Peggy Dulle - Liza Wilcox 05 - Till Death Do Us Part

by Peggy Dulle

  My phone rang. It was Tom. Had he made a decision about the food?

  “Hey, Liza. I know I said I didn’t want any choices but can you make sure the music guy lets me sing?”

  “Really?” I asked, not sure I heard him right.

  “Yes.”

  Silence. I just didn’t know what to say. Karaoke at a wedding?

  Tom continued, even though I had stopped speaking or breathing.

  “Yeah, Pamela hated my karaoke, but you know that I love to sing and I want to sing at my wedding. A few of my cop friends are in a band and they’ll want to sing, too. And my cousin Stella does a mean rendition of Crazy and she’ll want to a chance with the mic, too. And I want us all to sing We Are Family, as the last song before we leave.”

  “Okay.” I just didn’t know what to say.

  “Thanks, Liza. love you.” And he hung up.

  When I looked up, Savanah and Amelia glanced over from the book they were flipping through. I’m sure my face said it all.

  “What does he want?” she asked, her eyebrows rising with mock horror.

  “Karaoke.” I said, deadpanned.

  “No!” Both Savanah and Amelia said together.

  I nodded.

  “He can’t,” Savanah said.

  “It just isn’t done. Sometimes one person might sing a song, but an entire karaoke party?” Amelia asked.

  “We can let him sing, but not anyone else,” Savanah insisted.

  “Yeah, a husband singing a song to his new wife is nice,” Amelia added.

  “It’s the only thing he wants and we’ll give that to him,” I insisted, even though I wasn’t too sure either.

  Savanah and Amelia both shuddered.

  Savanah turned to Amelia and asked, “Can your music guy do karaoke?”

  Amelia shrugged. “Joe’s a great guy. I’ll ask him.” She left to get his number and call him.

  “Do we have to let him do karaoke at your wedding?” Savanah asked.

  “It’s his wedding, too, and he has a beautiful voice.”

  “And everyone else who will be singing will have a beautiful voice, too?”

  “I can’t guarantee that.”

  Savanah shuddered again. “Did you tell him about the rehearsal on Friday at two?”

  “No, I was in shock over the karaoke. I’ll tell him when I talked to him next.”

  “Okay.” Savanah went back to the wedding favor book, volume three.

  Amelia came back a few minutes later, and said, “Joe can do karaoke, even though he says he’s never done it at a wedding before.”

  I smiled as best I could. Karaoke at my wedding – I didn’t see that coming.

  “I don’t see anything that I like,” Savanah said, as she closed the favor book.

  “Do we have to have them?” I asked.

  Both women looked at me.

  “You always get this stuff you don’t really want. You throw it in a drawer and find it years later. Can’t we do something that people will actually want?”

  Savanah and Amelia looked at each other and then together said, “Candy bar.”

  “Candy bar?” Now that was an idea I could get behind.

  “Sure, we’ll have different styles and sizes of glass bowls with lots of different kinds of candy in them. We can have a box or bag with your and Tom’s name and the date on it for them to fill and take home with them.”

  “I like that idea.” I was all for candy.

  “Are you sure no alcohol at the wedding?” Savanah asked.

  “I don’t drink,” I told her.

  “That doesn’t mean your guests won’t want to drink.”

  My phone rang again. All three of us stared at it.

  “What does he want now?” Savanah muttered.

  I answered my phone. “Hello, Tom. The DJ has karaoke for you.”

  “That’s great. I thought of something else.”

  “Yes, what?” I winced in anticipation.

  “Can we have no alcohol at our wedding?”

  “Of course.”

  “That’s great. At the last wedding, half my family got so plastered that it was embarrassing. I’d like to start our life together without you thinking my entire family is a bunch of drunken rednecks. Which they are, but I don’t want you to see that at our wedding.”

  “Okay. We’ll have champagne for the toast but that’s it.”

  “Perfect. I know that a few of them will have a flask with them, but it won’t be enough to get them or anyone else drunk.”

  “Okay, no problem.”

  “Thanks, Liza. Hey, I forgot to ask you. When is the rehearsal?”

  “I’m glad you asked. It’s on Friday at two.”

  “Why so early?”

  “There’s a wedding at the Gardens at seven that evening.”

  “Okay. Can you suggest a place for the dinner after the rehearsal?”

  “Why?”

  “That’s part of the groom’s responsibility.”

  “I’ll think about it,” I told him.

  “Great.” And he was gone.

  “No alcohol except the champagne for the toast,” I told them.

  “Okay, then you’ll need to pick some more drinks to taste,” Savanah told me, which I did, including four punches and three teas.

  “I think we’ve got it all,” Savanah announced another hour later.

  “No, what about the cake?” I asked.

  “Oh yeah, we can’t forget the cake.” Amelia pulled out another book. “What kind?”

  “Chocolate,” I told them. The cake was something Tom and I agreed upon right away.

  We looked at cakes for another thirty minutes. I finally picked a simple traditional three tiered cake with diamond shaped designs that would match the beading on my dress.

  “What about the cake topper?” Amelia asked.

  “Can we just make it a flower bouquet like mine?” I asked. I didn’t think much of the little plastic people on top of cakes.

  “Of course, that’s simple. I can also have my baker make a few purplish red flowers and put them on it to tie it into the overall theme of the wedding.”

  “That would be great,” Savanah told her.

  A few more decisions later and we were ready to go. I thanked Amelia and we got back into the Jeep.

  As we drove toward the freeway I asked, “Is there anything else I need to do?”

  “Well, there is the wedding book, but personally, I’d get a photo frame for people to sign rather than a photo album you’ll throw in a drawer. You can put your wedding picture in it and have it on your wall. Also, some people have programs printed for the ceremony, but I don’t think they’re necessary. What do the people do with them after the ceremony?”

  “Throw them away,” I told her.

  Savanah nodded and said, “Since we’re going to be driving on the freeway most of the way home, can we put up the top?”

  “Good idea.” I told her.

  We pulled over into the parking lot of a strip mall. I turned off the engine and got out. Savanah did the same so she could button up the other side. That’s when I noticed the black sedan again. It was parked in the shade by one of the stores. Now I was sure it was the same one. I had seen it at least three times today and it didn’t have a license plate in the front for me to take down its number.

  I didn’t want to scare Savanah, so I said, “Let’s do this quick. It’s getting late and I want to get home.”

  She nodded and smiled.

  That’s when I felt the poke in my back and a low gruff voice said, “God, it took you long enough at that stupid place. I’ve been sitting here for hours waiting for you!”

  Chapter 15

  Savanah looked over my shoulder at the man and said, “Who are you?”

  “None of your business, bitch. Just walk away. Go into the store, call yourself a cab and go home.”

  Savanah laughed. It was a strange reaction and I liked her for it.

  When she started around the Jeep, t
he man growled, “No, you just stay on the other side, bitch.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “You need to stop calling me that, it’s rude.”

  There wasn’t an ounce of fear in her eyes. I liked her even more.

  “Who are you?” Savanah asked again.

  “I’m the guy who’s been looking for Liza for the last week. First she wasn’t at home and then she was out with you. Now, you get lost and she’s coming with me.”

  Then I remembered that Justin’s mom had seen a black car in our neighborhood, too. This guy was in my neighborhood looking for me and now he had me.

  “Why do you want her?” Savanah edged closer.

  The guy put his arm around my waist, squeezed and said, “It’s none of your business. And if you keep coming closer, I’ll take you too.”

  Savanah smiled and said, “I’d like to see you try to take me.”

  I could barely breathe with his arm tight around my waist. I could feel the panic attack starting to rise through my system. I didn’t have Kenny or Tom to stop it. I would pass out soon and then what would happen to Savanah?

  “Get out of here, Savanah,” I told her. “Whatever this is, you shouldn’t get involved.”

  “We have other plans, Liza, a wedding for one thing. I will not let this guy spoil all the plans.”

  “She’s not marrying anyone. Now get lost or get dead,” the man said, taking the gun out of my back and pointing it at her.

  Savanah actually rolled her eyes at him. Then she winked at me, lowered her eyes to my elbow and said, “Don’t you think you should make sure the safety is off before you point that gun at someone?’

  The man looked down at the gun. I elbowed him. He crunched forward, and Savanah linked her fingers together, making a huge fist and brought it down on the back of his neck. He went out flat.

  Savanah started laughing hysterically, and I joined her. It was absurd that two women brought down a 300-pound, six-foot-three thug with a gun.

  “Got any rope in that Jeep?” Savanah asked, as she wiped the tears off her face and picked up the man’s gun.

  “No, but I have a few bungees.”

  She started laughing again. “Perfect, let’s bungee him up!”

  We tied the guy’s hands and feet with several bungees. It wasn’t easy. The bungees kept slipping and hitting the guy, which would start us laughing again. His face and hands were covered in gashes from the hooks on the bungees. I dialed 911, and we waited for the cops to arrive.

  Two Ceres police cars with sirens blaring screeched to a stop in front of us just a few minutes later. Both men jumped out and came over to us.

  “What’s going on, ladies?” the taller of the two officers asked. His nameplate said Peters.

  Savanah handed him the gun. “This guy tried to rob us. He stuck a gun in my friend Liza’s back.”

  “How’d he end up on the ground?” the other officer asked. His plate said Moore.

  “The idiot didn’t take the safety off the gun,” Savanah told him. “I called him on it, and when the idiot looked down to check, Liza elbowed him, and I smacked him on the back of the head. He hasn’t woken up yet.”

  “How’d you know he had the safety on?” Officer Peters said.

  “I didn’t. I bluffed,” she told him.

  I started to laugh, and Savanah joined me. The two police officers weren’t amused. In fact, their faces were etched in serious frowns. It looked as if they thought we were to blame and not the man lying on the ground bungeed. I handed him Tom’s card.

  Officer Peters, clearly the man in charge, took the card, read it and then said to the other officer, “Watch these two.”

  Then he walked away and dialed his phone.

  A few minutes later he returned and handed me his phone. This felt like déjà vu.

  “Hello, Tom,” I said.

  “Twice in one day. This is a new record for you, Liza. In fact, it’s a first. Usually you don’t tell me. I have to find out all your adventures later. What happened?”

  “Well, Savanah and I left the garden, and it’s still really hot, but we were headed for the freeway, and with the top down our hair would get all whipped around again, and even though we still had the silly rubber band, we didn’t want to put them in again, and so we pulled off, and this big guy from the black sedan that tried to run me over earlier comes over, sticks a gun in my back and says, ‘Shut up bitch’ to Savanah and that he’s taking me, and Savanah says, ‘Your safety’s on your gun,’ and he looks down, and I elbowed him, and he lurched forward, and Savanah hit him. She did a great job linking her fingers together and hitting him on the back of the neck, and he went down like a shot, and then we didn’t have any rope, but we found bungees in the car, so we used them to tie him up, but they kept swinging around hitting him, and then I called 911, and the cops came, and they think we’re the bad guys.”

  “Did you just say all of that without taking a breath?” Tom asked.

  “Did I?”

  “Okay, you’re sure he was looking specifically for you?”

  “Yes, he called me by name and Justin’s mom said this car has been driving through our neighborhood.”

  “And he wanted to take you, right?”

  “Yes. He could have shot me several times if all he wanted was me dead or done a better job of running me off the road or stayed and finished the job after I slid into that ditch.”

  “All scary thoughts.”

  “I know, I’m trying desperately not to have a panic attack, but I can feel my stomach tightening.”

  “But you’re doing okay, right?”

  “The only thing holding me together is Savanah. She thinks all of this is funny. If I keep laughing I probably won’t have a panic attack and pass out.”

  “Savanah sounds like she’s a good person for you to have around. When she’s with you, you seem to be able to get yourself out of trouble.”

  “I like her, too,” I told him.

  “Let me talk to the cop again.”

  “Okay.” I handed the phone back to Officer Peters.

  When he hung up, he said to Moore, “Let’s haul this guy in and run his prints. Chief Owens from Gainesville says that there might be some environmental terrorist that might be after the redhead to get back at her dad for something. He gave me the name of an FBI agent who is in charge of her dad’s case.”

  “Oh, there’s a story I want to hear,” Savanah said.

  Officer Moore looked at me and then back at Peters, “Really?”

  “That’s what the man said.”

  Moore picked up one shoulder, while Peters took the other.

  “You need to come down to the station and fill out a complaint against this guy if you want us to hold him for any length of time,” Officer Peters said.

  I sighed. I didn’t want to spend the next several hours in the Ceres Police Department. But if this guy didn’t have a record, he would be back on my street by nightfall.

  “Do you want to call someone to come and get you so that you can go home, Savanah? This may take a while.”

  “No, I’m fine, besides it will give you a chance to tell me about your dad and the environmental terrorists,” she said, getting in the passenger seat of the Jeep.

  So we followed the cop cars and I told Savanah about my dad.

  At the police station, they took my statement, then Savanah’s, then I filled out a ton of paperwork.

  My phone rang. It was Tom.

  “How’s it going, Liza?”

  “Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork,” I grumbled.

  He laughed. “I told you most of my day is consumed with it.”

  I huffed.

  “Have they told you anything?”

  “Not a damn thing. But I bet they told you.”

  “Yes, they did.”

  “Spill it, Tom.”

  “Okay, the guy’s name is Carlos Canters. His rap sheet has arrests for burglary, felony armed robbery, and drug trafficking. On his last arrest, he and his
twin brother, Santana, were arrested for aggravated assault. He also has an outstanding warrant in Oregon and one in Washington for aggravated assault.”

  “Sounds like he’s an enforcer,” I suggested.

  “It scares me that you know that word and that it’s exactly what I was thinking, too.”

  “You think the guys my dad is testifying against sent him.”

  “That would be my guess.”

  “If my dad hears about this, he won’t testify,” I told Tom, matter-of-factly.

  “I know.”

  “Dad will not want me to be constantly looking over my shoulder waiting for someone to kidnap me, so he won’t testify.” Then a terrible thought crossed my mind. “What about Jordan?”

  “I already called her and told her what happened and the FBI has assigned her a bodyguard.”

  “I won’t have one, too, will I?”

  “Yes.”

  “Ah,” I groaned. “Can’t you just take some more vacation and stay with me?”

  “I wish I could, Liza. But I am saving the rest of my vacation for our honeymoon. You could come and stay up here with me.”

  “I have too much wedding stuff to do and besides, Kenny will be back next week.” Then I remembered my last conversation with Tom about Kenny. Time to change the subject, fast. “Did you ever hear from the Anaheim police department about giving me back my bracelet?”

  “No, but they did send me a list of the charms. I got the phone number for your class’ parent leader from the school, called her and found out where she bought all of the charms.”

  “You have been busy,” I told him.

  “And it will be easier than we thought it would be. They bought them all on-line and the lady had the invoice in front of her. She will fax it to me when she gets to her work tomorrow and then we can just duplicate the order and you’ll have your bracelet back.”

  “That’s cool. I appreciate all your hard work. What did you tell her happened to the bracelet? You didn’t tell her the truth, did you?”

  “Of course not, I told her Shelby ate it.”

  I laughed because it could have happened. I always told the kids stories about Shelby. This year she ripped up two of the kids’ writing journals. I taped them all back together. It was like a huge puzzle trying to separate the two journals. And she also opened my purse and ate an entire pack of bubble gum. They thought that was funny and asked me if she learned how to blow bubbles, too.