Chapter 1
“She said the marzipan was atrocious!” Lexy looked down at the miniature fruits she had carefully sculpted the day before with the help of her assistant, Cassie. The tiny candies were made from her own almond paste recipe and had been carefully shaped, painted, and sugared to look like miniature versions of actual fruit. She thought they had come out perfectly.
Cassie wrinkled her forehead. Popping a tiny pear into her mouth, she chewed enthusiastically. "Tastes great to me. Sergeant Saunders is just mean and I'll tell you, she doesn't seem to like us at all."
Lexi nodded in agreement. Amanda Scott-Saunders had been a judge at the national bakers competition, Bakery Battles, for the past ten years. She was known for her harsh criticisms and nasty remarks. She had brought contestants to tears more than once, much to the delight of the sponsors who claimed it was good for ratings.
Lexy thought it fitting that everyone called her “Sergeant Saunders” behind her back. The woman had all the sensitivity and finesse of a drill sergeant and delighted in crushing the hopes of contestants. She had taken a particular dislike to Lexy. No matter how pleased the other judges were with Lexy’s work, Saunders always found something to complain about. It was a miracle Lexy was tied for first place in the competition.
“She said if I kept producing food like the marzipan, I would be out of the competition.” Lexy felt her face flush with anger. “If you ask me, the competition would be much better off if she was out of it.”
Lexy heard a giggle from the booth next to hers. She swung her head towards the sound. Her eyes locked on the ice-blue gaze of Aurea Pearce, her closest competition with whom she was currently tied for first place.
“I guess the Sergeant didn’t like your little fruits,” she said in a sickly-sweet voice. Lexy noticed her lips were curled in a smile that didn’t reach her hard, cold eyes.
Lexy wasn’t fooled by the sweet, Barbie doll appearance of the petite blonde. Aurea was the type that acted nice to your face, but stabbed you in the back as soon as you turned around. She was a ruthless competitor who would stop at nothing to win.
Lexy plastered a smile on her face. “You win some, you lose some,” she said matter-of-factly as if the dressing down she received the afternoon before didn’t faze her in the least. She’d be damned if she’d let Aurea Pearce know it bothered her; the other woman would probably find some way to use it against her.
Lexy turned back to Cassie. “I’m going to put these in the community freezer.” She held up the tray of marzipan.
Cassie nodded, her head bent over a three tiered wedding cake that was the subject of the days competition. Lexy smiled at the contrast of Cassie’s pink spiked hair against the traditional white roses she was applying to the cake.
Lexy took a deep breath. The sting of the previous days judging still hurt, but today was another day and she was determined not to let the harsh words of Amanda Scott-Saunders throw her off course and ruin her chances of realizing her childhood dream.
Lexy looked around the giant stadium hall that housed the set of Bakery Battles, a yearly competition of the best bakers in America. The space consisted of dozens of kitchen areas, one for each baker. She was honored to be chosen and thrilled she had already made it through several rounds. She considered it one of the greatest accomplishments of her culinary career. The exposure for her bakery The Cup and Cake plus the chance of winning a $100,000 prize and a spread in American Baker Magazine didn’t hurt either.
With renewed vigor for the days competition, she hurried off to the giant community freezer to store the marzipan, the echo of her Christian Loboutin stilettos tapping on the concrete as she made her way across the vast stadium.
* * *
Lexy reached out for the smooth handle of the freezer, the tray of marzipan balanced in one hand. The door opened easily, welcoming Lexy in a blanket of icy air.
She felt herself shiver. They must have the thermostat turned way down today. Not wanting to spend too much time in the arctic environment, she hurried down the aisle to her designated storage spot. Her heel caught on one of the open holes of the thick rubber mat. Jerking forward, she caught herself from falling but not before a dozen assorted marzipan fruits fell to the floor.
“Damn it!”
Lexy put the tray on the shelf and bent down to retrieve the marzipan. With a surge of annoyance, she noticed a few pieces had bounced under the metal shelving. She almost had to lie on the floor to reach under the shelf to get them.
Her apron dragged through the dirt on the mat. She made a mental note to pick up a new one from the hangers in the back of the freezer. Stretching her arm under the shelf she felt blindly for the fruit. Her hand encountered something squishy...and big.
“What the heck…”
Lexy put her face down at floor level to peer under the shelf. She felt a jolt run through her body. Her lungs burned, filling with a deep breath of icy-cold air. Her mouth opened to yell, but nothing came out. Her eyes blinked closed as if to erase what she was seeing. Fear squeezed her heart when she opened them again and realized the scene was still the same.
She was staring into the cold, dead eyes of Amanda Scott-Saunders.
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