by Riley Adams
She jumped as her cell phone starting singing “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.” “Hello?”
“Where in the hell is Holden?” squeaked Flo in a hoarse voice.
“Up at the ceremony! I just sent him packing up there ten minutes ago with his camera in his hand. And he was running, too. He’s got to be over there.”
Flo gave a sob. “But he’s not! And Cynthia is on the warpath. The guests are all crammed into the chapel because there’s too many of them and I don’t even have all of the bridal party together!”
“Flo, it’s going to be perfect,” said Lulu, picking up Flo’s mantra. “I’m going to find Holden. And if I can’t, I’ll take pictures with the digital camera I brought—it’s better than nothing. You just calm down your mother of the bride and round up the wedding party.” And she charged across the street to the chapel.
Lulu tried to think, which was hard to do when her head was pounding. Where could Holden be? The chapel was in the woods next to the mansion and clearly he wasn’t there with Flo. Could he still be trying to take some pictures around the mansion like he did at the car museum?
She couldn’t believe he’d have gone inside Graceland right before the ceremony. But could he have been taking pictures around the exterior of the house? And that’s when she found him inside the wrought iron gate around Elvis’ pool. In a restricted area. “Holden! They need you . . .” She dropped off as she saw the reason he was in there at all—Big Jack was standing behind him, near the bushes on the inside of the fence. Holden’s camera was at the bottom of the swimming pool. And Big Jack looked to be holding a gun pointed directly at Holden.
Chapter 18
“Great,” snarled Big Jack. “Holden, you have Lulu Taylor to thank for what I’m about to do. I was just going to make sure you understood how serious I was and let you go. But now that Lulu’s here, I’ll need to get rid of both of you and give myself a head start to get out of town.”
Lulu said in a hoarse voice, “Holden took a picture of you with Ginger, didn’t he? So you threw his camera in the pool.”
“Of course. It’s a digital camera. And I was just having a friendly little talk with him a minute ago, making sure he hadn’t uploaded those pictures onto a computer or a phone or anything. And then we were just going to go our own ways with the understanding that he was never going to say a word about that picture and that it was never going to surface anywhere . . . or he’d be very sorry. But that plan is all shot to hell now.”
Holden was ashen and looked at Lulu in desperation. Lulu said, sounding braver than she felt, “Big Jack, you’re not going to be able to get away with this. They’re already out looking for you—I came out here because Flo said you weren’t there,” lied Lulu. “You’re not going to get that head start you’re looking for.”
“I think you’re wrong,” said Big Jack. He cocked the gun at them.
“Where did things start going wrong, Big Jack?” asked Lulu desperately. “You weren’t too upset when Adam died. You must have been the one to kill him, though. Because that’s why Holden has a photo of you with Ginger from the day she died, right? She was blackmailing you over murdering Adam.”
“Among other things,” said Big Jack dryly. “She picked up where Adam left off—they were like blackmailing business partners or something. So she had me over a barrel with the affair—and she knew I was on the scene at Adam’s murder.”
“Because she was there, too, wasn’t she? Ginger had been talking on the phone to Adam right before his death—that’s why she knew Oliver had pushed him down the stairs. And when she caught up with Adam, you were already there, arguing with him. And you had a gun.”
“I wasn’t even going to do anything with that gun!” said Big Jack, holding out one hand beseechingly. “I just wanted to scare some sense into Adam and let him know that I was not going to be blackmailed for the rest of my life. Something was going to have to change.”
Lulu said thoughtfully, “One thing about Ginger that week . . . she was really fired up. She had this huge argument with Evelyn in Aunt Pat’s. She had a fight with Adam and dumped him—at least for a little while. I bet she was still really fired up at that point. Did she take your gun and shoot him with it? Since you weren’t going to shoot him.”
Big Jack gave a short laugh. “The crazy woman. Yeah, she said, ‘Give me that gun. You know you aren’t supposed to point a gun at somebody unless you plan on using it.’ I was surprised to see her there and just handed the thing over. And then she shot him right in the chest. I couldn’t believe it. Kept thinking the cops would be over in a flash, but there was all this construction noise going on and nobody seemed to notice.”
“And nobody even saw you.”
“That was weird, too! It was like I was meant to get away with it. There we were, right by the river in front of a condo. But we were kind of in the trees—I didn’t want anybody to see me arguing with Adam so I’d dragged him over there to talk to him on the sly.”
“So there you were with a dead body, shot with your gun, and a woman who had proof you’d been blackmailed by the victim.”
Big Jack nodded and pointed the gun more directly at Lulu. Lulu said quickly, “And Holden took pictures the day Ginger died—but he only mentioned seeing Oliver in them. But I’m thinking he must have gotten a picture of you, too, since his camera is at the bottom of the pool.”
Big Jack drawled, “Oh he got a picture of me. . . . He just didn’t realize he had until yesterday. He took a closer look at the photo of Ginger and Oliver and saw me, sitting in my car, watching them. I was tailing Ginger to get her alone.”
Lulu swallowed. “When we were at the lake house, I asked Holden to send me those pictures. You must have realized what I’d find if I studied them closely. So you called me the night I got home from the lake. You must have had some device to disguise your voice. You warned me off the case so I wouldn’t remind Holden about the pictures.
“Not that warning you did a lick of good.” Big Jack motioned for Lulu to move closer to Holden. “Chat time’s over.”
Lulu scrambled to delay him. “And I didn’t realize it until just now, but you messed up when you told me about Evelyn pointing her little gun at Ginger. When we were at the funeral, the very day you murdered Ginger, you said you were driving directly out of town to go see your accountant. So you shouldn’t have been in Memphis to see Evelyn do anything at all!”
Big Jack drawled, “Aren’t you such a clever one. That’s right. . . . I was weaving a tangled web for myself, wasn’t I?” He pointed the gun at Lulu.
They were standing right next to the pool. Lulu searched her brain for something, anything at all, to stop him. “They’re going to hear the gunshots, Big Jack!”
“Yeah, but by the time they figure out where they came from, I’ll be out of here. It’ll take them a while to find you in the pool.”
Lulu looked behind Big Jack and her eyes widened until she quickly trained them back on Big Jack. Derrick was stealthily climbing over the wrought iron fence. Then he started running at Big Jack before slipping on the slick brick surrounding the pool. Derrick careened into Big Jack, knocking them both in the water along with the gun . . . and Holden. Who couldn’t swim.
Holden grasped frantically at Derrick while Big Jack pulled himself out of the pool and took off at a run. Lulu looked around for something to hand to Derrick to pull him and Holden to safety—but all she saw were planters and benches.
That’s when Cherry, who was wearing Flo’s dress that she’d finally gotten dry, dashed up, dove into the pool, and put Holden’s neck in the crook of her arm to pull him to the side.
Derrick by now was climbing out of the pool and coughing a little before jogging off in the direction that Big Jack had gone in. Lulu took off after him at a much slower pace.
In the most perfect timing ever, the Memphis police had discovered the cars parked on both sides of Elvis Pressley Boulevard, right in front of the mansion. The cars were blocking the lanes and the police w
ere determined to find the perpetrators, give them a ticket, and make them park in the main parking lot—and take the shuttle to Graceland like everybody else. They pulled up to the gate of the mansion and strode down the driveway.
Where they encountered a sopping wet Big Jack tearing across the lawn followed by an equally wet and out of breath teenage boy and an older lady yelling for help. They weren’t sure exactly what was going on, but they were happy to detain the man everyone was chasing after to find out.
“Okay, so it wasn’t a perfect wedding,” said Flo after all the guests and the wedding party had left. She was about halfway through a leftover bottle of chardonnay. “The man who was giving away the bride was arrested for murder. The photographer’s camera was destroyed. And Lulu and Holden were nearly murdered during the ceremony. But it was as perfect as it could be.”
“Amen to that,” sighed Lulu, carefully propping her now aching feet up on a chair across from her.
“And Cherry helped save the day,” said Flo, raising her wineglass to her. “Considering I’d left the groom’s ring in that darned restroom.”
Cherry grinned and Lulu said, “There aren’t many friends who’d run across Graceland in their slip to make sure the groom’s ring was at the chapel before the ceremony started.”
“Not having the ring would have been a disaster,” agreed Flo. “Although not quite as bad as two dead bodies in the Graceland swimming pool.”
“I just can’t believe that Big Jack was the murderer,” said Evelyn, coming back inside the car museum. She’d gone outside for a smoke and seemed well on her way to getting hooked again.
Lulu said, “Well, he was and he wasn’t. He didn’t actually kill Adam, you know. He threatened him with a gun, but he didn’t kill him.”
“No,” said Evelyn in a dejected tone, “that would be my friend Ginger.”
“Well, she was awfully mad at Adam,” said Cherry. Lulu was proud that Cherry was managing to keep an “I told you so” tone out of her voice. “And she had a right to be.”
“I guess I’m lucky she didn’t shoot me,” said Evelyn gloomily. “But Big Jack did kill Ginger. And he was about to kill Holden and you, too, Lulu.”
Flo ran her thin hands through her hair until it poofed out in an even bigger bouffant than usual. “I just don’t know how he thought he was going to get away with it all. We totally would have heard those gunshots in the chapel.”
“But you wouldn’t have known exactly where the sound had come from,” said Lulu. “And you wouldn’t know who’d done it, either.”
“We’d have known Big Jack was missing!” said Flo heatedly, still vexed that the bride had had to have some random third cousin to step in for Big Jack.
“But as far as you knew, Big Jack was off being sick in the bathroom or had had car trouble on the way over to Graceland, or something like that. You wouldn’t have automatically gone to the police and told them that Big Jack had just shot two people,” said Evelyn.
“I think Big Jack felt like killing Ginger was justified,” mused Lulu. “Here he was, running for office. And he hadn’t killed Adam. But here this woman was, trying to blackmail him on two different things. And he knew he couldn’t really stop her. It had been his gun. And he was the one with the issue with Adam. So he decided the easiest thing would be to get rid of her. And he probably figured that she wasn’t all that great of a person anyway. Maybe he even justified it by thinking he’d helped make the world a better place.”
“Were you just scared to death?” asked Flo with a shiver. “When he was standing right there in front of you with that gun?”
“It did scare me,” said Lulu, feeling suddenly very tired. “Because it wasn’t the Big Jack I knew standing there. It was somebody else; somebody who would shoot me and Holden in cold blood and not even think twice about it. Thank God for Derrick. He came flying at him right out of the blue.”
“And thank God you told him to find you if he had any questions about setting up the food or the band,” said Evelyn.
Lulu teared up a little. “And here he’s been so insecure the last couple of weeks. His mom really messed him up, you know? He’s been feeling like he’s not any good. And here he is saving two lives in one fell swoop.” She took out a tissue and blew her nose.
Peggy Sue beamed. “I knew he was the perfect match for Peaches! She was the first on the scene after the police, you know. She was worried sick about him, but so proud! She went and put a tablecloth around him . . . because he was sopping wet, you know. And ever since she’s just been praising him for his act of bravery. Kind of chokes you up . . .” And Peggy Sue choked up on cue, patting herself comfortingly on her shoulder.
“And Cherry saved the day again when she jumped in the pool and saved Holden from drowning,” said Lulu. “’Cause Holden had fallen in on the diving board side of the pool, so that water was deep. And he couldn’t swim a lick.”
Cherry beamed. “It was a good day for me, wasn’t it? Well, y’all know I used to be a lifeguard back in the day. Waaaay back in the day. But some things you just never forget. I was more worried about Derrick at first—I thought Holden might accidentally drown him with all that desperate clawing he was doing. But we got it all straightened out.”
Ben and Oliver came out of the kitchen where they’d just finished cleaning up. “I missed all the action today, didn’t I?” He gave his mother a hug. “This is a wedding that I’ll never forget.”
“At least the food worked out okay,” said Oliver. “Thanks for giving me the gig, buddy.”
“I don’t know if you should thank me or not,” drawled Ben, “considering how dangerous it ended up being.”
The Graces were still chattering excitedly about the events of the day when Lulu stepped outside to check on Big Ben, Buddy, and Morty to see if they needed any help taking down the equipment. Oliver followed her outside.
Oliver let go a deep breath. “I’m just glad this is all over. Now I don’t have to worry about anybody blackmailing me or trying to ruin my life. I feel like I’ve got my life back. And it makes me that more determined to find a job.”
Lulu hesitated. “Oliver, I didn’t want to mention this because I worried it might offend you. I mean, the job is totally beneath you. And I know you want to open your own restaurant again. But we’ve got an open spot for a manager at Aunt Pat’s. I’ve gotten to the point where I just want to sit around and visit with people, Ben’s always in the kitchen. Ben’s wife, Sara, is too busy with her art and would rather wait tables than worry about the business side of a restaurant. Derrick loves the business end, but he’s still in school. . . .” Her voice trailed off.
Oliver’s eyes got misty. “Lulu, I love you! Thank you so much.” He gave Lulu a big hug.
“And if you find something else or find a business partner to start up a new restaurant, I’ll completely understand. But this way at least you’ll still be working in a restaurant and making a little money.” And not driving Tudy completely crazy at home, thought Lulu. The poor thing.
Oliver and Lulu walked back inside. Flo was saying, “And, y’all, the wedding, despite everything, was a huge success. I had two people ask for my business card. I gave the number for Aunt Pat’s to one person, Peggy Sue’s number for flower arranging once, and gave the card for the Back Porch Blues Band to two different people after Morty played that wonderful harmonica solo.”
Cherry mused, “I think I need to make myself up a business card and offer my services, too. I could be Cherry Hayes, Lifeguard. Or Cherry Hayes, Party Saver.”
“And Derrick could get a bodyguard business card,” said Peggy Sue. “Maybe he could add it to his resume and end up protecting the president one day.” She smiled at the idea of Peaches and Derrick living in wedded bliss in D.C. while protecting the president.
Lulu said, “Well, that’s something else if we almost had two murders taking place at the party and folks still want to use us. That’s saying something about the food, music, and flowers.”
> “Well, of course it was perfect,” said Flo. “Between Graceland and Aunt Pat’s barbeque, how could you go wrong?”
Recipes
Put Some South in Your Mouth
Tommie’s Peach Cobbler
2 cups fresh ripe peaches
1½ cups of sugar
1 stick of margarine
¾ cup of flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup milk
Mix peaches and ½ cup sugar; set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt butter in a 9-inch by 9-inch container. Mix other ingredients into a batter and pour over the melted margarine. (Make sure you don’t stir.) Place the peach mixture on top of the batter (still don’t stir). The peaches will sink to the bottom. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned. Serve warm.
Lulu’s Vidalia Onion Dip
5 or 6 Vidalia onions, sliced
¾ cup vinegar
¾ cup sugar
2 cups water
½ cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon celery seed
Thinly slice the onions and soak them for 2 to 4 hours in the vinegar, sugar, and water. Drain well. Toss onions with mayonnaise and celery seed. Serve on crackers.
Lulu’s Spicy Cheese Straws
1 pound sharp cheese, grated
3 cups flour, sifted
1 cup softened margarine
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grate cheese. Mix ingredients together. Put dough in a cookie press. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Press the dough onto the cookie sheet and cut to desired length. Cook in 325-degree oven for 15 minutes or until brown. Allow to cool.
Grits Breakfast Casserole
