“Hey!” I said when I realized who we were standing behind in line.
“Oh, hi,” Allison Gray, Jaime Swanson’s childhood bestie, said. She looked a little uncomfortable running into us, but I figured I might as well take the opportunity to ask her about the diadem.
“I’m sure I don’t know what happened to it,” she said when I did, then turned her back to me.
I glanced at Eli and Jake and mouthed, “Was that weird?”
They both nodded, so I tapped her on the shoulder again.
I pecked her on the shoulder. “Look, I’m not trying to be a pest, but finding that diadem is a matter of life and death. We think it may have some kind of toxin in it that killed her.”
Fear streaked across her face. “Are you serious? Is that why she turned that awful shade of green?”
I nodded, realizing I was blowing what we’d told Lindy right out of the water. That might be for the best, though. If there were different rumors circulating, it would help muddy the waters. “We believe so. Now do you understand why it’s so important that we find it?”
Before she could say another word, everything clicked into place. My mind tripped back to the conversation at the hotel, when the blonde said the only reason people wore diadems anymore was for sentimental purposes. None of them had liked it because it wasn’t fashionable, but the woman in front of me didn’t care about fashion. She’d gone to the party because she’d cared about Jaime.
The rightness of it washed over me and I knew in my gut beyond a shadow of a doubt that we’d just found the person who’d taken the diadem. Now, how to get her to confess. I decided to be straightforward because she didn’t strike me as a bad person. The opposite in fact.
“Allison, you took it to remember her by, didn’t you.”
When her shoulders slumped, I knew I had her.
She nodded, then sighed. “I did. As a matter of fact, it’s still in my car. I haven’t been able to look at it yet.”
“You have it?” Eli asked. “But why?”
Allison lifted a shoulder. “Because it’s all I have left of Jaime. She may have turned awful as an adult, but she was my best friend for years. Important ones.”
“I get that,” I said, my voice gentle. If something ever happened to Eli, I would have done the same thing, assuming I didn’t completely lose my mind.
A sad smile curved her lips. “What I didn’t tell you was that we went shopping the day after we ran into each other at the bridal shop and ended up in your family’s shop. She wanted to get William something for their wedding because he’s fascinated with old weapons. We saw the diadem while we were looking, and back when we’d been inseparable, we’d played games and pretended to be princesses. I bought it for her because it was finally her day to be a real princess.”
That almost made me cry, and I didn’t miss the fact that Eli’s eyes went glassy, too. “I hate to ask, but can you please give it to us? We’ll make sure it’s cleansed and do our best to get it back to you if we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it’s safe.”
She nodded and started to get out of line.
“Wait,” Jake said, “Where are you going? We’re up next.”
Confusion clouded her expression. “But you said it was life and death that you get the diadem.”
“Yes,” he replied, “but you said it’s locked in your trunk. Is there any chance whatsoever that somebody will get their hands on it in the next twenty minutes?”
Alison shook her head. “Not unless somebody steals my car.”
“Then it’ll wait ’til after the haunted house. If somebody steals your car, they deserve whatever they get,” Jake replied, then nudged me forward as the line moved.
Sure enough, twenty minutes later, the diadem was in our possession.
“I promise that if we can guarantee it’s safe, we’ll get it back to you,” I said, then gave her an impromptu hug—something I rarely did.
She nodded and climbed into her car.
“See?” Eli said, nudging me with his elbow. “I told you we have to keep living. Look what happens when we do—things work out the way they’re supposed to.”
I smiled and nudged him back, content in the knowledge that all was well, at least for the night.
Chapter 20
The sun rose bright the next morning, and for once, I was up early and ready to go. We had a big day planned, and I was eager to start. Even though we hadn’t made costumes for the ball that night, I was okay with mixing up what we’d made over the last few years. Eli had already grabbed the tickets for it and had stayed the night at the manor so that we could head straight out.
Since Jules was off on Saturdays, we decided to start our day with bowls of cereal and then live on fair food for the rest of the day. Since there were all sorts of food competitions from bread to pie, there wouldn’t be any shortage of samples, either, so we were good to go on food.
“Ready?” he asked as I drank the last of my milk from my bowl.
“Ready. Just let me grab my purse. Want to take your car or mine?”
He grinned. “Yours. I feel like it’s a see-and-be-seen kinda day, and though mine’s cute, yours is amazing. We’ll have no shortage of guys looking at us.”
He’d dressed in full pirate regalia from a bandana and tricorn and Jack Sparrow-style eyeliner to his Pirate’s Life for Me tank. I’d
