Mummy Knows Best Read online

  Mummy Knows Best

  by

  Sara Bourgeois

  This book is dedicated to Mariah Sinclair. Your covers inspire me.

  Chapter One

  “What is that?” Ginger shrieked before scrambling back into my bag.

  “That is Sage,” my mom said with a smirk. “Apparently she is having the intended effect.”

  “You got a cat?” I asked in disbelief.

  “Hey, I’m right here,” the cat said. “Please don’t talk about me like I’m not in the room.”

  Sage turned around and sauntered out of the living room, leaving us to freely discuss her presence in my mother’s house. I wondered if I should even ask my mom why she got a cat. Did I really want to know the answer?

  “You got a cat?” I asked because I found myself completely unable to not ask her about the cat. “Isn’t the litter box an issue for you? I’m surprised you’re okay with that.”

  “I used a spell on the litter box,” she said with a shrug. “I found that I can use magic to keep things clean instead of always using it to clean things. It’s like a dirt repellant spell.”

  “Okay. I can see that,” I said. “You’re still not telling me why you got Sage.”

  “To keep your little friend on her toes,” Mom said and pointed toward my purse where Ginger was hiding.

  “Mom.”

  “What? It’s not so much revenge as it is that while I can use spells to keep dirt away, I don’t have anything that will keep the plague away.”

  “Mom, Ginger doesn’t have the plague. She’s not a rat. We’ve been over this.”

  “Why was it you came by again?” my mom asked, suddenly sounding like she was in a hurry to be rid of me.

  That was odd. Usually she complained that I didn’t come over enough.

  “You said that you wanted to talk about Thanksgiving and Winter Solstice and other such things soon. I’m off today, so I figured I’d drop in.”

  “Oh, well, we’ve still got time for all of that. Why don’t we discuss those things in a couple of weeks? It will be much closer to Thanksgiving then.”

  “Okay,” I said and narrowed my gaze.

  I was making an attempt at reading her aura, it was suspiciously gray. She was up to something.

  “Is there anything else, dear?”

  “What are you hiding?”

  “I’m not hiding anything, dear,” she said as her hands fluttered up to her throat in mock indignation. It was a dead giveaway that she was hiding something. “I’ve just got company coming.”

  “Oh, man. Is it that Richard Speck guy again?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with Richie,” Mom said. “He’s a lovely man.”

  “He has the same name as a serial killer.”

  “That doesn’t mean he’s a bad person.”

  I didn’t like Richard “Richie” Speck. Not just because his name was the same as a serial killer, but because I got the same vibe off him as I did off Regina. Richie was a traveling… I’m not even sure what you would call it. He had an exhibit of ancient Egyptian artifacts that he traveled the country with displaying like some sort of side show. That’s the best way I can describe it.

  He and his traveling history exhibit, that was probably all fake, were only supposed to be in Destiny Cove for three days. It was two weeks later, and he hadn’t left yet.

  Word around town was that he hadn’t been able to secure the permits for his next destination and he’d decided that he liked Destiny Cove enough to stick around for a while. I thought it was probably because he was hiding from the FBI or something.

  Either way, my mom had taken a shine to him. They spent a lot of time together. I don’t want to say too much, but it was too much. I was glad that she’d found someone she liked. Mom hadn’t dated anyone since my dad passed away of a heart attack a decade ago, but did it have to be Richie? She could do so much better than a guy who was one step up from a carnie. Plus, I had no proof, but I was sure he was a fraud. There were energy distortions in his aura that I just couldn’t explain.

  “Okay, mom. Just be careful, please.”

  “You don’t need to worry about me, dear,” she said with a bright smile.

  The next morning I got up and went into the bakery just like any other work day. I flipped my Cookbook of Shadows open to see if the book had anything special in store for me that day.

  My heart skipped a beat when I saw that Peppermint Protection came up. I flipped the page and a new recipe called Strawberry Shield appeared. When I took a step back, the page flipped again on it’s own. Another new recipe revealed itself.

  Triple Berry Truth.

  Something was very wrong, and my book was trying to warn me. “Do I need to make all of these? Or are you just trying to tell me something?” I asked the book.

  It flipped back to the Peppermint Protection recipe. I began making those while I contemplated the other two recipes. Would my customers think it was strange that those particular flavors all graced my case on the same day? Would they even notice? One thing I’d observed over the years was that customers tended to gravitate toward what they needed the most and pretty well ignored the rest.

  I needed a couple of additional flavors to round out the offerings for the day, so I added the always popular Blueberry Bliss and a batch of Dark Chocolate Cherry and Daring to the day’s selection.

  A couple of hours later, I had the baking done and the coffee brewing. I went out to the dining area to unlock the front door and it hit me that my mom hadn’t come into the shop yet. Most days she came in a little before opening to inspect the dining area and start washing the dishes.

  The reason she wasn’t inside the bakery doing the dishes was because she was out in front of the shop pacing back and forth, chewing on her fingernails. I’d never seen her chewing on her nails before.

  I quickly opened the door and beckoned for her to come inside. There weren’t any customers waiting for me to open. Either I’d gotten lucky and no one was there to witness my mother having a breakdown or she’d scared everyone off.

  She walked inside the bakery and scanned the room. “Are we alone?”

  “Mom, I just unlocked the door. What’s going on?”

  “Richie is dead,” she blurted out. “He’s sprawled out on my front lawn like a bad Halloween decoration.”

  “Oh, my gosh, Mom. What did Joe say?”

  “I haven’t called the police yet,” she said and chewed her fingernails.

  “Mom. You have to call now. You just left your dead boyfriend in the front yard and came here?”

  “I panicked, Zoe.”

  “Hang on. I’ll call Joe. Hopefully, I’ll get through to him first. Heaven help us if one of your neighbors has already called.”

  I dialed the phone and Joe picked up right away. By the tone of his voice, I could tell he had no idea what had happened.

  “Good morning, Zoe,” he said cheerfully. “I was just thinking about stopping by the bakery for a cupcake. It’s a slow morning on the law enforcement front.”

  “About that,” I said. “That Richie guy my mom was dating is dead on her front lawn.”

  “You've got to be kidding me,” said Joe. “Please tell me you are joking, Zoe.”

  “I'm not kidding,” I said. “He’s really there and he's really dead.”

  “Why didn’t Willow call me?”

  “I don’t know. I think she’s having a bit of a panic attack over it all.”

  “Is she there with you?”

  “Yes.”

  “You two stay put,” Joe said and hung up.

  Chapter Two

  “What did he say?” mom asked as soon as I hung up the phone.

  “He said to stay put. So we’re going to open the s
hop and carry on.”

  “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

  “I don’t know what other options we have. Besides, I’ve already done the baking for the day,” I said. “By the way, Peppermint Protection came up in my Cookbook of Shadows today, and I think it must have been for you. I’ll get you one.”

  The cupcake buzzed with energy when I set it down in front of my mother. I guessed that meant it had been for her. But, what did she need protection from? My stomach sank. It was either that she needed protection from Joe because she really had murdered Richie or it was that the killer was going to come after her too.

  She was probably lucky to be alive at all, and I’d have to figure out who killed her boyfriend in order to protect her. “Would you like another?” I asked as she polished off the cupcake.

  “What about the Strawberry Shield?” she asked.

  “Better safe than sorry,” I said and retrieved one from the case for her.

  It didn’t buzz the way the other one had, but I still wanted her to eat it. I wondered if I shouldn’t eat one myself.

  “Hello,” a customer said as she walked through the door.

  It was Laurie Demonte. She approached the case and began to peruse the cupcakes without even looking at myself or my mother. I got up and walked behind the counter to get her order.

  I immediately felt the Triple Berry Truth cupcakes begin to buzz. All of them gave off a hum energy so loud that it even turned my mom’s head.

  “Well, I don’t see anything I want today,” Laurie said cheerfully. “I’ll just come back tomorrow.”

  But, I noticed she was looking right at the Triple Berry Truth cupcakes. Laurie Demonte was a florist who ran Petals to the Metal Flower Shop. She spoke with a cartoonish fake French accent and always wore too much perfume. It was so bad that I’d warded the door to protect my patrons, and myself, from the onslaught of her scent.

  “Sorry you couldn’t find anything,” I said. “I do hope to see you again tomorrow.”

  “Honestly, Zoe, I’m not sure why you don’t make some real French pastry to sell in your little bakery. It would really elevate the place.”

  I shot my mother a look before she could respond to Laurie’s snooty comment. She needed to sit tight and keep a low profile, and getting into an argument with Laurie was out of the question.

  “Thank you, please come again,” I said with a smile that probably looked as forced as it felt.

  A couple of hours later, Joe came into the shop looking grim. He walked over to the case and perused the day’s selection. One eyebrow cocked up when he saw the lineup.

  “Interesting choices,” he said.

  “I didn’t pick most of them. The book did.”

  “Is your book trying to protect you from something?”

  “You think I had something to do with it?” I almost couldn’t believe my ears. “Are you really going to falsely accuse me of murder again, Joe?”

  “No. I don’t think it was you. Unless you went over to your mother’s house after I dropped you off last night. It was pretty early,” he said with a smile.

  Joe and I had been officially dating for a couple of weeks. We went out almost every night, but because I had to be at the bakery so early in the morning, most of our dates ended before it got late. Even on the night before my day off, I wasn’t good to stay up. I’d fallen asleep watching a movie with him twice. But, the upside was that I did get dinner first.

  “I did not. I went to bed because I had to be at the bakery early this morning. You can ask Ginger.”

  “Oh, goddess,” my mother moaned from her table. “We’ve gotten to the point where you need an alibi from that rat.”

  “She’s not a rat,” I said and turned my attention back to Joe. “And I’m not a murderer.”

  “I know you’re not, Zoe. I’m sorry that I even have to ask. It is my job,” he said, and went to the table where my mother sat. “Willow, I need to talk to you about the murder. I don’t need to bring you down to the station, but it would be more private.”

  “You’re not arresting her?” I asked.

  “No. At this point, we just need to talk.”

  “Should I get a lawyer?”

  “That is entirely up to you,” Joe said.

  Chapter Three

  I left the bakery an hour later than usual. My mom had gone with Joe to the Sheriff’s station to discuss Richie’s death. She didn’t want my customers hearing anything, and we both trusted Joe.

  I had a couple dozen cupcakes left, so I was taking them over to Your Fly’s Open. Buzz would appreciate the treats, and I hadn’t checked on him for a couple of days. The day before, I’d taken cupcakes to the nursing home, so it would be good to pop in and see Buzz for a few minutes.

  Normally, I wouldn’t have such a huge haul for him, but word must have spread that the Magnolias were involved in another death. Business had been slow that day. Not one person had purchased a Triple Berry Truth cupcake. I guessed the town of Destiny Cove had a lot of secrets.

  “Hey, Zoe,” Glinda Higgins said as I walked through the doors of the shop.

  Glinda Higgins was Lila’s replacement. She was also a witch, but not a very powerful one.

  “Hey, Glinda. How are you today?”

  “Well, I’m even better now that you’re here. What have you got for us today?” She rubbed her hands together and walked over to get a look at the cupcakes.

  I immediately felt some of the cupcakes start to hum with energy as she stepped closer, but I couldn’t tell which ones. It felt like it was coming from the box that had the Strawberry Shield and the Dark Chocolate Cherry and Daring flavors, but I couldn’t tell exactly which one was for Glinda.

  “Oh, how to choose between strawberry or cherry?” she said and licked her lips. “There’s a customer in the store, so I guess I’ll have to wait until my break to figure it out.”

  That was unfortunate. I wanted to know if Glinda needed some sort of protection or if she needed to be more daring. Those were two very different things.

  “I’ll just put them on the table. Maybe I’ll see you on my way out.”

  What dawned on me as I was walking back to see Buzz was the realization that I had no idea what was going on. Why had the Cookbook of Shadows chosen those cupcakes, and how were my mother, Laurie, Glinda, and Richie’s murder all tied together? Were they tied together? Perhaps there was a murder and something else was afoot too?

  “Hi, Zoe,” Jacob said.

  “Oh, hello, Jacob,” I said with a chuckle. He’d startled me stepping out from behind a row of shelves. “Wow, you look different.”

  He’d traded in the dark hair, black goatee, and all-black clothing for a clean-shaven, almost down-home style. His hair was its natural blond color, and Jacob was outfitted in jeans and a red plaid shirt.

  “Yeah. I’m not feeling so dark anymore. I don’t know what happened. I just woke up one day and felt like someone new.”

  “Well, you look great. I haven’t seen you around the shop much.”

  “I had to work extra shifts and train Glinda. I’ve been glad that you bring the leftovers in most days. But, I assure you, Glinda is doing great, and I’ll be coming to see you at the bakery more.”

  “I look forward to it,” I said and smiled.

  He seemed so much lighter and brighter, and that was something I’d never thought Jacob could be. I wondered what had brought about the change. Maybe his darkness had come from Regina, or perhaps he’d just found the light.

  Buzz was in his office reading something on his computer screen intently. “Zoe, come in,” he said and motioned me into the office. “I see you brought treats.” He didn’t look away from the computer.

  “I did. I have a lot of leftover cupcakes today.”

  “Business wasn’t good,” he said softly, and I knew that he probably already knew.

  “Word travels fast around here,” I said and slumped into the chair across from his desk with the boxes of cupcakes perche
d precariously on my lap.

  “So, it’s true then?”

  “That depends on what you heard, I guess.”

  “I heard your mother’s boyfriend was found hanging from the tree in her front yard like some sort of twisted Halloween decoration.”

  “Well, that’s close,” I said, and I realized I didn’t know the specifics of the death. I hadn’t asked my mom the gory details. “I mean, I don’t think he was hanging in the tree. She said he was dead on her front lawn.”

  “So, there’s a chance he was hanging from the tree.”

  “I guess, but I don’t think so.”

  “If he was, I bet fewer people would think she’d done it.”

  “She didn’t do it,” I said and moved the cupcakes to the chair next to me.

  “I knew that,” Buzz said and smiled gently. “I didn’t like that guy.”

  “Did anybody like him?” I mused.

  “Your mom sure did.” Buzz waggled his eyebrows.

  “Buzz. That’s not funny.” I tried to sound stern, but I had to stifle a giggle. “She’s probably better off without him, but it’s hit her pretty hard.”

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t joke.”

  “It’s okay. It’s how we deal with things sometimes. I get that,” I said. “So, why didn’t you like Richie Speck?”

  “I’m almost certain he was a complete fraud. Those artifacts he displayed were convincing enough, but something about the whole thing just didn’t seem right. I mean, he’s got a mummy in a gold sarcophagus. Where did he get something like that? How could that be real?” Buzz asked.

  “I don’t know. It looked a lot like the one that they found in King Tut’s tomb, but you’re right. How would he have ever gotten the money to buy a solid gold sarcophagus? Where would you buy something like that?”

  “That, and I think he was hiding out here from something. I just wish I knew what,” Buzz said.

  “I’m sure lots of stuff about his life is going to come out now that he’s dead. Secrets don’t stay buried. They rise from the dead like zombies.”

  Buzz shivered. “I just hope Joe can clear your mom’s name fast. With you being a suspect the last time someone died in this town, I’m sure it’s going to have people’s tongues wagging. Not that they don’t already do that.”