The Candymakers Read online

  The supply room was right next door to the music room, where a recording of some famous violinist was being played, drowning out the sound of her pushing open the squeaky supply room door. She thought she’d locked the door behind her—she’d been so sure of it—and had been about to pick the lock on the metal box that held the cards, when in walked this boy.

  He was shorter back then and wore regular school clothes rather than an ill-fitting suit, but he already had the superior attitude he displayed now. He started yelling that he was going to report her for trying to look at the words. She kept telling him that she wasn’t even in the spelling bee, but he wouldn’t listen. He kept going on and on about how he’d studied for months for the bee. She realized that the music next door had stopped, and any minute the music teacher would come in. Daisy had no choice but to run out, humiliated, before her cover was fully blown.

  “Introduce yourself,” AJ’s voice prompted in her ear, making her jump.

  She forced herself to do as instructed. She was trained to notice even the subtlest shift in a person’s body language, and as she and Philip shook hands she thought he flinched ever so slightly. She knew he couldn’t recognize her, though. She’d been a redhead then, with large tortoiseshell glasses that covered half her face. Fun and cheery went out the window when she laughed as Philip said his ridiculously stuffy name.

  “Daisy…,” AJ warned. He began growling at her when she started arguing with Philip over who would win the contest.

  It didn’t take lessons in reading body language to know that their bickering was making Miles uncomfortable, but Philip was so obnoxious, she just couldn’t back down. She suddenly wanted to win the contest simply so Philip would lose. Not that she’d given the contest any thought whatsoever, since she’d been so certain she wouldn’t need to stick around long enough to actually participate.

  She suddenly became aware that AJ had gone from growling to screaming. He was telling her something like the whole plan could be jeopardized if one of the boys insulted Logan and everyone got kicked out. So she warned them that no one should say anything mean to Logan, while having absolutely no idea what that was all about. Poor Miles looked terrified, and she instantly felt bad for letting herself get worked up over Philip. She really needed to calm down and focus on the present mission, not one that was closed three years ago.

  “Daisy!” AJ barked in her ear. “What’s gotten into you?”

  She couldn’t answer him, of course, not until she was alone. And she didn’t relish the idea of dredging up her one failure. AJ would just love that. In the meantime, she’d have to pretend that Philip was no more than an annoying boy, not the face she saw in her head each time she thought of that day. Then Miles started talking about life after death, and things lightened up a bit.

  Then the door opened, and she realized why AJ was so adamant that no one upset Logan. That poor kid! She’d seen a lot in her long career, and she knew that life didn’t treat everyone fairly. Logan’s hands trembled a bit, and she could tell he was nervous. He greeted them by quoting scripture about how everyone has a bit of an angel inside them—or at least she thought that’s what it meant. She swallowed hard and clapped. “Lovely!”

  The scars down the left side of his face couldn’t hide that same sweetness, that same happy, hopeful grin he’d worn as a child in the old photograph when he hadn’t known he was being watched. All thoughts of Philip went straight out of her head. This time she didn’t need AJ’s prompting to be polite. She stuck out her hand. “Hi, I’m Daisy Carpenter.”

  Logan didn’t respond right away, and Daisy panicked for a second, afraid she’d done the wrong thing. Maybe he didn’t like people touching him or maybe it hurt to shake hands. But then he took her hand, and as he did, she felt it.

  Beneath the raised, uneven skin, this boy was electric.

  CHAPTER TWO

  From the second she stepped inside, Daisy knew she wouldn’t have to pretend to be a kid in a candy factory. Her senses burst to life: the gentle hums and whirring of the machinery, the sweet smells that filled the air, the bright colors, the beams of light from the ceiling. All of it captivated her completely. It took AJ clearing his throat to remind her that she was actually on a job. Miles had clearly fallen under Logan’s spell, too. She could tell by the way he kept stealing worshipful glances at him.

  Her hand still tingled from touching Logan’s. Philip didn’t seem the least bit fazed by either Logan’s appearance or the place itself. He’d barely glanced at Logan since their arrival, and he kept his back to all of them now, which suited her just fine.

  She excitedly read the plaques on the wall, anxious to learn about the factory’s history, since she hadn’t gotten to that part of the file.

  “Good job!” AJ said encouragingly. “You sound really interested, you’re really getting into the role.”

  She wanted to laugh, since of course she wasn’t acting at all. But then Philip started being mean to Logan and her mood changed. She switched into protective mode.

  “I happen to love Pepsicles,” she said, totally truthfully. And then, before she could stop herself she added, “So does my best friend, Magpie, and she’s very particular.” This, too, was true. Sometimes, on really hot days, Magpie would eat a whole box of Pepsicles.

  AJ burst out laughing. “Your horse is your best friend?”

  Daisy wanted to pull the transceiver out of her ear but knew she couldn’t. All she could do was try to ignore him. She was succeeding pretty well until Philip asked what Daisy’s dad did for a living, and she couldn’t remember her cover story. Why hadn’t she read that file? Of course, now that she needed him, AJ was silent. So she said the first thing that popped into her mind. That sent AJ into another fit of laughter. “Your dad is a violinist now? Classic! Good luck keeping that cover story going.”

  While the others were occupied by the chocolate fountain, Daisy stepped away and whispered furiously, “Why are you here if you’re not going to help me out?”

  “Sorry,” AJ said, still giggling. “Just trying to picture your dad with a violin in his hand. He’d crush it!”

  That was probably true. Her dad had the big, broad build of a football player. A violin would look tiny in his large hands. Not that it mattered. No one here would ever meet her parents. She pretended to examine a barrel of taffy. “Just do your job!” she whispered.

  “I said I was sorry,” AJ said, his voice muffled as he chewed. “I went to grab a sandwich. All this talk of candy is making me hungry. That Philip kid? You’re lucky he’s there.”

  “How’s that?”

  “He’s a good diversion. He’ll be the bad kid, so you can get away with more.”

  Daisy grunted, but what he said made sense. A short, bald man with a warm, open face entered the hall, and she dropped the pieces of taffy she’d been sifting through and stepped back toward the rest of the group. Logan introduced the man as Max Pinkus.

  “That guy’s the big cheese,” AJ said with a sense of urgency. “You need to turn on the charm.”

  AJ rattled off all the candies Max had been credited with making, and Daisy repeated them, doing her best to seem awed by his accomplishments.

  Philip actually greeted Max in a civilized manner, which meant he was brownnosing him, too. He probably had all his plans for world domination written down in that notebook of his.

  When Max finished going over the contest rules, she wanted to tell the others they didn’t need to worry about her entry, since she wouldn’t be here that long. But of course she couldn’t say anything. She heard the tapping of keys in her ear.

  “I just pulled up some old blueprints of the factory,” AJ said. “Try to get away for a few minutes to a secure location so we can go over them.”

  The only thing she could think to do was ask to use the bathroom. She felt ridiculous as she squirmed around until Max sent her away. As soon as she was out of earshot, Daisy said, “Okay, where should I go?”

  “What are you passing now?�