Royal Pains
Page 26
The officer, whose name tag indicated he was Paul McClusky, stared at him blankly, saying nothing.
“What’s the matter?” Evan asked.
“We’re shutting the place down,” McClusky said. “You’ll have to vacate the premises immediately.”
“Am I in trouble? Is it illegal to buy oxygen?”
Cindy laughed. “Come on.” She grabbed his arm and begin pulling him toward the door. “Let’s get out of here. They’re locking everything down.”
“Does this have to do with those pills Julian has been handing out?”
“I don’t know,” Cindy said. She looked at McClusky. “Is that what’s going on?”
“All I know is that this place is shut down. Gather all your personal belongings and clear the building. There’ll be officers outside who’ll ask you some questions and get your contact information.”
As Evan and Cindy descended the steps into the parking lot, a handcuffed Julian Morelli climbed into the backseat of a patrol car. Morelli, face chiseled stone, lips tight, glared at Evan.
“Wow,” Cindy said. “This isn’t what I expected when I came to work today.” She sighed. “Guess I’ll have to find another job.”
“Make it one where they have those cool oxygen chambers.”
“For sure.”
“And maybe those way cool windows.”
“Absolutely,” Cindy said. “Don’t you just love those?”
Chapter 47
As weddings go, Nicole’s was over-the-top. Three hundred people, most with eight- or nine-figure net worths, filled a portion of the garden, facing the white-lattice gazebo, now draped with flowers of virtually every color. A string quartet provided the music. Once the guests were ushered into place, the quartet fell into Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March.”
Divya, Jill, and I sat near the back along the aisle, Evan and Paige in the row in front of us. Paige had flown back from California the day before. Said she couldn’t miss the wedding. Evan said it was him she couldn’t miss. My brother. Mr. Humility.
Nicole entered through an arch of flowers, one arm hooked around her father’s elbow. She looked stunning. A magazine cover. Her ivory silk and lace gown trailed behind as she walked down the gold-carpeted aisle Ellie had had constructed. Her blond hair, pulled back into some kind of twist except for the tendrils that framed her beaming face, reflected the late-afternoon sun.
The gathering shifted in their seats as one and watched as she glided past. I didn’t see a dry eye.
Ahead, in the gazebo, Robert adopted the nervous stance of every groom I had ever seen. Face fixed in an expression just short of panic, shoulders erect, and hands clasped in front of his crotch, as if protecting himself. He looked like a tux-clad statue. I wasn’t even sure he was breathing.
At the end of the aisle, Nicole and Mark climbed the three steps to the gazebo. Mark kissed her cheek and descended to his front-row seat between Jackie and Ellie. Nicole and Robert faced the preacher.
The ceremony was short. Robert and Nicole each recited vows they had written themselves. After the pronouncement and the obligatory kiss, they walked back up the aisle while the crowd clapped and cheered.
The receiving line was followed by the cutting of the cakes, one a four-tiered wedding cake and the other a twolayered chocolate groom’s cake. Champagne was plentiful.
After fulfilling those duties, the newlyweds disappeared upstairs to change for the party. They returned twenty minutes later. Robert wore a navy blue suit and white shirt, no tie. Nicole wore the pewter silk dress she had modeled on the day of her seizure. That seemed months ago, not just a few days. Her hair was now down and she looked stunning. As usual.
Jill and I stood with Ellie near one end of the patio, sipping champagne and enjoying the sunset. It was spectacular, as if Ellie had ordered it up just for the occasion. She probably had. I believed there was nothing she couldn’t do.
“Isn’t this wonderful?” Ellie asked. “Look at all these young people having fun.”
The string quartet had moved inside and now a fourpiece band occupied the gazebo. The newly constructed dance floor was filled. The young and wealthy were in party mode. Evan and Paige, too. They had staked out a spot in the middle of the crowd, dancing, Evan’s arm around her waist, her hand on his shoulder, head back, laughing, probably at something Evan had said. My brother the charmer.
“Ellie, you might have outdone yourself this time,” Jill said.
“Oh, it was nothing. Just a matter of sending out a few invitations and calling the caterers.” She laughed.
“If that’s all there was to it,” I said, “anybody could throw a party. But this”—I waved a hand over the dance floor below—“only you could’ve done.”
“You’re just saying that.”
“I’m saying it because it’s true.” I raised my glass of champagne in salute. “Congratulations.”
Someone tapped my shoulder and I turned to see Nicole and Robert standing there.
“Here’s the beautiful bride now,” I said. “It was a lovely wedding.”
“All because of Grandma,” Nicole said. “She always makes these things look so easy.”
Ellie actually blushed. Not something I’d seen before.
Nicole touched my arm. “Can we talk with you for a minute?”
“Is something wrong?”
She laughed. “No. Everything’s fine.”
I followed Nicole and Robert across the patio to a quiet corner. They stood, arms interlocked, the setting sun glowing off Nicole’s perfect face.
“What is it?” I asked.
“We wanted to thank you. We didn’t want to do it in front of anybody and cause you any embarrassment.”
“You don’t need to thank me.”
“Yes, we do.” Robert slid his arm around Nicole and pulled her tightly against him. “This day might not have happened without you. I might have lost her.”
I couldn’t think of anything clever to say, so I said nothing.
“You were a bulldog,” Nicole said. “When no one would listen to you. Not me. Not my mother or father. Not anyone.”
“Ellie did. She knew something was wrong.”
Nicole glanced across the patio toward her grandmother. She smiled as tears welled in her eyes. “She is so special.”
“Yes, she is,” I said. “So are you.”
“You won’t get an argument here,” Robert said.
“I understand you’re going to Bermuda for your honeymoon?” I said. “When do you leave?”
“We’re going to spend the night here. At the mansion. Then tomorrow we fly to the island.”
“I’m happy for both of you.”
A waiter appeared with a tray of champagne flutes. We each exchanged the ones we held for fresh ones.
Nicole waved at someone down on the dance floor and then said to me, “We just wanted to thank you for everything you did.”
“As I said, no thanks are necessary. Go and mingle with your friends. And have a great honeymoon.”
Nicole and Robert descended the steps and melted into the crowd. As I walked back across the patio toward where Jill and Ellie stood, Sam appeared through the window, motioning me toward him. I opened the door and stepped inside. “What is it?”
“I’m afraid something’s happened, sir.”
Why was I not surprised?
But Sam’s wide, beaming smile gave me pause. For once, I suspected, all was as it should be.
Chapter 48
Two weeks later, on Saturday afternoon, I took a long, relaxing run on the beach. I then swung by The Bagel Shack and had a bagel and a cup of strong coffee before heading back to Shadow Pond to work on some charts with Divya.
When I came up the long drive I saw Divya leaning against the back of her SUV in the parking area. She wasn’t alone. Evan, Paige, Jill, and Rachel Fleming were there. So was a gleaming black van. I parked and climbed out of my Saab.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Eva
n opened his arms wide. “The new HankMed Healthmobile. It’s got everything. Portable X-ray, echocardiogram, EKG, and a huge plasma-screen TV.”
“I thought I told you that we couldn’t afford this.”
“You don’t have to,” Evan said. “It’s free.”
Rachel laughed. “Not exactly free, but close.”
“How close?”
“Evan worked out a barter situation with my dad.”
“He did?” This was going to be good.
“We do all their employee physicals and health care and they let us use the van,” Evan said.
“And after five years, you’ll own it,” Rachel said.
“That’s it? We take care of your crew and you’ll give us this van?”
“Thanks to Evan.”
My brother the negotiator.
“I’m impressed.”
Evan beamed.
“Wait until you see what’s in this thing,” Evan said.
“Show me.”
Other Books by D. P. Lyle
NONFICTION
Murder and Mayhem: A Doctor Answers Medical and Forensic Questions for Mystery Writers
Forensics for Dummies
Forensics and Fiction: Clever, Intriguing, and Downright Odd Questions from Crime Writers
Howdunnit: Forensics: A Guide for Writers
FICTION
Stress Fracture
(A Dub Walker Thriller)
Hot Lights, Cold Steel
(A Dub Walker Thriller)
Devil’s Playground
(A Samantha Cody Thriller)
Double Blind
(A Samantha Cody Thriller)