Bridesmaid for Hire

by Chance Carter

  She waved off his question.

  “I'll get back to that.”

  She continued on with her story.

  “Roy searched your bedroom to see if there was anything the police may have missed. He was looking for something that would pin the murder on someone else.”

  “I doubt there was anything there.”

  He studied her smile critically, as if he weren't sure he could entirely trust it.

  “He found something under the bed. It was a police badge. Roy said that the number printed on the front isn’t yours.”

  “No, it wouldn’t be,” Joey told her. “My uniform is here. It was confiscated when I was placed in here, because it had Chloe's blood on it. Chief Cartright has it locked away somewhere as evidence.”

  “Roy wrapped it up in a handkerchief and has kept it with him ever since. He thinks Chief Cartright came back for it the night he was going through your room.”

  “Chief Cartright?” Joey looked stunned to hear the news.

  Jenny realized with horror that she had never actually told her brother that she and Roy had come to that conclusion. She felt a sinking feeling of guilt in the pit of her stomach. This wasn't the way he should have found out.

  She watched as he sunk down onto his cot with his head in his hands.

  “Joey, I'm so sorry.”

  Joey looked suddenly up at her. His face was drawn in pain, and she immediately wanted to step past the bars and go to him.

  “He was the one having an affair with Chloe?” Joey asked.

  He stared at her until she nodded her head slowly.

  “Damn it,” he cursed under his breath.

  “I'm so sorry I told you like that.”

  Jenny felt tears welling up in her eyes. She had wasted so many long years not caring what her brother was doing with his life or how he was doing. Now, it was one of her highest concerns.

  “Chief Cartright was sleeping with my wife.”

  She knew Joey was barely listening to her. His head was so wrapped up in the news he had just heard.

  “That bastard was with Chloe.”

  “Joey.”

  Her voice wavered as she looked in on his broken face. She didn't know what else to say.

  “Damn it, Jenny. Why did it have to be him, of all people? I get that Chloe wasn't happy with me. We married young and had Isabelle. But why did she have to go out of her way to hurt me like that?”

  He looked up at her, tears streaming down his face. “Was I that horrible?”

  “No,” she told him gently. “Chloe should never have started an affair. She should have known better.”

  There had been many conversations with Chloe where she told her best friend that Joey was the one who should have known better or Joey should be the one making sure Chloe knew he cared. It seemed strange to have the conversation in reverse now. She wished that her best friend had just been straight with her. She had never agreed with the concept of having an affair, but she thought Chloe could have told the truth.

  “Did she ever tell you about it?”

  Jenny had been expecting the question. She would have asked the same thing.

  “No. Chloe never said a word to me about it. I think she knew what I would have told her.”

  “To leave me, take Isabelle and head for the city?” Joey muttered.

  “No, I never would have told her to leave you.”

  “You hated me,” Joey reminded her. “So why didn't you?”

  “Because.”

  “Because what?” he demanded.

  “Because that's not how you sort things out!” she yelled back at him. “You don't run and hide. You face things and make sure they get sorted out, or you just end up sad and alone with nothing to live for.”

  She dropped back, her throat sore from raising her voice. Tears pricked at her eyes. She knew she was talking about herself when she made that statement. Running away had been exactly what she had done all those years ago. She could have stayed and made amends with her brother. Heck, she could have left and still made an effort to reconnect with him.

  Instead, she had put more distance between herself and her brother. In light of the events of the past few days, she was becoming more unsure of why she had left Ombrea so many years ago. It was clear that if she had stayed and worked at building their relationship back up, she would have benefited greatly.

  “Oh, Jenny, we’ve got the world's worst sibling relationship, don't we?”

  “I think we got most people beat,” she said with a playful smirk.

  He looked up at her cautiously.

  “Think we could ever fix it?”

  “Busting you out of this place is a start.”

  He held up his hands like a man looking for salvation.

  “Hallelujah! If you can get me out of this hell-hole, I’ll be the best little brother in the world.”

  “I'd settle for my brother back.”

  Chapter 30

  Roy was relieved when Jenny's Neon rolled into view.

  He had grown tired of pacing the cabin and had taken a beer out onto the front porch to wait. That one beer had quickly turned into two as he impatiently anticipated her return. Isabelle and the dog had been too distracted to notice that Jenny hadn't come home yet.

  Jenny raised her hand, waving as she closed the driver's side door. He stood as she came to meet him and stepped up onto the wooden deck. He took her in his arms and held her there tightly.

  “What kind of an idiot move was that?” he asked into her hair. “You think it was a good idea to walk into the lion's den alone like that?”

  “Well, he didn't eat me,” she responded as she tilted her face up to meet his dreamy eyes. “He tried, but I put up a good fight.”

  “I wasn't joking,” he cautioned her gently. “Chief Cartright is no fool. We've got to be smart about how we handle him.”

  “It looks like we weren't smart enough.”

  Jenny nodded toward his deck chair, and he sank back into it. She settled into the one beside him.

  “He knows that we went to see Lawrence.”

  “What?”

  Roy sat forward, concerned. He looked across at her.

  “What happened at the station?”

  “Chief Cartright mentioned to me that he knew we had been. He made out like we were harassing Lawrence by going.”

  “Because he's done the old man so many favors,” Roy muttered sarcastically. “He's been an absolute saint.”

  Jenny nodded.

  “He said Lawrence was a sensitive fellow who liked to keep to himself.”

  “That's a threat if I've ever heard one,” Roy told her. “He thinks he has the upper hand because he could unleash Lawrence’s secret at any time.”

  “Right.”

  Jenny still felt horrible for what she had told her brother earlier. It wasn't any easier telling Roy what had happened. “There was something else, too. I accidentally told Joey that our prime suspect is Chief Cartright.”

  He realized that he hadn't even considered what it would be like to share that news with Joey. He had been more focused on proving the guy’s innocence than he had been about keeping him in the loop. He had been to visit Joey before, last week, in fact, before Jenny got to town. Joey had told him everything he knew and not once had Cartright’s name come up. It was clear Joey didn’t have any idea his superior had been sleeping with his wife.

  He suddenly felt guilty for not having at least mentioned that it was a possibility. After Roy had started trying to get the town on his side about Joey, Chief Cartright made it very clear he wasn't to show his face around the station anymore. Roy backed off, but his investigation continued, much to the Chief's annoyance.

  Roy had never thought to tell Jenny to explain what their investigation had turned up to Joey, either. They had both been more concerned with letting him know he was soon to be a free man.

  “Hey, now.”

  He caught sight of Jenny's tears and reached out his hand. She took
it gratefully and squeezed tightly.

  “Where are those tears coming from? It's only going to get better from here, I promise you that, Jenny.”

  “He looked so heartbroken. He knew she had been having an affair behind his back, but he hadn't known the traitor was someone so close to home.”

  “If it was going to be anyone, it had to be someone in town.” Roy reminded her gently. “Whoever it turned out to be, Joey was going to know them to some degree. That's what a small town is all about. Everyone knows everyone else and a large amount of their business, too.”

  “I worry he's going to do or say something while he's in there that gets him in even deeper trouble.”

  “Joey is a pretty smart guy. You told him about the call to the police commissioner, I assume?”

  She nodded her head.

  “Then he already knows his time in there is about to come to an end. He wouldn't be so foolish as to risk it all now when he's so close to being free.”

  “He might still act on it, regardless. He looked so hurt in there. He was like a caged animal.”

  “But he has to be considering the bigger picture, too,” Roy pointed out. “He has Isabelle to think about. He wouldn't jeopardize returning home to her by acting like an idiot in there. You've got to give your brother a little more credit.”

  “I guess I do.”

  She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

  “I guess there has to be a first time for everything.”

  “I have another first for you,” Roy told her as he dropped her hand to rise to his feet. “You, Jenny Dale, will soon have your first phone conversation with a police commissioner.”

  “How dreadfully exciting.”

  He was grateful to see her smiling again.

  * * *

  Bright and early the next morning, Jenny waited nervously on the line as the phone began to ring.

  She knew what she had to say to the police commissioner. Roy had coached her through a basic story that would get them off the hook for one or two of the illegal aspects of their investigation, such as the circumstances surrounding the retrieval of the police badge. As much as she hated lying, but if they admitted to being in the house after the fire, it might give reason to suspect that they had planted the badge at the scene. The police had done an initial search, after all, and had not discovered it.

  “Chief Cartright wouldn't have wanted them looking too hard. He probably hurried the search for clues, insisting that they had their man already. Joey had cradled Chloe's body in his arms when he found her, so he had her blood all over his uniform shirt. Joey was a sitting duck. ”

  Jenny agreed he was probably right.

  Just when she was ready to end the call, a woman came on the line. She sounded out of breath as if she had rushed to answer the call.

  “Police Commissioner Gatrall's office, who, may I ask, is calling?”

  “Uh, this is Jenny Dale.”

  She was rattled. The commissioner’s name hadn't been the same one that Roy had found scribbled on a piece of paper in his office. She held the phone a little tighter.

  “My brother is Officer Joey Dale of the Ombrea Police Department. I would like to speak to the police commissioner about how his case is being handled.”

  “Your brother has been accused of a crime, ma'am?”

  “Murder.” Jenny swallowed hard. Her mouth felt horribly dry. She thought she would have more confidence when it came to making this call, but even the receptionist was making her nervous.

  “The Ombrea police department, did you say?” Jenny could hear computer keys clicking in the background.

  “Yes, it's in West Virginia.”

  “I know where it is, ma'am. Hold on one second.”

  A burst of jazz suddenly replaced the receptionist's voice.

  “Well?” Roy mouthed at her as she turned to him.

  “I think she put me on hold.”

  He gave her a thumbs-up.

  “That's a good sign.”

  She switched the phone to her other ear so she could rub her hand on her jeans. It was slick with sweat.

  “I don't think I can do this.”

  “Relax, you're doing great so far. Just stay calm.”

  “Hello?” A male voice suddenly replaced the jazz music in her ear.

  “Miss Jenny Dale?”

  “Just Jenny, please.”

  It was clear she had been taken by surprise. Roy hoped she could keep it together.

  “Well, Just Jenny, what can I do for you? My receptionist says you’re calling in regards to your brother, Joey, who is an officer with the Ombrea Police Department.”

  “He is. I mean, that's exactly why I'm calling. He's been arrested for the murder of his wife, Chloe.”

  “I think I've heard about this case.”

  The commissioner didn't let on to how much he knew.

  “I've got the time to listen to whatever it is you want to tell me about it.”

  “You see sir, he didn’t' do it.”

  “No?”

  “No, he was set up. I have the evidence to prove it, too, sir.”

  “Set up by whom?”

  The commissioner didn't seem confident in her claim.

  “And what evidence is this?”

  Jenny took a deep breath before she continued. “I believe he was set up by Chief Cartright, sir.”

  “Chief James Cartright?”

  She could hear the commissioner moving papers around on his desk.

  “You're telling me that your brother was set up by his own supervising officer?”

  “Indeed, I am, sir. Like I said, I have evidence to back up my claims.”

  “Go on.”

  “I'm the last surviving relative of my brother's daughter, Isabelle. I came to Ombrea to take care of her while her father is in jail,” Jenny explained.

  She kept her eyes on Roy for strength as she continued.

  “I was cleaning up the house. I didn't think Isabelle should have to see the bedroom where her mother had died in such a state. I found a badge tucked under the bed.”

  “What kind of badge was this?”

  “Sorry, a police badge sir. My brother's badge is still pinned on his uniform at the police station. There’s a rumor going around town that I had confirmed by my brother. His wife had been having an affair with someone in town. I know for a fact that the badge I found under his bed was not Joey's police number, so I feel confident enough to say that it must have belonged to Chloe's lover. ”

  “Chloe being his wife?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Is it an official police badge, though?”

  The commissioner asked her the one question she hadn't been expecting.

  “How can you be sure it's not a prop from part of a costume?”

  “I know it's real, sir. I asked a veteran police officer in town to confirm it for me.”

  She heard the creak of a desk chair. It was clear the commissioner was considering her claims.

  “What is the name of this veteran police officer?”

  “Roy Peters.”

  Much to her surprise, the commissioner began to laugh.

  “Roy Peters? Did he mention ever having been in the armed forces?”

  “Uh, yeah, I think he was.”

  She glanced down at the army shirt she had borrowed from Roy's drawer only this morning.

  “He definitely was.”

  “Then I know Roy Peters quite well,” the commissioner explained. “I was leading his group on my last tour of Afghanistan. He's definitely a good man. He even saved my life once, although he is too modest to admit to it.”

  Jenny felt like jumping up in the air. This man knew Roy, and quite well, by the sound of it. It looked as if they might have an easier job of this than she had first thought.

  “He has been a big help with my brother's case,” Jenny explained with new confidence. “He saved my life too, sir. That was what I was getting to. We think Chief Cartright may have caught on to
what I had found, because he threw a Molotov cocktail through the living room window of my brother's home. I believe he had every intention of killing me and destroying any evidence left behind.”

  “That's an awfully big claim, Miss Dale,” the commissioner told her. “You found the police badge in your brother's home. You think it may be Chief Cartright's police number. I fail to see how you now have connected him to the arson?”

  “When I first came to the house, I noticed a blue wine bottle in the fridge. It's called Rosaceae. It's an expensive brand you usually only find on the shelves of specialty wine stores in the big cities.”

  “It's in my fridge too, as a matter of fact.”

  “Right. I'd seen it at my editor's party once before and gone to buy a bottle. Chloe enjoyed wine as much as the next person, but she was always going for the cheapest brand or the prettiest label. I couldn't see her spending that much on wine.”

  “Go on.”

  “I saw the Molotov cocktail right before the living room set alight. It was in a blue bottle exactly the same as the one that had been in Chloe's fridge. The fire chief here has even confirmed that.”

  “Okay. You've got my interest.”

  Jenny was on a roll now.

  “I went to the liquor store in town on the off chance he may be stocking it. He said he had never seen it in his life, but he seemed on edge. He called me the next day and asked me to come back into the store with Roy.

  “He admitted he had been forced to lie. He told us that Chief Cartright had been the one ordering in the Rosaceae wine. Lawrence, the shop owner, used to be a petty thief back in his college days. He's going on in years now, but Chief Cartright was holding his past crimes against him to get the man to do his bidding. He was terrified that if he didn't order the wine in each week and keep it an absolute secret from anyone who asked, he would be sent immediately to jail.”

  “Will he repeat this to me if I ask?”

  “I think he will, sir. But he's terrified of what may happen in regards to his petty theft. He's been out of that business for over twenty years. I don't think he even associates with the same people he ran around with back in the day.”

  “I promise to be gentle with him, Miss Dale, if he cooperates, but I do need to hear this story from him.”