Random Acts of Deceit (Holly Anna Paladin Mysteries Book 2)

by Christy Barritt

  I nodded. “Really. She’s pretty nice.”

  Ralph nodded in the distance. “I heard William’s best man is single. And he’s a doctor.”

  I glanced across the room. The best man was handsome and successful. But my heart already belonged to someone. “I’m not looking.”

  “Because you’re still in love with Chase.”

  “Since when did you get so insightful?” I asked, trying to lighten the moment.

  “Have you told him?”

  “That I love him?” I questioned in horror. That was against all my etiquette. The guy always had to say “I love you” first.

  “You never know when the moment will slip away, Holly. You just never know.”

  His words left me with a certain heaviness. I didn’t know what to say, and I couldn’t begin to explain things.

  “I thought you should know that Henry’s indiscretions have opened up an investigation into our office,” Ralph said.

  “What?” I screeched.

  He nodded solemnly. “I wasn’t going to bring it up here, but it’s weighing on me. I knew if I could tell anyone, I could tell you.”

  “I’m so sorry, Ralph. What’s that going to mean?”

  “A lot of scrutiny. Walking on eggshells. Angry voters who have even more of a reason not to trust their elected officials. You know the drill.”

  I shook my head. “I just can’t believe that.”

  “It’s insane, and it hits me right where it hurts—”

  Before he could finish his thought, the whole restaurant shook. Everything happened at the same time. Walls crumbled. Smoke filled the air. I was knocked to the ground.

  An earthquake?

  We didn’t have those around here.

  Another bomb?

  I barely had time to pull myself to my feet when I looked across the dining area and realized what had happened.

  A car had crashed into the restaurant.

  I coughed as dust filled my lungs; then I glanced around to survey the damage.

  All the other guests seemed to be in a similar state. Dazed. Confused. Shaken.

  As far as I could tell, no one was hurt, though.

  I staggered as I tried to take a step. Ralph was at my side, soot covering his face, and particles—drywall or insulation, maybe?—were in his hair. We made our way toward the gaping hole in the wall across the room.

  There, two headlights and a fender stared at us.

  Piles of brick and glass lay scattered around the scene. The sprinkler system rained down from overhead. Panic zinged through the air as guests tried to gather their bearings.

  I stepped over part of the bar area where the car had entered the building. The vehicle looked familiar, but I didn’t know why.

  As some of the smoke settled, I got my first glance through the broken window.

  Heather was passed out behind the wheel.

  “I smell gas,” Ralph muttered.

  With a start, I realized that this situation was even more dangerous than I thought. “Everyone, get out of here!” I yelled.

  A few stared at me uncertainly. Some scrambled away at the first suggestion. Others had their loved ones pull them away from the wreckage.

  I watched as William escorted Alex and my mom toward the door. Knowing they were safe, I could focus on the task at hand.

  “We’ve got to get Heather out, Ralph,” I told him, stepping over another pile of rubbish.

  “We don’t have much time.” Ralph followed me.

  I reached the car first and tugged on the door handle. “It’s stuck.”

  I pulled harder, but nothing happened. The impact must have crunched the metal together.

  “Let me try this side.” He hopped over the hood. Moving a few bricks aside, he reached the passenger door. When Ralph tugged, it opened.

  Thank goodness.

  I scrambled around the rubble and joined Ralph. He’d already unlatched Heather’s seat belt. With both hands around her waist, he dragged her toward the opening.

  The odor of gas was getting stronger, and the sense of urgency surged inside me. We were all going to be goners if we didn’t get out of here soon.

  Just as Ralph pulled her out, my eye caught a glimpse of something on the floor of the car.

  Prescription drug bottles.

  What?

  I didn’t have time to think about it now. I put my arm around Heather. Ralph and I rushed her away from the car.

  Just as we reached the exit to the restaurant, the room behind us exploded.

  CHAPTER 35

  Alex threw a flower from her corsage onto the floor as we sat in the hospital waiting room with no news on Heather.

  “What I am going to do?” she muttered. “She’s my best friend. How could she do this to me?”

  I had no answers for her. No one did, apparently. William just patted her hand. Mom was strangely quiet. Ralph paced.

  “Can I even get married tomorrow with Heather in the hospital?” Alex asked, shaking her head almost neurotically.

  “Of course,” Mom said. “This is your big day. Don’t let anyone ruin it.”

  “But my best friend is at death’s door.”

  “We don’t know that,” William said. “Do you want me to see what I can find out?”

  “I’d appreciate it.”

  My phone buzzed in my hands at that moment, causing my heart rate to speed. Could it be Chase? It wasn’t a good idea for us to text, but maybe he’d heard what happened.

  When I looked down at my screen, my hopes were dashed.

  You should always expect the unexpected.

  The Shadow Man. He was behind this, I realized. But how was that possible? Had he drugged Heather and somehow sent her crashing into the restaurant?

  Before I could fully formulate that thought, William came back into the room. Everyone quieted, waiting for his update.

  “She’s awake, and she’s going to be okay. She’s in a lot of pain, and I doubt she’ll make the wedding tomorrow. But she’ll be fine.”

  “Can anyone see her?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “I suppose. Alex?”

  Alex shook her head. Her self-pity—which I couldn’t blame her for—was replaced with anger. “I don’t want to see her right now. I’d give her a piece of my mind, and I don’t think that would be good for her in her current physical state.”

  “I’ll talk to her,” I said, standing up.

  When no one objected, I started down the hall. The door was open, so I slipped inside.

  Heather was hooked up to machines and tubes and had multiple bandages. Five minutes earlier, I would have been angry with her. Driving while under the influence of drugs? Not cool.

  But then I’d gotten that text. Maybe there was more to this story than met the eye. I needed to find out.

  Heather couldn’t turn her neck to look at me, so I stood at the foot of her bed.

  She closed her eyes when she saw me, and I could sense her shame.

  “It’s not what it looks like,” she murmured.

  “What happened, Heather?”

  She licked her lips. “I don’t know. One minute, I had a migraine. I took one of my pills and lay down. The next thing I knew, I was in my car going down the road. It was like the car was out of my control.”

  “Out of your control, how?”

  She sighed and rolled her eyes upward. “I don’t know. I kept trying to brake, but I couldn’t. I tried to turn, but I couldn’t.”

  “Maybe it’s because of the drugs.”

  “I honestly didn’t take that many.” She frowned. “Alex is never going to forgive me.”

  “She’ll be okay. We’re just glad you’re still alive.”

  She frowned. “You and Ralph got me out. That’s what I heard, at least.”

  I nodded.

  “But you weren’t hurt?”

  “We got out the door just in time. A few seconds more, and it could have been a different story.”

  “Thank you.”

/>   I nodded. “Did they say how long you’re going to be here?”

  “I’m not going to make it to the wedding tomorrow.” Her voice sounded monotone, almost like she was numb. “They need to observe me for longer. Even the doctor said I should be dead. No one believes my story. Do you, Holly?”

  I didn’t like Heather, but I had to be honest here. “I do, Heather. I want to find some answers for you.”

  “Thank you, Holly. That means a lot to me.”

  I stepped into the hallway and found Chase waiting outside the door.

  “Jamie called me and filled me in,” he said quietly.

  I leaned against the wall a moment, glad that I’d slipped away and used the hospital phone to tell my best friend what had happened. “I had a taste of what you do, Chase—rushing toward danger instead of away. It only made me respect your career even more.”

  “I’m glad no one else was hurt.”

  “This was the work of the Shadow Man,” I whispered. “I got a text from him. He said, ‘You should always expect the unexpected.’ What does that mean?”

  “It means this isn’t over yet,” Chase said. “I ran the numbers he’s been calling you from, but they’re untraceable. This guy knows what he’s doing, and he knows how to be sneaky.”

  I shifted. “Chase, there was one other strange thing. Heather claims she only took one pill. She said the next thing she knew, she was in the car and she felt like it was driving itself.”

  He squinted. “Really? Do you believe her?”

  I thought about it a moment before nodding. “Yeah, I do.”

  “I’ll mention it to the guys working the case. I’m not sure it will mean anything. Drugs can have a strange effect on people’s perception.” He paused. “Is the wedding still going on tomorrow?”

  “It is. Last I heard, at least.”

  “I have a bad feeling about it.”

  I chomped down, not wanting to acknowledge the truth. But I had no choice. “So do I. But I can’t exactly ask my sister to cancel her wedding.”

  “I’ll keep investigating people associated with Arnold Pegman. Maybe we can figure out something and save the day.”

  “Not to mention saving a few lives . . .”

  CHAPTER 36

  I was assigned to pick up Alex’s dress the next morning. I really hoped that this new one fit. Otherwise, what would Alex do? I didn’t even want to think about it.

  Jamie and I walked into a swanky little boutique in the Clifton area—not far from Chase’s house, for that matter—and explained to the receptionist who I was. Her eyes widened, and she hurried to the back without saying a word.

  Jamie and I exchanged a look at the woman’s strange, almost frightened reaction.

  “One word,” she whispered. “Your mom.”

  “That’s two words.”

  She scowled. “You know what I mean.”

  And I did. My mom must have put the fear of God into these people. She was as kind as a Southern belle when she needed to be, but other times that genteel charm turned into sass and attitude.

  A moment later, another employee came out. She was older with tight, red curls piled high on her head, turquoise glasses perched on the end of her nose, and bright-red lipstick slathered across her lips. I could tell from looking at her that she was knit tighter than a sorority girl’s sweater. The dead giveaway was the knot in between the woman’s eyebrows. Something was wrong, wasn’t it?

  “We have the dress,” she said. “It just came in this morning.”

  “That’s . . . great?” I ended with a question because I had the feeling something wasn’t great at all. I hoped I was wrong, though.

  “It came in two sizes too large.” The woman threw her hands in the air and harrumphed.

  My eyes widened. “How did that happen?”

  The woman shook her head, her dangly earrings slapping her cheeks. “We have no idea. We entered all the information into our system just as we always do. We even double-check measurements so things like this don’t happen.”

  “Is that where the alteration sizes were?” Jamie asked.

  The woman nodded. “Everything is on computer now. It’s a blessing and a curse. But we’ve never ever had anything like this happen to us before. We know how important weddings are.”

  “Well, you said the dress is too big, right?” I started, trying to think this through. “That’s good news because you can take it in.”

  The woman let out a quick laugh. “Not in two hours we can’t. There’s simply no way.”

  “But she’s getting married today. She has to have a dress.”

  “I don’t know what to say. But the dress won’t be ready. Maybe she can come in and pick out something else?” The woman’s voice lilted. She was serious! How could someone who owned a bridal boutique be this clueless?

  “On her wedding day? Are you crazy?”

  The woman shook her head, flapping her hands in the air again. “I don’t know what else to say. This is terribly unfortunate.”

  “You’re not the one who has to tell the bride the bad news.” I sighed. “Let me have the dress. Maybe we can pin it or something.”

  The woman nodded and disappeared.

  “You would think someone’s trying to wreck Alex’s wedding. First the cake, then the dress, then the bachelorette party,” Jamie said with a snort. “Not to mention the rehearsal dinner. What’s going to happen there? Will the bride literally break a leg?”

  I froze. “What if you’re right?”

  “I was just kidding,” she started.

  I shook my head. “No, you could totally be onto something. I mean, the number of things that have happened with this wedding are truly strange. What if someone connected with the Arnold Pegman trial is trying to ruin Alex’s big day?”

  “Why would they do that? What purpose would it serve?”

  “Maybe this person is messing with her head.”

  “He’s going to extremes just to mess with her mind. There are easier ways to ruin a wedding.”

  I shook my head, trying to sift the decent thoughts from the outrageous ones. “The woman said the numbers in the computer had been changed. What if someone hacked into the computer? If Alex is distracted by all these problems, then she can’t give her full attention to the case.”

  “It still sounds extreme. What about the other prosecutors? Have they been affected by any of this?”

  “I have no idea. Alex hasn’t said anything, but I’ve been keeping quiet about these threats, for more than one reason.” My thoughts were still racing. “Jamie, get the dress. I need to make a phone call.”

  I stepped outside and found the number in my contacts for the baker who’d canceled on Alex. To my surprise, someone answered. “Happy Hills Catering. How can I help you?”

  “Happy Hills Catering?” I repeated.

  “That’s right. How can I help you?”

  “I thought you were going out of business?”

  “Going out of business? Well, no. Business has never been better. We’re even going to be featured on the Food Network.”

  My suspicions continued to rise. The pieces just weren’t fitting together here. “Then why did you tell my sister you couldn’t make her cake because you were closing?”

  The woman on the line remained silent. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Does the name Alex Paladin ring any bells?”

  The woman remained quiet a little too long. “Alex Paladin? I can’t say it does.”

  “You need to stop playing games. You know good and well who she is. You lied to her. Why?”

  “Really, ma’am. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “The quiver in your voice tells me you do,” I told her.

  “I don’t want any trouble.”

  “Then start talking. Otherwise, I’ll begin a campaign to expose the truth, and when I discover it, I’ll post it all over the Internet for everyone to see. Do you know what bad word of mouth does fo
r a business nowadays? Terrible, terrible things. Terrible, no-more-business type of things. The excuse you told my sister might become reality.”

  “Please, don’t do that. I can explain.” Her voice broke with desperation.

  “I’m listening.” Wow, I was talking tough. Sometimes I didn’t think I had it in me. But when push came to shove, no one was going to walk on me, even if I had to roll up my sleeves and get dirty.

  “A man called me. He said he’d give me ten thousand dollars if I wouldn’t do your sister’s cake. I wanted to refuse on principle. But my family could really use the money. My husband was injured on the job—he was a contractor—and since then he’s been out of work. That money could pay major bills. And your sister could find someone else to make her wedding cake. It wasn’t a matter of life or death. I knew it wasn’t right, but I did it. I don’t know what else to say.”

  Compassion squeezed my heart. That pesky compassion. It always seemed to get in the way at the worst possible times. “Do you have any idea who this man was?”

  “No idea.”

  “Did he pay you?”

  The woman’s voice had gone from light and hopeful to downright scared. “I found cash in a bag outside my back door one morning. There was no note, no anything. Just money. Ten thousand, just like he’d promised. I really don’t want trouble. I’m just trying to do what’s best for my family.”

  I could think of a hundred lectures I could give her right now about lying and blackmail and standing on principle. But this wasn’t the time or place. Besides, even though I’d like to say if I were in her shoes, I’d behave differently, I knew from experience how desperate situations could lead you to the brink of compromise. I’d been there one too many times before.

  I hung up and walked back inside. Jamie was handling the bridal dress like a groom carrying his bride over the threshold on their wedding day. Only she was scowling. “Do you have any idea how heavy this is?”

  “Pretty heavy. Sorry about that. But, boy, did I find out something interesting . . .”

  CHAPTER 37

  My perfect sister, Alex, bawled like a baby as she stared at herself in the floor-length mirror in Mom’s bedroom.

  “This is just horrible,” she whined. “I can’t possibly wear this. I look like a big, fat, white powder puff!”