Wedding Day of Murder

by Vanessa Gray Bartal

  Jason’s patience began to ebb. “In this moment, I’m a police officer who is investigating a possible murder, and I need a straightforward answer. Whose idea was it to come here?”

  “Maybe Forest, maybe someone else. The point is that when we arrived, this place became our destiny.”

  “Do you think it was Carl Whether’s destiny to be murdered and tossed on a dumpster?” he said. Perhaps a little shock and awe was in order to make her understand the seriousness of the situation.

  “Who?” she said.

  “Forest!” he snapped.

  “Whatever happens to us is our destiny,” she said. “If it was Forest’s time to go, then so be it.”

  “That’s a calloused attitude to take,” he said. “A man is dead, a man whose only connection in town was to you.” And Lacy. “Start from the first moment you met him, and tell me everything you know about him.”

  “He wore a green coat,” she said.

  Jason gritted his teeth. “I already knew that.”

  “I’m not responsible for your knowledge,” she said. “I can only share mine.”

  “Have you ever thought about running for politics?” he asked. Her ability to say nothing was uncanny.

  “I wrote myself in for president last year,” she said.

  “President of what?” he asked.

  “The country,” she explained. “I never heard how many votes I got.”

  “I don’t even know what to say to that,” Jason said.

  “Can I go?” she asked.

  Technically, yes. He couldn’t hold her or compel her to talk, but he so desperately needed answers and a starting point that he was willing to prolong the agony of the interview awhile longer. “How can you go when you haven’t given me any answers?” he asked.

  “I’ve given you all the answers you need.” She thumped her fist over her chest. “Truth, brother.”

  “Oh, geez,” he muttered. “Let’s try again, okay? Besides the fact that he wore a green coat, what can you tell me about Carl Whethers?”

  “Wh…”

  “Forest!”

  “He….”

  She made the word stretch for a solid thirty seconds. “Yes,” Jason prompted when he couldn’t take it any longer.

  “Was…”

  The way she took a breath before the second word told him that it had the potential to go on for as long as she maintained lung capacity. He smacked his palm on the table and she jumped. “Talk!”

  “Tired,” she blurted.

  “What?” Jason said.

  “Forest was tired. He napped a lot,” she said, smiling triumphantly at having thought of something.

  He almost didn’t want to ask. “Anything else?”

  “He…” she started again, staring at the ceiling for clues.

  “Never mind,” he said. He produced his card and tucked it into her hand. “If you think of anything, please let me know.”

  She picked up the card, studied it, and dropped it back onto the table. “I’m not a snitch, Pig!” She stood so abruptly that the chair toppled. Jason let her go without comment. After she was gone, he used a pair of plastic tweezers to drop the card into an evidence bag. “Let’s see if Rain leaves fingerprints,” he muttered to the empty room.

  His phone rang. When he saw that it was Lacy’s grandfather, Mr. Middleton, he wasn’t alarmed. The two had formed something of an unofficial Lacy tag team. Perhaps he was calling for a progress report on Lacy’s surgery that morning since Frannie couldn’t be counted on for a proper update.

  “Hello,” Jason said.

  “Jason, is Lacy with you?”

  For the third time that day, Jason’s heart took a dive. This time it had a harder time getting started again. “No, why?”

  “She seems to be missing.”

  Five little words, and his world came to a crashing halt.

  Chapter 7

  At Lacy’s house, Jason felt like he was making as much progress as he had with Rain. As it turned out, only he, Mr. Middleton, and Lacy’s grandmother, Mrs. Craig, were upset over her disappearance. Jason expected Frannie and Riley’s disregard, but he was shocked by Tosh’s cavalier attitude.

  “Riley said she does this all the time,” Tosh said. Jason hadn’t said anything confrontational, but he must have given him a look.

  “She does,” Frannie jumped in. “Anytime she has medication she wanders. Remember, Riley, when she got her tonsils out and we found her sleeping in the backseat of the neighbor’s car?”

  “Not really. I don’t remember Lacy wandering, but it sounds like her,” Riley said between bites of strawberry shortcake. Apparently eye surgery hadn’t been enough to keep Lucinda Craig from baking through her worry. She greeted Jason with the offer of a bowl of shortcake on sight. By now he knew that it was her way, so he took it. But he had barely touched it. He took a bite now. In his peripheral vision, she nodded approvingly. He hoped the bite would be enough to hold her off for a while. The cake stuck like a lump in his throat, choking him. Or maybe he was confusing the cake with worry. Where was Lacy?

  “So you’re telling me that Lacy has wandered before when she had anesthetic,” he said.

  “Pretty much every time,” Frannie said. She took a delicate bite of the cake. Hers was minus added whipped cream and sugar, so he figured she was watching her weight.

  “And yet you left her alone while you ran an errand,” Jason said. An awkward pall fell over the room. Frannie looked at him uncertainly. He hadn’t meant to treat her like a suspect, but he couldn’t help himself. How had she been so careless with Lacy? Especially knowing that she was prone to wander?

  “I’m very busy with wedding plans,” Frannie said, her tone wounded.

  Jason bit down on a reply, but he also refused to apologize. Who cared about a stupid wedding when Lacy was missing?

  “What do you want us to do?” Mr. Middleton asked, subtly bridging the awkwardness with an offer of action.

  “Make a perimeter and search. When did you leave the house?” he asked Frannie, trying hard to keep the accusation out of his tone.

  “Three or so?” she guessed.

  “Is it possible that Lacy might have slipped by you while you were still here?” he asked.

  “No, I don’t think so,” she said. She took another bite of cake. He turned his back on her and addressed Mr. Middleton.

  “It’s six. Lacy isn’t very fast.”

  Riley snorted. He turned away from her, too.

  “If she walked continuously and did four miles an hour, she could be as far as twelve miles by now. Knowing her, she probably gravitated toward food or comfort; I don’t see her walking that whole time. Has anyone checked the Stakely building or the bakery?”

  “The bakery is closed,” Mr. Middleton said. “I did swing by there. I also checked the Stakely building. Joe’s keeping an eye out if she comes there.”

  “Good,” Jason said. The Stakely building was her most likely stop. Joe would be vigilant if Lacy’s safety was in question. “We should call in some help and fan out.” He pulled out his phone and dialed his office. He couldn’t issue an official bulletin or missing person’s report, but he could call in a favor. His dispatch would put out the word and the street units would keep an eye out as long as they weren’t on a call. Next he called Travis.

  “Kimber and Andy might want to help,” Mr. Middleton said.

  “And Michael. He’s such a nice boy,” Mrs. Craig added.

  “I’ll call Kimber,” Jason said, conveniently ignoring Mrs. Craig’s suggestion. He didn’t know Andy, but he figured that Kimber could contact him.

  “I’ll start on this street and check cars,” Tosh said. “I would prefer that Riley stay here. Her feet are swollen, and her back has been hurting.”

  “Fine,” Jason said. He wasn’t so heartless as to make a pregnant woman pound the pavement.

  “I’ll stay with Riley,” Frannie offered. “We can work on centerpieces.”

  Jason left the house
before he said something he might regret. Mr. Middleton joined him almost immediately. “I see so much of her mother in her,” he said, somewhat resignedly. “I wish I saw more of her Mom.”

  For all that he was sometimes terrifying, Jason couldn’t help but like Mr. Middleton, and he always had. In high school, he had offered support and understanding devoid of pity. For someone as proud as Jason, that had been vital. “Maybe it skips a generation,” he said. “Lacy’s a lot like Mrs. Craig. And her grandfather.”

  Mr. Middleton smiled. “That she is. Let’s go find her.”

  They set off in different directions. Tosh emerged behind them and began making his way up the street, pressing his face to the neighbors’ cars. Jason cut through a yard and headed toward town. Joe was there, and so were Kimber and Andy, but he didn’t know where else to go. Their town was an oasis in the middle of cornfields. If Lacy wasn’t in town, he had no idea how to find her. If worse came to worse, he would call in a favor and use the State Patrol’s infrared camera. Perhaps he should do that now, but he didn’t think they were at that point yet. Plus, if he called in the state, the media might become involved. Lacy would hate that. The weather was cool but not freezing; they had a lot of time before the situation disintegrated into an emergency. Besides, there were a few hours of daylight left and a half dozen searchers. Surely she hadn’t wondered far; surely they would find her right away. Wouldn’t they?

  He refused to let himself dwell on any answer other than “yes,” but three hours later, night began to fall, and his hope began to wane. Before he took drastic measures, he gathered the searchers together on the steps of the Stakely building for a report. Travis had brought a map from the office. They spread it on the sidewalk and everyone pointed to the areas they’d searched. Jason’s heart sank when he saw how much of the town they had covered.

  “Did you check your house?” he asked Tosh. Lacy used to own the house. He had found her in there before; it wasn’t beyond reason that she might sneak in again.

  “Riley’s home now,” Tosh said. “She checked the house and talked to the neighbors. No sign of Lacy.”

  To their left, the protesters began to chant and sing. Most of them appeared to be sleeping when the search party arrived, but apparently they thought the group was there to see and hear them. “Rain” stood and began to belt a Bob Dylan song as if she were performing on Broadway. The group of searchers eased inside the opening of the building so they could hear each other, but now a new annoyance loomed. Michael eased out of his store and stood on his toes to view the map.

  “What about that area?” he asked, pointing.

  “Those are empty fields,” Jason said.

  “The Little League baseball fields are there,” Mr. Middleton said.

  “Do you really think Lacy would go there?” Jason asked. “I don’t think she even knows they exist.”

  Mr. Middleton shrugged. He looked as exhausted as Jason felt. Both men had gotten up early to take their girlfriends to the doctor, but Jason had napped with Lacy. It was doubtful that Mr. Middleton had slept.

  “I guess it’s worth a look,” Jason said, especially because it was the only stone left unturned. “After that, I’m calling the state patrol for their plane.”

  “I can look, if you want,” Mr. Middleton volunteered, stifling a yawn.

  “I’ll go,” Michael said. “I haven’t looked anywhere yet, seeing as how no one told me she was missing until just now.” His eyes settled accusingly on Jason.

  “I’ll go,” Jason said. He didn’t like Michael’s proprietary attitude toward Lacy. There was something off there that he had never been able to put his finger on. He was far too comfortable with her. He rolled up the map and handed it to Travis.

  “Let’s split up and search one more time,” Travis said. When Jason left them, Travis was handing out grid assignments. The kid was growing up all right, he thought. If not for Lacy, he would never have gotten to know him. If not for Lacy, he would probably never leave his house, except to go to work. Before she came along, he had been an island unto himself. Except for the occasional date, he hadn’t had much of a social circle. Now his circle was filled with her family and friends who were slowly becoming part of his life, too. They were filled to the brim with crazy sometimes, but life was a little richer now that he was no longer alone.

  He drove to the ball fields, trying hard to keep hopelessness and frustration at bay. There was no way Lacy would wander to the ball fields. They were in no way connected to her and never had been. She hadn’t played softball as a kid, had probably never held a bat. Unlike him. He had spent his childhood at these fields. After his brother died, he used to ride his bike and practice pitching for hours. He parked and wandered through the fields with a flashlight, checking under the small set of rickety bleachers. He was about to call it a wash when he remembered the small equipment shed at the opposite end from where he was standing. So sure was he that Lacy wasn’t there, he almost skipped it. But he wanted to be able to tell the state patrol that he had searched everywhere before he asked for the use of their very expensive machine.

  The door to the shed wasn’t locked, which was strange. As a kid, they always had to wait for someone from the parks department to unlock it before they could access the practice bats and bucket of donated balls. Jason pushed open the door. At first he didn’t see anything, but a second sweep of his flashlight revealed a pair of eyes. They blinked sleepily at him.

  “Lacy,” he said, relief and confusion flooding him in a dizzying wave. “What are you doing here?” He knelt beside her, but she made no move toward him, and she didn’t speak. He reached out to touch her and found her burning with fever. “Come here.” He gathered her close. She didn’t resist. “You must be so thirsty,” he said, more to himself that to her. She seemed delirious again.

  “She gave me water,” she said.

  “Are you quoting The Hunchback of Notre Dame?” They had watched the movie together when it was her turn to pick. Jason liked it better than he would have thought. Lacy was famous for spouting random movie lines at odd times, but now seemed especially arbitrary.

  She didn’t answer. He smoothed his hand down her hair a few times, relishing in the comforting security of holding her close. The ordeal was over; she would be okay. “Let’s go,” he said. He was going to take her to the emergency room, and he had no plans to run that by her mother first. She had been gone all day after surgery, and she clearly had a fever. If Frannie Steele thought Lacy’s “hardy constitution” could weather the illness without assistance, that was fine. But Jason wanted her checked out for his own peace of mind.

  When he picked her up, something clattered to the floor. He rested her weight against the wall and pulled his flashlight free to look at it. The beam fell on a half-empty plastic water bottle. Jason stared at it. “Lacy, did you bring water?”

  “She gave me water,” she said. With her mouth still swollen, she even sounded a little like Quasimodo.

  “Did you find that water here?” His flashlight beam scanned the dusty interior of the shack. He found a few stray softballs, but no water.

  “She gave me water,” she insisted.

  He was baffled. “Who gave you water?”

  “Da man,” she said. She was getting heavy, and she was shivering. When her teeth began to chatter, he took pity on her and tucked her in the car. Before he left, he went back inside and bagged the water bottle. Part of him felt like an idiot. Lacy had wandered away and wound up lost in a shed. Either she had stumbled upon the water or she had somehow taken it with her. Why was he being so over-the-top about this? He should toss it away and forget the whole thing.

  He didn’t, though. He carefully put the bottle in a box in the back of the car, called Mr. Middleton, and drove Lacy to the hospital.

  Chapter 8

  Jason stayed with her in the ER, for all the good it did. Lacy was out of her head, beyond delirious. Most of the time, she muttered about cronuts, only calming when Jason promised t
o find one for her. First he needed to figure out what they were.

  Mr. Middleton arrived solo. “Frannie wanted to come,” he explained. “I think she’s had a change of heart about the level of danger Lacy was in, but I wanted her to stay with Lucinda.”

  Jason nodded, trying not to let his relief show. The last thing he needed right now was to deal with Lacy’s mother. “They’re going to admit her overnight for observation,” Jason said, just as two men in scrubs came to retrieve her.

  “You can wait in the fourth floor lobby,” one of them said. “Someone will come to get you once she’s set up.”

  They wheeled her away. Jason watched helplessly. Lacy turned to him with wide eyes. “Cwonut?” she whimpered.

  “It’s coming,” he promised. When she was out of sight, he turned to Mr. Middleton. “What’s a cronut?”

  “A cross between a doughnut and a croissant, and only available in Manhattan.”

  “Figures,” Jason muttered. Other women wanted diamonds or shoes. Lacy wanted regional pastries. They went to the fourth floor together and sat in the small lobby.

  “Tell me how you found her again,” Mr. Middleton said.

  “She was in the equipment shed at the ball field,” Jason said.

  “That’s pretty far,” Mr. Middleton said. “I can’t believe she walked that way all on her own.”

  “I know,” Jason agreed. He was glad to discuss the puzzling situation with someone. “She also had water.”

  “She walked all that way with a bottle of water?” Mr. Middleton said, echoing Jason’s dismay.

  “She said someone gave it to her,” Jason said.

  Mr. Middleton looked at him, pausing a long time before he spoke. One of the best things about Mr. Middleton was his calm, rational demeanor. “But you don’t believe that,” he said at last.

  “It’s not likely,” Jason said. “That would mean that someone either took Lacy or found her wandering and used it to his advantage. Who would do that? And why?” He didn’t like where his thoughts were leading.