The Stolen Bride

by Jacqueline Diamond

  Her friend chattered on. “The guests were really understanding yesterday. I think they all sympathize with you.”

  “Did they eat dinner?” No matter how much money Erin’s family had, she didn’t like to see food wasted.

  “Most of them did,” Tina assured her.

  Erin felt awkward standing in front of the house. “I’d invite you in for coffee but we’re on our way out.”

  “What’s up?” Tina asked.

  Oops. She shouldn’t have said even that much. “Joseph and I decided to go out on the lake for a little R&R”

  “Rick’s got a motorboat. I’m sure he’d lend it to you,” Tina said. “I’ll give him a call.” She reached into her purse.

  Erin waved away the offer with pretended nonchalance. “I think Joseph’s already made arrangements.”

  “Are you guys back together?” her friend asked. “I mean, you hadn’t seen each other in years and suddenly you’re living with him.”

  “We’re just pals.” Didn’t all the movie stars say that right before they announced their engagements? Erin wondered uncomfortably. “I’m only staying here for a few days while I sort things out.”

  “Nothing against Joseph, but this is happening kind of fast.” A ray of sunlight picked out the freckles on Tina’s nose.

  “I feel more like myself here,” Erin admitted. “Mom’s house is oppressive. It started making me paranoid.”

  “You never told me that!”

  “I didn’t exactly realize it,” she said. “Anyway, I feel a lot better now.”

  Tina plucked an errant leaf off Erin’s shoulder. “I’m not saying this is a bad thing. I’m just concerned.”

  “Thanks. It’s nice to have people watching out for me.” Tina had been wonderfully supportive these past few weeks.

  “Tell him I’m sorry about my dad putting him on leave,” she said. “I don’t think it’s fair. Rick’s unhappy about it, too, but I can’t say anything to my father. He’d only crack down harder.”

  “Thanks. I know you’d help if you could.”

  Joseph emerged. After greeting him warmly, Tina said, “Are you sure you don’t want me to call Rick about his boat?”

  “It’s all arranged,” Joseph explained. “Thanks for coming by.”

  “You’re good for Erin.” Tina patted his arm. “She’s finally got some color in her cheeks.”

  They watched as she got into her car and crunched down the driveway. “I tried to watch what I said,” Erin noted.

  “I doubt she’ll go telling tales. You know I’ve always thought highly of her.” Joseph turned back to the house. “Now let’s collect our stuff and get a move on.”

  “Yes, boss,” Erin teased. In spite of the circumstances, the prospect of going out on the water lifted her spirits.

  Whether or not they accomplished anything today, it felt almost like one of their old adventures.

  A MODEST-SIZE BODY of water, Sundown Lake had been created by nature and improved by the local residents, who’d dredged a large part of it in the days before environmental restrictions. In addition to a small public marina on the eastern shore, there were a number of private tie-downs.

  Erin and Joseph made a circuit of the northern shore, the noisy outboard motor adding nothing to the charm of the experience. If Erin had had any notions of a romantic interlude, she’d left them at the dock.

  At this time of year, many of the vacation cottages sat empty and there were few people around. Joseph showed the picture she’d made to a couple, but they didn’t recognize Todd. He got out at the point Jean had mentioned and traipsed along the shore watching for clues, without success.

  Afterward, they sliced south across the lake. “Your moth er’s accident was down this way. Luckily for her, some of the neighbors heard her screaming. It was nearly dark, and the boat had drifted toward the fishing zone.”

  The aged pier was posted off-limits. Erin had heard a developer was negotiating to buy the property but, while local preservationists campaigned at length to save it, it lay weed-choked and abandoned.

  “Isn’t the water fairly shallow?” It looked that way to Erin, with trees trailing over marshy reeds. “She could have waded out.”

  “This whole area can be treacherous.” Joseph slowed the put-put of the motor. “One drowning victim about a year ago got tangled up in the vegetation. He was known to be a strong swimmer, so we presume he couldn’t reach the surface.”

  She pictured her mother struggling in the water, losing her way and going under. A cold chill rippled over Erin. “I can’t figure out why she’d go sailing alone at dusk. Is it possible someone lured her here and rigged the boat to sink?”

  “It didn’t sink. She fell out, remember?” he said.

  That brought Erin to the sticking point in every theory. “And of course she’d have told you if she’d been tricked. At least, I assume she would.”

  “She certainly stuck to her story.”

  The engine sputtered to a halt. In the sudden silence, background noises loomed like figures emerging from a fog. Erin heard the lap of water against old pilings, the chirp of crickets and the creak of branches. The overhang left the irregular shore in gloom.

  She hugged herself. Although she’d worn a light jacket, it was crisp on the water.

  “We should head back,” Joseph said reluctantly.

  “I’m all right. You need to finish whatever you’re doing.”

  Although this place gave her the creeps, she wanted to understand what had happened. At least it might help her grasp why her mother had been so moody the past five-and-a-half months.

  They passed the pier, which reeked of rotting vegetation. Moss grew around the pilings, and holes gaped in the rickety surface. Erin wondered how anyone could believe it was possible to preserve this old wreck.

  On the shore, a squirrel paused atop a tree stump, regarding them without fear. In a flash of blue, a bird darted down to snatch a tidbit from the weeds. There was beauty here in spite of everything, she thought.

  A whiff of sweetness reached her from a cluster of vines. A recollection tingled at the edge of her consciousness. A parking lot…a van…flowers…

  Joseph’s voice banished the fleeting vision. “Let’s suppose Lance brought her out here, pushed her into the water and swam ashore. It occurs to me that she might have suffered traumatic amnesia like you did, but only for the period immediately preceding the event.”

  “I thought she swore she’d come out alone.”

  “She might not remember what happened and doesn’t want to believe her husband did such a thing. Or perhaps she did sail out by herself and he waylaid her.”

  Erin understood how baffling amnesia could be. “If that’s true, how do we prove it?”

  “We’d need either a witness or evidence tying Lance to the scene, but that seems unlikely at this point,” Joseph conceded. “I didn’t find any footprints. No muddy shoes or wet clothing, either at home or in trash containers around the area, because I searched for those, too. Unless he had an accomplice waiting in another boat, I don’t know how he did it.”

  “Maybe he didn’t.” Much as Erin disliked her stepfather, she had to keep an open mind. “He doesn’t have a criminal history.”

  “That’s true, but how did you know?”

  “My mom had him investigated before they got married,” Erin said. “She isn’t a fool.”

  “Good for her.” Joseph poked at a slimy object with a safety pole. It startled Erin by springing to life and splashing away among the reeds. Some kind of amphibian, she realized. “On the other hand, he might stand to inherit a huge amount of money, depending on her will. I assume she has one.”

  “My family uses Horner and Fitch.” It was the attorneys’ office where his mother, Suzanne, worked. “After Dad died, she told me she revised her will to leave everything to me. I don’t know if she’s changed it since then. Couldn’t you check?”

  “I can’t violate attorney-client privilege,” Joseph remin
ded her. “Besides, even before I was suspended, I had no grounds to subpoena evidence as long as your mother claimed there was no foul play.”

  “You think she’s protecting someone?”

  “If she’s lying, she’s doing a darn good job of it,” Joseph said. “Amateurs usually get nervous or change details of their story. I think she’s telling the truth as far as she knows it.”

  “I hope so.” Maybe the two of them had simply fallen victim to accidents after all, Erin thought. What a relief that would be!

  Their boat drifted around a bend. She wrinkled her nose. “Something smells awful. Is it always like this?”

  “Not the last time I was here.”

  The stench made Erin’s eyes water. “What is that?”

  “It smells like a large animal fell in the water.” Joseph stopped. “I don’t like this. I’m getting you out of here.”

  “I see something.” Erin pointed. “That’s weird.”

  A rumpled blue growth sprouted from a clump of weeds along the waterline. It took a moment to recognize that it wasn’t a plant or a fungus.

  It was an item of clothing. A windbreaker.

  Erin spotted a stringy brown clump beside it. That wasn’t a plant, either. “That’s strange.”

  “Don’t look.”

  Too late. She couldn’t tear her eyes look away as the brown strings stirred in the water like an old mop. Or a wig.

  Erin gasped. To her dismay, the stench invaded her mouth. “It’s a person,” she choked out. “It’s a dead person.”

  Shudders ran through her. She leaned over the side of the boat and threw up.

  Chapter Nine

  “There’s one good thing,” Joseph said on Sunday night as he and Erin finished off a pizza at Giorgio’s Italian Deli. It was around the corner from the police station, where they’d undergone separate interviews about their disturbing discovery.

  “You mean that I finally got my appetite back?” The color had returned to Erin’s cheeks, he noted with satisfaction.

  “No. That the chief can’t close the investigation now,” he said. “It’s obvious we weren’t chasing our tails.”

  At the station, several officers had given Joseph a surreptitious nod or thumbs-up. Although sensitive to the grimness of the situation, he’d been grateful for the validation.

  “He ought to reinstate you.” She went for a third slice of pepperoni.

  “I have a bad attitude, remember? I violated his orders, even if his orders were misguided. At least we’re sure Rick will do a thorough job.”

  The body in the lake, although badly bloated after an estimated two weeks in the water, had come accompanied by ID: a wallet belonging to Todd Wilde. What he’d been doing in Sundown Valley and who’d killed him remained to be determined, and of course the police would double-check his identity by other means. They had a good idea of the means, pending the results of an autopsy: the body showed what ap peared to be gunshot wounds, and Rick had recovered a bullet lodged in a nearby tree.

  He’d also found a key to a motel room where Todd apparently had been staying. Nothing there gave any indication of the parolee’s activities, however.

  The probe had started fast. Alerted by Tina, Rick had arrived in his motorboat while Erin was still upchucking in the water. He’d come to make sure Joseph didn’t get into any further trouble with the chief, he’d explained.

  A short time later, Norris had arrived at the scene in a foul mood. For a minute, Joseph had wondered if he were going to be fired, despite the fact that he’d proved he was right to keep digging.

  Luckily, Lynne Rickles, a reporter from the Sundown Sentinel, had shown up. Unable to reach the public information officer on a Sunday, the chief had been forced to field her questions himself. In Joseph’s opinion, he’d been overly helpful, showing the woman around the crime scene and probably contaminating it in the process, but at least he’d been distracted from his rage.

  The guy wasn’t about to admit he’d been wrong. He hadn’t said a word about lifting Joseph’s suspension.

  The atmosphere at the police station, however, was definitely on Joseph’s side. Yesterday, he’d discounted Gene Norris’s description of him as a popular guy. Yet today, his fellow workers had greeted him warmly, even though police departments were highly political, with promotions often dependent on the goodwill of higher-ups. In the face of Chief Norris’s antagonism, the show of support meant a lot.

  “Poor Aunt Marie.” Erin left her slice of pizza unfinished. “I hope her disappearance doesn’t have anything to do with Todd. I know he was in prison when she left, but I can’t stop worrying.”

  “Let’s not jump to conclusions. Your aunt’s probably off sunning herself in Hawaii,” Joseph said. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to take a couple of pizzas over to the Homework Center for the kids. I want to tell my mother what’s been happening before she reads about it in the newspaper.”

  “Of course!” Erin was curious to see the center, which she knew only from newspaper accounts and the information gathered by the Friend of a Friend Foundation. Although she helped support it, both distance and a desire to remain anonymous had kept her from visiting personally.

  It was less than half a mile to their destination in the midst of a blue-collar neighborhood. Although small, the stucco building, a former church, marked a step up from the Homework Center’s origin in a two-car garage.

  On a Sunday night, Erin had expected to find it half-empty. Instead, the central hall was jammed with students grouped around computers and brightly lit tables. Volunteer tutors of all ages and backgrounds worked intently with the youngsters.

  “Joseph!” Suzanne Lowery excused herself from a group and hurried toward them. Despite the gray lacing her brown hair, she bristled with energy that seemed to infuse everyone she passed. “I’m so glad to see you.” She beamed at Erin. “And you, too. It’s been much too long.”

  “It’s good to see you.” She wished now that she’d visited sooner, but it hadn’t occurred to her that Suzanne might enjoy seeing her.

  “Hey, Mom.” Joseph gave her a hug. “You’ve drawn quite a crowd tonight.”

  “You know how it is. The kids have all weekend to do their homework, but they leave it to the last minute. Why don’t we adjourn to my office? It’s much quieter.”

  “Great,” he said.

  Suzanne’s office was scarcely big enough for the bookshelves and file cabinets crammed into it, not to mention the desk and laptop. To clear off a couple of chairs, she whisked papers and books onto the floor. “Please sit down.”

  When they sat, Erin had to be careful where she placed her feet. There was a pile of textbooks a little to the right and a box of computer paper to the left.

  “I wanted to tell you what’s been happening,” Joseph said. “I figure you must have read today’s paper, so you already know part of it.”

  “About the wedding? Yes. Erin, are you feeling okay?”

  “I’m fine.” She didn’t want to play for more sympathy than she deserved. “I didn’t really have a relapse. But it’s been a rough day.”

  “She’s a trooper. I wish she hadn’t had to witness what we came across.” Joseph described their upsetting discovery at the lake.

  Suzanne didn’t seem surprised to learn that the chief hadn’t reinstated her son, despite the evidence. “Some people have moved on from what happened all those years ago and others, like Edgar, haven’t,” she said. “He should take a leaf from Mrs. Nguyen. She volunteers at the center twice a week and we’ve become friends.” Mrs. Nguyen’s late husband was the man Lewis Lowery had been convicted of killing.

  “This place brings people together,” Erin said. “I always thought the Marshall Company should do more for services like this.”

  “Thanks,” Suzanne said. “Without you, I don’t know where I’d be.” Since she worked at the law firm that handled Erin’s private business, she was one of the few people who knew who was behind the Friend of a Friend Foundatio
n.

  When Erin had graduated from college with a degree in marketing, she’d sought to organize a community outreach office for the Marshall Company. Although her father had shown interest, he’d been persuaded against it by her mother and Chet’s predecessor as CEO. They’d argued that sponsoring the annual Sundown Music Festival and underwriting new facilities at the hospital were sufficient for good public relations.

  Technically, they might have been right, but Erin believed a company of this size ought to do more. She’d taken the job with Bea’s firm not only to establish her independence, but also because the company handled many service-oriented clients.

  “You’re the one who deserves the credit,” she told Joseph’s mother. “Without volunteers working countless hours, my contribution wouldn’t mean anything.”

  “I’m not sure I agree, but thank you.” Suzanne regarded her son curiously. “Now that you’ve made your point, are you going to leave rest of the investigating to Rick?”

  He grinned. “What do you think?”

  “I think you’re going to hang on to this like a dog with a bone.” She smiled ruefully. “I don’t know if what you’re doing is wise or not, but I’m proud of you. Mind telling me what you’ve learned so far?”

  Since Todd might have been involved in framing Suzanne’s husband, Erin didn’t mind sharing their secrets with her. Besides, someone who’d spent so many years in the community might have useful insights.

  Suzanne listened with obvious concern. “I’m sorry to hear Marie may be in danger,” she said when Joseph finished. “In school, she found it hard being in her sister’s shadow. I was glad when she started landing parts on television, but she never got the big break actors dream about.”

  “I hope she’s safe.” Among other things, Erin wanted a chance to get to know her aunt as an adult. “I hope we all are.”

  “I’m glad my son’s looking after you,” Suzanne told her. “I know how worried your mother was after your accident. Your head injury really frightened her.”

  Joseph’s eyebrows formed their familiar pucker. “It sounds as if you’ve been talking to her. I didn’t realize you two had much of an acquaintance.”