The agony of her discovery crept up her back like a raging sore, obliterating all sound and thought. She looked down at her hands and saw they were shaking. What she had felt, what she had experienced when she finally touched him, was anger and hurt and bone-deep disappointment. The kind of disappointment that defies any one occasion or moment in time but lasts and lasts, an indelible feature of your life, your very nature.
But he wasn’t a killer.
Someone next to Mia tapped her on the shoulder and when she turned—like a robot, not seeing or caring—they handed her the dropped garment bag and her purse. She heard them talking to her, but could make out nothing of what they said. She nodded in response and took the items and walked down the hallway toward the restroom.
The last five months of tracking him, looking for clues and leads, poring over the files, even the door-to-door visits with Jack—all of it had been for nothing. The one thing she knew for sure, the one premise she used as her bedrock—that Jeff Wojinziky had killed Victoria—was a fantasy.
She opened the door to the ladies restroom and went to the sink counter. Without pausing to look in the mirror or check to see who else was in the room, she dropped her purse on the counter and unzipped her garment bag. Her mind was a whirl of noise and colors—but none of it from the restroom or the real world.
Disappointment has a color. It’s not just a feeling. And it’s dark.
She stripped off her jeans and sweatshirt, leaving them in a pile on the floor and pulled the bridesmaid’s dress out of the bag.
It didn’t matter that the single biggest let down of her life so far was happening on her mother’s wedding day. Put it away, process it later. Maybe it’s not as bad as it feels. Just don’t be the reason this isn’t the happiest day of Mom’s life.
Mia stepped into the dress and zipped it up. She kicked off her shoes onto the pile of discarded clothes and pulled the matching pumps from the bottom of the bag. When she stood up, she stared into the mirror.
With her pale face and windblown hair, she looked a little like a deranged serial killer herself.
The bathroom door swung open and Mindy walked in.
“You do know there’s a bridesmaid’s dressing room for that, right?” she said, shaking her head and pushing past Mia into one of the stalls. “Weirdo.”
How could I have been so wrong? Every other interaction with him—the very air around him—had vibrated with the truth of the damage he’d done to Victoria. How can this stupid gift let me down like this? Yes, he was angry. Yes, he was violent. But he’d never taken a life.
She stared again at her hands as if they had betrayed her.
“You got toilet paper in there, girly?”
The voice brought Mia out of the depths of her dejection in the space of a heartbeat. She snapped her head up. That voice. A voice you’d never forget. A voice that would make dogs howl from two counties over—strident, scratchy and discordant.
“Fuck off, grandma,” Mindy replied to the woman in the stall next to her. “A little privacy, if you don’t mind.”
Mia went to the remaining empty stall. She grabbed a roll of toilet paper and handed it under the partition to the woman. She held onto the roll until she felt the woman’s fingers on hers.
“Well, are you going to let go or what?” the woman snarled.
Mia released the roll, then went back to the mirror and stared into it, waiting. Jeff’s wife was in that stall. And Mia’s fingers still burned from the brief contact she’d made with her.
The touch of a murderer.
The stall door opened and a middle-aged woman with auburn hair filled the doorway. The same woman who was at Tracy’s funeral. Their eyes met in the reflection of the mirror.
Not Jeff’s wife—Jeff’s mother. Mia pulled her cell phone out of her purse and typed a quick text. The woman came to stand next to Mia, set her purse on the counter and turned the faucet on.
“You’d think you kids could give the texting a break for just one hour. You’re all obsessed.”
“And you old farts are just clueless about technology,” Mia said in a tight voice, her eyes on the message she’d just sent.
The woman sputtered. “What did you say to me?”
“I know you,” Mia said, turning to her. “You’re Jeff’s mother.”
The woman stopped washing her hands and stared at Mia in the same way a Velociraptor observes its prey.
“You know my son?” she asked, her voice flat, her eyes cold.
“Oh, yeah,” Mia said. “We’re friends. Good friends.”
A pinging sound from her phone made her look at the screen. It was a single-word response from Beth, Jeff’s ex-fiancée.
Mia looked at Jeff’s mother, who was now reaching for her purse, her eyes boring into Mia. The message Mia had sent Beth was brief and to the point.
*****
Mindy pulled her gown back down over her hips and touched the barely visible lump of the AV remote control wand that she’d tucked into her bra. She’d lucked out to find it in the AV room because it featured a volume control that would come in handy during those big “Jess” crescendo moments.
Now she just needed to practice a few innocent looks in the mirror for when it all went down. Not that her father would buy it for a minute. But it was worth a try. In Mindy’s experience, confession might be good for the soul but it was fucked up in most other situations.
What were those two talking about out there? She needed Mia and the old lady to split so she could be alone, but they seemed to be bonding or something. God, that crazy Mia would talk to anyone. Mindy would have to rely on her usual set of perfectly adequate expressions of innocence—the ones that had served her well enough up to now. She gave her dress a final tug and checked her shoes to make sure no toilet paper stuck to them and opened the door.
Mia stood in profile at the sink. The old lady stood in front of Mindy’s stall door.
She was holding a large gun.
And it was pointed at Mindy’s head.
Chapter 19
Tanya Wojinziky waved the large Colt .45 at Mindy.
“I knew you’d come,” she said. “I knew you’d be here today. Stand over there by the other one. Try to leave and you’re dead.”
“Are you mad?” Mindy said, edging over to where Mia was standing by the counter. “There’s a church full of people twenty yards away.”
“Is that what you’re counting on? Well, you can forget it. I’m not letting you get away again.”
“This isn’t Beth, Mrs. Wojinziky,” Mia said. “Although, there is a vague resemblance.”
“What the hell is going on?” Mindy said, repeatedly fingering her plain gold necklace. She turned to Mia. “She has a gun.”
“I heard him talking to you on the phone, you slut,” Tanya hissed. “I know you want to get your hooks into him.”
“I do not know what you’re talking about,” Mindy said, her eyes wide and focused on the gun pointed at her.
Tanya flicked her eyes to Mia.
“I don’t know you,” she said. “But I know her.” She cocked the gun with her free hand and then steadied her gun hand with it. “And I know I won’t let her get my boy. If I have to die trying—”
“You mean like you prevented Victoria Baskerville from getting him?” Mia said. “Jeff really liked Victoria, didn’t he?”
“She was a whore.”
“What did he do? Finally stand up to you?”
“I told him he couldn’t see her again but she had him blinded by lust. I had to step in. She used her carnal ways on him and he was powerless.” Tanya’s eyes flickered back to Mindy. “Just like this one.”
Mia put a hand on Mindy’s shoulder and softened her voice.
“Okay,” she said. “I agree she’s a raving whore dog, but think about it—if you go to jail for shooting her, there will be literally hundreds of women ov
er at your house on a daily basis,” Mia said. “They’ll be sleeping in your bed, cooking with your pots—”
She swung the gun back to Mia.
“Shut up!”
Mia put her hands up. “Without you there, they’ll be lining up to get their claws into Jeff. One right after another. Maybe two at once.”
Tanya’s eyes were bouncing around in manic imaginings of what that would look like. Unfortunately, she appeared to be worse as a result. Now she seemed intent on shooting every woman of marrying age—starting with Mia and Mindy.
“Mama? You in there? Wedding’s about to start.”
Tanya turned her head in the direction of Jeff’s voice on the other side of the restroom door. Mia saw her moment and lurched forward and grabbed Tanya’s wrist with one hand. She wrapped her fingers around the barrel of the gun with her other hand and pushed it against Tanya’s thumb. Tanya yelped and dropped the weapon.
“Get the gun!” Mia rasped in a low voice to Mindy, as she grappled with Tanya’s wrists. The woman wasn’t young but she was heavy. And she was insane with fury.
Mindy snatched the gun and smashed it against the side of Tanya’s head. The woman crumpled to the bathroom floor.
“Okay, there’s that,” Mia said. She looked from Tanya to Mindy—who was shaking her head, trying to negate what just happened.
“Is everything okay in there?” Jeff’s voice boomed through the door and the doorknob rattled.
“Yes, sir,” Mia said in a fake Southern accent, walking backward to the door, keeping an eye on Tanya. “We are just fine in here as long as no nosy fella comes busting in on us in our altogether.”
Mindy, still holding the gun, stared at the body on the floor. Mia placed her ear against the door for a moment before straightening up.
“He’s gone.” She went to Tanya’s purse on the floor. “Shit, she has another gun in here.”
Mia glanced at Mindy, who was watching Tanya’s slighting twitching body. She looked like she was about to hyperventilate. Mia took the gun from Mindy and placed it on the floor away from her.
“How does she know your mother?” Mindy asked, her voice flat, her eyes transfixed by the body.
“Good question.” Mia opened up Tanya’s wallet and pulled out a newspaper clipping. “Here we go. She saw the announcement in yesterday’s paper.”
She pulled a tattered First Holy Communion card out of the billfold. “Whoa. Check it out. She’s carrying around Jeff’s Holy Communion picture from thirty years ago from this parish.”
Mindy knelt on the floor. Mia guessed it was because her knees were shaking so bad it was either sit down or fall down. She hoped she wouldn’t have to give Mindy mouth-to-mouth.
“Are you okay? You’re breathing funny.”
“This parish?” Mindy said. “The parish we are currently sitting in at this moment?”
“It answers how she knew my mother.”
Tanya moaned and lashed out an arm, connecting solidly with Mindy’s face and knocking her backward against the sink pedestals. Mia dropped the purse and leaned her weight onto the woman’s back but Tanya evaded the pressure point. She got one knee under her and threw Mia off.
“I’ll kill you bitches,” Tanya muttered, but her words were slurred. She shook her head to clear it. Mia grabbed the gun and knocked Tanya solidly on the head again. Tanya blinked once and then her eyes rolled back in her head and slowly closed. She fell backward.
“I have no idea what I’m doing,” Mia said, sending the Colt skidding across the floor away from them. She stood and reached for her purse on the counter. “We need to wrap this up before one of us accidentally kills her.” She started to punch in 911 but Mindy stood, grabbing the sink counter for support, and put her hand on the phone.
“Wait,” she said. She held up a finger to indicate she needed a moment to collect herself. “Don’t call them just yet.”
Mia frowned but didn’t complete the call. Suddenly, the wedding music began. Both Mia and Mindy turned their heads in the direction of the music.
This time the music didn’t stop.
“Come on,” Mindy said. “I have an idea. But we need to hurry.”
*****
“Oh, shit.” Jack saw Mia and Mindy before the rest of them at the front of the altar did, but he could tell—by the building collective gasps—when, row by row, the rest of the guests spotted them. The two women walked, arm in arm, down the aisle toward the front of the church where Jack, Maxwell, and Jess waited with the priest. The music had just ended.
Even from thirty feet, he could see Mindy’s left eye was swollen shut and Mia had a fat, bloody lip. They’d clearly made some attempt to straighten hair that looked like it had been caught in a category five hurricane and clean up the matching bridesmaids’ dresses speckled with blood, dirt and, in Mia’s case, a rip to her thigh.
“I’m going to kill both of them,” Maxwell said under his breath, but Jack saw Jess’s fingers tighten around the chief’s arm.
“They’re here,” she said softly. “And they’re together.”
When they got closer, amazingly, Jack saw that Mia was smiling.
“Time enough later to hear their story,” Jess said, as Mindy and Mia took their places on either side of Maxwell and Jess. Mia reached out and squeezed her mother’s hand and Mindy gave her father the most angelic look Jack had ever witnessed this side of heaven.
Oh, this was going to be good.
It was a beautiful ceremony and went off without a stumble, a fumbled line or missed cue. When Maxwell and Jess turned to face the applause of their guests as Mr. and Mrs. William Maxwell, Mia took Jack’s arm and fell into place beside him for the promenade down the aisle. Ned appeared from the front row and held his arm out to Mindy to escort her.
“What the hell happened?” Jack whispered to Mia as they walked behind the newlyweds.
“Before I get into that, you might want to tell the chief to get somebody here from downtown,” Mia said, nodding and smiling benignly at the wedding guests on either side of the aisle. “Mindy and I caught Victoria Baskerville’s killer in the ladies room.”
Jack nearly stumbled and Mia gripped his arm.
“We’ve got her tied up with choir robe cords in the closet of the bridesmaids’ room.”
“It’s a woman?” Jack choked out.
“Just tell the chief, okay?” Mia said sweetly. “And then let’s put it aside for one day, shall we? I intend to celebrate my mother’s happy day to the hilt.”
They stopped at the end of the church where Jess, the chief, Mindy and Ned were huddled before the church entrance.
Maxwell was frowning at his daughter.
“But I thought you said there was supposed to be a movie before the ceremony?”
“Technical difficulties, Dad. Sorry about that.”
“Well, show it at the reception then. Might be better there anyway.”
“Sure, Dad,” Mindy said. “If I can work out the kinks.”
*****
The VFW hall was bare bones, anchored by a massive American flag at the end of one wall and strung with limp paper streamers. Mia was sure they must have been there since the last Veterans Day party. It didn’t matter. There was a sound system—and it was a good one—hooked up to someone’s music library, a decent kitchen where Jack had overseen the wedding lunch, and plenty of tables and chairs surrounding a good-sized dance floor.
All in all, very satisfactory Mia thought as she surveyed the scene from the kitchen entrance. Most people were either on the dance floor or eating cake. Mindy stood next to Mia sipping a glass of champagne.
“Too bad you couldn’t get the video to work,” Mia said dryly. “I’m sure our parents would’ve enjoyed it.”
“Yeah, well,” Mindy said, “you know technology. You can never trust it.”
“Is that your husband over there waving to you?”
Mindy looked in the direction of a handsome man with a small girl in his arms.
“Bethan
y’s probably whining,” Mindy said, finishing off her drink.
“I know how she feels,” Mia said. “My feet are killing me.”
Mindy gave her a sidelong look. “You made me a kind of hero in my old man’s eyes today. That’s a new feeling for me.”
“You were a kind of hero today. Knocking old ladies out with gun butts then realizing that calling the cops before the wedding would seriously ruin the chief and Jess’s day.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“No, really,” Mia said. “That was good thinking.”
Mindy picked up her clutch purse and brushed what looked like crumbs off her dress. It was blood spatter.
“By the way,” she said, “that job offer you made to me at the coffee shop a couple days ago?”
“What about it?”
“I accept.”
Mia looked at Mindy and they both smiled.
“I kind of thought you might.”
Mindy walked across the room of wedding guests to meet her husband. He flashed Mia a grin and then wrapped his free arm around Mindy to shepherd her out of the reception hall. He looks like a nice guy. That’s good. I’m glad she’s got somebody like that.
“Leave it to you to turn your mother’s wedding into a crime scene,” Jack said as he came up from behind Mia and kissed her on the neck. He’d loosened his tie and his face was relaxed and cheerful.
“Hi, handsome. You look happy.”
“Murray just called.”
“The civil suit?”
He nodded. “They dropped it.”
“Oh, Jack!”
“I know. Great news.”
Mia turned her gaze back to the dance floor, her heart swelling. Maxwell and Jess were still dancing in the crowded hall. Jess’s gown was beautiful as it dusted the floor with her languid movements. Even with the last-minute booking of the reception hall at the VFW, it was hard to see how Jess could look any happier than she did at this moment.
Could the day be any more perfect?
Complete Mia Kazmaroff Romantic Suspense Series, 1-4 Page 80
