1. There’s a Mystery Afoot

The money was gone, spent on a quixotic attempt to prove Victor Andersen wasn't dead.

Not that it mattered. Even before his death, Tania's father hadn't come around much.

Mandy, her stepmother—and the person who had spent almost a million dollars on a fruitless search—didn't seem to care he'd been lost in a hurricane seven years prior, or that she still had to make house payments. Although there weren't that many left, they still needed to be paid.

Not for the first time, Tania wished she'd been more insistent on clearing the mortgage before Mandy decided to go off the deep end.

With statistically improbable curves, blonde hair, and wide, guileless blue eyes, Mandy looked more like a fashion doll than a living, breathing human. It would have been reasonable to expect Tania to hate having a stepmother barely five years her senior—especially since Victor spent a grand total of ten minutes introducing her before taking off again for a job he refused to discuss with anyone.

Maybe she should have been pissed at him for giving her a stepmother instead of driving lessons for her fifteenth birthday, but she'd lost the ability to rely on him long before then.

Besides, Victor had, for once in his life, done something right with Mandy.

Despite her appalling lack of common fucking sense—at least where Victor was concerned—Mandy was impossible to dislike.

At first, Tania considered her just one more nanny and tried to ignore her, but it wasn't long before Mandy won her over. She'd been the one to teach Tania to drive, help her choose a university, and navigate the ninth level of hell that was the federal application for student financial aid, even though Tania already had a Sirens of STEM scholarship to cover most of her expenses. It didn't gain her anything except a healthy respect for anyone who didn't end up in rehab after filling it out, but Mandy still did it every year.

With hot chocolate laced with peppermint schnapps and a plateful of burnt cookies, she'd nursed Tania through her first heartbreak and all the rest of her teenage angst too.

She might not have evicted Tania from her own womb, but she was a mom in every way that counted. Even better, she'd given Tania the one thing she'd always wanted. Bianca, her six-year-old half-sister, was the light of her life.

Lord only knew how Victor had managed to marry her, much less keep her. Mandy could have done so much better.

"Mandy, I've said this so many times already, but you need to have Victor declared dead," Tania finally said as she gazed at the bank statement on her laptop screen from her spot on Mandy's luxurious couch in the living room. "He had life insurance, and?—"

"No. He isn't dead."

"All right." She relaxed her shoulders and inhaled deeply, trying to keep a rein on her temper. "What's your plan now?"

"I have some ideas. Stop worrying."

Fuck's sake. Mandy was too busy on her phone to even look at her. Thankfully, Bee was napping upstairs and wouldn't have to hear their discussion.

"Stop worrying? Really? You're seriously going there?" Tania rolled her eyes and clenched her hands together to control her urge to wrap them around Mandy's slim neck. "But losing the house is no problem, right? You and Bee can totally move into my one-bedroom apartment. It'll be so cozy."

"That's enough." Mandy lifted her head and her blue eyes glittered like ice. "Bee and I will be fine, and I don't need your negativity right now."

Tania pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes and sighed. "It's not negativity to be concerned over where you and Bee are going to be living in a few months. Victor is gone, and I doubt he'd be happy about you spending your inheritance on a?—"

She shut her mouth before she added, fool's errand, but Mandy caught what she'd left unsaid.

"Honey, I know you mean well, but?—"

"Even if he walked through the front door right now, you spent all the money he left you on private investigators," Tania interrupted. "You did that, and I wish you would wake up and recognize how close you are to losing your home."

"You don't know him like I do. He wouldn't leave us like that."

"The last time I spoke to Victor was at your wedding a few months before he died." Tania softened her voice, hoping she hadn't woken Bee from her nap. "The time before that was my mother's funeral when I was five. So, no, I don't know him, but I do know he isn't coming home again."

"You're wrong." Mandy wrapped her arm around Tania's shoulder and hugged her. "Don't worry about me. I think I have a plan."

"What is it? Can I help?"

"No!" Mandy winced and lowered her voice. "I need to work out the details, but it's going to be okay. Promise."

Meaning, Mandy didn't have a plan at all, and was trying to put off their conversation.

Again.

Giving up, Tania logged out of the bank website and closed the browser, then went to the kitchen for a glass of wine. As much as she wanted to, Tania couldn't help with Mandy's financial issues. Not right away, at least. Although job offers were starting to trickle in, she wouldn't graduate for another eight months. She couldn't even push early graduation in December because she needed the time for her senior project.

Bee was only six, and Tania couldn't stand the idea of her and Mandy losing their home. Unfortunately, there wasn't much she could do about it. Even if she left college and found a job, she wouldn't earn enough to support all three of them unless they sold the gated-community McMansion and bought something cheaper.

She returned to the living room and blinked in surprise as Mandy held up her phone and took a selfie.

Tania sat next to her and caught a glimpse of a website before Mandy hurriedly swiped to hide the browser. The color scheme was dark with red accents and a Gothic aesthetic, and the word auction was emblazoned on the banner.

A strange premonition twisted in her stomach, and she closed her eyes to commit the URL to memory. Although it was probably innocuous, there were far too many assholes out there who would take advantage of a desperate woman, and they liked to hide behind slick websites. Whatever it was, Mandy didn't need to be there, but Tania would hold her peace until she could check it out.

"Fancy website. Is it a message board or something?"

Giving Tania a smile that didn't reach her eyes, Mandy rose to her feet. "Something like that. I'm just catching up with some friends. Could I ask you a favor?"

"Sure, anything."

"I'll be… I have to go out of town next weekend. I know you have school, but could you watch Bee while I'm gone?"

Her Spidey senses tingling hard enough to rattle her brain, Tania nodded. "Sure. I'll take her to the children's museum. It'll be fun."

Taking her sister to the museum wouldn't be a hardship either. It was one of Tania's favorite places in the world.

"Thanks." Mandy squeezed her eyes shut, then tried for another wan smile. "If you don't mind, I'm going to lie down until Bee wakes up from her nap."

"Of course. Sleep as long as you need. I'll take care of her."

Mandy bent to give Tania a tight hug, then kissed her cheek. "Thanks, sweetie. You're the best fairy queen a stepmonster could have."

"Back atcha, Bratz doll."

Mandy laughed softly at the familiar nickname and squeezed Tania's shoulder before trudging up the stairs.

The door to Mandy's bedroom clicked shut, and Tania gave her a few moments to settle in before opening the website on her laptop.

* * *