Ghostly Wedding (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 17)

by Lily Harper Hart

“It’s unlikely, but it’s our best shot.”

  “Okay, text me when you’re done and we’ll get Mexican food.”

  “We’re not getting Mexican food,” Zander insisted. “What if it gives you heartburn or a sour stomach? You need to get something bland ... like an avocado salad.”

  “We’re not going to Jason’s restaurant,” Harper insisted. “He needs a break from you. I promised he wouldn’t have to see you again until the wedding.”

  “He should want to see me. I’m a fun guy.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

  Sensing the crisis had passed, Jared left Harper with another kiss and a promise to text when he was ready for lunch. Once at the cruiser with Mel, he fixed his partner with a serious stare across the top of the car.

  “I keep telling myself that she loves him,” he said, referring to Zander. “I mean ... I get it. They have a unique relationship. Does he have to be so much work, though?”

  Mel snorted. “It’s only going to get worse when you’re married. Then Zander is going to feel as if he no longer has to be on his best behavior because there will be no risk of you dumping Harper over him.”

  Jared was aghast. “Wait ... this was him on his best behavior? How much worse does it get?”

  “Do you really want me to answer that?”

  “Probably not.”

  “Come on. Let’s drop in on Denise and see how she’s holding up. After that, we’ll get lunch and see where the day takes us.”

  “I can’t believe he gets worse,” Jared muttered.

  “You’ll get used to him.”

  That was exactly what Jared was afraid of.

  DENISE SAT ON A SMALL SETTEE IN THE MIDDLE of the funeral home when Jared and Mel entered. She had a binder open on her lap, her hair was pulled back in a severe ponytail, and her face was devoid of makeup. She looked utterly wrecked.

  Tom Duncan, the owner of the funeral home, met Jared and Mel before they could cross to her. “Are you here for Denise? If so, I have to warn you, she’s very upset. She’s barely holding it together.”

  “We’re here to see if we can offer her any help, although I don’t know what that would entail, and ask if she’s had any ideas on who might’ve wanted to hurt her ex-husband since the last time we spoke,” Mel explained. “We don’t want to upset her.”

  “She’s already upset.” Tom rubbed his chin as he regarded the woman. “She’s second-guessing herself left and right. It would be easier if she had someone to help her but the only one here is Cami and she seems to be more of a hindrance than a help.”

  Jared flicked his gaze to the teenager studying the urns on a shelf. Her back was to them, but Jared could tell from the slope of her shoulders that she was gearing up for a battle. “What does Cami want?”

  “She wants her mother to pick the most expensive stuff in the parlor. Denise is trying to take a more measured approach. They yelled at each other about ten minutes ago and haven’t acknowledged each other’s existence in the time since.”

  “I think that’s fairly normal for teenage girls and mothers,” Mel noted. “I happen to remember a fight or two between Harlow and Gloria that made my ears burn.”

  “Not my Harper,” Jared countered. “I’m guessing she was an angel at that age.”

  “Oh, you’re just saying that because you’re getting married tomorrow,” Mel groused. “The girl was sweet as pie when she was little, but she was never an angel. She always had a mischievous streak.”

  “Which I’m certain was only a thing because of Zander.”

  “Yeah, you’re dreaming. He wasn’t responsible for all the trouble they found, only seventy-five percent of it.”

  “I’m going to stick with my current beliefs on this particular subject.”

  “Do what you want to do.” Mel dragged a hand through his hair and focused on Tom. “We need to talk to her. We promise to be as gentle as possible.”

  “I’m not going to stop you from talking to her,” Tom said. “Honestly, I think a break from choosing items for the service might be good for her. I’m just warning you to tread lightly.”

  “Then we arrived right on time to help.” Mel took the lead as they joined Denise, offering a tight smile when she looked up. “We’re sorry to disturb you.”

  “No, don’t worry about it.” Denise closed the binder and straightened. “Did you find who did this?”

  “Not yet.” Mel sat in one of the open chairs across from the woman, leaving the other seat for Jared. “We were hoping you might’ve had time to think about things, perhaps come up with a name of someone who held a grudge against your ex-husband.”

  “I have been thinking about it.” Denise’s eyes were red-rimmed and puffy from what looked like long crying jags. “I just can’t think of anyone who would want to hurt him. Did you talk to the people at his office?”

  “We did, and they couldn’t come up with a name either. They’re going through the complaint files to see if they can find something but say that Peter never mentioned having trouble with a client.”

  “Peter never had trouble with anybody. He was a good man who always did the right thing. Nobody disliked him.”

  Jared made a throat-clearing sound to draw Denise’s attention to him. “Everyone we’ve talked to regarding your husband has spoken about him in glowing terms. You can’t go through life without upsetting someone, though. Even Mother Theresa had people who didn’t like her.”

  Denise let loose a hollow laugh. “I guess you’re right. Peter, though, never told me about any work problems he might’ve had. He wasn’t a complainer. The worst thing I remember him ever telling me was that they changed the forms to input the information into the computer and he claimed the person who did it was a moron.”

  “I think everyone makes that sort of complaint when faced with something new.”

  “That’s what I mean. He just didn’t have enough juice to make enemies. Are you sure that he was struck on purpose? I mean ... couldn’t it have been an accident?”

  “There’s no way it was an accident. The footage we saw clearly shows the individual behind the wheel accelerating and steering directly into him.”

  Denise’s eyes went wide. “I didn’t know you had video. Why haven’t you made an arrest if you know the person who did this?”

  “Because we can’t see the driver, and the license plate is blurry. All we know is the make and model of the car and that a blond female was driving.”

  “But ... .” Denise trailed off and shook her head. “I apologize. This has been a very difficult few days.” She inclined her head toward the teenager, who was steadfastly ignoring everybody else in the room. “My daughter isn’t taking it well.”

  “I don’t think any daughter could take something like this well,” Jared said, forcing a smile when the girl finally turned and focused on the trio in the middle of the room.

  Cami did a double take, as if surprised to find she was no longer alone with her mother, and then started in their direction. “Who are you?” she demanded as she looked between Jared and Mel.

  “Cami, don’t be rude,” Denise chided. “This is Detective Kelsey and his partner Detective Monroe. They’re trying to figure out who hurt your father.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Fury kindled in the depths of Cami’s green eyes. “It doesn’t look like you’re trying to figure out anything. In fact, it looks to me as if you’re sitting on your behinds and doing nothing.”

  Denise was horrified. “Cami! You can’t say things like that to adults. What have I told you?”

  Cami ignored her mother. “Why haven’t you arrested whoever did this?”

  “Because we’re still looking,” Jared replied. “We’ve been unable to ascertain if your father had any enemies. You knew him better than anyone, right? Do you know if he was having trouble with someone? Maybe there was someone at the office who wanted to pick a fight.”

  “At the insurance office?” Cami rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding me? Nobody at the insurance
office wanted to hurt my dad. They all loved him.” She choked up. “I loved him, too. He didn’t have any enemies.”

  Jared’s heart went out to the teenager. She was obviously wrecked over what had happened to her father. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  “Do people have to say that?” Cami swiped at the tears coursing down her cheeks. “Is that the go-to thing to say when someone dies? If so, it’s stupid. You probably have a book telling you what to say to people when someone is murdered. Well, I’m telling you it’s stupid and I don’t want to hear it.

  “He was a good dad,” she continued, the tears falling faster now. “In fact, he was the best dad in the world. Everybody liked him. Random people on the street waved at him because he was so friendly. He didn’t deserve what happened.”

  “No one is saying that,” Mel supplied. “There’s nobody who believes your father deserved what happened to him.”

  “You do.”

  “I don’t. We’re simply trying to figure this out. Your father was such a good man there’s nowhere for us to look when it comes to suspects.”

  “Then do your job better,” Cami hissed. “You’re supposed to be the one who knows what to do. My father didn’t deserve to die. I want you to find the animal who did this to him.”

  “That’s our top priority,” Jared promised.

  “Whatever.” Cami shook her head and turned so the detectives couldn’t see her cry. “How much longer do we have to stay here, Mom? I want to go home.”

  Denise moved to her daughter’s side and slung an arm around the girl’s shoulders. “Let me ask Tom if we can take the binder home, huh? I’ll make all the decisions there and then call him to figure out the pricing on the phone.”

  “I don’t care what you do. I don’t want to stay here.”

  “Just ... give me a second.” Denise shot Mel and Jared an apologetic smile before crossing to Tom, leaving her furious offspring to keep railing against the atrocities of the world.

  “This whole thing sucks,” Cami raged. “I hate it all. We’re going to have to call a freaking Uber to go home on top of everything else. It’s outrageous when we have a car locked up in the garage, for crying out loud. I know it’s running no matter what she says. I heard her come in the other day and it sounded fine. Now we can’t drive it, though. I’m sure this is some ‘help the environment’ thing.”

  It was an offhand comment, and yet it caused the blood in Jared’s veins to run cold. He slid a sidelong look toward Mel and found the older detective looked equally intrigued. Jared opened his mouth to ask about the car they couldn’t drive, but Mel stopped him with an almost imperceptible head shake, which caused Jared to snap his mouth shut.

  “Tom said we can take the binder,” Denise said to Cami upon her return. “Let’s get out of here, huh? You can pick out something to eat before we go home.”

  “I’m not hungry.” Cami was sulky as she followed her mother. “I just want to go home. I hate this place.”

  “It’s a funeral home. Nobody likes a funeral home.”

  Jared waited until the room was empty to speak. “What do you make of that?”

  “Nothing good. I think we need to run a check.”

  “I’m right there with you.”

  15

  Fifteen

  “What do you have?” Jared watched Mel work on his cruiser computer from the passenger seat. He was itching to take over the search himself — Mel wasn’t great with technology — but knew that would be an ugly scene so he held back, although it took a lot of effort.

  “Denise Humphrey owns a 2016 Honda Civic.” Mel’s voice was low. “We should’ve checked.”

  Jared nodded. “We should have. Her hair is different, though. It’s shorter.”

  “She obviously wore a wig.”

  “Or had it cut after the fact. We didn’t inform her until the next day. She had plenty of time to run to a salon and get a drastic cut.”

  “She did.” Mel rubbed his chin, debating. “We have to get to that house and look over the car. That has to be our next step.”

  “Then that’s what we’ll do.”

  Mel put the cruiser into reverse and backed out of the funeral home parking lot. “I can’t believe we didn’t check,” he lamented. “I mean ... that should’ve been the first thing we did.”

  Jared didn’t like it when his partner focused all the blame on himself, but he understood why Mel was berating himself in this particular instance. “She didn’t act suspiciously. She seemed broken up. Her story about the divorce being amiable didn’t trigger any red flags. I ... don’t want to say we’re blameless, but it never occurred to either one of us.”

  “Well, it’s occurring to me now. Do you want to know what else is occurring to me?”

  “Cami.”

  Mel nodded, grim. “Is that girl about to lose both parents? She’s not an adult. That means she’ll go into the system. How is that fair?”

  “I hate to repeat back something to you that you often say to me, but life isn’t fair. I mean ... I have to deal with Zander on a regular basis, and according to you, he’s going to get worse. That’s definitely not fair.”

  “No,” Mel agreed. “It’s not. I just ... can’t believe we overlooked this.”

  “Her hair was different,” Jared insisted. “If her hair had been long, we would’ve checked.”

  “You say that as if it’s an acceptable excuse.”

  “There is no acceptable excuse. We messed up. Now we have to try and fix it.”

  “Lord have mercy on that poor teenager’s soul.”

  Jared wasn’t looking forward to dealing with that situation either. However, it had to be done. “Let’s take a look at the car. There’s still a chance it’s not her.”

  Mel shot him an incredulous look.

  “A very small chance,” Jared conceded. “We have to chase this one to the end. You know it as well as I do.”

  “I do know it. That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

  That made two of them.

  PER USUAL, HARPER AND ZANDER MADE up relatively quickly. Their fights never lasted very long — seventy-two hours was the record — and by the time they finished their ice cream and started down the sidewalk they were in love all over again.

  “If you could medal in any event in the Olympics, what would it be?” Zander asked, ducking his head under a low-hanging tree branch.

  “I don’t know. Tennis maybe. I’ve always thought it looks like a fun sport. I’m not coordinated enough to play it, though.”

  “Yeah, it’s harder to judge that ball with the racket than it should be,” Zander agreed. “Do you remember when I tried out for the tennis team in high school?”

  “Yes. You were removed after one day because you kept doing phallic things with the racket.”

  “I was shining it.”

  “If that’s your story.”

  “I was. I don’t know why nobody believed me.”

  “Probably because they’d met you.”

  “Let’s not fight again,” he warned. “I was asking an innocent question.”

  Because Harper didn’t want to fight either, she merely nodded. “What sport would you want to medal in? By the way, if you say running, I’m totally tackling you into that bush.”

  “You’d better not. That’s a bramble bush and you’ll get all scratched up. Jared will not be happy if his bride is bruised and scabbed on his wedding day.”

  “Just tell me what sport.”

  “Honestly? Bobsledding. I think I’d be really good at it.”

  Harper snorted. “That’s a team sport. You don’t play well on a team.”

  “I play well on your team.”

  “Not always.”

  “I still like it. It’s dangerous, and practically anybody can do it. I think it’s a much better sport than something like shooting. Like ... I don’t get that sport where people have to cross-country ski for miles and then stop to shoot at targets. I mean ... what freaking sport is that?�
�

  “I’ve wondered about that myself,” Harper admitted. “Oddly enough, whenever that’s on, I can’t look away.”

  “That’s because you’re trying to figure out what they’re doing.”

  “True story.”

  They lapsed into amiable silence as they approached the intersection where Peter was killed. Harper didn’t even realize she’d purposely pointed herself in that direction until they were already there.

  “Did you pick this spot for a reason?” Zander asked when he noticed where they’d landed.

  “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “It’s going to bother you if we don’t solve this one, isn’t it?”

  “It shouldn’t,” Harper countered. “It’s not as if we can’t pick things up when we get back from our honeymoon. By the way, do you know where Jared is taking me on our honeymoon? I made a mistake a few weeks ago and left the decision in his hands and now I’m curious.”

  “He didn’t tell me, and there’s no way he would. He knows I have a big mouth. I would’ve had the best of intentions if he confided in me, even meant it when I promised not to tell. I still would’ve blabbed.”

  Harper found she was amused by his honesty. It was rare he took a moment for genuine self-reflection. “I think that’s your fault. If you would blab a little less, at least in front of him, he might confide in you more often.”

  “What fun is that? Half the time I get my jollies from seeing how red I can make his face. It’s kind of like a game.”

  “Maybe that’s the sport you should medal in.”

  “You kid, but if they offered Public Aggravation as a game, I would totally mop the floor with the rest of the competition.”

  “I can see that. I ... .” Harper trailed off when a hint of movement caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. When she looked up, she found Peter’s ghost standing on the opposite corner, staring at her. “Well, I’ll be.”

  “You’ll be what?” Zander asked blankly.

  Harper inclined her chin across the way. “The dream ghost has decided to touch down in the land of the living.”

  “Peter Humphrey?”