Where are you? Is Finn with you?
Mia decided to call instead of texting. When he answered, she jumped right in. “Finn and I went for coffee. I’ll explain later, but yes, today is her birthday. I told her we’d do a family dinner tomorrow night, so let everyone know, especially Abigail. Finn needs a cake.”
“I do not need a cake, or a dinner.” Finn spoke loudly, so Trent could hear her too.
“Okay, so she doesn’t need it, but we need to do it. It will be nice to have a celebration dinner. With the babies coming, an upcoming wedding, and Finn’s birthday, we have three reasons.” Mia smiled as Finn shook her head.
“Sabrina’s here. She needs to talk to you. If you’redone party planning, can you come back to the academy?” Trent asked.
Mia didn’t mention that his question dripped with sarcasm, but she’d tell him later. “Sure. We’re on the way. We should be there in five.”
After she hung up, she groaned. “Hopefully Sabrina’s not there to try to strong-arm me into joining the coven. We could let your heritage slip and she could start buggingyouabout it.”
Finn’s eyes widened as she shook her head. “No way. I’m not sure what’s going on in my life. Sabrina can be a bit pushy. I’ve watched James have to deal with her while event planning. The woman wants what she wants, and it doesn’t matter if it’s possible or not.”
“I think you should relax and decide after you get your career in place. If you test out and become a coven member, you might live in a different area. No need to jump now.” Mia pulled into the parking lot and saw Buddy sleeping in a tree. “I’m just happy for you. I don’t know how you feel about Marsha, but at least you know where you came from.”
“I was a mistake made by two high school kids,” Finn stated.
“I don’t think that at all. Marsha may not have been ready to raise a child, but if you weren’t conceived that night, your bio dad would have died with no kids. And, as Marsha said, he was a beautiful boy.”
Finn laughed. “That is true. I need some time. Like Marsha said, a lot has happened this year. I need to settle in and see where I want to go, and who I want to be.”
“I understand more than you know.” Mia turned off the car and stepped out into the day, which was warmer than usual. “Let’s go see what Sabrina wants.”
“I’m going straight to my room, then I’m taking books back up to the library. Do you think it will have more for me?” Finn shut the car door and followed Mia inside.
“I’m sure it will, especially now that you warned it you were coming.” Mia took off her coat and saw Sabrina sitting in the living room. All of the academy society was sitting in chairs around Sabrina and watching the new arrivals. “Well, I feel like I’m late for the meeting,” Mia said.
Sabrina spoke first. “Sorry about barging in unannounced, but I needed to talk to you. And your friends.”
“I’ll see you later, Finn,” Mia said, dismissing the girl. Hopefully Sabrina still thought Finn was just working for Mia’s Morsels and didn’t know about her heritage.
Finn took the hint, disappearing down the hall and into her room.
Mia heard the door close as she sat down on the couch next to Trent. He kissed her hair and then asked, “Do you want coffee?”
“That would be nice.” She let him stand and get her a cup. Then, with the coffee in hand, she focused on Sabrina. “What’s going on?”
“Brandon is crazy. He’s colored over the lines before, but now it’s getting bad. I just found out that he forged a letter from me to Nationals about you, complaining about your level. I’m not sure what you’ve heard, but I was ecstatic with your level jump this time.As well as your original test results,” Sabrina added quickly. “I also found some emails between him and Suzanne Parker. I think they were involved. I hate saying this because it makes me look like a complete idiot because I thought we were getting married. The power couple, you know. But he was sleeping with Suzanne and she’s old. A lot older than she looks. Why would he do that to me?”
Christina pushed a box of tissues closer and Sabrina pulled out several to wipe the tears she hadn’t noticed before off her cheeks. Along with a lot of her makeup.
“That part is not your problem. I’m just an idiot.” Sabrina tried to compose herself and let out a long breath. “I’ve reported his duplicity to the National Office. I’m sure that’s going to get him kicked off the leadership board, if not a harsher punishment. Which means Nathan Boyle will be stepping up as leader. I hate that fact, but he’s next in line. With Brandon out, Nathan is next in seniority.”
“Nathan Boyle, the contractor?” Mia met Damien’s eyes and he shrugged. Apparently this was news to him as well.
“I’d call him a developer, but yeah. He’s put in a bid for Suzanne’s house to redevelop the area. I hope he gets that approved before they ask him to step in for Brandon.” Sabrina’s phone buzzed. “That’s Brandon now. I’d rather not have him know I’m here, talking to you all. He’s very sensitive when it comes to you, Mia.”
After Sabrina left, Finn popped out of her room and headed upstairs with a pile of books for the library. Mia and the group were still in the living room.
“Do you think Brandon is the killer?” Trent asked after Abigail had brought in more cookies. She shook her head at him. “I know, we’re supposed to stand down and let the office holder deal with this, but I’m thinking it’s Brandon who killed Suzanne Parker.”
“Why? If Sabrina is right, he was sleeping with her. Why kill her?” Mia shook her head. “What led Sabrina to even look for this evidence? The fact that she found out that he wrote the complaint about my testing?”
“It fits,” Abigail said. “But we’re supposed to stay out of it now. The office holder—”
“Doesn’t know what we know.” Mia shook her head. “I can’t just stop and hope for the best. I have two more people I want to talk to. After that, I’ll let it go.”
