“Selina’s correct—we’re not related. The man she used to be married to, Payne Colton, is very distantly related to me on my father’s side, but from a different branch of the Coltons. Trust me, I’m from the wrong side of the tracks. Isn’t that right, Selina?”
Bella looked at the woman she’d only seen in tabloid stories and at the most prestigious social functions in Arizona. Selina Barnes Colton didn’t limit herself to what she’d once called the hick town of Mustang Valley any more than she had to. As the second and former wife of the Colton patriarch, she somehow had maintained her pull on the board of Colton Oil and was known for her take-no-prisoners methods with the press. Bella had tried to score an interview with her for the Lifestyle section of the Mustang Valley Gabber but Selina’s assistant had turned her down flat, stating that Selina only talks to national syndicates. Whatever.
“If that doesn’t convince everyone here that I’m not going to give any favorite points to Isabella, I don’t know what else will.” Selina’s gaze was hard as coal on Bella but her smile was wide, her expression catering to the other contestants. “I’ve been involved with the pageant for the last decade, and I assure you my integrity is impeccable.”
Several of the contestants mumbled around Bella but she ignored them. All she cared about was the ability to stay in the pageant. She’d barely gotten here and now was threatened with removal because Holden had walked around the stage one too many times. He really needed to chill out with the security-guard routine. She’d talk to him later about it.
“Let’s keep the rehearsal going. If any decisions need to be made about our judges or contestants, we’ll take care of it at the pageant board level. And from my perspective, there is no conflict of interest here. Let’s begin again. Selina, from the top.” Señora Rosenstein, whom Bella still saw as her Spanish teacher and not a member of the Ms. Mustang Valley board, tapped her phone and the auditorium was filled with the sounds of seventies disco. The group re-formed into place and for the next hour went through step after step, turn after turn, working the opening number to look like a dance routine from that era. Bella thought it was a lame way to open a pageant but her expertise was reporting, not gyrating the way Selina suggested they all do.
She noticed one of the lighting techs, Ben, off to the side, watching them. He was always sure with a smile, a quick hello. Nothing to concern her, but she made a mental note to mention it to Holden later. Maybe they needed to add Ben to her short list of Señora Rosenstein and Selina Barnes Colton. Everyone was a suspect until the killer was caught.
The music and routine soon became rote and Bella was able to observe each contestant around her, as well as the judges and board members who were present, watching every lift and spin. Somewhere among them was the person or persons who had conjured up the requirements that the winner of Ms. Mustang Valley be impossibly thin, and able to wear a size Bella last saw in middle school, if ever.
“Remember to make eye contact with the judges and smile!” Selina’s raspy voice sounded over the music, the microphone taped to her cheek a bit overdone as far as Bella was concerned. Who was the star of the show, the contestants or this demanding woman known for her willingness to shove whomever she had to out of her way to maintain the spotlight?
“Watch it, Colton.” It was Bella’s only warning before her knees slammed to the floor, thanks to a well-placed leg that tripped her forward. Bella scrambled back up and looked at her bully, whose face was straight ahead as if nothing had happened. Recognition washed over her. Becky Hoskins, her high school nemesis.
“Hey, I’m in the same place as you, Becky. Just trying to win the scholarship.” Her mental list of suspects grew to four with Becky’s nasty attitude. The woman had bullied both her and Gio in high school. What did they say about bullies—that they rarely changed? But did it mean they became killers?
“Sure you are. We heard your pity story yesterday but give me a break. I’ve never heard of a poor Colton.” Becky’s mean-girl attitude hadn’t improved since tenth grade. Even her physical appearance was the same; she was a slim brunette with her hair tied up in a high ponytail and exaggerated eyeliner.
The music abruptly ended and the stage was filled with the sound of labored breathing and shuffling feet.
“Hey, in the back, do you two want out of the pageant? Because we can arrange that, pronto.”
“Selina’s such a—”
“We’re fine, Selina. Just making sure we get the steps right.” Bella spoke up, knowing that Selina wasn’t paying attention to anyone but herself as Bella danced through the number like a pro. Holden stood at the back of the stage and she risked a look back at him. He didn’t move a muscle but the sparkle in his eyes conveyed that he was enjoying the show. Heat that had nothing to do with the physical exertion of the last hour crept up her throat, her cheeks; and her backside warmed where she imagined Holden’s gaze.
This was not the ideal way to conduct an investigation, or to stay focused on bein
g safe as she’d promised Holden. Not to mention the pact she had with her brothers to always pay attention and be aware of her surroundings. They’d made the promise to one another after their parents died because of their father’s reckless driving. Their dad hadn’t been known as a great guy; in fact, he’d not made much of himself and had made their mother’s life miserable. And theirs. No way was Bella ever going to let her brothers down. Their bond had gotten them all a long way from sad days living under Aunt Amelia’s thumb.
“Don’t make us stop again. Everyone, take ten and be back here ready to go another hour.” Selina’s order broke through her conscience inventory and the other Colton woman walked off the stage as if she’d completed a solo dance routine on Broadway, but when she was on the floor in front of Bella she waggled her finger. “Isabella, come with me.”
Don’t go anywhere alone with anyone.
Holden’s words echoed in her mind as she slowly walked to exit the stage. What was she going to do if Selina wanted a private talk elsewhere? It would be too obvious for Holden to follow them. Maybe he was right and she should have carried her weapon. But where would she holster it? There wasn’t a concealing place on her as she wore yoga tights and tank top.
Selina stopped a few rows into the theater seats and faced Bella. Relief relaxed Bella’s muscles but she tried to at least look halfway interested in what her distant, nonblood relative was about to say.
“What do you need, Selina?”
“I’ll tell you what I need, Izzy.” Selina’s disdainful use of a childish name might have been unintentional, but it sounded mean. “I need you to back off and be quiet. There’s no way I’m ever going to show any favoritism toward you. Got it?”
Bella got it, all right. But she couldn’t say anything, not outright, not as a contestant, and certainly not while so many pageant personnel were listening.
“I’m sorry if I gave you the impression of expecting anything other than impartiality, Selina. Trust me, I’d never expect special treatment from you. I’m from the other side of the Coltons, remember?”
“How dare you question how I got where I am.” Selina’s nostrils flared and it wasn’t particularly attractive on her already overly made-up face. No amount of contour cream could erase her ugly expression, stamped with anger. “I’ve earned every bit of my current status. Check the Colton Oil stock value. It’s quadrupled since I was appointed to the board, and my PR skills are second to none in Arizona. You know how I got here? Hard work and brains. You should try it yourself, Ms. Mustang Valley Gabber.”
Bella bit the inside of her cheek to keep from blurting out that she wasn’t here as just another contestant and that Payne had given Selina an in at Colton Oil. “Reporting is a noble and important job, whether it’s for the New York Times or the Mustang Valley Gabber. I’m not going to justify my career to you.”
“Just see that you don’t make the other girls think you have a leg up. Hmmph.” Selina walked away as if Bella was no more than a speck of dust she’d had to flick off her shoulder. It would have been satisfying to inform her that none of the contestants were girls, but full-grown, adult women. But she couldn’t risk getting kicked out of the pageant before she’d even begun to do her research.
Bella waited until the older woman was out of the auditorium before she headed for the staff room, where many of the contestants were sucking down water.
“What did she say to you, Colton?” One of the contestants sneered at her and Bella pasted the same smile she’d used with Selina on her face.