Whispers of Murder

by Cheryl Bradshaw

  WHISPERS OF MURDER

  A Novella

  Cheryl Bradshaw

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, businesses, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any similarity to events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and should be recognized as such.

  First edition January 2012

  Copyright © 2012 by Cheryl Bradshaw

  All rights reserved.

  For updates on Cheryl and her books:

  Blog: cherylbradshawbooks.blogspot.com

  Web: www.cherylbradshaw.com

  Facebook: Cheryl Bradshaw Author Page

  Twitter: @cherylbradshaw

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form, or by any means whatsoever (electronic, mechanical, etc.) without the prior written permission and consent of the author.

  ALSO BY CHERYL BRADSHAW

  Black Diamond Death, (Sloane Monroe Novel #1)

  Sinnerman (Sloane Monroe Novel #2)

  I Have a Secret (Sloane Monroe Novel #3) (Spring 2012)

  Author praise

  for Black Diamond Death, Sloane Monroe Series, Book #1:

  The writing and editing are excellent, the characters are interesting, and the plot kept me hooked. The balance between action and detecting worked perfectly. The main character was a masterpiece.

  --Edward G. Talbot, Author of New World Orders

  The tone reminded me of Robert B. Parker's novels, so if you're missing the likes of Spenser and Sunny Randall, I'd say that Cheryl Bradshaw looks to be a worthy successor.

  Highly recommended!

  --Chris Stout, Author of Days of Reckoning

  While I've found most mystery/thrillers to be rehashes of the same old plot line, this novel was refreshingly new/original. It is a new twist on the PI murder-mystery with a few nice surprises along the way.

  –-Jack Murphy, Author of PROMIS: Vietnam

  This book had me guessing the whole time. Reads like a bestseller.

  --Julia Crane, Author of Coexist, Conflicted

  for Sinnerman, Sloane Monroe Series, Book #2:

  Only once in a while do you come upon a novel that sweeps you literally off your feet. The pot-boiling tension in this story is out of this world. Cheryl Bradshaw can write like the pros did at the Turn of the 20th Century. This is an instant classic. Absolutely sensational indisputably.

  -- Glen Cantrell, Author of The Resume

  I really enjoyed the first Sloane Monroe novel, and was looking forward to reading the next in the series. I think Sinnerman was even better than Black Diamond Death. Sloane's personality really came out in this book, and I love the new character, Giovanni. Can't wait to read more from Bradshaw.

  -- Julie Crane, Author of Keegan’s Chronicles

  If you are a Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fan, the first chapter will leave you gasping. I don't think I lifted my whiskey until I had put down the book at the very end. I enjoyed the continuity from the first book, and how the characters developed further. Lots of "no way" moments. I also appreciated the forensic side of the storyline, putting together the puzzle to find the killer.

  -- Reader

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to Kylie.

  May you never stray far from the vineyard.

  “Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow.

  The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”

  -Abraham Lincoln

  CHAPTER 1

  Isabelle Donnelly’s eyes darted around the room, first to her mother, and then her sister before they came to rest on the man that stood as a barrier between herself and her betrothed.

  “We are gathered here today in the presence of God to offer up our bounteous thanks for the gift of marriage, and to witness the joining together of Isabelle and Leo,” the pastor said.

  Isabelle’s gaze returned to her mother who was perched on a pew in the front row. Her mother’s eyes were riveted on a single piece of lace fabric in her lap that she picked at like she hoped it would unravel, just like she wished the wedding would. She’d hadn’t made eye contact with her daughter since she entered the church, and Isabelle suspected she wouldn’t, not after the blow up she’d had with her father the night before. He’d knocked on the door to Isabelle’s hotel room with a request that he speak with her, but it didn’t take long for her to realize it was a latch-ditch effort to dissuade her from the decision she’d made to marry. When she refused to listen to what he liked to call “the Donnelly voice of reason,” he stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him. She hadn’t seen him since.

  The pastor continued. “Today is a time for family and friends to share in their commitment to each other by offering Isabelle and Leo our continued support, love and best wishes in their lives together.”

  Isabelle’s sister, Melanie, slouched back in her seat, rolled her eyes in disgust and exchanged a why-the-hell-are-you-doing-this glance with her. Isabelle scrunched her eyes shut and wished when they opened again her family would have all disappeared. Today was the day she would marry the man of her dreams, but everywhere she looked she was met with scowls of disapproval. It made her question why they’d come at all and why they hadn’t forsaken her like her father who abandoned her at the last moment to walk down the aisle alone. Did he really think she wouldn’t go through with it just because he disapproved? And where was Emmett? He promised he’d be there and yet she’d studied the faces of everyone in attendance. His wasn’t one.

  Isabelle disregarded the tension that saturated the room and stared into Leo’s eyes. The room around them whirred to a stop, and in slow motion he slid the three-carat diamond ring into position on her finger. “I know we’ve only known each other for a few months,” he said, “but I’d feel the same even if it had been three years. I never knew women like you existed. From the first time we bumped into each another, I knew I had to have you. Nothing else mattered to me anymore, only you.”

  A faint gagging sound broke the silence. Isabelle turned to her sister who clasped her hand to her throat like she had a piece of meat lodged inside that she was desperate to get out.

  The pastor nudged Isabelle and placed his hand over hers. “It’s your turn,” he said and nodded toward Leo.

  She cleared her throat. “Leo, I…”

  The next two minutes passed by like a blur, and in the end Isabelle wasn’t sure if she’d said what she intended or if any of the vows she’d spent the past several days rehearsing had come out as planned. All that mattered to her now was that the wedding was over and the two of them could get on with their lives somewhere far away from the scrutiny of her family.

  Leo rubbed his thumb over her hand and mouthed the words, “We’re almost there.”

  The pastor surveyed the audience and spoke. “If any of you can show just cause why these two fine people shouldn’t be married, speak now or else forever hold your peace.”

  Isabelle gave Melanie a glare that said: stop the wedding and I’ll never forgive you. Her sister uncrossed her legs and crossed them together on the opposite side but remained silent.

  The back doors to the church flung open like they’d been forced into submission by an onslaught of insurgents and Isabelle’s father staggered inside. Emmett followed close behind. Neither spoke, but her father eyeballed her with a solemn look on his face. A single tear traveled down his cheek and splashed down on the belt buckle that clung to the waist of his Wrangler jeans. She was stunned. Her father had never broken down in front of her before. Emmett ushered him to a row at the back of the room and they lowered their bodies down into their seats.

  The preach
er waited until they were settled in and continued. “Now that Isabelle and Leo have given themselves to each other by solemn vows, before us and before God as witness, and have shown their affection and trust by the giving and receiving of rings and by joining hands, and by the power vested in me I pronounce…”

  Isabelle’s knees buckled like they’d been stuffed with cotton and she collapsed. Her head smacked against the hardwood floor upon impact and she lay there motionless, her eyes closed.

  Within seconds her sister had scurried to her side and cradled Isabelle’s head in her lap. Leo bent down to touch her but Melanie slapped his hand away. “Don’t touch her!” she hissed. “You did this!” She turned toward the back of the room and yelled, “Emmett?” But there was no need, he was already there.

  What should have been one of the happiest moments in Isabelle’s life turned out to be the day her whole world unraveled.

  CHAPTER 2

  Isabelle shot up and adjusted to the unfamiliar surroundings around her. The sound of her father’s voice emanated from the hallway. “If you wouldn’t have pressured her to marry you before she was ready, none of this would have happened,” he lectured.

  “We love each other. I didn’t see a reason to wait,” Leo said. “Besides, she’s fine.”

  “She’s in the hospital. How’s that fine?” her sister said.

  Isabelle kneaded her forehead with her hand and tried to will away the constant succession of pain that shot through it like bullets being fired off at a shooting range.

  “You should lay back down and rest,” a voice said.

  She turned and glanced toward the window. “Emmett?”

  Isabelle slid over in bed and he sat down. “Why am I in the hospital?” she said. “What happened?”

  “Your dad insisted. He wanted to make sure you were okay,” Emmett said. “You fainted. Do you remember that?”

  “The last thing that comes to mind is you walking in with my father.”

  He smiled down at her but didn’t say a word.

  “Did he come because of you…to the wedding?” she said.

  “He loves you, Izzy. No matter how he feels, he wanted to be there—for you, anyway.”

  Emmett was the only one who had ever called her by that name.

  “I know you had something to do with it.” She applied light pressure to his hand. “Thank you.”

  Isabelle’s gaze shifted to an enormous arrangement of lilies on the table next to her. “Are those from Leo?” she said. “He’s so sweet.”

  Emmett shook his head. “They’re umm…from me. I saw them in the gift shop downstairs, and I remembered how you used to keep lilies in your room when we were—”

  “Can you tell Leo I’m awake now? I’d really like to see him.”

  He released her hand, gazed out the window and then walked toward the door.

  “Emmett?”

  He stopped and turned around and she noticed the deep-set circles around his eyes. He looked like a POW who hadn’t slept for days.

  She pointed to the flowers. “Thank you for these. They’re beautiful.”

  He tilted his head and closed the door behind him. A moment later it opened again, but it wasn’t Leo who walked through the door.

  Isabelle looked up. “I don’t want to see you.”

  Melanie hopped onto the end of the hospital bed and crisscrossed her legs like she was ready to engage in a moment of meditation.

  “Why? You’re married to the guy now so you got what you wanted.”

  “But I thought the ceremony never finished?”

  “He got to the I-now-pronounce-you-man-and-wife part right around the time your body plummeted to the floor. Leo practically threw himself on top of you to seal the deal with a kiss, and that quack of a pastor allowed it even though you were laying there like Sleeping Beauty.”

  Isabelle’s eyes veered away from her sister and over to the stark white wall next to her like she was trying to decide what color paint would suit it best. “You probably hated that.”

  “The fact that you could have died on me? No. The ceremony making it to the “I do” part with that guy? Yes.”

  “He has a name, you know. You don’t need to refer to him as that guy.”

  Melanie shrugged. “I could think of worse things to call him.”

  “Is it always going to be like this?”

  Isabelle’s sister leaned forward and smoothed her hands over both sides of her sister’s cheeks. “You show up in town with this guy after we haven’t seen you in ages, make a brief introduction and then flash a ring in our faces and announce the two of you are getting hitched in a few weeks. And you can’t see why that might be a little hard to take?”

  Isabelle interlaced her fingers on her lap, leaned back on the pillow behind her and sighed. “Is Dad still mad at me?”

  “He’s disappointed. You know how old-fashioned he is. Leo never even asked him if he could marry his daughter. What do you expect?”

  “Just because you all don’t know him like I do yet doesn’t mean you can’t give me a little support. It was my decision to make.”

  Melanie shrugged. “And you made it, so why do we need to keep talking about this?”

  “Because you treat him like an outsider, like he doesn’t belong. Everyone respects Dad in this town, and I won’t have Leo shunned everywhere we go. As soon as I feel better, we’re out of here.”

  “I can’t help what Dad does, but at least you listened to him long enough to agree on Leo signing a prenup.”

  Isabelle fidgeted with the edge of her gown.

  Her sister’s eyes widened until they resembled the size of a half-dollar. “You did have him sign the prenup, right?” Isabelle said nothing. Melanie grabbed both sides of her arms and squeezed. “Tell me he signed the damn thing, Isabelle.”

  Isabelle met her sister’s eyes with her own, and there was no need for a verbal confirmation. Melanie had her answer.

  Two knocks sounded at the door and Leo stepped into the room. “Can I have a few minutes with my wife?”

  Melanie rose from the bed, and without any acknowledgement, strutted past Leo into the hallway.

  Leo approached the bed, leaned in and kissed Isabelle on the forehead. “I’m sorry about all this,” he said.

  “Why? You aren’t to blame. They’ve all treated you like you’re the main attraction on Wild Kingdom.”

  He laughed. “Who knows, maybe I am.”

  Isabelle balled her hand into a fist and socked him in the chest. “That’s not funny.”

  His smile turned into a look of concern. “You’re unhappy; I can see it in your face. What can I do to make things better?”

  “Get me out of here.”

  CHAPTER 3

  “I’m sorry we missed our flight,” Isabelle said.

  Leo scooped Isabelle up in his arms. “Don’t be. We can cruise the Bahamas anytime.” He grasped the champagne glass from her hand, set it on the nightstand and then pulled both her hands to meet his lips. “All I need is you. So let’s enjoy this gorgeous hotel room and each other.”

  Isabelle smiled, snatched a pink striped box that rested next to her suitcase on the chair and carried it with her to the bathroom. She stripped off her jeans and t-shirt and replaced them with a form-fitting black satin chemise and a matching robe which she tied around her so she wouldn’t reveal what lied beneath until the time was right. When she emerged a few minutes later Leo had a look on his face like a dog that had just been offered a savory treat.

  “Let me undo the tie on that robe for you,” he said.

  She wagged her finger in the air. “Not until room service arrives. You can wait that long, can’t you?”

  He lifted her onto the bed and climbed on top of her. “Why wait if I don’t have to?” She raised her head up, and he met her lips with his own. “Let’s call off room service,” he said. “All I want is you tonight.”

  He’d barely uttered the words when the sounds of metal clanking together sounded at th
e door. Leo grunted and stammered out of bed to open it. The attendant pushed the cart into the center of the room. Isabelle studied it and noticed a wine bottle that angled out of a metal container.

  “I think you have the wrong room,” she said.

  The attendant looked in her direction but didn’t make eye contact. Isabelle thought it was odd until she glanced down at her robe and noticed it had flayed open. She snatched the crumpled duvet from the center of the bed and pressed it over her chest.

  “Is something missing?” the attendant said.

  She shook her head and pointed to the metal bowl. “That wine, we didn’t order it. We’ve got plenty of our own.”

  “Are you sure, ma’am?”

  She cringed at the sound of it: ma’am. Did marriage come with an automatic sign that indicated she’d aged ten years?

  Leo approached the cart and separated the wine from the ice that surrounded it. He lifted it up for a moment before plunging it back down into the bowl.

  The attendant pointed to the desk. “Can I use your phone?”

  Isabelle nodded. The attendant made a call and then said, “We were told to bring this to you…as a gift.”

  “From whom?”

  Leo grabbed a white envelope the size of a playing card from the top of the tray and offered it to her. “There’s a note.” He pulled some money from his pocket and remitted it to the attendant along with a light tap on his shoulder. “I’m sure we can clear this up ourselves. You can go now.”

  Once the door was fastened and locked and the attendant had gone, Leo said, “Well, who’s it from?”

  Isabelle picked the seal from the back of the envelope and withdrew the note inside: