Evening Bags and Executions(54)

“I don’t know what happened to them,” he said, flinging out his arms. “I guess she had them on her when they took her body away. Good thing Paige had a key, otherwise I’d have had to change those locks when I got here—just like I had to change them after the break-in.”

I’d suspected that the burglary was really an inside job, that Belinda or Darren had used their key to walk in, had taken some of the items they’d been arguing over, staged the break-in, and locked up after they left.

Since Lacy’s keys were missing, it seemed that only Paige had a key and she’d made a copy for Darren. Had she given one to Belinda also?

And had Lacy’s keys really been taken to the crime lab? Maybe her killer had grabbed them with the intention of returning to the scene and destroying evidence.

“It’s just too much to fool with,” Darren declared. “I’m not putting myself out so Lacy can have some sort of legacy—not after the stuff she put me through all these years.”

“I understand how you feel,” I said.

Darren stewed for another minute, then said, “Don’t worry about your cake. Paige will make it for you. But that’s it. No more. I told her not to take any more orders.”

“Fair enough,” I said.

“I’ll be glad when all of this is over and done with,” Darren mumbled, and went back inside his motel room.

A visit to Lacy Cakes seemed in order. I drove over, parked, and went around back. The door to the workroom was open, as usual, and the same guy was baking cakes when I walked in.

Paige stood at a worktable studying three round cake tiers spread out in front of her. She smiled and waved.

“Hey, girl, come over here,” she called.

“Sorry about the bakery closing,” I said as I joined her at the worktable.

“I guess you talked to Darren, huh?” she said. “Listen, he wanted me to call you, but I didn’t because I thought you’d worry. But don’t. I’m going to get your cake done and it’s going to be great.”

“That’s good to know,” I said. “But what are you going to do for a job after the bakery closes?”

“Belinda and I are going to buy it—if we can,” Paige said.

Wow, I guess a lot had happened since I’d last talked to Paige.

“So Belinda didn’t inherit an interest in the bakery from Lacy?” I asked.

“Darren told her he’d talked to Lacy’s lawyer. Everything went to him in Lacy’s will,” Paige said.

“Belinda must have been upset,” I said.

“Yeah, but I don’t know why,” Paige told me. “She and Lacy weren’t all that close. Some stupid fight they had back in the day. Both of them were pretty bent over it.”

I’d heard Lacy never forgave Belinda over that whole concert tickets thing, but I hadn’t heard that Belinda was mad over something that Lacy had done.

“Belinda, too?” I asked.

Paige waved her hands. “She was going on and on the other day about Lacy stealing her stuff, talking trash about her, turning the family against her. I don’t know. I wasn’t really listening.”

I could totally relate.

“We’re trying to get the money together to buy the bakery,” Paige said.

“Must be expensive,” I said.

“You know it, girl,” she said, and rolled her eyes. “I’m trying to get my dad to loan me some money. I’m not sure what Belinda is going to do.”

“I guess Belinda didn’t get any of Lacy’s life insurance, either?” I asked.

Paige shook her head. “Not one dime.”

After listening to Ty talk about opening new Holt’s stores, Wallace, and Holt’s International for months while we were dating, I knew any start-up required a lot of cash—even for something small like Lacy Cakes. From all appearances, Belinda wasn’t exactly swimming in money, and if Paige was depending on her dad for her share of the investment, the future of the bakery didn’t look so great.

But money, of course, wasn’t the whole problem with opening a new business.

“Do you and Belinda really know each other that well?” I asked. “Running a shop together can be tough.”

Paige shrugged. “I talked to her some when she came in to see Lacy. We hit it off pretty well.”

“Does Belinda know anything about baking?” I asked.

“Not really, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll make the cakes and she’ll do everything else,” Paige said. “Besides, it’s not like I have a choice. It’s partner with Belinda or hit the streets.”

Lacy Cakes had a fantastic reputation and an established clientele, so if Paige and Belinda could keep the place going it would be a gold mine for them. I could see why they were willing to take the chance.