by Laura Durham
Kate sank down into an ice-blue damask chair by the doorway. “I think vendor meals are the least of our problems.”
“You can say that again.” Fern dropped his duffel and began digging through it. “I have less than a hour to repair all this hair and do makeup. Annabelle, your butterflies are looking less than fluttery.”
I touched a hand to my drooping hair. “I know the feeling.”
Richard strode across the room, Hermès tucked under one arm, and hoisted Kate up from the chair. “No sitting on the historical furnishings,” he reminded her. “I, for one, do not want to be on the hook for damages.”
Kate swept her gaze around the room, which was sparsely furnished with period pieces that looked delicate and less than cozy. “The Federal period was so uncomfortable.”
“We shouldn’t stay here,” I said, motioning to the tall, bare windows that let light stream into the room. “Anyone can see straight inside. Anyway, we should put Jimmy with the performers.”
Jimmy shifted from one boot to the other. “I need to perform?”
“Absolutely not,” Sidney Allen said. “My performers train for months to comport themselves properly on site. You aren’t close to being ready.”
Jimmy nodded but seemed befuddled. I wondered if all this was confusing for him. After all, if he was Leatrice’s age or older, that would put him in his eighties.
“Don’t worry about it,” I told him. “Just be yourself. You’re the real deal.”
“I should go check on my team,” Sidney Allen said, motioning to Jimmy. “Come with me, and I’ll get you in place.”
“And I need to get the bride into her gown,” Fern said, linking his arm through Leatrice’s. “And repair the nest.”
Fern and Leatrice swished out of the room, her Wonder Woman robe flapping behind her. It took Sidney Allen longer to lurch his way across the room and out the door with Jimmy.
Richard waited until he’d gone to spin around and glare at Kate. “Is that your doing?”
“Is what my doing?” Kate asked, flipping her fingers through her hair.
Richard tapped one foot on the hardwood floor. “The man looks like he’s been shoved into a corset. I know you didn’t put a groom in Spanx.”
“Don’t be silly,” Kate said. “They don’t make Spanx that can hold in that much.”
I shuddered as I remembered the glossy, black foundation garment that looked like a cross between an industrial-strength girdle and a dominatrix outfit. “That thing did look a lot like a corset.”
Richard pivoted to me. “Say it wasn’t you, Annabelle.”
“Where would I get something like that?” I said. “You know my idea of lingerie is one of Reese’s oversized T-shirts.”
“Too much information.” Richard returned his gaze to my assistant. “Annabelle’s right. You’re the only one in our group who’s familiar with kinky underwear.”
“I beg your pardon.” Kate tried to look offended, but then shrugged. “Fine, I know my way around a bustier, but what Sidney Allen has on is more along the lines of industrial-strength shapewear. And it was all his idea. I only helped with the fastening.” She let out a breath. “Trust me when I say it’s a two-person job.”
“Well, he looks like he’s about to keel over,” Richard said. “The last thing we need is the groom dropping during the ceremony.”
Kate shuddered. “Agreed. I’ve had enough bodies dropping for today.”
“Excuse me?” Richard’s eyes grew wide. “To what other bodies are you referring?”
I gave Kate a look. I’d hoped to keep the second mobster a secret for a little while longer. “The reason we all came running over here is because one of Jimmy’s colleagues showed up at Leatrice’s apartment looking for him.”
Richard took a step back. “Colleague? You mean another member of the Mafioso?”
“Don’t worry,” Kate said. “I took him out with my stun gun.”
Richard’s mouth opened and closed. “Your stun gun?”
Kate whipped it out of her purse. “See? It’s a flashlight and a stun gun.” She flipped on the beam of light then pressed a button and the cylinder hummed. “Kills two birds and a stone.”
“With one stone,” I said, correcting her halfheartedly, knowing she’d mangle the expression again regardless.
Richard raised his palms to silence us. “Where’s the other mobster now? Please don’t tell me he’s tied up in a closet somewhere or rolled up in Leatrice’s carpet.”
Kate snapped her fingers. “Good thinking. We should have stuck him in a closet. That would have saved us all the hassle of the paramedics and police.”
“He’s probably at the hospital by now,” I said. “Then on his way to be booked for B & E. Reese and his partner were handling it while we got Leatrice and Jimmy out of the building.”
Richard pressed a hand to his heart. “So you’re telling me that the Mob is after this Jimmy the Pencil, and they’ve already tracked him down to your apartment building? And that now you’ve led them here?”
“They don’t know we’re here,” I said. “We went down the fire escape and through the back alleys.”
Richard walked over to one of the high windows, scanning the front lawn and the stairs leading down to the street. “You think a thousand-year-old woman in a superhero bathrobe with a bird on her head, running around with a man in a corset, Daisy Duke, and Al Capone wasn’t noticed?”
“You know she’s not that old,” I told him.
“If the Mob is prowling the streets of Georgetown for Jimmy, Leatrice’s getup would have distracted them so much they probably wouldn’t even notice him,” Kate said.
I nodded in agreement. “The wedding will be over in six hours anyway. We just have to keep him hidden until then.”
“Okay, Miss Problem Solver. What happens to him after the wedding?” Richard asked. “Does he go on the honeymoon with the nauseating couple?”
“Leatrice has her hacker friends working on fake documents for him so he can disappear,” I said. “Fern was there when she contacted them. He said it was a little scary how good she is with all that stuff.”
I was reminded again that Leatrice was not really named Leatrice at all, and that she’d successfully changed her own identity and lived under an assumed name for most of her life. After all this was over, Leatrice and I were going to have a long talk about how she pulled it off.
“I’m surprised Reese is okay with this plan,” Richard said, his gaze settling on me.
“He’s not involved with that part of the plan, but he’s fully on board with getting Jimmy the Pencil out of our hair.”
“You mean your cop fiancé doesn’t want a career criminal hanging out in his apartment?” Richard drawled. “Imagine that.”
“Speaking of hunky Detective Reese,” Kate said, tapping her fingers on her chin as she stared out the window, “is there any reason he would be chasing Sidney Allen around the front yard?”
I leaned up against the window and watched Sidney Allen careening across the small lawn, his torso completely rigid and wobbling back and forth as he attempted to run without moving his upper body. His hands flapped at his side, presumably to keep balance.
Richard made no effort to hide his gaping jaw as Hermès yipped in excitement. “He’s not chasing Sidney Allen.”
We all watched as Reese overtook the overly cinched Sidney Allen and kept running.
“You’re right,” I said. “They’re both chasing Jimmy the Pencil.”
Chapter 10
“That wasn’t much of a chase,” Kate complained as Reese escorted Jimmy the Pencil back into the house.
“I don’t know about that,” I said, inspecting the state of Sidney Allen as he wheezed inside the foyer, sweat running down his round face.
“We were in the back garden,” Sidney Allen said between attempts to catch his breath. “I took him to the paved patio to the side so I could show him where we had the cigar station. That’s when he started running.”
I studied Jimmy, who was also breathing heavy, his elbow held securely by my fiancé. His suit was rumpled, and bits of grass clung to his pants from being brought down by Reese. The scent of freshly mown grass mingled with his cologne. “Why did you run? Did you see someone you knew?”
Jimmy rubbed his face and then dragged a hand through his silver hair. “I thought I did. So many people here remind me of fellas from back in the day.”
“I guess having all the actors dressed up did a good job of confusing things,” I said. It hadn’t occurred to me that in trying to confuse any Mob hit men, we’d also flustered the elderly Mob accountant.
“Good thing I was walking up the stairs when I spotted Jimmy making his escape and Sidney Allen in hot pursuit.” Reese patted the groom on the back. “Not that my friend here didn’t have it well in hand.”
I knew Reese was being gracious and trying to make Sidney Allen feel better. The old mobster had left the girdled entertainment diva in the proverbial dust.
“It’s surprisingly difficult to run in this tuxedo,” Sidney Allen said, straightening his white dinner jacket.
Richard opened his mouth to make a comment, and I elbowed him.
“What?” Richard rubbed his side where I’d made contact. “I was only going to say that he should open his top jacket button the next time.”
“Sure you were,” I said under my breath and watched Richard’s face redden.
The front door opened, and four willowy women in black cocktail dresses entered carrying instrument cases. I directed them through the house to the back garden, making a mental check mark that the string quartet had arrived. I pulled my phone from my pocket and looked at the time.
“Right on schedule,” I said.
Kate smirked at me. “I knew you had a schedule. You couldn’t resist, could you?”
“Every wedding day needs a schedule,” I said. “There’s no such thing as a wedding running smoothly on its own.”
“I’m with you,” Kate said, looping her arm through mine. “I miss checking things off.”
Reese cleared his throat. “Why don’t I handle this guy while the rest of you handle the wedding?”
I nodded as butterflies fluttered in my stomach. “We don’t have long until guests arrive.”
“I know,” Reese said, giving me a crooked smile. “I can see the panic on your face.”
I wanted to tell him that I never panicked, but he knew me too well. We were closing in on start time for a ceremony I was not only supposed to run, but was a part of, and I was still in jeans and hadn’t done makeup or repaired my hair. I took Reese’s free hand and squeezed it. “This is why I love you.”
He wiggled an eyebrow at me. “I hope it’s not the only reason.”
My cheeks warmed and I realized everyone in the foyer was watching me, even Jimmy the Pencil. “You heard the detective. He’s got Jimmy, so the rest of us need to finish getting ready.”
Richard looked down at Hermès as he headed off. “You and I need to do something about this hair.”
Kate patted my arm. “I think it’s time we transformed into TWA stewardesses.”
I cast a final, longing look at Reese as Kate pulled me away and down the stairs to the basement. I’d much rather keep watch over a member of a dangerous crime family who was also a potential flight risk than get into my bridesmaid’s dress. From Reese’s wicked grin, he knew it.
We descended the stairs and passed through some of the Colonial Dames offices before reaching the ballroom with butter-yellow walls, brass chandeliers and wall sconces, and arched French doors that opened out onto the lower tented patio. Round tables had been set throughout the room—along with a single long oval head table—and draped with white organza linens. Clear ladder-backed reception chairs ringed the tables, while sleek arrangements of white calla lilies and massive green palm fronds rose from the middle, giving the room a slight supper club vibe. Even though we’d kept the wedding simple, Buster and Mack hadn’t been able to resist dramatic, yet simple, florals. Nor had Kate and I resisted menu cards printed in a chic art deco font. I smiled when I saw that each menu card had been tucked into a white linen napkin folded to look like a tuxedo jacket.
“Look!” Kate pointed to one perfectly folded napkin. “It looks just like Sidney Allen’s dinner jacket.”
“Don’t you love it?” Mack asked, weaving his way through the tables toward us with baby Merry strapped to his chest in a front-facing baby carrier. “Prue has been folding them all day.”
I looked over to where the teenager sat with a small stack of napkins and waved. Her ash-brown hair was swept up into a ponytail, and the freckles across her nose made her seem even younger than her eighteen years. “Hey, Prue! This looks amazing.”
Her cheeks flushed. “Richard taught me. He told me if I was going to hang around weddings, I might as well learn something useful and not be a bump on a log.”
“That sounds like Richard,” Kate muttered.
“Be careful he doesn’t start putting you to work at all his events,” I said, although I didn’t think it was a bad idea that the single mother was learning practical skills from both a caterer and a floral team.
I noticed that the baby was asleep and lowered my voice to a whisper. “It looks like everything is almost set.”
Mack waved a hand and glanced down at the tiny head lolling to one side. “Don’t worry about your talking waking her up. She’s out like a light, and she’s used to noise.”
That made sense considering neither Buster nor Mack could be deemed quiet. Between the chains on their clothes that jingled, the roar of their Harleys, and their naturally booming voices, Merry must have gotten used to sleeping through anything.
“Do we have guests already, or did Sidney Allen send a team of impersonators that I didn’t know about?” Buster asked, walking in from the patio.
“The second one,” Kate said, “but only because we need them as a distraction so the real mobster won’t look out of place as we hide him from the hit men who’re after him.”
Buster and Mack froze, and Prue’s eyebrows shot sky high.
“It’s a long story,” I said, “but that’s the gist of it. Oh, and back in the day, Leatrice used to be a Mob boss’s moll.”
“And she changed her name and went on the run,” Kate added.
“Now her old friend, Jimmy the Pencil, wants to escape the Mob and needs her help,” I said. “So we’re hiding him from the other members of the crime family.”
“I already took out one of the hit men who’s after him.” Kate hiked her purse higher onto her shoulder and turned to me. “I think that’s everything, right, Annabelle?”
I thought for a second. “Those are the pertinent facts.”
Mack pivoted to Buster and let out a tortured sigh. “I’ve always said we miss things when we do setup at the venue. All the juicy stuff happens during getting ready.”
“Can we do anything to help?” Buster asked.
“If you see anyone trying to garrote a gray-haired man, stop them,” Kate said.
“How about we stop any garrotting?” Mack asked.
“But be subtle,” Kate said. “And don’t kill anyone. We’re really trying to keep this wedding dead body free.”
Buster raised his eyebrows, and the motorcycle goggles on his bald forehead shot up. “We could never kill.”
“Right,” Kate said. “’Thou shall not kill.’ That’s one of the biggies.”
“Not to say we wouldn’t apply a choke hold if the occasion called for it,” Mack added.
I heard the faint sounds of a string quartet warming up, and my stomach did a somersault. “Now Kate and I need to get changed before I become the first bridesmaid in history to walk down the aisle in jeans.”
I turned to head for the ladies room and almost ran into a tall woman with long, brown hair and a flowing, pink maxi dress slit up to her upper thigh. Luckily, her wide-brimmed hat was too high to hit me in the face.
�
��Annabelle! Kate! I’ve been looking for you two. Did you see the cake?”
It took me a moment to realize the glamorous woman who looked nothing like a cake baker was, in fact, our cake designer Alexandra. I breathed in her seductive scent of expensive perfume and sugar as she leaned in to hug me.
“Not yet,” I said. “It’s been a crazy day, and we still need to get dressed for the ceremony.”
She waved a hand, and her jeweled rings flashed at me. “Of course. Don’t let me stop you. It’s been a wild day all around, hasn’t it?”
I paused, twisting around until I spotted the cake table with a simple two-layer wedding cake on a silver cake stand. Sugar calla lilies topped it, and sugar flower petals surrounded the base. “No problems with the cake, I hope.”
“Of course not,” her exotic voice trilled with laughter. “The cake is darling, and I made sure to put extra sugar petals around for you to nibble on later.”
She knew me well as I often used her sugary décor to give me a much-needed boost at the end of a wedding.
“It’s my date,” she continued. “Apparently he might be late. Trouble at work.”
That stopped me cold. “Do you mean Detective Hobbes?”
She nodded, flipping her stick-straight hair off one shoulder. “The criminal they were guarding at the hospital escaped.”
The butterflies in my stomach turned to lead. This was not good.
Chapter 11
“This is intolerable,” Richard said, coming into the Dumbarton House foyer from the garden and leaning against the door after he closed it. A burst of stifling heat followed him, quickly dissipated by the air conditioning.
“I know we’re running a couple of minutes behind schedule,” I said, trying not to move as Fern readjusted the decorative hair butterflies around the light-blue pillbox hat he’d perched on top of my head. “I don’t think this wedding should go against my punctuality record considering all the extenuating circumstances.”