her knees, and one shoe hanging off her curled toes.

“Oh no is she
…” Suzanne gasped and closed her eyes tightly.

Bekki rushed forward
and checked for a pulse, and to see if Candy was breathing. But there was no sign of life. Martin was on his cell phone with 9-1-1 and security had been called. Bekki searched Candy's body for any sign of trauma, but there was none. Her makeup was not smudged in the least, her perfect manicure had no signs of broken nails. Bekki was quickly ushered away along with the other onlookers when security arrived, followed by medical personnel and the police. Bekki couldn't help but stare as she watched the police begin to tape off the area as a crime scene. She had just been thinking terrible thoughts about Candy, and now this. She shuddered, hoping that it would turn out that Candy had died of natural causes. The last thing the pageant needed was a murder on their hands.

“Well,” Jemma said from just beside her with a slight smirk on her lips. “I guess I'm in charge now.”

Bekki shot a glare in the woman's direction, but Jemma wasn't the only one smirking. Martin could barely contain his comments about bad people and their karma. The police insisted on interviewing everyone who had been present. When it was Bekki's turn, she grilled the officer in return.

“Can you tell me what happened?” she asked him. “Was it natural causes?”

“Well, we won't know for sure until more tests are done,” the officer explained. He was quite young, and Bekki could tell he was not used to people asking him questions instead of answering them.

“Well
, she was a very important person, you should take this very seriously,” Bekki warned him with a slight frown.

“Did you notice anything unusual about the way she was acting today?” the officer asked her hopefully. Bekki wished she could say that the woman's surly attitude had been out of character but she knew it hadn't been.

“Not really,” she admitted. “But I was a little busy.”

“I see,” the officer said and then studied her more intently. “From what I understand you don't currently live in New York?”

“No, I don't,” Bekki replied calmly. “Why?”

“Well,” the young officer hesitated. “We're not quite sure what happened here today just yet, and we want to make sure that we remain in contact with everyone who was here today.”

“Oh don't worry,” Bekki said with a mild smile and handed him her card. “Call me any time.”

“Thanks,” he said with a slight blush and accepted the card. “Did you know Ms. LaRu
se well?”

“Not personally,” Bekki explained quickly. “I've worked with her in the past.”

He lowered his voice slightly and stepped closer to her. “To tell you the truth, just about everyone we've talked to here today has had something bad to say about the woman. Do you know why that might be?”

“Well,” Bekki frowned.
“She wasn't the easiest person to get along with.”

“So you had run-ins with her?” he asked as he whipped out his notebook to make a note.

“I wouldn't call them run-ins,” Bekki said sternly. “She just wasn't the nicest person.”

“Hm
m,” the officer nodded and made another note. “Okay Bekki, I'll be in contact,” he smiled and then turned to walk away. Bekki felt a little unnerved. She had been in the position of being accused of a crime before, and she hoped that was not going to be the case again. She pulled out her phone and called Nick this time. After two rings he answered.

“Hello beautiful,” he said with a smile in his voice.

“Did you get my text?” Bekki blurted out, feeling a little uneasy.

“Uh,” Nick hesitated at the tone of her voice. “I'm sorry it's been a busy day
. Are you okay?”

“Yes I'm fine,” Bekki said quickly. She thought for a moment about not telling him what had happened, but she knew it would be on the news soon enough. “The organizer of the pageant Candy
LaRuse died this afternoon.”

“What?” Nick said with surprise. “Was it an accident?”

“They're really not sure what happened yet,” Bekki explained. “There's no sign of trauma.”

“But you're sure you're okay?” Nick asked nervously.

“I'm fine,” Bekki promised him. “I just can't believe she's dead.”

“Are they going to cancel the pageant?” Nick asked.

“I don't think so,” Bekki sighed. “New York doesn't work that way, the show must go on.”

“I see,” Nick replied. Bekki noticed a hint of distance in his tone.

“Is everything okay with you Nick?” she asked.

“Sorry Bekki, just working on this case, and it's a bit more complicated than I thought,” he admitted. Bekki wanted to ask him about it, but she remembered Agent Fox. She decided to avoid it.

“What about this weekend?” Bekki pressed hopefully.

“I really can't say Bekki,” Nick admitted. “I'm just so
…”

“Nick, I need you!” Bekki heard a distant voice call out over the phone.

“Okay just a minute,” Nick replied swiftly. “Sorry Bekki I've got to go,” he hung up the phone before she even had a chance to say goodbye. Bekki stared at the phone for a minute, stunned. It wasn't like Nick to treat her that way. She took a deep breath and looked back at the crowd of contestants and staff that were still being questioned.

“Well,
this is quite a mess, isn't it?” Martin drawled from beside her. He had a cup in his hand.

“I wouldn't recommend drinking right now,” Bekki warned him sternly.

“Relax, it's just water,” he rolled his eyes. “Candy threatened to make me take a breathalyzer.”