Just Buried

by Addison Moore

  “I had my bachelorette party a few weeks back in Vegas.” She leans in a notch. “And I’m still not thrilled you declined. But I understand. That year we went out on Spring Break and you got so schnockered you married Emmie’s brother—well, it’s easy to see why you’d want to steer clear.”

  I shudder at the memory. Not that I have anything against Jordy. But drowning in cheap liquor doesn’t exactly lead to the best decision-making skills on my part. Vegas is pretty much a no-go for the foreseeable future as far as I’m concerned. Same with cheap liquor.

  Macy waves me off. “Don’t listen to her, McKenna. She’s the reason our brother makes a fantastic divorce attorney. Bizzy’s first wedding was essentially a free internship for him.”

  Gwyneth gasps. “My son is about to marry a divorcee, and I’m just hearing about this first wedding of yours?”

  Mom butts her shoulder to Gwyn’s. “And I bet she had a dress for that one.”

  The two of them share a sharp cackle, and I’m not so sure I care to see them bonding over their desire to mock me.

  “Lovely.” I wrinkle my nose before giving Michaela a little wave. “Hopefully, I can see you about that dress snafu. I guess the countdown is on, and I’d hate to show up nude to the event.”

  Emmie belts out a laugh. “Are you kidding? Jasper told Leo he’s rooting for it.”

  I can tell by the way she’s snickering into her drink she’s already too sauced to walk on her own.

  Mackenzie slings an arm around Emmie, and it looks as if they’re right back to being besties again, flushing about ten years of turbulent waters under the bridge with the aid of a few daiquiris.

  “That’s right, Bizzy.” Mackenzie sheds a cheesy grin my way. “We’ve all been bonding over our shared appreciation for your personal foibles. We can’t wait to see what you come up with next. I bet you’ll pull out all the stops for your wedding day.”

  “You won’t know,” I say. “You’ll be hosting the Cider Cove Beautification unveiling set to start at the same hour as my wedding.”

  Macy slaps her hand down over the table. “Is that the same hour? How am I going to choose which one to attend?”

  The table breaks out into a riot of laughter.

  Mom nods as if commiserating. “It’s like Sophie’s Choice.”

  Another round of laughter ensues. Only I’m not chuckling along with the crowd.

  Gwyneth’s mouth falls open as she waves someone over and I turn around to see the abomination of desolation headed this way—Camila Ryder, Jasper’s ex-fiancée.

  “Perfect,” I mutter. “Just what this night needed.”

  “Camila!” Gwyn rises from her seat, waving at the saucy brunette like mad. “Come join us.” She turns to my mother. “This girl is like a daughter to me. And she did have a dress to marry my son in before it all went kaput.”

  Mom sputters a laugh. “Maybe she can lend it to Bizzy?”

  The table erupts once again as Camila disgraces us with her presence.

  Camila’s chestnut hair is full of body and waves. A red dress clings to her curves, and she has an edgy grin on her face that just won’t quit.

  “Well, well, if I haven’t stumbled on the mother lode of Cider Cove’s very own Salty Wenches. What brings you ladies out in droves? A meeting with the coven?”

  Michaela jumps over. “It’s Bizzy’s bachelorette party. Oh my goodness, Camila Ryder, is that really you?”

  The two women lunge over one another with an enthusiastic embrace.

  “It’s just like old times,” Camila marvels at the blonde in front of her.

  A wenchy waitress comes by and furnishes the table with enough food to feed a palace. Suddenly, the masses are quelled and pleasantly diverting their unwanted attention away from me as they start in on the bevy of appetizers lining the length of the table. Georgie, Juni, and McKenna quickly join in on the feeding frenzy, and I’m about ten seconds away from diving in myself.

  Michaela turns my way. “Bizzy, I didn’t know you knew Camila. She and I go way back. Camila used to come in and ask the management at Minty’s for gift cards that the Sheffield School District could use for silent auctions.”

  I bet she did. Something tells me Camila used those gift cards for herself.

  Michaela nods as if agreeing with my theory.

  “In fact, Camila used to come in all the time to buy the most gorgeous dresses you ever saw. Her fiancé loved to spoil her.”

  My stomach churns. “Her fiancé?”

  Camila shrugs. “Jasper always encouraged me to take his credit card and buy myself something nice the two of us could appreciate in private.”

  “Gag me. Did I say that out loud? Good. Because I meant to.” I blink a smile over at Camila and she waves me off.

  “Don’t mind her, Michaela,” Camila says. “She’s actually engaged to my former fiancé.”

  “What?” Michaela bucks as if this shook her world. She groans to Camila. “Don’t tell me you and Sexy Eyes broke up. The way you were talking, you were well on your way to becoming America’s next power couple.”

  A dull laugh bounces through me. “Camila is rife with delusions. Why should that one have been any different?”

  Camila makes a face. “Don’t listen to her. It’s true. Jasper loved to spoil me. Unfortunately, things went south for the two of us.”

  I nod. “It turns out, Camila liked to spoil Jasper’s best friend with her body.”

  Michaela’s eyes grow in size. “Well, I guess that worked out for you, Bizzy. Stop by Minty’s anytime. I’ve already pulled a few more dresses that you might like.”

  “Sounds good to me. I tried to reach you this afternoon, but I guess you were busy.” I lean my ear her way in the event she wants to fill me in on her afternoon with Archie.

  “Sorry”—she presses her lips tight—“I had an appointment. It was supposed to take place later tonight, but I didn’t want to miss the party, so I bumped it up.”

  “Was it with Archie?” I ask. “He was at the inn this afternoon and mentioned he was going to try to hit you up for coffee.” And dessert. And according to all that raunchy white noise going off in his mind, he had Michaela pinned for the sweet treat at hand.

  “No, I wasn’t with Archie.” She rolls her eyes at the mention of him. “But he’s been after me for years. I’m not all that interested, though.” I would have been, but any close friend of Caleb’s is off the table.

  Camila snorts. “Send him my way.” She winks at Michaela. “I’ve got a void in my dance card I’m looking to fill, no thanks to this turkey.” She grunts over at me. “I’d better get to the quesadillas before they’re all gone.” She takes a seat next to Macy and they start up a conversation like old friends.

  Nice to know my sister’s a traitor, too.

  “Michaela”—I lean in—“did you know that Zeke was upset with Julian?”

  Her big blue eyes enlarge twice their size.

  “Yes, actually, I did.” She presses her hand to her chest. “You don’t think he killed him, do you? Gwyn was just telling everyone that you run around pretending you’re a detective right along with her son. I know whatever you put your mind to you’re more than good at. And I could tell she doesn’t care for you all that much. But don’t worry. I see it all the time. For some reason, mothers of the groom love to play up that whole she’s-not-good-enough-for-my-son angle.” She shrugs. “We’ll probably do the same one day.”

  “Or we’ll remember how bad it felt and go deep in the opposite direction.”

  She laughs at the thought. “Well, I’m a long way from getting hitched myself.” Not that any man would want to touch me with a ten-foot pole. Unless, of course, they’re paying for my company.

  I gasp so hard I nearly inhale one of her curls right down my throat.

  I waste no time in pulling her off to the side, a safe distance from her big sister’s ears.

  “Michaela Harvey!” My voice comes out a touch too shrill. “Please tell me you know n
othing of that debauchery that Julian was pulling girls into.” A thought she had while I was at Minty’s trying on dresses comes back to me. She said she didn’t want to think about Julian or how they met. My mouth rounds out in horror.

  “Wait a minute.” She shakes her head as she gives a nervous glance to her sister. “I don’t know what you think you know, but whatever you do, you can’t talk to my sister about this.”

  “Michaela.” I close my eyes in horror. “Julian pulled you into the Collective, didn’t he?”

  She closes her own eyes for a moment before giving a subtle nod.

  “Bizzy, this isn’t anything I want to talk about. And for sure I ask you not to talk about it. But since you know this much, you may as well know the rest. When my parents died and McKenna left me, and yes, even though she went to some fancy boarding school, I did feel abandoned. You see, my aunt had a serious drug problem she was hiding. She couldn’t pay her bills. We were always on the verge of getting kicked out of her rental home. I had already started working at Minty’s in high school and that helped for a bit. But as soon as I turned eighteen, Julian descended on me like a vulture. He introduced me to what I thought at the time was a glamorous world. The Magic Castle was fun to hang out at. And all I had to do was show up in a fancy dress and go out with a relatively nice man. I got to draw the line where I wanted. There was enough money in it to pay our bills for a while. And then”—her cheeks brighten with color—“I needed more money. The more I was willing to do, the more money I was able to get my hands on. Please don’t think poorly of me. I only did that for a little while to get on my feet. Then I went right back to drawing the line where I was comfortable. And now, between Minty’s and my designer dates”—she frowns—“that’s what the Collective calls them, I’m able to live a comfortable life.”

  I shake my head, trying to make sense of this. “I’m so sorry, Michaela. I feel terrible that you felt so trapped with no other options.” That scene of her shoving Julian away the night he was murdered runs through my mind. “Can I ask what kind of a relationship you had with Julian?”

  She rolls her eyes. “I didn’t kill him if that’s what you’re thinking. Not that I would be shouting it from the rooftops if I did, but I think you of all people should know it. But I won’t lie. I wasn’t as horrified as other people were while he was drowning. A sick side of me was actually rooting for it.” She blows out a heavy breath. “If that didn’t make me sound like a monster, I don’t know what would. I apologize for that.”

  “Don’t apologize for your feelings. But I’m confused. If you appreciate the Collective as a side job—and it sounds like you do—then why hate Julian?”

  She gives a sideways glance to her sister. “Julian and Caleb were friends. Once he knew that Caleb was marrying my sister, he threatened to tell her about my involvement with the Collective.”

  “He threatened you?”

  She nods. “He was sure it would come out eventually, and he figured the sooner I got it off my chest, the better it would be for both of us. Caleb’s brother, Zeke, knew about the Collective, too. He just found out about it about a month ago. Zeke has the hots for Bernie, the assistant Julian used the night he was killed. As soon as Zeke learned about the underpinnings of Julian’s special club, especially the fact that Bernie dipped her toes in those waters, Zeke went ballistic.” She shudders. “Anyway, Julian figured Zeke was moments away from telling Caleb about his raunchy club. And he figured Zeke would find out about my involvement in it as well. Julian strongly suggested that my sister hear it from me rather than Zeke.” She drops her head into her hand a moment. “Of course, he was right. Zeke doesn’t keep much from his brother. They’re close. Just like McKenna thinks we’re close.”

  “So what have you decided? Are you going to tell her?”

  “If I tell her, she’ll demand that I quit.”

  “Then quit. There are other ways to make money. I don’t care if you are drawing a sexual line in the sand. You’re too sweet to accept money for your time.”

  She makes a face. “You do realize that’s the basic premise of any job out there?”

  “Not every job out there has a negative stigma attached. Michaela, I knew your parents. I knew your mother. Do you really think she’d be cheering you on? I can help you with getting a second job. You could work at the inn. I’ll find a position for you. Heck, I’ll make a position for you.”

  “You would do that for me?” She blinks back the fresh tears pooling in her eyes.

  I nod. “You bet. And do you know what else I’ll do for you? I can be there when you decide to tell McKenna. I know she won’t judge you. She loves you so much. You have no idea how highly she speaks of you.”

  “That will come crashing to an end pretty quickly. But I sure appreciate the offer. I’ll have to think about it. If I do tell McKenna, it won’t be until after her honeymoon. No sense in ruining her big day.”

  “I’ll be there for you. Just call me.” My lips invert a moment. “Do you think Zeke sabotaged Julian’s equipment that night?”

  She shrugs. “I don’t know. But Julian said the strangest thing to me that night. He was trying to persuade me to tell McKenna about the Collective, and I told him to leave me alone—that I hated the fact he had dirt on me and was willing to hold it over my head to get what he wanted.” She rolls her eyes. “Deep down, I wondered if his altruistic move to have me confess was just another ploy to try to land me in his bed. Anyway, I guess we’ll never know. But what he said was that he didn’t consider what he knew about me as dirt, but that he did have dirt on someone there—enough to bury them alive.”

  “What kind of dirt?” My adrenaline spikes as I lean in.

  She shakes her head. “He didn’t say. He did mention something about taking the case to the sheriff’s department. That it was too dangerous to simply jot down in one of his notebooks.”

  “Notebooks?” My goodness, there’s a book out there somewhere!

  “Oh yes, Julian was notorious for documenting everything. He had to, he’d get inspiration for his acts just about anywhere, and he’d have to stop and write the information down before he forgot any important details. He got to the point where he wrote down just about everything he wanted to remember in those hallowed books of his. But don’t go expecting to find them. He had them under lock and key somewhere. Probably his home office. I’m guessing the sheriff’s department has probably already confiscated them.”

  I’m guessing not.

  The lights dim a notch and the sound of raunchy music starts up as the room ignites with screams. Before I know it, all of those familiar faces who showed up for my impromptu bachelorette party are standing around me in a circle clapping to the beat.

  A couple of men dressed as police officers head my way.

  “Excuse me, miss?” The beefy tan one with a mean look on his well-chiseled face points my way. “I’m going to have to arrest you.”

  “For what?” I squawk as my body heat spikes. Jasper is going to stomp our relationship out like a grease fire if I keep ending up in the pokey—the pokey that employs him no less.

  The other beefy officer steps forward and smacks his nightstick against his palm.

  “For looking too hot to handle.” He sheds a toothy grin.

  A hard groan comes from me as the reality of this raunchy situation starts to take shape.

  The two men begin a hip-swaying dance, and in a New York minute their clothes go flying, and women are screaming at the top of their lungs.

  The one with the toothy grin scoops me up and hoists me over his shoulders, and much to the delight of the entire room, he gives my bottom a couple of quick pats.

  Before I can demand to be set down, or admire his lats, another set of men head in this direction—one of which I happen to be engaged to at the moment.

  Here’s hoping that moment isn’t fleeting.

  Leo gravels out a dark laugh. “Hey, Bizzy. I’m just here for the food. Nice to see you hanging out and letting
your hair down.” Figuratively and literally, he says, moving past me as he makes his way to Emmie.

  “Jasper.” I manufacture a smile. “What a surprise to see you here.”

  His brows hike a notch. “You can’t possibly be as surprised as I am.” He shoots the man holding me a death stare, and soon I’m in Jasper’s arms as a crooked smile begins to bloom on my face.

  “How did you know to find me here?” I give his tie a quick scratch. “And by the way, I had nothing to do with this.”

  “My mother invited me to dinner. As soon as I saw she wanted to meet at the Salty Wench, I had a hunch there would be trouble.”

  “Hey? Maybe I can use that as my new surname. Bizzy Trouble.”

  His chest bumps with a laugh as the music grows slow and moody. “You do realize Wilder is only a hair off from trouble.”

  “It must be fate,” I say. “How about we hit the dance floor, and then maybe we can graze our way through that buffet on the table?”

  “When in Rome.”

  Jasper and I opt to make out like teenagers while moving our bodies in time to the music, no holds barred, lots of tongue action. I figure it serves Gwyneth right to have to witness it after demanding that Jasper witness me in the arms of another man.

  We drink, eat, and do our best to be merry for the next few hours until we decide to call it a night.

  By the time Jasper and I get home, it’s almost eleven.

  A devilish smile percolates on his lips. “I don’t feel like saying goodnight.”

  “Lucky for you, I don’t either,” I tell him. “You up for a hot date?”

  “Your place or mine?”

  “Julian Fletcher’s place,” I say. “Rumor has it, he’s got the dirt on someone in one of his prized notebooks, where he kept all his best secrets.”

  “Bizzy.” Jasper gives a long blink. “You’re going to go through with this no matter what I say, aren’t you?”

  I nod his way, and he gives a deep sigh in response.

  “Now, who do we have to see about gaining access to his home?” I ask.

  He presses those quicksilver eyes my way. “The lead homicide detective in the case just so happens to have a set of keys to the place.”