White Wedding

by Stacy Claflin

“Good luck.”

  The lieutenant took a deep breath. “I’m going to need it.” Then he walked away.

  Alex watched him, still surprised he’d spoken so easily about the chief. Maybe Alex wasn’t giving the other guys on the force enough credit. Both Nick and Johnston felt the same way he did.

  The receiving line ended, and now the bride and groom were walking around hand-in-hand laughing with the guests. Alex took a deep breath and joined them, keeping a lookout for Johnston and Crawford.

  Time passed quickly as people brought out the food and tables. The wedding party went over to an area with a lot of flowers for pictures before returning to eat.

  Alex’s stomach growled as he looked at the spread. He turned to Nick and teased, “Is this like a birthday party? Do the bride and groom need to take the first bites?”

  Nick chuckled. “I have no idea. But I doubt I’ll be able to eat much, anyway.”

  “Where is Genevieve?” Alex looked around.

  “She was getting pictures with the bridesmaids.” Nick stepped back and scanned the crowd. “Everyone else is back.”

  “Maybe the photographer is getting pictures of just her.”

  Nick frowned. “She already did. Genevieve should be back by now.”

  Alex put his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

  Nick stepped aside. “Something’s wrong.”

  “We don’t know that.”

  Nick gave him a sharp look before storming away.

  He caught up. “We’ll find her. Maybe she just had to use the bathroom or fix her makeup or something like that.”

  “You really think that, after everything else?”

  “The simplest answer is usually the right one.”

  “Usually.” Nick’s tone made it clear he didn’t think this situation counted.

  And Alex couldn’t help thinking he might be right. But as the best man, he needed to keep the groom calm. “I’ll find out if Zoey knows anything. You talk to her parents.”

  “And worry them?”

  “Or ask G’s best friend if she knows anything.”

  Nick nodded. “Maybe Mallory knows something.”

  They went their separate ways, but Alex kept checking on his friend.

  “Are you okay?” Zoey asked when he reached her.

  “I’m sure it is. Do you know where Genevieve went?”

  She looked confused. “To find Nick. They aren’t together?”

  Alex’s heart skipped a beat. He whipped around to check on his friend again.

  Nick was speaking with Mallory, who was shaking her head.

  She didn’t know where the bride was, either.

  “Alex?”

  He turned to her. “We need to find Genevieve now. But we can’t let the guests know anything is wrong.”

  The sky lit up orange and followed with another explosion.

  “Good luck with that.” Zoey frowned. “What do you want me to do?”

  “See if anyone has seen her. I’m going to make sure Nick doesn’t disappear, too.”

  Chapter 37

  Genevieve struggled against the ties, only managing to dig into the flesh of her wrists. Rope burns could be brutal. The dress was so tight, it too worked against her, especially as she was forced on the ground. And to make matters worse, a black bag had been shoved over her head, so she was in complete darkness.

  “Stop struggling!” The rough male voice sent a shiver down her spine.

  Did he really think she would obey his orders? Genevieve held still for a moment to get his attention off her—hopefully—but she continued to reach for the ties with her fingers.

  Her heart thundered so hard she was certain the man could hear it.

  As long as they didn’t figure out that she had a concealed gun. On one leg, a traditional garter. On the other, a holster. The layers of fabric hid it well. With everything else going on, she refused to go through the ceremony without it.

  Something smelled weird. Sour. She wasn’t sure if it was the bag over her head or something else. It wasn’t like she knew where she was. All she knew was it hadn’t been long since they took her. She couldn’t be too far from home. They’d shoved her in a car, driven for a short while, then forced her back out.

  She went over the events again, trying to make sense of it. After getting pictures with the bridesmaids, the photographer had wanted to get a couple more of Genevieve by herself. They’d gone a little closer to the edge of the woods to a Japanese maple tree with vibrant orange leaves to get some extra shots.

  After that, the photographer had turned and headed back toward the reception.

  Before Genevieve could follow, someone had grabbed her and pulled the bag over her head. Twisted her arms back. Tied her. Covered her mouth over the bag when she started to scream. She bit down then was thrown to the ground.

  She’d tried to escape, but that obviously hadn’t worked. They’d run through the woods—no easy task in tall heels she was going to remove after the pictures. Only one remained on her foot. The other had come off after the heel had broken.

  Leaves rustled underneath her, leading her to believe she was still in the woods near their home. Was this to remind her of Tinsley’s disappearance not long ago in the same area? Or because of the trauma she’d experienced years earlier in a completely different forest? But her abductors couldn’t know about that. Or could they? No. They couldn’t. Almost nobody knew about that.

  No matter what their intentions were, she couldn’t let them get under her skin. She had to forget about her past struggles if she wanted to get away now.

  The only thing that mattered was getting back to her wedding reception. Getting back to her family. They were probably worried sick.

  Surely the photographer had run and told everyone what had happened.

  Unless she hadn’t seen anything. Or the abductors had also taken her.

  Genevieve’s stomach sank. They had to have done something to quiet her. That was the only thing that made sense. They wouldn’t leave her to send two police forces after them—nearly everyone from both hers and Nick’s precincts were in attendance.

  “Hold still!”

  The man’s harsh voice jolted her. She hadn’t realized she was moving around so much. But she was trying to undo the knot. It was next to impossible with her wrists tied.

  Something struck her arm. Hard. The spot warmed immediately. From a bruise or blood?

  No time to worry about that.

  She struggled to reach the end of the knot. It rubbed against her pinky. If only she could pull it toward the rest of her fingers. Just a little further. It wouldn’t take much.

  Something hit her other arm.

  Genevieve winced at the pain but kept going. She’d gotten out of worse situations. Deadly ones. She was a trained police officer.

  If anyone could do this, it was her. And she had more motive than ever before—a new husband and three additional children. Not to mention the baby she and Nick were going to try for. Her window of opportunity was the next day or two.

  She wasn’t going to let these idiots get in the way of that. Or her wedding day.

  No matter what they threw at her, she was going to march—or stumble—back to her reception and finish the celebration with her new husband. Wrap her arms around all four of her children and her new set of parents.

  Genevieve reached for the loose end of the knot. It rubbed against her index finger. She squeezed it with her thumb.

  Her heart nearly stopped. She had a grasp on it. There was now a chance she could pull it loose.

  She held as still as possible while working on the tie. Her hands kept brushing against rough wood. With any luck, that meant her movements were hidden from the men.

  All she needed was to loosen the rope. Then she could remove the bag and use the gun against her attackers.

  Little by little, she pulled and tugged on the loose end. It started to give. The loose end grew longer.

  She was getting closer. Struggled to br
eathe normally. Couldn’t give them any reason to think anything was wrong.

  Voices drifted. She couldn’t make out any words.

  The men must be a significant distance from her.

  No wonder they didn’t notice what she was doing.

  She tugged on the end of the rope, her stomach knotted tighter.

  It loosened. Fell from her wrists. Dropped to the ground behind her.

  Freedom!

  The trick would be getting away. Even though her captors weren’t right next to her, she could still hear them. And they held the advantage of sight. At least until she could remove the black bag.

  Holding her breath, she listened.

  Nothing.

  Did that mean they had moved farther away? Or were they watching her, expecting her to make a run for it?

  There was only one way to find out.

  Genevieve yanked off the covering with one hand. Reached under her dress for the gun with the other. Jumped up and held her weapon in position.

  Three men faced her from about thirty feet away. They each aimed rifles at her.

  Chapter 38

  Nick clenched his jaw. He wanted to tell Alex to give him some space, but his friend was only doing what he thought was best. However, in doing that, he wasn’t giving Nick any breathing room.

  A gunshot rang out.

  He turned to Alex, his knees nearly giving out. Didn’t allow himself to think.

  Ran in the direction of the sound. Drew his gun.

  Another shot.

  Nick pushed aside all thoughts. Wouldn’t let his mind imagine the worst. Just had to get to Genevieve.

  Two more shots. Right in a row.

  Alex called for him.

  Nobody would slow him down. Not when the love of his life was in danger.

  Nick’s heart threatened to explode out of his chest. He could hardly breathe, and it had nothing to do with how fast he was running.

  He tried to call out for his new bride. His voice wouldn’t cooperate.

  Another gunshot sounded.

  How many was that? He’d lost count.

  Focus!

  Five. There were five shots. That could do a lot of damage.

  A lot of deadly damage.

  Alex was yelling something. So were others.

  The sky lit up orange again.

  This could not be happening. Not on the day of his wedding.

  Yet it was.

  His knees resisted. He pressed on.

  Everything was so quiet he could hear leaves and sticks crunching underfoot.

  He ran into the woods. Looked. Listened. Kept running.

  Then he saw her.

  Genevieve.

  Was it her ghost? Had those monsters killed her?

  He shook his head to clear it. Of course she wasn’t dead. That was ridiculous. There was no such thing as ghosts.

  His new wife was actually alive. She’d actually survived the five gunshots.

  Time seemed to slow to a stop as they raced toward one another. It felt like eons before she slammed against him. He wrapped his arms around her, clung to her. Never wanted to let go.

  She shook in his hold.

  He kissed her desperately. “What happened?”

  “Someone grabbed me while I was getting pictures.” She took in an intense breath. “They made me think I was farther away by driving me in a vehicle. But I was here this whole time!”

  “I’m never going to let anything happen to you again!” He held her all the tighter. “How did you get away?”

  “I shot them.”

  “There were five of them?” he exclaimed.

  “What? No, there were three. I was the best shot.”

  A warmth spread through him as he stared at her. “You took three of them out, and they didn’t even hit you?”

  She stepped back and turned slightly, showing him her arm. Blood dripped down.

  “You’ve been shot?”

  “Only grazed. Doubt I’ll even need stitches.”

  He stared at her in disbelief. “We need to get that looked at!”

  Footsteps and voices sounded as others caught up with them.

  Genevieve told Johnston where to find the bodies of her abductors.

  Nick told Alex to call for an ambulance.

  “I’m fine,” Genevieve insisted. “Really.”

  “That may be, but I want a professional to look at that.” He scooped her into his arms and marched toward the house.

  “Hey! I can walk.” She squirmed, making it hard to keep his hold on her.

  “Doesn’t mean you have to. And besides, the sooner we get that done, the sooner we can leave and get away from this madness.”

  “I can’t argue with that. But what about the kids? I don’t want them around here, either.”

  “Did you forget? They’re going to be across the country with your parents, riding roller coasters every day for two weeks.”

  She rubbed her forehead. “I did forget. I’m not sure what I was thinking.”

  He kissed her nose. “It’s been a distracting day.”

  “And memorable. Nobody will forget our wedding any time soon.”

  “No. That’s for sure.”

  They shared a sad smile before reaching the house and the crowd of guests, all eager to know what had happened. He and Genevieve explained the situation until the ambulance arrived. The medics confirmed what she had said—it was a graze and didn’t required stitches. However, they did give her a square gauze bandage.

  Once she was cleaned up as best as possible, they joined their friends and family for a meal. The photographer, who hadn’t seen or heard Genevieve’s abduction, took pictures of everything. Before they finished, the limo arrived to take them to the hotel. They quickly threw the garter and the bouquet, said a tearful goodbye to the kids, then drove off.

  Thankfully, there were no more explosions, and the police were already investigating everything.

  Chapter 39

  Alex sat at his desk and finished his peppermint mocha. He nodded to one of the new federal agents who walked by. Hartman? Peters? So many had come in recently, he couldn’t keep them all straight and didn’t try. They would likely be gone soon enough.

  There hadn’t been a single incident since the day of Nick and Genevieve’s wedding. Sure, there was the matter of dealing with the explosions and the one abducted child who hadn’t been found yet. But Alex was back to local cases—home invasions and the like. Most of it was centered around one area, and drugs were the key issue, so the department was focusing on that while the feds handled everything to do with the kidnapping ring. They were even looking at Cal’s death as suspicious.

  Not that it could keep Alex from thinking about it. The effects of the ring’s actions were all around him—they’d touched just about everyone he cared about. And he wasn’t convinced they were done with the area yet. Yes, Cal was gone now, so hopefully that would at least keep the abductions at bay. And the missing officers had even been found near one of the charred buildings, near nooses. But they were alive and both had returned to work.

  Even the issues with Teivel were now out of their hands. He’d broken down and confessed to everything. It had been him who had stabbed his parents. He claimed to have snapped after a particularly bad day of mistreatment at school, and then his parents had grounded him from going to some convention he’d been looking forward to.

  Basically, all the cases had been wrapped up with a neat and tidy bow.

  And that was too easy. Alex didn’t buy it for a moment. Everything that had happened at Nick’s wedding felt more like a warning than a final showdown. But until something actually went wrong, Alex wasn’t going to put any more thought into it. It wasn’t his case, and his days of sticking his nose in other ones were over. It only brought trouble on him or his family, or both.

  He kind of liked being focused on small town cases again. He didn't trust Crawford, but with so many federal agents around, the chief was on his best behavior. He wo
uldn’t be able to get away with anything if he tried.

  And best of all, Nick would be back soon. Three of his four weeks were behind them—once Alex clocked out and started his weekend. It was Friday, and Halloween at that. He, Zoey, and the twins would dress up and answer the door for trick-or-treaters while Ariana went to the Halloween party with Damon.

  It was a relief not to be hosting the party this year. After everything else, it would be nice to just relax and be a normal family for a change—a normal family dressed as zombies for the night. Zoey had put together elaborate costumes for the four of them. Alex checked the time. It would take at least an hour to get them all dressed and add the bloody makeup—the only kind he’d consider wearing. He had no idea what Ariana and Damon were dressing as. They were being secretive about it.

  “Earth to Alex.”

  Alex pulled himself from his thoughts and turned to see Anderson leaning against his desk, chuckling.

  “Lost in thought?”

  “Yeah.” Alex pushed the chair back and rose. “I’m still trying to process the fact that everything isn’t in chaos.”

  “I’m with you there.” Anderson yawned. “I’m also ready for the weekend. Any big plans?”

  “Handing out candy. You?”

  “Taking my niece trick-or-treating. Kids never come to my neighborhood.”

  “Bring her by ours. It’s always busy.”

  Anderson nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind. I want to see those zombie costumes.”

  Alex laughed. “I’m curious to see how they turn out, too.”

  “Heard from the captain?”

  “Not since yesterday. Did I show you the pics he texted me?”

  “The ones where they were swimming with dolphins?”

  Alex shook his head no and pulled out his phone. “They were at a harvest festival in shorts and flip-flops.”

  Anderson snickered. “Remind me to take my vacation this time of year in the future.”

  “He picked the right time, that’s for sure.” Alex handed his partner the phone and shuddered thinking about going outside. The weather had turned quickly, going from almost a second summer straight to typical northwest weather for the fall—pouring down rain and cold winds. But it wouldn’t keep the kids from running through the neighborhood to collect their candy. Some might opt for the mall, but most wouldn’t. Rain was just a part of life. People would end up hibernating if they tried to avoid it completely.