Free The Mud Pie Murderess: A Bakery Detectives Cozy Mystery by Stacey Alabaster

Belldale lives," I said. The mansion that the fundraiser was taking place in was Braxton's own, apparently. It wasn't as tall as Olive Styles’ was, only three stories, but it was wider and the inside was so full of polished marble that it was almost blinding.
    "I don't know why he even needs this political fundraiser, seeing as he's got no real competition now," Pippa whispered as a guest grabbed some food from her tray and she struggled to keep it balanced on her palm. He shot her a strange look and shook his head, muttering, "Where did they find these people?" Pippa and I had, for a while, expanded the business to include catering on the weekend, but we were a little out of practice. And this was not an official job. This was just us turning up and walking into the kitchen pretending we'd been hired as waitresses.
    "I suppose he can always do with more money, even if the campaign is pretty much in the bag now," I commented, searching the room desperately for Braxton Madison. Wasn't much point sneaking in and getting this far if we didn't actually get to see him. "There he is!" I whispered, grabbing Pippa's arm and sending her tray toppling over.
    "Shoot," she said, scrambling to clean up the mess. When she finally stood up, she was red-faced and flustered. I knew the feeling. I tried to stay calm and turned my back as Braxton moved towards us, in case he recognized me. I wondered if he was going to tell us off for our subpar catering skills. Maybe he was even going to fire us and send us home. Too bad we weren't actually being paid or he might have actually been able to.
    "He's stopped," Pippa whispered. "Someone else has grabbed his attention."
    I let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, good. But one of us still needs to talk to him."
    "I should go," Pippa said. "He might recognize you."
    "Good plan," I said, having never actually intended to speak to Braxton myself. I wasn't one hundred percent sure he would recognize me from that brief meeting in the bakery the day Olive had died, but I didn't want to risk it.
    "Okay," Pippa said. "So what should I..."
    My phone started ringing loudly and I made a face, frantically trying to fetch it out of the pockets of my black pants while the guests shot us dirty looks. Great. What a good way to avoid attention as well as charm the Belldale elite.
    I saw Chloe's name and photo pop up onto the screen and quickly ended the call. I placed the phone on silent.
    I was about to put the phone back in my pocket when it started ringing again. I tried to hide it from Pippa, but she was leaning forward and being nosy.
    "What is it?" Pippa demanded to know. I felt like I was cheating on her with an ex as I tried to hide my phone screen from her.
    "It's nothing...it's no one," I said quickly.
    "Is this nothing and no one named Chloe?" she asked with her eyebrows raised.
    I could feel the phone buzzing in my hand. I had to look at it. There were now seven missed calls from her.
    "I'm sorry, Pippa. I'll be right back," I said. "It might be important."
    Pippa just shook her head. "It's Chloe, isn't it?" she asked.
    I didn't answer, just tried to find a quiet corner in which to call Chloe back. But that proved difficult when a jazz band started up and the music seemed to bounce off every inch of marble.
    "Chloe?" I asked, pressing the phone right up to my ear while I tried to block the other one.
    "Rachael, I have something to tell you."
    I could barely hear her over the party and the loud music. "You'll have to speak up, Chloe," I shouted. "I'm having trouble hearing you."
    "Where are you?" she asked.
    "I'm at..." I stopped, wondering if I should tell her the truth. Shoot, she'd probably find out anyway. Better to not lie. "I'm at Braxton Madison's fundraiser," I said. "At his mansion up in Belldale Heights."
    She didn't answer for thirty seconds and I thought she hadn't heard me. I was about to check if she was still there when she finally spoke up.
    "You didn't invite me?" Her voice was full of hurt.