Scottsdale Silence: a fun, romantic, thrilling, adventure... (Laura Black Mysteries Book 9)

by B A Trimmer

  ~~~~

  On the way up to the wedding at the Saguaro Sky, I swung by Scottsdale General to see if Michael Palmer’s Porsche was still there. If he was still seeing the blonde, but in a different location, I knew I still had a hope of getting a video.

  Even if the blonde wasn’t going to be with the men anymore, I was hoping he had some sort of backup concubine he’d be with on a regular basis. Unfortunately, the Boxster was still in the lot.

  Michael seemed to be working at the hospital for the day. I stayed as long as I could, then took off for the wedding.

  ~~~~

  I arrived in the guest parking lot at the Saguaro Sky a little after three o’clock. The wedding wasn’t scheduled until five-thirty, but I knew Kristy was worried about it going off smoothly and would already be here.

  As always, whenever I come up to the Saguaro Sky, I feel a special closeness to the resort. In my own small way, I knew I had helped shape it into what it has become.

  The wedding would be held in the White Chapel. I knew from previous visits that it was a lovely venue that held about a hundred guests.

  The reception was scheduled at the Hohokam Ballroom and Terrace. This was the same space where the cougars had thrown a graduation party for Annie, back in June, when she’d graduated from college.

  Half of it was inside and decorated as a fairytale ballroom. The other half was outside on a tropical patio, overlooking a waterfall and one of the resort’s larger pools.

  I walked to the White Chapel and looked around for Kristy but couldn’t find her anywhere. The chapel itself was dark and completely empty. Except for the pews and the altar, the room had no decorations at all.

  Confused, I walked to the Hohokam Ballroom. When I got there, Kristy was walking out. The look on her face confirmed there was a problem.

  “What’s going on?” I asked. “The chapel doesn’t have the lights on. Nothing’s been decorated yet.”

  “That’s not the worst of it,” she said. “Take a look in there. Nothing’s been set up. The wedding ceremony is in two hours, and the tables aren’t even in the ballroom yet. I’m going to find Camille and find out what’s happening. She’s head of events here.”

  “What can I do?”

  Kristy thought for a moment. “Go out to the loading ramp and look for the florist. They’re supposed to be here in about fifteen minutes. Assuming they show up, help them move the wedding flowers to the chapel and the reception flowers in here.”

  “And then?”

  “Come find me. Camille has her offices on the mezzanine floor, above the main lobby.”

  Kristy took off to find out what was going on, and I went into the ballroom. As she had said, the venue was utterly empty.

  The lights were off, and the big room echoed as I walked through it. I walked out to the patio, and it didn’t have so much as a table or chair on it.

  I left the ballroom and went to find the florist. When I made my way back to the loading dock, the delivery van was pulling up. I introduced myself and helped them load flowers onto some oversized plastic carts.

  Wheeling the flowers through the resort, we took the first load to the White Chapel. We dropped them off in front of the alter, then went back and loaded up the remaining arrangements. I led the way to the ballroom, where we dropped everything off against a back wall.

  ~~~~

  I’d made it halfway back to the resort’s business offices when I ran into Kristy. She looked terrible.

  “Well?” I asked. “What happened?”

  “I found Camille. When I asked her why nothing had been set up, she said I’d canceled the wedding.”

  “She said you canceled?” I asked. “That makes no sense.”

  Kristy shook her head in defeat. “I’ve got eighty-five people who’ll be here for a wedding in an hour and a half, and nothing’s ready. Did the flowers come?”

  “Yes, they’re in the chapel and the ballroom.”

  “Okay, that’s one problem avoided. I’ve already dropped off the stationary. Fortunately, there isn’t much to do in the chapel other than the ribbons, the guest book table, and the flowers.”

  “Do you need me for that?”

  “No, the wedding party should be arriving soon. I’ll rope the bridesmaids into helping me decorate the chapel before the pre-ceremony pictures. They won’t suspect anything’s wrong. They’ll think it’s all part of the fun.”

  “What can I do?”

  “Camile is working to find people to set up and work the reception. If you could go back and help her, it would probably speed things along. Plus, if you have any friends who wouldn’t mind helping us tonight, now would be a good time to start calling.”

  “Let me see what I can do,” I said. “While you’re setting up the chapel, why don’t you call the other vendors and make sure they’re still coming.”

  “That’s a good idea,” she said. “But if anyone else calls off, this whole thing is going to quickly fall apart.”

  ~~~~

  I went back to the business offices and searched until I found Camille’s office. It was empty, so I found Jackie’s office instead. When I got there, Jackie was having a discussion with a woman about the cancelation.

  I knocked on the door frame, and Jackie looked up.

  “Oh, hi Laura,” she said. “I’ll be with you in just a minute. We’re having a bit of a crisis today.”

  “If it’s about the wedding, I’m part of that.”

  Jackie laughed and shook her head. “I should have known. Laura, this is Camille Conner. She’s our events manager. Camile, this is Laura Black. She works as an investigator for a law office in Old Town Scottsdale.”

  Camille and I shook hands, but she was obviously upset and distracted.

  “Do you have any idea what happened?” Camille asked. “My day was going great until ten minutes ago when Kristy came in here asking why nothing had been set up. When I told her she’d canceled the wedding, it was obviously news to her.”

  “Someone’s been sabotaging Kristy’s weddings,” I said. “They’ve hacked into her email and have been sending out last-minute cancellations to her vendors.”

  “Breaking into an email account is pretty hardcore,” Jackie said. “Somebody must really be upset with her.”

  I frowned and started to think about what had happened. “As soon as Kristy realized what was going on, she changed all of her passwords. How were you told the wedding tonight was canceled?”

  “I got a voicemail from Kristy yesterday morning,” Camille said. “At least, I thought it was from her. She said the wedding would be canceled for today, and she’d call later to reschedule.”

  “Do you still happen to have the voicemail? I’d like to hear it.”

  She shook her head. “After she said it was canceled, I deleted the message. It didn’t seem important to keep it.”

  “Is there any way we can still do the wedding?” I asked hopefully.

  “Well,” Camille said, doubt in her voice. “The venues are still available, but nothing is set up. That alone usually takes a couple of hours. I also haven’t scheduled anyone to work the event. For something this size, we’ll need a total of at least ten people. Twelve would be better.”

  “Will you be able to get enough people in to make it go smoothly?”

  “Honestly? I don’t think it’s possible. The week between Christmas and New Year’s is a horrible time to call people in at the last minute. If they’re not already here working, most of them are traveling.”

  “What needs to be done?” I asked.

  “Well, there’s the general setup of the chapel and the ballroom. We also have to set the dining area up for approximately eighty-five guests. We’re talking twelve tables. Each one needs linens, place settings, flowers, and stationery.”

  “I helped bring in the flowers so that part’s covered. Kristy already brought in the stationary.”

  “She’s using her own caterer so the food won’t be affected,” Camille said. “But
we’ll also need to set up the gift and cake tables.”

  “I think we can do that. What about the appetizers and dinner?”

  “The hard part will be finding enough servers,” Jackie said. “We’ll need at least five. Six would be better. I can probably pull one or two in from the other restaurants, but keep in mind, this is our busiest time of the year. I’m already short on staff.”

  “What else will we need to cover?”

  “Can you run the music for the ceremony?” Jackie asked, looking at Camille.

  “No problem. I’ve had to do it before.”

  “Perfect,” Jackie said. “So, I think the bartender is the only other skill position we’ll need.”

  “Can you start calling and see who we can get?” I asked. “I’ll be working the event, and Kristy will be there to help direct everyone. I’ll call Sophie and see what she’s up to tonight. She likes weddings.”

  “Okay,” Jackie said. “I’ll see who’s on-site that can help out. But don’t be surprised if you see team members from housekeeping and the maintenance crews in to help.”

  As I walked back to the ballroom, I pulled out my phone and called Sophie. “Hey, chica,” I said when she answered. “Kristy has a major problem over here. Somebody called the resort and canceled the entire wedding.”

  “Oh, crap,” she said. “What are you going to do? Are they going to have to postpone the wedding? Seriously, I don’t know how you would even try to reschedule an entire wedding.”

  “Fortunately, the venues are still available, but Jackie doesn’t have anyone to do set-up or work the reception. It’s all hands on deck. Are you available tonight?”

  “Jeeeeze,” she moaned. “You know, this makes twice in one week you’ve asked a big favor from me. You’re starting to pile them up.”

  “I know, but can you come over here?”

  “Oh, I suppose. It’ll be better than sitting at the desk for the rest of the afternoon. And since it’s actually work-related, Lenny can’t get too upset over it.”

  “Okay, only try to be here as soon as you can. We’re crazy tight on time. Jackie’s pulling people in from wherever she can.”

  “I’ll call Gina,” Sophie said. “If she’s not going somewhere with Jet tonight, I’ll make sure she comes in as well. It’ll help spread the pain around.”

  Chapter Twelve

  I went back to the ballroom, and the lights were now on. A good-looking man in his late twenties, wearing a resort maintenance uniform, was rolling a big round table in from a back room.

  “Where can I find the chairs?” I asked.

  “They’re on carts in the back,” he said, flashing me a beautiful smile. “I’ll show you where they are.”

  A woman from the business office arrived and helped us gather everything from a storage room. It was slow going, but we were eventually able to bring out the supplies.

  Kristy came in with a copy of the reception layout and directed the placement of everything. Once everyone had their instructions, she took off to supervise the pre-ceremony pictures.

  Sophie arrived and immediately attached herself to the cute guy from maintenance. She helped him finish bringing out the rest of the tables. They then took off to bring in the portable bar and gather the carts of alcohol, mixers, and supplies.

  Jackie had also arrived, followed a few minutes later by Gina and Jet. Gina made introductions to Jackie. From the way Jackie looked him up and down, she was impressed with Gina’s new boyfriend.

  “Thank you both for coming out,” Jackie said. “Right now, we’re setting up the guest dining tables. We already have the first one completely done, and you can use it as a reference. We have eleven more to go.”

  Gina and Jet got to work setting up the tables. As I suspected, they worked remarkably well together. I then helped Jackie set up the banquet, gift, and cake tables.

  We were working steadily and seemed to have established a rhythm when I checked the time. It was already after six o’clock.

  I knew the ceremony was finishing up, and eighty-five hungry and thirsty people were sitting in the chapel. I looked around at the half-finished room and felt a sense of dread.

  The door to the back opened. I had visions of guests pouring in, a half-hour early. Instead, it was a younger guy. He wore a flashy outfit with several gold necklaces and pushed a cart full of sound and lighting equipment.

  “Hey, Jackie,” he called out. “Should I set up in the usual place?”

  “Santiago,” she said with a wide smile. “It’s good to see you. Yes, the same place as last time.” The DJ then wheeled his cart to a spot in the back of the ballroom and began to unload the equipment.

  I walked over to Jackie. “We have less than half an hour until everyone starts to come in. Is this going to work?”

  “The caterer has arrived and is getting ready in the kitchen,” she said. “We might even get the ballroom and terrace set up before everyone walks in.”

  “So, we’ll be okay?” I asked hopefully.

  Jackie shook her head. “I have someone trying to call in additional staff, but so far, no one is even answering the phone.”

  “How bad is this going to be?”

  “Even with Gina, Jet, and Kristy, we still don’t have nearly enough people.”

  “Camille will be back in a few minutes, once the ceremony finishes.”

  “Yes, and we also have a server coming over at seven o’clock from one of the restaurants. Sophie’s volunteered to be the bartender, so that will help. We also have a woman from housekeeping who’s in the back changing into a server’s uniform. But honestly, this is going to be a slow-motion nightmare.”

  Even as she said this, the back door to the ballroom opened. We both looked up, again afraid the guests were starting to arrive. Instead, Pam, Elle, Shannon, and Cindy walked in.

  Each of them was dressed for a night on the town, complete with perfect hair and makeup. As they got closer, the familiar scent of several mingled high-end perfumes surrounded us.

  “Is this the right ballroom?” Elle asked with a broad smile. “We heard you were having a crisis and needed some help.”

  “Oh my God,” I said. “Thank you so much for coming out. You’re saving us from a complete disaster.”

  “Ladies, thank you for coming over,” Jackie said. “Laura’s right. You’re helping prevent a catastrophe. I didn’t know if anyone had gotten my voicemails or not.”

  “Annie’s visiting her parents in Colorado,” Pam said as she walked over to hug Jackie and me. “Sonia probably would have come out as well. But she’s spending a couple of weeks down on Saint Thomas for Christmas.”

  “Wow, that would be a great place to spend the holidays,” I said.

  “It’s her favorite island in the Caribbean,” Cindy said. “She owns a house overlooking the bay at Charlotte Amalie.”

  “In case you haven’t heard, Sonia’s started dating a pole vaulter from the ASU track team,” Shannon said with a laugh. “She wanted to take him down to Saint Thomas over his Christmas vacation and show him a good time.”

  Gina saw the cougars arrive and brought Jet over to introduce him to everyone. From the way the girls looked him over, they all approved as well.

  Sophie also saw the cougars come in. She waved and yelled out “hello” from across the ballroom. But she was still setting up the bar with the good-looking guy and didn’t seem inclined to leave him.

  “I don’t know what Jackie’s told you about tonight,” I said to the ladies. “But we’ll be serving appetizers and dinner for about eighty-five people. Will that be okay with everyone?”

  Elle started laughing. “Laura, you’re so sweet. But we weren’t always rich. I worked my way through college as a waitress.”

  “I spent two years working at a Denny’s,” Pam said. “It’s a skill you never lose.”

  “And I’ve hosted larger parties than this at my home,” Shannon said with a laugh. “Tonight will be a piece of cake.”

  ~~~~
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  By six-thirty, the ballroom was finished, the bar had been stocked, and we were outside, finishing up on the terrace. We were as ready as we were going to get.

  The guests all seemed to arrive at once. Half of them went to find their places at the tables while the other half went to the bar. The DJ started playing some upbeat music, and we were suddenly in the middle of a lively party.

  With Kristy directing in the kitchen and Camille leading the servers, the hors d’oeuvres and dinner went relatively smoothly. The only hitch was when some of the guests started asking the cougars out on dates as they circulated through the room carrying the trays of appetizers.

  I’d been concerned over Sophie’s ability to handle so many people at once. But she turned out to be a natural.

  It was an open bar, but she’d placed a big tip jar on the counter. She’d also unbuttoned the top two buttons on her blouse. After doing this, most of the men would toss in a dollar or two every time Sophie made them a drink.

  I went back several times to see if she needed help, but she said she only required me to keep everything stocked. As I walked through the crowd, people commented that her drinks were strong but delicious.

  I went out to the patio a few times to gather up the hors d’oeuvre plates and the glasses. The guests from up north were walking around in short sleeves without seeming to notice the cold. The Scottsdale natives were huddled around one of several industrial-sized heaters, which had been strategically placed around the patio by the good-looking maintenance man.

  While I served the dinners then cleaned up afterward, I overheard several men comment that the resort must have brought in a group of professional models to work the reception. Each of the men seemed appreciative and impressed.

  ~~~~

  By nine o’clock, everyone had enjoyed a piece of cake, the newlywed couple had their first dance, and the dinner was winding down. Kristy, Camille, and Jackie called everyone together and thanked them for their help.

  Gina and Jet said their goodbyes and took off. They’d made an effective team and looked cute together.

  The DJ turned up the volume on the music, and the guests were starting to drift out to the dance floor. As the cougars and the servers began to go their separate ways, Elle walked over to me.