The Lilac Code by Becki Willis

Author:Becki Willis [Willis, Becki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-06-25T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

The next day, simply seeing the cameras, crews, and lighting equipment needed for the cooking competition gave Madison horrific flashbacks to her own time behind the spotlight. Never again, she vowed for the hundredth time.

Genny scored her friends a table near the front of the action, to ensure a good line of sight and the best chance for samples. Granny Bert loved the attention, particularly when the celebrity chefs chatted with them during breaks. Madison enjoyed seeing her best friend in her element, not to mention learning a tip or two on baking. Taste testing the magnificent creations was a bonus.

Although the actual competition was filmed live, some of the promotional spots and segments not affecting the outcome of the contest were taped. For those, re-takes were often required. Dirty dishes in the background, a flubbed line, or a poorly displayed sponsor’s product meant re-shooting the scene. During those tedious times, Madison doodled on her notepad. No cell phones were allowed in the great room during the competition.

She found herself drawing random designs, most of them simple scrolls and loops. Lazy art, Blake called it, because most of the designs flowed into creation without lifting the pen. It was the same concept behind writing in cursive, which led her to make a series of lower case l’s, g’s, p’s and q’s.

The fun ones with loops, she thought, scribbling lazily along. Granny Bert shot her a curious look, but Madison ignored her as she turned a g into the petal of a loosely formed flower. In fact, she discovered with amusement, if she adjusted the positions, she could turn four simple letters into a misshaped flower; g, l, an undotted j, and a p flowed together quite nicely to form the loops for petals. What was it Genny had called these last night? Loopty-doops?

Only then did her pen stutter. Madison did a double take, looking at the simple flower she had just drawn. She had seen this pattern before. Hadn’t it been in the book, the one written in what they thought was Chinese?

Maybe, she decided, it was a psychology book, studying the hidden messages behind doodling. What did her doodling say about her? That she expressed herself through art? That she remembered proper penmanship? She heard that many elementary schools no longer taught cursive, as it wasn’t ‘computer-friendly.’ Or did her doodling suggest that she was too lazy to lift her pen?

Thoughts of pens brought her mind back to her grandmother’s poker buddies and the unique orange pens. Hidden mics or not, why did the same type pen appear in Barton’s pocket and the mistaken bag? When it came to investigation, Brash had taught her not to believe in coincidences.

A private investigator based in Houston sometimes hired In a Pinch to do the menial grunt work when his cases ventured into Brazos Valley territory. It didn’t seem that much different from some of her other cases, when clients hired her to provide surveillance or gather information used in settling minor disagreements, divorce cases, and the like.

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