A Wedding to Die For

by Adrianne Lee

  “Probably Kramer,” Seth said. “He was her co-conspirator, counting on a slice of the money pie. Tanya betrayed him. Cutting him out completely.”

  “No honor among thieves.” I refilled our coffee mugs. “So he’s going to be arrested?”

  The look on Seth’s face said I wasn’t going to like his answer. But before he could respond, Troy strode in, helped himself to a cup of coffee, and joined us at the breakfast bar. “Meg fell asleep.”

  “We were discussing Kramer,” Seth said.

  “Can you prove he murdered Tanya?” I asked.

  Troy scraped a hand on his bristled chin. “We caught him in a lie. He didn’t leave town before the murder because he couldn’t book a flight until the next day.”

  Meg’s hunch was right. Kramer had pulled a fast one. “I thought he sent proof that he was on a plane at the time of the murder.”

  “He said he was sending it, but he didn’t,” Troy said. Besides, the coroner can’t give an exact time of death since the body was in the water for a few hours.”

  “Then he didn’t leave town at all,” I said.

  “Nope. The murder was making local and national news. He was on the scene and had information no one else did. He figured he’d cash in by selling his stories and videos to the top-paying tabloids.”

  “Disgusting,” I said. “You’re going to arrest him, right?”

  Troy said, “He’s being questioned at the moment.”

  * * *

  While Meg continued to rest, I retreated to alterations to finish the hem on the wedding gown that was being picked up in the morning. The busy work kept me engrossed, so much so that I jumped when the phone rang.

  When I saw that the caller was Seth, my anxiety returned in a rush. “Hello?”

  I wanted to hear that Kramer had confessed, but Seth said, “I’m sorry, Daryl Anne, but the D.A. feels the evidence against Kramer doesn’t prove he’s a killer, just a creepy voyeur.”

  “W-Where does this leave things?”

  “They couldn’t hold him, but they did tell him not to leave town yet.”

  I twisted my hands. “Where does that leave my mom?”

  “Yeah, well, it turns out that video of Susan and Tanya fighting had been edited. The original was still on Tanya’s tablet. It shows her ripping the sash from your mom’s dress and tying it around her neck like a trophy. Susan left the bar without it. She’ll be released later this afternoon, as soon as the paperwork goes through.”

  I could’ve kissed him. Finally, something to smile about. I couldn’t wait to tell Meg the news. I thanked Seth and hung up. I set my phone down, extracted myself from the full skirt of the wedding gown, and hurried to the elevator. Then the back doorbell rang.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  I peered through the peephole, relieved that Kramer wasn’t standing on my doorstep. I was in too good of a mood just then to let even this guest bring me down. I gave her a big grin. “Hey, Jade. What are you doing here? I thought you’d be on your way to Los Angeles by now.”

  “Actually, I’m going to Reno as an opening act for a famous country singer.” She rattled off the name. “I’m quaking in my boots about meeting him. But I can’t leave until I square something with Meg. Big Finn said I could find her here?”

  I wasn’t sure that Meg was up to company, but she needed to hear my news, and Jade seemed anxious to speak to her too. “She’s upstairs.”

  I led her to the elevator. Once it was moving, she said, “Did Big Finn and Zelda tell her yet about their plans?”

  “No, I don’t think so. What plans?”

  “Oh, nothing. It’s better if they tell her.” Jade kept wringing her hands, tension oozing from her. “Daryl Anne, it was my brother.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “He overheard me talking about how Meg’s life was so perfect, whining about how awful mine was, and he thought he was doing me a favor by ruining the wedding tent and drugging Reverend Bell’s tea.”

  “Holy cow.”

  “I know. I feel so awful. I made him tell the sheriff, and he’s going to have to take whatever punishment he has coming, but I wanted Meg to hear the news from me. After what she’s done for me, what you did… I can’t start my new life with this on my conscience.” Jade groaned. “Do you think she can forgive me?”

  “Did you or your brother also send me some threatening notes?”

  “Notes?” She looked genuinely confused. “No. Absolutely not.”

  “And you didn’t send bachelorette party photos of Meg and Troy to Peter?”

  “Hell no.” She was shaking her head. “I swear it.”

  No, I suspected the notes and Instagrammed photos were Tanya’s doing. Trying to get me to step aside as maid of honor and to scare Peter. “Then I wouldn’t worry about Meg forgiving you. But I have to caution you that she is having a rough time of it. She’s called off the engagement in the wake of the video.”

  Jade gasped. “Oh, man, maybe I shouldn’t just drop in. She’s got enough to deal with.” We’d reached the apartment level. “You can tell her what I said when you think the time is right, and I’ll call her at a later date.”

  “Are you sure?” We exited the elevator into the apartment foyer.

  “Positive,” Jade said. “I’ll take the backstairs and let myself out. I’ll be sure the outside door is locked.”

  “Okay. Thanks.” I led her to the stairwell.

  Jade took off, and I went in search of Meg, checking my room where she’d been resting. The bed was rumpled, but she wasn’t there. “Meg?”

  She emerged from the bathroom, dressed, makeup on, and slipping into a jacket. “I want to get out of here for a while. Can we go to lunch?”

  “Sure. Why not?”

  As we reached the main level, the back doorbell rang again.

  “I peered through the peephole, surprised to see the man on the other side. I opened the door. “Walter? I thought you flew back to Los Angeles yesterday.”

  “No. I spent the day in Seattle with a client. I’m flying tonight.”

  “Why did you come back to Weddingville then?” Meg asked.

  “Ash discovered, my dear, that you’d run off with her phone yesterday at the café. And since you aren’t flying back to LA for a few weeks, she asked me to pick it up and bring it with me.”

  “I’m sorry. I must have thought it was mine. I’m always losing my phone,” Meg said. She dug into her purse and pulled out the phone. “You’re right. It’s not mine.”

  Instead of handing it over to Walter though, she stared at it, frowning. “Why didn’t Ash call me using the phone in the Jaguar and let me know to give it to you?”

  “Yeah,” I said, gazing at Walter, feeling more uneasy by the second. “Why would you agree to drive this far out of your way just to pick up a cell phone for someone who isn’t even a client?”

  “Give it to me,” Walter said, stepping into the bridal shop and slamming the door.

  I froze. “Why do you want Ash’s phone?”

  Walter seemed to be reining in his temper, trying to calm down. “Okay, look, the truth is, Ash told me on the way to the airport that she’d gotten a new phone with the capability of file sharing. Just one touch. She loves testing it out. Without asking permission. I’d placed my phone on the table while we had breakfast. Apparently she used the app to transfer sensitive files from my phone to hers. I just want to delete them.”

  “We could have done that, if you’d called and asked,” I said, slowly moving Meg toward the elevator.

  “Just give me the phone.”

  I didn’t like his tone. Or the odd glint in his eyes. He was afraid. What exactly had Ash transferred to her phone? Apprehension had me retreating a step. “I don’t think we should delete files from Ash’s phone without her permission. Why don’t we call her now and make sure it’s okay?”

  “I was hoping you weren’t going to make this difficult, ladies.” Walter drew a gun from his pocket. “Give me the phone.”


  Meg threw it at him. As he scrambled to catch the phone, Meg grabbed my arm. “Get in the elevator. Quick.”

  We ran and scrambled inside. My heart was galloping as I punched the close door button. Hard. The electric door jerked, then began to shut just as Walter appeared between the remaining slit of light. He was lifting the gun.

  I yelped. The elevator lurched, then moved.

  Bang! The bullet pierced the elevator door and lodged in the back wall. Fear sent Meg and me cowering in the corner. “Why did we run? You gave him the phone. He would’ve left.”

  “I gave him my phone.” She held up a phone that looked just like hers. “This is Ash’s phone. I think we need find out why he’s willing to shoot us for these files.”

  I heard footsteps banging up the backstairs. I leaped up and hit the stop button.

  The elevator ground to a halt between floors.

  “Good thing we know her password.” Meg dialed, then gave the 9-1-1 operator our location and relayed the situation. Instead of holding on as she’d been requested, she hung up and began checking through the files on the phone. “I can’t find anything, you look.”

  I took the phone, praying help would arrive before Walter figured out there was a switch in the electrical panel that would override the manual elevator buttons. A safety feature to prevent anyone getting stuck in the elevator.

  I had the same luck as Meg with the files on the phone. I tried the photo gallery next. Sweat beaded my upper lip. An icon caught my attention. I opened it.

  Six miniature snapshots. I viewed them one at a time. My stomach did a slow roll. I was staring at death photos of Tanya taken on the edge of a cliff. Only the killer would have these. I quickly e-mailed the photos to Seth along with a cryptic SOS.

  The power went off in the elevator. Walter had found the switch. Jesus. Meg squealed. I warned her to stay down and got to my feet. Using the phone’s light, I located the fire extinguisher. The elevator lurked. Descending. It stopped seconds later. The door began to open. I held my breath, lifting the weapon above my head.

  Bang! A bullet whizzed through the opening and grazed Meg’s head. She went down. Out cold. Blood seeped from the wound. Fear clawed up my throat and through every fiber of my being. I stayed where I was, the weapon raised. The moment Walter’s hand snaked inside, I attacked, slamming the fire extinguisher into his arm and then into his head. He moaned and crumpled.

  I went to Meg. She was unconscious. Bleeding. I took off my sweatshirt, pressing it to the wound.

  I heard the back door bang open. Then voices. I called, “Here.”

  Troy and Sheriff Gooden arrived first, guns drawn. Once they realized Walter was no longer a threat, they gathered him up and called in the EMTs. Seth came with them. I’d never been so glad to see him.

  He eyed me with concern. “Are you sure you’re not injured? You’re covered in blood.”

  I glanced down at my clothes. At the dark stains. “It’s Meg’s blood,” I said, my nerve finally slipping away. I collapsed against him, sobbing. “He shot her, and she’s bleeding so bad, and she won’t wake up.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The wedding reception

  If nearly dying at the hands of a deranged killer doesn’t change your priorities, nothing will. Meg and I were leaving for Los Angeles immediately after the reception broke up. But it didn’t seem like that was happening any time soon.

  The whole town had turned out to celebrate this wedding, two of their own uniting. Smiles abounded in the reception hall at Tie the Knot. None bigger than on the bride and groom. As the guests looked on, the happy couple took to the floor for the first dance. Jade had been transferred to another agent within the talent agency. She would still be opening in Reno, but she’d stuck around town to offer her vocal services at the reception, feeling like she owed it to Meg. She began singing, and the lyrics—“Can I have this dance for the rest of my life?”—filled me with such joy.

  But no one was more excited than Meg. “I never thought when we came home for a wedding that it wouldn’t be mine.”

  “Me neither. Are you sorry?”

  She considered a moment, then shook her head. “No. Not about them. They belong together. I’ve never seen my dad like this. I caught him whistling while he was cooking the other morning.”

  “Zelda is oddly perfect for him.”

  “She is. And I think she’s going to be good for me too.”

  To see Meg so delighted after dealing with such sadness sent tendrils of joy to my heart.

  She’d finally regained consciousness in the hospital to find her father holding her hand, me hovering nearby, and Troy showing up as the case allowed. Six stitches closed the gap in her scalp; the wound was shallow despite the bleeding. The concussion minor.

  Troy reported, “At first, Walter claimed he’d talked Tanya into backing off of the demands she was making on Peter, but later he admitted that he’d been lying. Tanya wouldn’t listen to reason. She even threatened to send the sex tape to Walter’s father-in-law, and that’s when Walter lost it.”

  “But why did he take those photos and then keep them?” I’d asked. “He should have deleted them from his phone.”

  “Yeah, but he didn’t regret killing Tanya,” Troy said. “I think the photos gave him a sense of power. Like looking at them made him feel he could do anything and get away with it.”

  I knew Meg couldn’t help thinking that if she hadn’t invited her mother to the wedding, Tanya might still be alive, but Tanya had sealed her own fate and, in the end, saved her daughter from marrying an unfaithful man. I hoped one day Meg would accept that and be able to look back on this time without feeling guilty.

  “If I hadn’t accidentally picked up Ash’s phone we might never have known,” Meg said.

  “And a lot of innocent people would have lived with a cloud of suspicion over their heads. It just proves not all accidents are bad,” I said.

  For two days following her return to consciousness, Meg had lamented her choice in men, shivering every time she said it. Too much bad news coming in quick succession. But that downward spiral into self-pity and grief ended when Billie told us that Meg’s father and Zelda had put their plans to wed on hold when Meg had phoned with the news of her own wedding.

  So Meg took matters into her own hands. She’d insisted they marry at once because life was too short to put off joy. The wedding seemed to be the feel-good medicine that the whole town needed.

  Jade was midway through the second verse when Troy caught Meg’s hand. “Hey gorgeous, we need to cut in on those two and get this party moving.”

  Meg laughed and let him lead her onto the dance floor. The guests gave a little cheer as Troy swept up Zelda. And as Big Finn gathered his daughter into his arms and twirled her around the floor, a long-forgotten memory came to me of my dad lifting me to dance around the living room when I was very little. My gaze drifted to Mom. She stood near the refreshment table, chatting with a man I hadn’t seen before, smiling shyly. Being arrested and sitting in jail, freedom no longer a privilege she could take for granted, seemed to have shaken her out of her staid existence. She got up each morning since her release with an appreciation for the new day, with newfound purpose.

  Maybe since Finn had finally opened his heart to love, she was seeing the possibility of that for herself. I know I was. My gaze drifted to Gram, gabbing with her Bunko buddies. No doubt stirring up trouble. Billie seemed to be recovering a little slower. The wrist, her diabetes, and my leaving seemed to be more than she could deal with and weighed heavily on my heart. Duty and desire, the constant tug-of-war.

  “I hear you’re leaving today. I’d hoped you’d stay a while longer,” Seth said, touching my hair and bringing me around to face him. The longing in his eyes echoed a tremor deep inside me. I’d known better than to encourage these feelings, and yet I hadn’t heeded my own advice. The knight-in-shining armor side of his personality lowered my guard and raised my susceptibility to his many other alluri
ng qualities. Like how incredibly desirable he looked in a white dress shirt and gabardine trousers with a camera slung around his neck.

  “It’s time to start the selection and acquiring process for the wardrobe that will be needed for next season’s sitcom episodes.” I stared at his mouth, remembering our kiss, longing for so much more than kisses from him. “I’m the only one who knows how to do that.”

  “I understand,” Seth said, his voice giving away the lie. He was too much of a gentleman to contradict me. Or to try and change my mind. He would never keep the lady in his life from pursuing her heart’s desire. He was going to make some woman very happy one day. Maybe me.

  I decided to stop teasing him and fess up. “I’m going with Meg to return the engagement ring to Peter. A last hoorah to the good life we thought we wanted. Full circle and closure. Peter had Meg fired. With a generous severance package that will allow her to open a salon here on Front Street.”

  “Wow. That’s great.”

  “It is. And I turned in my resignation. Gram is getting fragile, and Mom can’t run the shop alone. Besides, I can’t live in Los Angeles without my BFF.” Not to mention, I really want to pursue these feelings between us. “We’ll be packing up our apartment and then head back here in a U-haul.”

  “Now that is good news.” He pulled me onto the dance floor, and I didn’t object. He smelled better than wedding cake, felt better than any man I’d ever known. He leaned back, peering down at me, a sexy grin lifting the corners of his mouth. “You stole the bride’s thunder in that red dress, Blessing.” The glint in his eyes said he wanted to get me out of said garment as soon as possible. “Isn’t there a rule against that in the Maid of Honor’s Handbook?”

  “If not, there should be.” I found him staring at me with a smoldering gaze. My toes curled as an echoing desire swept through me. Although I was pretty sure of the answer, I asked, “A penny for your thoughts, Quinlan.”

  He laughed, pulling me closer, whirling me around as he whispered in my ear, “I’m thinking…”