Read Online Sugar and Iced (Cupcake Bakery Mystery) by Jenn McKinlay - Free Book Online Page A

leveled Mariel with a glare. “Do not speak to her. You don’t even deserve to be in the same room with her. And mark my words, I’m going to have you removed from the panel of judges.”
    “You don’t have that kind of power,” Mariel sniped.
    “She doesn’t,” Ginny said as she stepped forward. “But I do.”
    Mariel glared. “Oh, please. Now I have two dried-up old prunes coming after me? You have no power, Ginny Lobo. You’re just a drunk and she’s your silly sidekick. The two of you are pathetic and the only reason you’re even allowed to be here is because your husband is loaded.”
    “Don’t talk to them like that,” Lupe snapped. “They’re ladies while you—you’re just a bitter, nasty has-been.”
    Mariel’s eyes narrowed and she stepped forward, but Ginny and Joyce pushed Lupe behind them, blocking Mariel’s path.
    “You just made a powerful enemy, young lady,” Mariel sneered.
    “I’m not afraid of you,” Lupe said. “And if you go after my friends, I’ll make you pay. I swear I will.”
    There was the skateboarding daredevil Mel knew and loved. She and Angie went to stand with the others. Mariel now had a group of five to contend with and no one running to her side.
    “You? Make me pay? Ha!” Mariel said. “I’d like to see you try it.”
    Lupe glared. She pushed past Ginny and Joyce.
    “Make no mistake,” Lupe said. “Hurt them and I’ll hurt you—more.”
    “Are you threatening me?” Mariel asked. She spun away from them and yelled across the lobby. “Witnesses! I need witnesses! This contestant just threatened to hurt me because she didn’t like her scores!”
    “She did not.” Joyce protested.
    “I heard it, too,” a voice said from across the lobby. The vomiting mom, Brittany Richards, and her daughter Destiny were at the far end of the lobby. Brittany scurried forward, giving Mariel an ingratiating smile.
    “Oh, for Pete’s sake!” Ginny snapped. “You couldn’t have heard a word she said from all the way over there.”
    “I have exceptional hearing,” Brittany said.
    Her daughter followed her, and while Brittany fussed over Mariel as if she’d been the victim of a mugging, Destiny looked as if she’d rather be anywhere but here. Mel thought the idea had distinct possibilities.
    “Are you all right?” Brittany asked Mariel, loud enough for everyone within a one-hundred-yard radius to hear. “You look a bit faint.”
    “I’ll be fine,” Mariel said. Then she leaned close to their group and hissed, “This isn’t over. You’ll be tossed from this competition if it’s the last thing I do.”
    Ginny stepped forward. “Try it. I double dare you.”
    Maybe it was the alcohol on her breath or the crazy light in her eyes, but Mariel spun away from Ginny. Brittany fell in behind her like a good little sycophantic minion, yanking Destiny behind her as she went.
    “Well, shoot. I’d better find Cici first, so I can remind her of how much money I’m kicking into this shindig,” Ginny said. “Come on, Lupe, Joyce, we’ve got some damage control to do.”
    “Can you control it?” Joyce asked worriedly.
    “I may have Cici remind Mariel that she can be replaced. Oh, and I know just the woman, too. Anka Holland wanted very much to be a judge in the pageant. That would really chap Mariel’s uppity behind.”
    “Who is Anka Holland?” Lupe asked.
    “The bane of Mariel’s existence,” Ginny said. “Anka was always one step behind Mariel, always breathing down her neck on the pageant circuit. Anka managed to beat Mariel a few times, but Mariel always won the big titles. Anka is the only one who gave Mariel any competition and Mariel still hates her for it.
    “Of course, Anka is no fan of Mariel’s, either. I remember when Mariel took the title of Miss Glitz from Anka back in their heyday. It was not pretty. There had been some sabotage in the dressing room. Someone smeared Anka’s evening gown with lipstick while Mariel’s bathing suit was