“Oh,” Darla said, looking unhappy.
“Go on upstairs. I’ll be there in a minute,” Lacey told her.
Darla went.
Lacey and Dan walked into the sitting room. “How’d it go?” he asked.
“To his credit, I thought your uncle treated my sister with kid gloves. Until he started in on the honeymoon. I didn’t understand that.” She snatched the veil from its hiding place in the chair.
“I saw you stuff that down there. Randy looked for it after you left the room, but he searched where Darla had been with him.”
Lacey examined the veil, but only briefly. Randy could return any second.
“I didn’t buy this and it seems pretty important to Randy.” She glanced toward the door. “I have to go help Darla. Can you wait around? I need you to take me to the police lab.”
Dan looked perplexed. “What?”
“Ask your uncle.”
Twenty-eight
WHEN LACEY ENTERED Darla’s room, after stashing the veil in the dresser in her own room, she found Darla still in her wedding gown, seated on the bed. Her eyes were focused on the floor and she was wringing her hands. How was she ever going to survive the honeymoon?
Lacey moved toward her sister and when she was close enough, caught a glimpse of Randy in the backyard. Around him, workers were gathering the tables and chairs. Caterers were cleaning up. The police must have given the go-ahead.
Randy turned and she could see he was on a cell phone. It struck her as odd. Presumably, anyone who was anyone in his life would have been at the wedding. He didn’t have family and he wouldn’t be conducting business on his wedding day unless he really was a jerk. He cupped the back of his neck in a nervous gesture, his feet shuffling in a figure-eight. Could be he was double-checking the hotel reservation for tonight. Except it didn’t seem like that sort of conversation. He appeared to be discussing something of concern.
Darla started to hyperventilate and Lacey sat beside her.
“You don’t have to go on this honeymoon. You have the perfect excuse. Your grandfather was just murdered.”
“But I didn’t love him.”
“I know. But look at you.”
“I can do this. Randy says I can. The Reverend Irene says I can.”
The Reverend Irene. Lacey had forgotten about her. If she was so important to Darla, why wasn’t she at the wedding?
“When did you talk to her?”
“This morning.”
“I didn’t see her today.”
“I invited her. She said she didn’t want to upset the family.”
Lacey nodded. Made sense. “Let’s get you out of that dress.”
Darla stood and Lacey unfastened the gown. “You were beautiful. The most beautiful bride ever.”
Darla looked wide-eyed. “Was I?” Her eyes glistened with tears. She was as panic-stricken as Lacey had ever seen her.
“Yes. Your dress was perfect.” She helped Darla change into slacks and a pretty blouse. “And, Darla. If you’re too nervous tonight. I mean, if you’re not ready. Tell Randy no. If he loves you like he says, he’ll wait.”
“He loves me.” Darla faintly smiled. “I’ll tell him I have a headache.” Her smile widened.
“There you go.”
Darla grabbed her headband from the dresser and put it on. “I really do have a headache.”
Lacey eyed the band. There was something creepy about the way she clung to the thing. And then there was the headband with the veil that didn’t go with the wedding dress. Had Darla developed a fetish?
“Then don’t wear that. Those things can get too tight and put pressure on the scalp.”
Darla looked unsure.
“Wear it later.”
Darla slipped it from her head and held it a moment. “Okay.” She placed it in the suitcase. Lacey put a T-shirt on top of it and when Darla turned away, grabbed the band and tossed it under the bed.
They finished packing just as Randy entered the room. Lacey quickly closed the suitcase and placed it upright on the floor.
“Thanks for helping my wife.” He was all smiles.
Happy, was he? After not getting his way with Uncle D? After talking on the phone with who-knew-who? After saying the things he’d said to Henderson? All smiles?
“Your wife, my sister,” Lacey said with a return fake beam.
“Where’s the headband I gave you?” Randy suddenly looked hurt. Like Darla was forgetting their first anniversary or something.
The headband again. Why all the fuss?
“I put it in the suitcase.”
“You don’t want to wear it?” he asked, still hurt.
There had to be something significant about it.
“I can. I . . . I . . .” Darla made a move to open the case.
Lacey released a breath. “She has a headache and wanted to wear it later.”
After a beat, Randy’s smile returned. “I totally understand.”
Okay. This was weird.
Darla and Randy left, and Lacey sank onto her sister’s bed, overcome with questions. Attachment to headbands. An absent Reverend Irene. Randy’s oddly timed phone call in the backyard.
And what was the meaning of Uncle D’s advice about hairpin turns and not walking too close to the edge of the coastline? Did he think Darla was in danger? From Randy?
She’d never been into conspiracy theories. With a family like hers, to keep her head above water, she ignored a lot of things. But this was her sister’s life she was concerned about. And her own, if she were honest with herself. Look at all that had happened. Four murders in as many weeks, all of them connected to the family, and none of them solved. Had any progress even been made? What did she know? Nothing, really.
She knelt to the floor and nabbed the headband from under the bed. If she wanted to know what was going on, she’d have to do more investigating herself. She thought of Maggot, she thought of Honey, and hoped no one else she decided to talk to got killed.
Her fingers began to tear at the fabric of the headband, as if ripping it apart also ripped at Darla’s marriage, and under the bow she found some sort of electronic device.
“What the . . . ?”
For a second she thought Randy had planted a bug so he could listen in on Darla’s conversations. But then she remembered that Darla had heard their mother’s voice. She examined the “bug” more closely. It appeared to be a very small radio receiver. She knew nothing about such things, but was sure that’s what it was. She hurried to her bedroom, grabbed the wedding veil from the dresser and took it apart. She discovered another device.
“What is it?”
She looked up and saw Dan standing in the doorway.
“These were in Darla’s headbands.” She held out her hand. Dan came closer.
“So someone could communicate with her?”
“I think so,” Lacey said. “Darla said she heard Mother talking. For a while there I was worried she was schizophrenic. You should take them to your uncle while I get changed.”
Dan nodded. He grabbed the headbands and the devices and left to deliver the goods.
Lacey took her cell phone out. Darla was in danger. She needed looking after and Lacey knew just the guy to do it. She punched in Jake’s number. “Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.”
He picked up. “This better be good, Miss Priss.” She heard muffled talking. He was with his date. He must have put his hand over the phone so he could say something to her.
“It’s not. It’s bad. It’s Darla. She’s in danger.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Listen, Galahad, if you ever were Sir Galahad, now is the time to prove it. Leave that hatchling behind and get on your trusty steed. You need to follow Darla on her honeymoon.”
“What? Are you crazy?”
“No. They just left. They’re heading up Highway 1. I’m not sure where they’re staying tonight, but they plan to go as far as Carmel and come back. It’s the come back part I’m worr
ied about. They might not. Or rather Darla might not.”
“Lacey . . .”
“I’m serious. Get going. If you don’t catch them, or see them, let me know. I’ll call Darla and ask how she’s doing. That shouldn’t make Randy suspicious. I’ll ask where she is, then I’ll let you know. Go. Go! Don’t let them see you unless you spot something dangerous happening.”
Jake hung up before Lacey did.
She felt better. Jake wouldn’t let anything happen to Darla, if harming her was Randy’s plan. She didn’t know that it was. She didn’t know anything for sure. Maybe the headbands were just to control Darla better. He did have a major possessive streak.
Intense concern iced her veins. Before Darla, Randy had been with her. Been highly aggressive in his pursuit of her. Had kept tabs on her constantly and had tried to keep her from her friends. Had he planned on marrying her and killing her?
Stop! She didn’t know that he was planning on killing Darla. She was letting her imagination run away with her. Still. What was the purpose of the radio receivers? Were they to drive Darla crazy?
She changed her clothes and raced downstairs. She found Dan with his uncle in the dining room. The headbands were on the table, the electronic devices in Uncle D’s hand.
“What do you make of those things?” she asked. She slipped her arms around Dan and put her cheek next to his.
“I don’t know. I’ll have the lab check them out.”
“You must have some opinion. Speculate. Speculate.”
“I wouldn’t like to.”
She sighed with a huff. She had found evidence but he wasn’t going to let her in on what he thought. She stopped hugging Dan and took the chair next to him. “I’ll tell you what I think. Those are little tiny speakers. That’s why my sister heard voices.”
“You could be right.” Uncle D rolled one of the devices over in his hand.
“Darla’s loving husband is up to no good,” Lacey said.
“You don’t think much of the esteemed Mr. Barber.”
“I didn’t have anything against him until he married my sister and started killing people.”
She felt Dan take her hand and glanced at him.
Uncle D leaned forward. “See. Accusing Mr. Barber of killing people, that’s a leap. Your sister saw a woman. A blond woman, and I think she’d know if she saw Randy.”
“So he has a helper.”
The detective nodded and scratched the side of his neck. “You know, he has some disparaging things to say about you. He thinks we should look harder at you as a suspect. You inherited your father’s money. You talked to Stark. You hated Edward. He says he’s worried about his own skin.”
“He’s full of it.”
Dan chimed in. “He doesn’t realize you’re aware that Honey’s murder is tied to all this, does he?”
“I may not have filled him in on that tidbit of information. Miss Bouquet, about the urine test.”
Her cell rang and she answered. It was Jake. “I’ve spotted them,” he told her.
“Good. Keep me posted.” Lacey felt a measure of relief. She didn’t have to call Darla, which might have raised suspicion.
“I will.” Jake clicked off.
She looked up and both Dan and Uncle D were looking at her with questions in their eyes.
“Keep you posted about what, Miss Bouquet?”
“You think I’d let my sister go off with a killer and not do something about it? That was Jake. He’s following them.”
Dan broke into a grin. Uncle D chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Lacey didn’t see the humor. “I’m worried.”
“And I don’t blame you. I also put a man on their tail. Just in case.”
Twenty-nine
“YOU KNEW? YOU knew your uncle suspected Randy. You knew he did something to protect my sister? You knew, and you didn’t tell me?” Lacey sat in the passenger seat of Dan’s car, the radio playing in the background. They were on the way to have her urine tested at the police station. Uncle D had finally given in and said what he wanted her tested for. Any common agent that could have made her dizzy or drowsy. Like Ropynol or GHB or Valium.
Lacey didn’t need the results to know she had taken something. Or rather, been given something. She should have figured it out when Randy pretended to make nice. He gave her a drink at the reception which she only drank a part of. Almost immediately she felt sleepy.
“I didn’t know until right before you came in the room. And if he told me, I figured he was going to tell you. Heck, he did tell you.” Dan gave her a quick sideways glance.
That was true. Lacey relaxed a little.
“I don’t know any more than you know about how close my uncle is to proving who committed these murders. Believe me.”
She believed him. Dan was too ethical to lie.
“Sharing what he knows isn’t how he operates. He keeps everything close to the vest. He thinks the less people know about an investigation, the better.”
Lacey sighed. Then how was she supposed to know he was getting the job done? She couldn’t just sit around and do nothing.
“You have to trust him,” Dan said.
“I do, huh?” Wheels continued to turn in her head. “Maybe I’ll just leave that job to you.”
“He’s a good detective.”
A good detective who doesn’t share. An idea hatched. She would break into Randy’s apartment and see what she could find out that way. She would have to learn how to pick a lock or get someone to help her. She eyed Dan. She couldn’t ask him. She couldn’t even let him know what she was planning. He could get fired if he helped her. She plastered on a smile and said, “Okay. I’ll keep the faith.”
Music stopped to air a newsbreak. Amid the stories was a mention of Edward’s murder.
Edward Bouquet is the father of billionaire Harper Bouquet who was murdered only last month . . .
Lacey felt a cold stab to the heart.
“How do they get their stories so fast? He was just killed.” Her voice was a whisper. To hear their deaths announced to the world like that, so cold and impersonal . . . She didn’t even know how to finish her thought. It was just something of interest for the listeners. Just news. Everyone who heard it, their lives stayed the same. Hers would never be the same again.
“You okay?” Dan’s voice drew her back.
“What?”
“Are you all right?”
“Of course. For a person whose world is upside down.”
“I . . . I’ve been thinking.”
Lacey watched him remove one hand from the wheel and rub his wrist. She smiled inside. It was his tell. He was nervous about something.
“And?” she prodded.
“Well.” He paused.
“The well is deep.”
He glanced at her. “I think you should stay at my house tonight.” Both hands went back to the steering wheel.
Lacey cracked a grin. “Why, Officer O’Donnell. That sounds positively indecent.”
He stared straight ahead. “I know joking is how you cope.”
“Sure sounded indecent.”
“Lacey.”
“And to think. It just took a little murder for you to come ‘round.”
“It wasn’t indecent.”
“Then why should I take you up on it?”
“You’ve had another shock. That house is big. It isn’t safe. You’ll be there alone.”
“My father and Edward were both killed with lots of people around. It doesn’t seem to make a difference.” She stared out the window. “Anyway, the murderer is out of town.”
“We don’t know that. Sometimes people look guilty and they’re not.” He pulled the car into the police station parking lot.
“Randy’s guilty, and he has an accomplice. A woman.”
She had two candidates in mind. Darla’s psychic. Although Darla had seen the woman at both murders and would have known if she was looking at the psychic. Lacey had seen the psychic, too. At the
door eavesdropping. The woman wasn’t a blonde, and she wasn’t petite. She was a tall, fat woman who wore kaftans.
The more likely candidate was their mother. She was blond and petite.
Dan parked the car and turned toward Lacey. “Listen. After this I’ll take you home. You can get some things and drive your car to my house. I want you to move in with me until this is all over.”
She wasn’t afraid to stay at the mansion. Although she wasn’t keen on being alone. Murders or no murders, she liked people around.
“Hmmm,” she said with exaggeration, as if in a deep quandary. One night at Dan’s might be interesting. At least, she could do her best to make it so. She joked: “Well, only if you promise no funny business.”
“I promise.”
Great. He didn’t even miss a beat.
But then he smiled. “I thought you wanted me to practice being orange.”
From a safe distance across the parking lot, Jake watched Randy carry Darla over the threshold of their Santa Barbara motel room. It was a tough thing for him to watch. If there was anything to the philosophy that certain souls were mates, well, he guessed, that was how he viewed his soul and Darla’s. He loved her. He always had. He had fought the feelings as a kid. Called them something else. And whenever those feelings intensified, he reminded himself that she was like a kid sister. One who needed help and he was only feeling protective.
However, even after he had gone to live with his mother, he never forgot her. All his teenage years, she was there in the back of his head. He kept the picture she’d drawn of him and wished he had a photograph of the two of them together. Then he told himself, it didn’t matter; her angelic face was etched forever in his mind’s eye.
How could someone have such a hold on him if they weren’t supposed to be together?
He had waited too long to tell her how he felt. He was a fool for doing so. If he had opened his mouth, things might be different now.
Might be. He took a deep breath. What if she chose Randy over him anyway?
He wasn’t sure what to do. Try to get a room right next to theirs? No. That was too risky. He needed to watch. Maybe he would sit on his motorcycle all night and keep his eyes peeled. He hadn’t seen any security personnel roaming the parking lot.
Bouquet of Lies Page 21