“Ziva,” Mike said.
“Long time no see.” Jerk. I wasn’t feeling as friendly now that I’d placed him.
“What are you up to?” Aria asked.
“Couple buddies are all in town. We just finished playing a round. Thought we’d grab a drink. Will you join us?”
I was thinking we should be getting back. I knew Christina would agree, but when I looked at Aria, I saw that she was seriously considering it. I wasn’t sure what that was all about, but if she wanted a chance to catch up, then I was going to give it to her.
“Sure, why don’t we,” I said to Aria. Christina started to protest on cue, but we ignored her and followed Mike to the lounge.
Of course, I would have absolutely said no if I had known that one of his buddies was Whip McGovern.
“Ziva, did you follow me all the way here? I’m flattered.”
“Whip, have you met Aria’s cousin, Christina?” I shoved Christina his way. She smiled, taking in his appearance. Whip was a handsome fella, and of course completely self-obsessed. Those two were made for one another.
We ordered a round of drinks and Aria and Mike got caught up, while Christina and I chatted up Whip. Wait, who am I kidding? I didn’t chat with anyone. The conversation consisted of Whip talking about Whip while Christina talked about Christina. It was a case of anything you can do, I can do better. I could clearly see that I had been wrong. These two would never hit it off. The only difference was, where Whip claimed to have done something amazing like, “When I was in Nepal climbing Everest,” to which Christina replied, “Everest? That’s next on my list,” I knew she was telling the truth. I’d bet the only mountain Whip had climbed was Space Mountain at Disney World.
I mentally checked out of their conversation and began to eavesdrop on Aria and Mike’s behind me. Wow, now that conversation had me all sorts of flustered inside. I was sure Aria was a mess too.
“You know, I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately,” Mike was saying.
“You have?” Aria seemed genuinely surprised. She hadn’t said anything about Mike in a long time.
“I saw your engagement in the paper,” Mike offered as way of explanation. Aria and Vince’s engagement had been Page Six worthy, so I wasn’t surprised it made the society pages in Atlanta.
“I even drove up to Port Haven last weekend hoping to run into you.”
“You did?”
“I probably shouldn’t have said anything, makes me look like an idiot, but I saw you tonight and I couldn’t let it go. I think fate brought you here.”
I thought it was a missing dress, but what did I know?
“It’s just … I’m such an idiot. I never told you I loved you. Very much. I realized it a bit too late. I’m sorry I didn’t know it back then.” I would’ve given anything to turn around and see the expression on his face. In fact, both of their faces.
“I loved you too. I told you that,” Aria replied.
“I know, which is why I hate that I missed my chance. I’d do anything for another shot at us. Guess I shouldn’t have waited so long.”
Aria was speechless. I couldn’t blame her.
“Any chance I’m not too late?”
I held my breath, honestly unsure what Aria would say. Yes, she loved Vince now, but it had to be hard to think straight when your ex-boyfriend, the one you had thought was “the one,” was standing in front of you spilling his heart out.
I couldn’t resist and I had to turn around. I pretended to look at the television playing over their heads. Truthfully, I was staring at Mike’s puppy-dog eyes.
Aria finally spoke, “That’s really sweet, Mike, but I’m really happy right now and can’t wait to marry my fiancé.” Aria shrugged her shoulders. “Sorry.”
Mike looked defeated. “That’s okay. I knew it was a long shot, but I had to ask.”
“It was nice seeing you though. Glad we got to catch up,” Aria said, trying to make light of the situation.
“Yeah, me too. Congrats, then, I guess.”
“Thanks.”
A couple beats of awkward silence hung in the air.
“Will you excuse me?” Aria said. Mike nodded of course and Aria walked away from him. I did the same, leaving my conversation and chasing after her.
We met up in the ladies room.
“You okay, girl? I was totally eavesdropping.”
“Yeah, wow. I wasn’t expecting all that. Joining them hadn’t been a good idea.”
“Sorry about that. I thought you wanted to.”
“I had, but it wasn’t smart.”
“He doesn’t have you second guessing Vince, does he?”
“Maybe a little. I guess not so much second guessing, but more like playing the “what ifs.”
I could see that.
“But then honestly, I just think that if Mike and I hadn’t broken up, then I would’ve never met Raja and had Arjun. Thinking about my little boy makes Mike just a guy from my past.”
“Girl, your head is in a better place than mine would be.”
“I’ve had a long time to think about Mike and, since him, I’ve been shown what love truly is. I’m not sure Mike knows what that’s like.”
“True. So, what now? You ready to bounce?” I asked.
“Definitely. Let’s nab Christina and get the heck out of here.”
17
Thursday morning meant business. Since I lost yesterday, I’d have to work my tail off all day to get caught up. The security system I had ordered a couple of days ago was delivered first thing, and I planned to install it immediately. The system came with a camera, a couple window sensors, and a motion detector. It also synched with my phone, so I could keep an eye on my place when I wasn’t there and receive notifications if anything was triggered. My apartment wasn’t Fort Knox, but it would do. I was driving over to Inez’s to pick up Captain Jack and then headed home to install it when a county line rang.
“Honey girl, what’s taking you so long?” Mrs. J. asked when I answered. You’d think I was late picking her up for church. I shouldn’t have been surprised; Mrs. J. was annoyed when her beauty products weren’t delivered on time. Sitting in a jail cell must have been driving her nuts.
“Sorry, Mrs. J., I’m working on it.”
“Well, work faster. If I don’t get out of here soon, I’m going to organize one of them hunger strikes on account of the food being horrendous. Don’t even get me started on their pecan pie. Now that should be a crime.”
Glad to hear she’s staying out of trouble. “Hey, what do you know about Bob McGovern or his son Whip?”
“Bob was a fool. Talked a lot, but never got much done. Of course, he didn’t have to being he was a McGovern.”
“Come again?”
“Old money and plenty of it, or there used to be. Heard funds are low. What’s this got to do with getting me out of here?”
“Just another angle I’m working. You know Whip’s running for mayor.”
“And Bob hated Humphrey. That’s good ‘sug, real good.”
“Thanks. I just don’t have any evidence yet, only motive.” Evidence seemed to be in short supply around here. I added “collect evidence” on my growing list of items to-do.
Someone knocked at my front door and I told Mrs. J. that I’d check in with her later. I really should’ve tried out my new security camera before answering the door because when I did, I opened it to none other than Whip McGovern himself. He stood on my doorstep with a bouquet of white roses in one hand and an invitation in the other.
“Oh, hi, I wasn’t expecting anyone.” I looked past him, expecting to see someone else with him, but he was alone. That surprised me. Knowing Whip and his ego, I wouldn’t put it past him to hire his own paparazzi. “What can I do for you?” I really didn’t want to invite him in.
“You took off yesterday without saying goodbye. I figured that had to be a mistake,” he said, laughing at his own words as if they were a pun of a joke. We had taken off rather quickly
last night. Christina had had no problem leaving once she mentally declared herself the winner. “He’s never even been to Spain!” She told us on the way home. That was all I had heard because, thankfully, I fell asleep shortly after that comment and slept the rest of the way home.
“Not a mistake. So again, what can I do for you?”
“Well, I was just thinking to myself, “Whip, you should have a date to Saturday’s Governor’s Ball and then I thought, who would love to join me? And your name came right to mind. I’m sure you’d be honored.”
No, no I would not. Good thing it was also Aria’s wedding day. I doubted he would’ve accepted that I was washing my hair, or more like, I’d rather eat dirt. “Aria’s wedding is on Saturday.”
“You can’t skip it?” His face was totally serious.
I looked at Whip like he had two heads. “She’s my best friend. Plus, I don’t think my boyfriend would appreciate it.”
Whip waved that away. “He wouldn’t care. It’s not every night you get to have dinner with the governor.”
“I wasn’t talking about the governor part.” Whip ignored me and proceeded to hand me both the flowers and envelope. “Here, why don’t you keep those, or better yet, give them to someone else who wants them,” I said.
“I bought them for you. I insist.” He tried to hand the flowers to me once more.
I grabbed my car keys off the hook by the front door and stepped out of my apartment, shutting the door behind me and forcing Whip to backup.
“Sorry, but I really have to run.” I had promised Aria that I’d help her with wedding stuff today as well. The plan was that I’d meet her at Park Place Hotel this afternoon to survey the damage of her reception venue and go from there. Truth be told, I still had forty minutes until I was supposed to meet her, but that was irrelevant. Whip didn’t budge, but I didn’t care. I scooted past him and bounded down the stairs to my truck. I didn’t really care if he stood there all day. I had a security camera now. I’d know if he tried something fishy.
I dug through my purse and called Detective Roxy from my truck. I wanted to tell her about the McGoverns and see if she could piece things together from her end. Wouldn’t that have just made life easier? Of course, she didn’t answer, so I left her a message.
Since I had a few minutes to spare, I drove to the post office and decided to rent a PO box instead of having all my deliveries sent downstairs to the antiques shop. It might be totally inconvenient popping into the post office all the time, but at least I could be sure my mail would be safe until I figured out what the heck was going on, and I wouldn’t have to bother Kathleen every day. My wallet would thank me too.
With that task completed, I headed to Park Place. I was majorly hoping the venue wouldn’t be all that bad and we could check one thing off Aria’s ever-growing list of disasters.
It turned out to be worse than I imagined.
I should’ve known it was going to be a mess when the wedding planner insisted we have tea first. Park Place was known for hosting a formal afternoon tea. The tea room was a sight, with its Waterford chandeliers, delicate floral china and crisp white lines. The only thing we were missing were the fancy-shmancy hats. At least my shorts were designer. I could’ve totally dug the European vibe if I wasn’t getting more suspicious by the minute. Don’t get me wrong, I loved a good tea party, especially those lemon scones and miniature cucumber and dill sandwiches, but the extra VIP treatment was making me wary. I tried to brush it off. Aria was, after all, marrying Vincent Delgado, Savannah’s most eligible and wealthiest bachelor; not to mention, most people thought he was corrupt as could be, a reputation that he helped facilitate. I tried to keep that in mind, which is why for over an hour, I let the staff of Park Place fuss over my bestie and bring out scones and sandwiches, this special tea and that one for her to sample. They even capped off the service with a little Earl Grey-infused truffle. Personally, I thought tea belonged in the pot, but I never turned down a truffle.
Finally, we were invited to follow the wedding coordinator to the Grande Ballroom. As soon as I saw the giant floor fans, I knew we were in trouble. We walked through the double doors and directly into chaos. Workers were everywhere—replacing the dance floor, steaming carpets, and pulling wallpaper down. A woman, who I assumed to be a designer, was holding paint swatches next to folds of material, apparently trying to decide which paint color matched the new curtains.
“All this for a little water damage, huh?” I said to the wedding coordinator. I would’ve said it to Aria, but she looked a bit catatonic, standing in the middle of the room, eyes wide, mouth open.
“It was more than just a little water. More than one alarm was pulled. The entire system was activated,” the coordinator said to me, and then turned to Aria and added, “I know this looks bad, but I promise everything will be perfect on Saturday.” I wondered if she felt bad lying like that because I was fairly optimistic, and even I couldn’t see how this was going to be perfect.
Aria shared my skepticism and told the coordinator so.
“I completely understand. If you want to cancel, your deposit will be fully refunded and there won’t be any penalties for breaking contract.” I should hope not.
Aria told the coordinator that she’d get back to her later that day. We took one last look at the disaster and walked out. We started winding our way down the halls back toward the front of the hotel when that goofy guy with the fedora ran right into me. I think he was trying to split Aria and me, but it didn’t work. I didn’t fall, but I did stumble backwards a few steps.
“My apologies. I’m so sorry. Can’t stay. Gotta go. Gotta catch ‘em.” The man never stopped moving.
“That guy is seriously nuts. Are you okay?” Aria asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I rubbed my shoulder where he had bumped me. “Anyway, where were we?”
“About to discuss my reception.”
Now, most girls probably would’ve tried to reassure her friend that everything was going to be okay and that the ballroom would be awesome, but I’m a realist. “Girl, that place is a mess. What’s Plan B?”
“I know. I don’t need this,” Aria shook her head.
“I hate to ask, but do you want me to call Christina?” She probably had alternatives all laid out in a spread sheet. I could picture the little neat rows and tabs now.
“No, I know she’s trying to help, but man, she’s just one more stressor. I don’t think I can handle another one of her great ideas.”
“I feel you, but it could be worse.”
“How so? Because this seems about as bad as it can get.”
“Well, you could be having second thoughts about Vince.” I thought about her seeing Mike again. “Let me tell you, the where and when can be easily changed. The who, not so much.”
“That’s supposed to make me feel better?”
“What I’m trying to say is, as long as you’re sure about Vince, then the rest of the details shouldn’t matter.”
“Okay, that’s true, but we still need to find some place to have the reception.”
“True, which is why you need to call Vince. He’s a genius businessman. I’m sure he can sort this out.”
“Speaking of feeling better…,” Aria motioned down the hall. Walking in front of us was Mayor Potts. He had a little extra spring in his step and did, in fact, look like he felt better. He stopped to knock on a door, and I was going to call to get his attention when Suzanne opened the door, wearing an ivory silk robe with a glass of champagne in each hand. I pulled Aria into an entryway just down the hall and across from them. Mayor Potts took the glass and gave Suzanne a kiss to end all kisses and closed the door behind them.
“What was that?” Aria said.
Well, well. “That explains the pep in his step,” I replied, still shocked. I never would’ve guessed the mayor was cheating on Paulette with her best friend. In terms of the case, I wasn’t about to jump to any conclusions. The last murder I solved taught me that perceptions
were rarely what they seemed.
18
On the way home, Aria and I couldn’t stop talking about what we had witnessed.
“I wonder if he was cheating on Paulette the whole time?” I asked.
“Is Suzanne married?”
“No, I thought she was, but it turns out the guy, who I thought was her husband, is actually her stepson.”
“Her husband…”
“Passed away, but hopefully she was nicer to him than she is to his son.”
“Really? She sounds lovely.”
“I know, right? Jeffery’s tall, thin, geeky sort of guy, but really nice. Of course, Suzanne thinks he’s a hapless fool. I don’t see it at all.”
“Maybe she just hates men,” Arai offered.
“Well, we know she doesn’t hate the mayor.”
“He went right for it.”
“Yeah he did.” I shook my head.
“So, what are you thinking? Suzanne killed Paulette?”
“I don’t know. Don’t forget, Humphrey was poisoned too. That part doesn’t make sense. She’s obviously quite fond of him, or at least part of him.” We both chuckled. “And then you have the McGoverns.”
“Yeah, Whip’s a narcissist if I ever met one.”
“You can say that again. I didn’t even tell you that he stopped by my place this afternoon.”
“What?!” I filled Aria in on our little conversation.
“So yeah, do narcissists have homicidal tendencies? Because if so, I could see him being the killer all day long, especially if it meant him getting what he wanted. Plus, he has a pretty strong motive for wanting the mayor dead.”
“But not for Paulette.”
“True. I already thought about that. I still don’t have an answer.”
Kiss & Makeup: Beauty Secrets Mystery Book 2 Page 12