by Gayle Trent
“Good. What next?”
I reiterated my steps yesterday and last night. Myra was right. Ninety percent of the time, at least one other person could account for my whereabouts.
“The police will also be looking at your financial records,” said Mark.
“Now, hold on!” Uncle Hal protested. “How can they do that?”
“They’ll get a warrant. Daphne, have you made any sizeable cash withdrawals lately?”
“Only one that I would consider sizeable—by my standards, anyway—but it was to the wedding planner.”
“She asked to be paid in cash?” Mark asked.
“He and yes. He said it would be better for him to have cash so that he could pay the florist and take other expenses out of that money. I don’t know what all he’s doing.” I kinda laughed. “But that’s what I’m paying him for, right?”
“What’s his name?”
I told him it was Hunter Hampton, and Mark wrote it down.
“Let me get you his card.” I went to the bedroom, got the gold foil-embossed business card, and gave it to Mark.
He looked at it and slipped it into his pocket. “I’ll check with Mr. Hampton later today. Gentlemen, Myra tells me that you spent the night in the parking lot of the hotel where Mr. Martin was staying?”
Dad and Uncle Hal exchanged glances.
“That’s right,” Dad said. “We didn’t approach his room or anything, so we shouldn’t be on any surveillance cameras.”
“I might be.” Uncle Hal’s lips twisted into a grimace. “This darned blood pressure medicine I’m on makes me have to pee all the time.”
“Oh, yeah.” Dad nodded at Mark. “I’d forgotten about the times one or the other of us had to go inside.”
“Did either of you see anyone else go inside?”
“Other people came and went. We didn’t pay much attention to them, though, did we, Hal?”
Uncle Hal shook his head. “We were mainly watching for Todd to come out.”
“Still, put your heads together once we’ve finished up here and make a note of every single person you saw going into or coming out of that motel last night,” Mark said. “Even if you saw a family leaving, put that down along with a description of every member of that family. Someone might’ve seen something that could help the police track down the murderer.”
I smiled at Mark. I was so glad he was here and taking control of the situation. “What can I do?”
“Dig up all of Todd’s old acquaintances. We need to find out if he contacted anyone yesterday—”
“My friend on the police force might be able to help with that,” Ben interrupted. “He can at least take a look at Todd’s phone and see which numbers he’d called recently.”
“Good. Daphne, call his old pals in Tennessee too. And let’s find out the exact date he was released. I highly doubt he came straight here from the prison.”
“Jason might know that,” I said. “He spoke with the warden yesterday to see if Todd was in violation of his parole by being here.”
“Was he?” Mark asked.
“He wasn’t on parole. He served his full sentence.”
“All right. Another call to the warden might be in order to find out who Todd associated with in prison.” Mark wrote furiously on the notepad. “You might want to ask Jason to do that since he’s already spoken with the warden once and they hopefully already have a good rapport.”
“Okay.” I was still trying to remember the names of some of Todd’s old friends and associates. Even if I remembered who they were, what were the odds of my being able to contact them after all this time?
And what about his parents? Surely, the Brea Ridge Police Department had notified them of his death by now.
“Daphne, are you okay?” Ben’s voice sounded as if it was coming from quite a distance away.
“Yeah.” I frowned. “Should I call Todd’s mother?”
“No,” Dad said emphatically. “She and Bert were terrible to you both during and after the trial. Contacting those people will only bring you misery. Let your mother convey our sympathies.”
“Yeah, she lives for stuff like that,” Uncle Hal added.
Given our assignments, Uncle Hal and Dad set up their conference in the living room, Mark and Myra went to her house, and Ben and I headed into the kitchen.
“I hope you don’t mind,” I told him, “but I need to get eight cakes made by tomorrow.”
“By all means, work. I know it’s therapeutic for you.”
After I preheated the oven, I got out my favorite blue mixing bowl and four eight-inch, round cake pans. I got my measuring cups and spoons, the recipe, and the necessary ingredients to make the white cakes first.
I’d made them so often, you wouldn’t think I’d need a recipe, but I wanted to have it in front of me today. My mind was going in a million different directions.
I measured the flour into the measuring cup and dumped it into the bowl. Next came the sugar.
“I didn’t realize we had a wedding planner,” Ben said softly.
I looked up, surprised by his comment. “Well…I got overwhelmed. And then, out of the blue, I got a call from this guy who somehow knew the owner of the shop where I bought my wedding gown.” I shrugged. “I don’t know if I’d looked desperate when I was buying the dress or what, but the guy said he just wanted to offer his services as a wedding planner. He gave me this great spiel about how he’d do it all, and I could merely enjoy the big day.”
“Cool. But why didn’t you mention it to me? If you had too much wedding stuff on your plate, I’d have been happy to step in and give you a hand.”
“I know you would have,” I said. “But I didn’t want you to think I couldn’t do it or that I wasn’t enjoying it. I just got so busy. And you were busy too.”
He came over and wrapped his arms around my waist. “It’s okay. I just want you to know that I don’t mind helping. It might be fun.”
“All right.”
Of course, that was before Myra and Mark returned to tell me that Hunter Hampton, Wedding Planner, was a con man.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“What?!” Not sure people in all the bordering states could hear me, I repeated the word. “What?! He can’t be! He…he was in ch-charge of everything!”
Everyone in the house began telling me to calm down. I didn’t. I didn’t even want to. I wanted to hunt down Hunter Hampton and take my five-thousand-dollar retainer out of his hide.
“What am I going to do?” I paced from the kitchen to the living room and back again.
I didn’t know whether to scream, cry, scream and cry, or beg Ben to elope with me. I was back in the living room by now, and I sank onto the sofa before I fainted.
“The flowers, the caterer, the party favors for the reception… We’re getting married next Saturday, and none of this is done. Do we even have a church?” I looked at Ben, but he didn’t know. How could he?
“I’ll take care of it,” Myra said.
I hadn’t even realized she sat on the sofa beside me. I now turned to look at her. My eyes were full of tears, so she was all blurry. She put her arm around me and pulled me to her. I rested my head on her shoulder and let the tears flow.
“It’ll be okay,” she said. “We can pull this thing together in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”
“Do you really think so?” My voice emerged as a whisper.
“Sure, I do.”
“I’ll help,” Ben volunteered. “Just tell me what needs to be done.”
“We’re in too,” said Dad. “Right, Hal?”
“Uh…yeah. How hard could it be?”
Uncle Hal’s response made me sob even harder. How hard could it be? Really hard, since none of us knew what we were doing. But I supposed that even if I wound up carrying a bouquet of dandelions and serving sweet tea and cheeseburgers at the reception, Ben and I would still be just as married.
Still, I hated that I’d gotten us into this mess. Why had I ever trust
ed Hunter Hampton? Because he was a charming, slick salesman—or, rather, con man—who’d made me believe that I could put my wedding in his hands and not have to worry about anything but walking down the aisle.
Either I hadn’t heard the doorbell or Dad had merely opened the door when he saw the women approaching, but when I looked up, there stood Mom and Aunt Nancy.
“Daphne, what’re you going on about?” Mom asked. “If you’re truly this upset that Todd is dead, you should’ve never gotten that restraining order. You should’ve sat down with the man and heard him out.”
If it hadn’t been for Dad, I think I might’ve told Mom right then and there to turn around and go back home. Instead, I merely glared at her and lowered my eyes again.
Myra—my surrogate mom—jumped to my defense. “She’s not upset about him.” The word dripped with contempt. “She’s crying because she was duped by a thieving, no-good, conniving, back-stabbing con man who convinced her he was a wedding planner.”
“Oh, my,” said Aunt Nancy, a tall, elegant brunette who favored year-round pantsuits. Today’s suit was a short-sleeved, turquoise number. On her, it looked good. “But the wedding is in a matter of days! Is there anything we can do to help?”
“We’ll just have to plan the thing ourselves,” Mom said. She was quite a bit shorter than Aunt Nancy and kept her hair dyed blonde. She and Violet looked a lot alike. But whereas Vi came off as cute and pixie-like, Mom’s typical facial expression was one of foreboding and harsh judgment.
As you might have surmised by this point, Mom and I were constantly butting heads. She’d had a heart attack last year, and we’d both been trying harder since her health scare. But we couldn’t help but argue. We were just too different.
“Myra has already volunteered for the job,” I said.
“Oh.” Mom tightened her lips and raised her chin.
“The two of you are welcome to help out if you’d like,” Myra said. “The gentlemen have already offered their services.”
Mom raised and lowered one shoulder. “We’ll see. But I’m sure you have it covered.”
I was relieved when the timer went off on the oven and I had a reason to leave the room. I excused myself and went into the kitchen.
Using the oven mitts, I removed the two white cakes from the oven and sat the pans on a baking rack. I had more white cake batter ready to go into two additional eight-inch, round pans, so I poured the batter into the pans, put the pans into the oven, and reset the timer.
Ben came into the kitchen and put his arms around me. I slumped against him.
“I’m so sorry,” I said.
“It’s all right.”
“It’s not all right.” I could hear the buzz of conversation coming from the living room, but I lowered my voice anyway. “Not only did I manage to lose us five-thousand dollars, none of the arrangements are made for our wedding.”
He kissed my forehead. “Come next Saturday, we’ll be married. And with Myra and all the people in Brea Ridge who care about you—and my mom, I know she’ll love to help—it’ll be a beautiful ceremony and reception.”
“Do you promise?”
“I promise,” he said.
“Even if the ceremony takes place at the jail?” After all, I was still under scrutiny by the police with regard to Todd’s death.
“You aren’t going to be in jail. People who love you are working on that too.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it.” I tightened my grip around his waist. “I love you.”
“I love you.”
“Never let go, okay?”
“I won’t,” he said.
* * *
By the time the other two white cakes had finished baking, I was desperate to get out of the house. I hid my unsweetened cocoa behind a bag of flour and asked Ben if he would take me to Save-A-Buck to get some cocoa.
“Of course.” He looked around the living room. “Anyone else need anything?”
Only Dad, Mom, Uncle Hal, and Aunt Nancy remained. Myra and Mark had vamoosed shortly after Mom and Aunt Nancy had arrived.
“I wouldn’t mind a case of beer,” Uncle Hal said.
“Now, Hal, you don’t need any beer.” Aunt Nancy looked mortified at the thought that her husband had made any request at all, much less for beer.
“We’ll get it,” I said, with a wink at Aunt Nancy.
As soon as Ben and I got into his Jeep, I asked him to take me to Jason and Violet’s house. “I’d like to talk with them before Lucas and Leslie get home from day camp.”
“No problem.” He grinned. “By the way, I saw you hide that can of cocoa.”
I gasped. “Do you think anyone else saw?”
He laughed. “No. I don’t think so.”
“I just had to get out of there. Mom’s long-suffering expression and her accusatory tone was driving me up the wall.” I groaned. “Please tell me I’m adopted.”
“You’re adopted.”
“I guess it would mean more if I really thought it was true. Maybe I could pretend I’m Dad’s love child with Elizabeth Taylor.” I tried to think of another actress who could be my mother, but I couldn’t come up with anyone better than Liz.
When we got to my sister’s house, I was relieved to find that I was right about the kids not being home yet. Unfortunately, Jason wasn’t home yet either.
“You’ve been crying.” Violet took me by the shoulders. “What is it? What happened?”
So I started at the beginning and gave her the play-by-play of the entire day. “And it’s only two-thirty. Could I crawl under your bed and hide until tomorrow?”
“I wish you could,” she said. “But Dad and Uncle Hal would form a search party.”
“And your Mom would think we’d eloped,” Ben said.
“Let’s do that! Then later on we can have a reception.” I smiled. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
“Daphne, you look serious.” Violet’s eyes searched mine. “You know how hurt Lucas and Leslie would be if you didn’t include them in your wedding.”
“Oh. Right. And Ben’s parents. And Dad.”
“And me!” she said.
“I know. I was only talking.”
“You were not only talking. All it would’ve taken is for Ben to say come on, and you’d have been in the Jeep on your way to Vegas or somewhere.”
“Vi, it’s just been an impossible day, okay?”
Her voice softened. “I know. So before the kids get here, tell me what I can do to help.”
“Would you ask Jason to call the warden again and try to find out the names of the people who might’ve associated with Todd while he was in prison?” I asked. “Mark thinks that since Jason has already spoken with the warden once, they’ll have already established a rapport.”
“Okay. I can do that. And Jason is already planning Ben’s bachelor party, so that’s taken care of.”
“At this point, it’s about the only thing.”
She frowned. “If I could get my hands on that guy…”
“You and me both,” said Ben.
“Ben and I are going over to China’s house when we leave here,” I said. “If anybody will know where we can find Hunter Hampton—or whoever he is—China will.”
* * *
China lived in a modest gable-front home on the outskirts of Brea Ridge. When Ben and I arrived, she was sitting on her front porch. She had a navy blue, metal glider and two rockers—one on either side of the glider—and she sat on the rocker nearest the front door.
“Welcome!” She had to shout over the five or six dogs in the fenced backyard that had started barking when we’d driven up. “Hush up back there!”
The dogs paid no attention to her scolding.
“They’ll be quiet in a minute.” She got up and gave me a hug. “What a day you’ve had.”
“Are you talking about Todd or the wedding planner?” I asked, as I took a seat on the glider. Ben sat down beside me.
“Well, hon, I was talking about the
ex-husband. Isn’t that enough?” China asked.
“You’d think so, but then I had to find out that the wedding planner I’d hired is a con man. He took my money and left me high and dry.”
She frowned. “Have you called him?”
“Yes, but the call went to voicemail.”
“What did you say to him?”
“I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to say.”
“Just hung up then?” she asked.
I nodded.
“Good. If he calls back, play along like you don’t know anything is wrong. Ask if he needs anything.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea!” Ben leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “He’ll still think she’s none the wiser and might agree to meet thinking Daphne is going to give him more money.”
China smiled. “And that’s when we’ll nab him.”
“You know, you really missed your calling,” I said.
“Nah. I have lots of callings. I heed them all.” She slowly rocked as she studied the horizon. “So you don’t think any of your wedding has been planned, huh?”
“Only the bachelor party. Jason is taking care of that.”
“Well, that’s not exactly the wedding, unless you’re planning on jumping out of the cake and marrying Ben on the spot.”
“That’d work for me,” Ben said.
“I asked him to elope with me when we were at Violet’s house earlier,” I explained to China. “She didn’t take that very well.”
“No, I don’t imagine she would. She and her family love you and want to be part of your special day. We all do.” She turned to me with a bright smile. “It’ll work out. Always does.”
“Myra volunteered to take over.”
“Jesus, help us all.” China’s shoulders shook with laughter. “I’m just kidding, of course. Myra will…well, she’ll get the job done.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“So what’s being done about investigating Todd’s murder?” she asked. “Is Mark on that?”
“Yes, and he’s given us all assignments.”
“I’ll call him later to see how I can help. And I’ll see what I can do to help Myra too.” Her eyes sparkled with amusement. “I told you I have many callings.”
