Marriage Vow Murder

by Leslie Langtry

  He didn't buy it. "I can't let a couple of civilians get hurt on my watch."

  Riley walked in on the other side, stopping in his tracks when he spotted the policeman. That was when the curtains went up on the stage. Spotlights shone down on a body in a burlap bag as it strained against the ropes and chair it was tied to.

  Instead of coming to me, Riley ran for the stage and landed in a single leap next to the chair. His hands worked furiously, and I ran to the stage, hopped on (with considerably less grace), and checked the wings. There was one door in the back that led down into the basement.

  "It's Juliette, isn't it?" I said as I joined Riley on stage.

  He removed the last rope and the bag fell. An angry redhead with duct tape on her mouth scowled at us, squeaking what I can only assume to be cuss words.

  "How did you know?" Riley asked as he pulled the tape free.

  "The body size. She's too small to be Rex. Which means we aren't done here yet." I kept my gun up and watched the gym. Ted was gone.

  Officer Weir shouted from the hallway. "I see him! This way!"

  Oh no! He'd run off half-cocked. This kid was going to get himself killed unless I caught up.

  I looked at Riley. "Stay here with her."

  He shook his head. "No. I'm coming with you."

  Juliette shrieked a high-pitched flow of words I couldn't understand. I got in her face and held her shoulders.

  "You stay here," I commanded. "It's not safe."

  The woman looked from me to Riley and nodded. She was angry but scared enough to listen.

  I ran into the hall to see Ted's back disappearing through another door that led to the basement.

  "That idiot is going to get shot," I mumbled under my breath.

  "He just wants to help," Riley said.

  We started running, but I drew up short at the door. "Take the door on the stage," I whispered. "It goes to the basement too, but you'll come out in the middle."

  Riley nodded, and I steeled myself before running into the rabbit hole. Halfway down the stairs I could hear Ted running and shouting, "Stop! In the name of the law!"

  Yeesh. I was almost embarrassed for him. We'd have to work on his lingo. I hit the bottom stair. I knew where I was going. The basement was divided into food storage—which no longer existed since the building had been abandoned—boxes of old memorabilia, and one room that was used for theatrical purposes.

  I knew this because I was in exactly one play in school. It was The Wizard of Oz, and I'd been a tree. If Rex was here, that was where he was. I knew it.

  A door slammed ahead, and I heard Ted scream. Damn! I ran to the door, but it was locked. Rearing back, I threw all of my weight against the area where the doorknob was. The rotting door splintered easily.

  In the middle of the room, tied to a chair and slumped over with a bag over his head, was my fiancé, the love of my life, Detective Rex Ferguson. I didn't run to him, because this was a trap. In my head I warned him not to move.

  Where was Ted Weir?

  "You solved the last clue!" He sprang from behind the door, gun trained on me.

  I leveled my gun at his head. "You?" I shrieked. "You're the bad guy?"

  Ted gave me an ugly smile. "You didn't see that coming, did you?"

  I shook my head. I really didn't. "Not Lana?" I asked. I could've kicked myself.

  He frowned. "You didn't know it was me? I thought for sure you'd figure it out."

  "How could I have known it was you?"

  "I guess we really are that good." Ted grinned. "Right, Dad?"

  Dad?

  Prescott Winters III stepped out from behind a wardrobe. Dang it! I should've checked the wardrobe. He had a shotgun aimed a few inches from Rex's head.

  "Drop the gun, please, Ms. Wrath," the murderer said.

  I didn't mind a gun aimed at me, but a shotgun aimed at Rex was too much to bear. I did as I was told and turned to Ted. "You're working with the man who killed your mother?"

  "Not my mother," Ted said. "My mother was Dad's first wife. A lovely Turkish lady named Reza."

  "Turkish?" Something popped into my head. The first clue! The very first crossword listed Marco, the man who died under my watch years ago. It wasn't Lana at all. The fact that the kidnapper knew about that made me think it was another spy. "You knew Marco?"

  Prescott nodded. "My brother-in-law. My first wife's baby brother. When he died, Reza couldn't live with it. She killed herself."

  Ted snapped. "And it's your fault!"

  I needed to stall until Riley found us. It was kind of amazing that Ted had forgotten about him.

  I spoke up quickly and a little louder than usual. "How did you even find out about that? That mission is still classified!"

  Ted turned and shut what was left of the door. I thought about rushing him, but Prescott winked at me and pushed the gun closer to Rex's head. Riley! Where are you?

  "I had a few drinks with your old pal, Frank," Ted said. "The guilt of my uncle's death nearly killed him."

  Prescott piped up, "Actually, it did kill him."

  "Oh, right." Ted nodded. "It killed him."

  My jaw dropped, and my heart twisted. "Frank's dead?"

  "Alcohol poisoning. A nasty way to go," Prescott answered with a huge smile. "And now that I have you two here, in the same room, we can wrap up everything and avenge our family."

  "You are the mastermind," I said to Prescott.

  "Hey!" Ted whined. "I helped! He couldn't have done it without me!"

  His father rolled his eyes, but I didn't think Ted saw that. "Of course, son." He gave me a wink. "It really was my idea. I spent a long time in prison, which gave me all the time I needed to come up with revenge. When I found out my boy here was perfectly positioned to carry out my plans, well, it was a no-brainer."

  Ted frowned. Something about what his dad said upset him. Was it because Prescott implied he'd used Ted for his own gain?

  Where was Riley? I could really use him right now. I looked at the door and drew Ted's attention.

  He squinted at me. "Are you looking for your other handler? I'm afraid he's probably dead. I set a trap on the other staircase in case you two split up. I knew you'd follow me. I just didn't know for sure if he would."

  "What kind of trap?" I folded my arms over my chest. "Don't you remember Riley in the flower shop? He watched for that trap. He's found and disarmed this one too."

  The room shook with a nearby explosion.

  Prescott's eyebrows went up. "You were saying?"

  No! Riley couldn't be dead. He was too smart for that. Wasn't he?

  "I've been working with Dad on this plan for so long. I couldn't possibly have left anything to chance. In fact, once I finish you two off here, I'm heading over to see your old teacher, Linda Willard."

  My mouth dropped open. "What? Why? She doesn't know anything! I didn't even tell her where we were going!"

  Weir stopped and stared at me like I was an idiot. "Because I can." He rolled his eyes. "She knows enough, so she has to die, and you need to know this."

  There was a flash of something outside the splintered door.

  I threw my hands into the air. "I have to admit, you had me fooled."

  "And the CIA. After Frank told me about my uncle's untimely murder, he named you. The only problem was, I was looking for Finn Czrygy. Not Merry Wrath. Bravo, by the way." Ted's smile was genuine. Genuine psychopath. Prescott had taken full advantage of it. And I'd missed it.

  "Thanks," I grumbled, my mind racing to put together a plan that I wasn't sure I'd live to carry out.

  "Very proud of you, my boy," Prescott said. "But I think we can leave the teacher out of this. Remember what I said about overkill?"

  Ted stomped his feet and turned red. "I want her dead!" he sputtered. "I want all of them dead!"

  Oh yeah. Prescott was definitely the mastermind. And Ted's behavior was a ray of hope. I could work with a meltdown. There was that movement behind the door again. Was it Riley? A vagrant
? A very large rat?

  "Son," Prescott said firmly, "we still have other schemes in motion. Killing too many people would increase the risk. I warned you about that."

  My eyebrows went up, and I looked to Ted.

  "Dad didn't want me to kill that florist or your replacement at the CIA." Ted shot his dad a sullen glance. "Said it was too much. That we shouldn't kill anyone but you and Rex once we got you in here."

  Ah. So that was the plan. Reunite the couple and kill them.

  "Why drag it out?" I asked. "Why have me run all over town for nine days? Why keep Rex alive?"

  Ted rolled his eyes. "Duh! Because it tormented you! Dad wanted to finish you both off quickly, but I was enjoying it too much." He glared at his father. "It's what a real villain would do!"

  Yeah…a Bond villain. Not anyone in real life. But I wasn't about to tell him that. Ted was right—these last several days were torture. And looking at the shape Rex was in, I'd say it was that way for both of us.

  "It's called creative license." He beamed. "And I nailed it."

  Prescott sighed like a parent with a naughty toddler. "I know you think so, son. But now we've got two murders on our hands. In a moment, it'll be four. You need to learn—less is better. You can't get greedy in these situations. It's tacky."

  Ted narrowed his eyes. "Don't call me son! You were never there for me! You left me in foster care way longer than you should have!"

  Whoa. He snapped quickly. While I was entertained by this family tiff, I needed to exploit it. I held up my hands and walked slowly backward, toward Rex. The two men didn't even notice.

  "I told you," the older man said evenly, "I married Jeannie for her money. I wasn't abandoning you to foster care." His words were nice and all, but the way he said "abandoning" sounded a bit sarcastic. He really did use his son.

  This relationship was seriously messed up. Awesome! I stepped back once more and felt Rex's knee connect with the back of my leg. Prescott's shotgun was wavering as he tried to calm down his lunatic son. Ted was waving his arms, and his gun all over the place.

  "Foster care was awful!" Ted screamed. "I was shifted around five times in one year! And all that time I was waiting for you to kill your wife, collect the inheritance, and get me!"

  Prescott held up the hand that wasn't on the gun and spoke soothingly. "Which I did, remember?"

  I was about four feet from the shotgun. Prescott's finger was still on the trigger, but the way he held it with one hand was just unsteady enough that I might have a chance. My chief concern was Rex. If I got the shotgun, Ted could regain his senses and shoot Rex. I couldn't risk that.

  "Don't patronize me, boy," Prescott's voice was like iron. "This is my plan. You're lucky I let you participate."

  Ted was purple with rage. "I should kill you too and be done with it, Dad!"

  The door slowly opened, and a hand appeared near the floor, holding a homemade explosive device. The men didn't see Riley set it on the floor, but they could at any second. I lunged for the shotgun, surprising the older man, who just gave it up.

  Boom!

  An explosion went off just as Ted and I were drawing a bead on each other, but from what I could see, Ted was no more.

  "Why didn't you use your gun?" I snapped at Riley as he trained his pistol on Prescott.

  He shrugged. "I thought this was better."

  "And the explosion we heard?" I started untying my fiancé, who was still unconscious.

  "My shotgun," Riley said. "I always travel with one souped-up shell overloaded with powder."

  Rex fell forward into my arms, and I pulled off the mask. He was dazed and maybe a bit dehydrated and starved. But he was okay.

  "Merry?" His eyes fluttered open.

  "Hi, honey!" I nearly crushed him in a hug. "You're a little late for our wedding, but you can make it up to me."

  "Oh good," he said weakly. "How long have I been gone?"

  "Nine days," I answered.

  "Oh no!" He gasped. "The fee on my rented tux is going to be outrageous." Then he smiled at me, and I knew everything was going to be okay.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  It wasn't a church, and there weren't three hundred guests, but four days later, Rex and I tied the knot with a justice of the peace at the courthouse, surrounded by Robert and Riley as groomsmen, Kelly and Soo Jin as bridesmaids, and ten little girls in the ugliest flower girl dresses imaginable.

  I wore my very expensive wedding dress, and Kelly and Soo Jin wore their bridesmaids dresses. The only addition to the wedding party was Riley. Rex had been so grateful for his help that he made him a groomsman next to Kelly's husband, Robert. And it didn't even bother me.

  "Hello, Mrs. Ferguson," Rex grinned and pulled me in for a lovely kiss.

  I could've gotten lost in that kiss. My emotions had been overflowing since the minute I found him. Wrapping my arms tight around him, I returned that kiss, running my fingers through his hair.

  "Ahem." Kelly cleared her throat.

  Oh, right. The girls were here. This had to stay PG. I pulled back just in time to see Betty make gagging noises as Lauren shrieked something about not being able to unsee that, whatever that means.

  I looked back at Rex and smiled. "Actually, I was going to talk to you about that. I'm thinking of keeping my name. Is that okay?"

  Rex looked me in the eye. "It's absolutely okay. I don't really care what your name is as long as you're mine."

  Which was the right thing to say, as my troop broke out in spontaneous applause. The little feminists apparently approved.

  He grinned at them before turning back to me. "There's something else I need to say. And it will be the only time you'll ever hear these words from me."

  I held my breath, wondering if I was about to get chastised for putting myself in danger to rescue him.

  "Yes?" I asked uncertainly.

  "Thank you"—he tipped my chin up with his thumb—"for interfering this time."

  That earned him another kiss, and as our lips met, I noticed that there was a surprising lack of gagging.

  * * *

  Ted Weir didn't die from his injuries, and after a short stay at the hospital under armed guard, he was well enough to get a trip to jail. It turned out that Harvey Oak had been working with Ted's father. To avoid that coming out when Oak attacked us at the flower shop, Ted had shot him dead. Combined with the murder of my florist, Lewis Spitz, and CIA agent Bobby Ray Pratt, and two counts of kidnapping, he was going away for a long time.

  Prescott Winters III sang like a bird, selling his son out so he could make a deal for one of those posh white-collar crime prisons. He also volunteered additional information implicating Vy Todd in an opioid smuggling scheme. She went back to jail, and the governor refused to pardon her a second time.

  Juliette Dowd was admitted to a mental hospital. The stress of being kidnapped didn't diminish her rage, so the authorities had her evaluated, by my counselor, Susan, no less. And she recommended a nice long stay at a lovely place in the country for an undetermined length of time. I should probably visit her. The girls made her a lovely card where she was an angry, sparkly unicorn.

  I never did tell Rex about Ronni sending Juliette to his house to spy on me. When it comes to family, you just have to forgive and forget. With Juliette gone, the evil twin was out one conspirator, so I didn't expect any more shenanigans anytime soon.

  Someday Ronni would like me. I wasn't quite sure how that would happen, but maybe if I brought her a dead animal as an olive branch, the evil twin might soften. But no matter what, I still wasn't eating the haggis she'd made. You have to draw the line somewhere.

  Linda Willard enjoyed the thrill of the hunt so much that she decided to create crosswords and sudoku puzzles on her own. When the story of the retired teacher using her mad skills to help the police catch a murderer (cuz I'm still undercover, sort of) came out, she even got an offer from a major New York publisher, who gave her a nice advance for a book that will come out next summer.
>
  Sheriff Carnack was so impressed that he had a little ceremony where he presented her with a Citizenship Award. I'd suggested a Medal for Murder, but for some reason, Rex nixed it. Linda accepted her award with grace as my troop applauded loudly and whistled from the audience.

  In the meantime, my former teacher has offered to help out with my troop now and then. Kelly threw her arms around the woman when she offered. Yes, I know that sometimes I'm irresponsible, like having my girls play outside of a convicted smuggler's house. And Linda will make a wonderful addition to our troop. She's working on a special badge just for the troop, where they will learn how to solve puzzles. The girls are over the moon about it and requested a chapter on booby traps. I hope Linda doesn't come to regret Kelly's offer.

  Bart house sat for us during our honeymoon. Turned out he was a real dog and cat whisperer. A very expensive whisperer, but the fact that Philby, Martini, and Leonard behaved so well around him was worth every penny.

  As for Riley, he got his first case immediately after the explosion in the old school. A rich, young, gorgeous widow wanted him to find out if her late husband had been cheating on her. There seemed no merit to the case since the husband was dead and had left her a huge inheritance, but Riley accepted it anyway. I'd heard the two of them were on a little trip to Turks and Caicos for "work."

  Rex and I managed to fly to our honeymoon island, a little later than we'd originally hoped. The sand and water were so soothing to the many bruises from my car accident. We found a peaceful, secluded beach on a small island in the middle of the ocean with no murders, kidnappings, or trouble of any kind. For a week we lay about in the sand, drinking silly cocktails that seemed to have been named in the 1950s by Rat Packers. And we found ways to distract ourselves from what happened. I'd tell you more, but it's classified. By me.

  When we got back from our honeymoon, I decided to reward the girls for their help with a backstage tour of the aviary at the zoo. At first, the zoo refused, thinking that I'd broken in and washed a cat in the restroom for no apparent reason.