The Stolen Bride

by Jacqueline Diamond

  Astonished, he dropped the phone. Only his police training stopped him from uttering a string of curse words loud enough to carry to the far side of the lake.

  Plummeting to the ground, the spider vanished among the leaves.

  How annoying to run into an orb weaver that, on an overcast day, had decided to wait for prey. Joseph knew about spiders from a childhood spent tramping around the area, but he’d only seen this oversize variety on misty mornings.

  Snatching the phone from the grass, he held it to his ear. What a relief to find the connection hadn’t been severed.

  Lance finished saying something Joseph didn’t catch. Chet spoke again, angrily. “If we’re tossing threats around, maybe it’s time I told Erin the family secrets. She’s entitled, don’t you think?”

  “I’m sure you wouldn’t want to hurt my daughter,” Alice said. “These things have nothing to do with her.”

  “They have everything to do with her,” Chet answered. “Just remember one thing. I love my fiancée and I intend to take care of her.”

  His fiancée? The man apparently believed his own public relations fiction, Joseph reflected uneasily.

  “What’s going on?” Erin asked breathlessly. “Mom?”

  “We’ve had some disagreements about running the company,” Mrs. Bolding said. “They don’t concern you.”

  “It’s my company too.”

  “We all need to calm down.” Lance ignored the irony that, as far as Joseph could tell, he was the one who’d come storming into the house threatening trouble.

  “This has gone far enough,” Chet said. “We’re leaving.”

  “I want your promise,” Alice told him.

  “About what?”

  “That you’ll protect my daughter,” she said.

  “I already promised…”

  “I won’t have her upset. She’s been through too much these past weeks.”

  “I agree,” Chet said. “Erin, let’s get out of here.”

  There was a moment’s silence. Finally: “Mom, you’ll call me?”

  “You bet,” Alice said.

  Rustles and footsteps attested to their movements. Joseph debated whether to head for his car, which he’d parked on a path off the road, or wait until he saw for sure that Erin had exited the house.

  Over the phone, he heard her say, “Oh! I left my purse in the study.”

  “I’ll get it, Miss.” That sounded like Brandy.

  Joseph moved toward the street. If he didn’t reach his car in time, he’d have trouble following Chet. But it bothered him that Erin had left the purse containing his gun out of her control even for a minute.

  Neither she nor Chet spoke. It seemed like a long time before he heard her say, “Thank you, Brandy.”

  “My pleasure, Miss.”

  Joseph lengthened his stride, ducking tree branches while hanging on to the phone. He couldn’t tell what was happening until he heard Chet’s car start, in stereo—over the phone and in real life.

  He sheltered behind a tree as the sedan purred by. Once it vanished, he broke into a run.

  At his car, he started the engine and followed in the direction they’d taken. Only a faint buzzing came over the phone.

  There was no sign of the car ahead. In a minute, Joseph knew he’d have to choose whether to head for the main highway back to town or swing onto Via Puesta del Sol, which took a meandering route toward the country club.

  “Where are we going?” Erin’s words crackled over the phone. Thank heaven! Joseph clamped it tighter to his ear.

  “Let’s stop by my place,” Chet said. “We need to talk.”

  Tell him no! Whatever the CEO intended to reveal, it wasn’t worth putting Erin at risk. Once they were alone at his house, there was no telling what might happen.

  “I can’t believe my mom would be involved in anything questionable.” To his dismay, Erin didn’t argue. He should have anticipated that her concern for her mother would override any distrust of Chet.

  Joseph didn’t have a clue where the man lived. He’d had no occasion to interview him, let alone check out his private quarters.

  “Sometimes people…over their heads.” Background noise overwhelmed part of Chet’s comment.

  Joseph reached the crossroads. Instinctively, he turned onto Via Puesta del Sol and hit the gas. It eventually led back to the highway, so if he didn’t spot the sedan en route, he might pick them up later.

  Or they might simply disappear. He wished he’d planted a locator on Erin, but he didn’t own one of the high-tech devices.

  He went by Rainbow Lane, which led to the pier near where the bodies had surfaced. A chill swept over Joseph. Night was falling fast, and he’d left Erin alone with a known liar entangled in questionable activities.

  And he had no idea where they were.

  “I love the way they named the streets around here after colors.” If Erin was giving him a clue, she’d made a good start. As he recalled, streets called Azure, Emerald, Canary and Amber lay ahead. If only she’d tag on a more specific reference.

  At least Erin hadn’t sounded worried. He hoped that meant they really were en route to Chet’s house, which she’d probably visited before.

  “I didn’t even know what carmine meant before I rented this place,” Chet answered.

  Carmine Way. From his years of patrolling, Joseph retained a mental map of the area. He knew the way to the winding street. That left the issue of picking out the right house.

  And the disturbing fact that the road ended at the lakeshore. It came out less than half a mile from the pier.

  ERIN PEEKED into the side mirror. Still no Joseph.

  She’d heard a few noises on the cell phone, which she hoped meant they remained connected. Although Chet had accommodatingly mentioned the name of his street, however, she didn’t remember the number. Once they arrived, she’d have to find an excuse for stating it aloud.

  The streets here lacked lights, and only glimmers through windows and from porches pierced the thickening twilight. Although she’d visited Chet’s house a few times before, Erin couldn’t have found the place without directions, she realized when they reached it at last.

  If there was a number affixed to the structure, it lay obscured behind fanlike palms. The number on the curb had faded too badly to read in the half light.

  “What beautiful birds of paradise.” She hoped the clumps of blue and orange flowers would help Joseph located the driveway.

  “They’re a bit overgrown,” Chet replied. “The landlord needs to have the gardener trim things back.”

  The white wood-and-brick house structure, one story high except for a bedroom above the garage, had a boxy beach-cottage feel. Although she hadn’t realized it was rented, Erin had assumed that, after their marriage, they’d either buy a larger place or live in Washington after Chet’s election.

  It was one of many things they’d never discussed. She wondered now how she could have been so immature.

  She hadn’t just been passive; she’d been out of touch with her own feelings. Maybe she’d feared at some level that if she let herself go, she would unleash more emotions than she could handle.

  Instead, when she’d opened herself to Joseph, the opposite had happened. She’d discovered depths and resources that made her stronger.

  They halted at the entryway. Leaving the car outside would help Joseph, Erin thought gratefully, assuming he managed to find her.

  Maybe she shouldn’t go inside. Once the door closed behind them, she had no idea what he might do.

  But if she didn’t, she might never find out what was going on. Undercurrents, hints and threats had underscored her mother and stepfather’s conversation. Whatever lay hidden, it threatened her future.

  Chet helped her out of the car and keyed the lock to the house. A sense of unreality dogged Erin as she stepped inside.

  In the living room, the overhead light fell flatly across a beige sofa and a brown corduroy-covered armchair. On the coffee table
perched a vase of artificial flowers that smelled suffocatingly dusty.

  Erin sank into the chair, setting the heavy purse in her lap. She wasn’t exactly afraid of Chet, but the knowledge that she had a gun bolstered her confidence. “What did you want to talk about?”

  He moved restlessly to the couch and perched on the arm. “There are some things…I mean, I wish I had…” The sentence trailed off. Until tonight, she’d never seen the usually self-possessed Chet so agitated.

  “You wish you’d what?” Erin’s hands had gone cold. His nervousness had to be contagious.

  “To begin with, your stepfather thinks he can control me in Congress,” Chet said. “That’s why your parents backed me, for the power.”

  “Isn’t that why people usually back politicians?” She didn’t see why he’d expected otherwise. “People who can make big donations want a return on their investment, I imagine.”

  “It’s not that simple,” he said. “I knew… Well, things weren’t entirely right. With your parents, I mean.”

  “Like what?” She wished he’d get to the point.

  Chet fiddled with the TV remote control and then set it on a side table. “I guess I should start with a personal admission. I’ve done a few things I’m not proud of.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Without the background, you can’t understand the present.”

  She made a mental leap. “You mean someone’s blackmailing you?”

  He gave a reluctant nod. “More or less.”

  “What did you do?” When he didn’t respond, she leaped to the next question on her mind. “Chet, you didn’t actually break the law, did you?”

  “Technically, I suppose I did.” His jaw worked as he faced her. “I’m hoping you’ll forgive me, Erin. I didn’t think it mattered because we were going to be married.”

  “Forgive you for what?” She hoped Joseph could hear this. She hoped he was close by, in case…well, just in case.

  “I borrowed money from your trust fund.” He ran his hand through his full blond hair, for once not caring how badly he ruffled it.

  Borrowed? He meant embezzled. She stared at him in dismay. “How could you do that?”

  “That’s a good question.” Chet began pacing. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  “How much?” Erin asked.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “You’re not sure?” she repeated. Not only had he helped himself, he hadn’t even taken it seriously enough to keep track.

  “Enough to pay for some TV commercials,” he said. “I have to advertise on TV, Erin, or my campaign doesn’t have a chance.”

  “Gene said you loaned yourself the money.”

  “Gene doesn’t know,” he told her. “He’s not part of this. He believes in me. I hope you will, too.”

  “Who’s blackmailing you?” She answered her own query. “It’s Lance, isn’t it?”

  He nodded. “I’m sorry. I know it was wrong. I never meant for anyone to get hurt.”

  “Does this have anything to do with the bodies in the lake?” She hazarded a guess. “How about what happened to me and my mom, our so-called accidents?”

  “Not directly,” Chet said. “It’s complicated.”

  “You can’t just expect me to let the whole thing go!”

  “I’ll pay you back.” He struggled with his words, as if the situation were too complex to explain.

  What was so hard? Erin wondered. Lance had discovered the theft and apparently was trying to use the information to control Chet’s political agenda. Her mom had to know about the embezzlement, too, she realized. Maybe she and Lance disagreed about whether to contact the police.

  “I got caught up in something a lot bigger than I expected,” Chet continued. “It keeps snowballing.”

  “Getting out of this mess won’t be easy, but I’m sure we can do it.” She used the inclusive pronoun not because she identified with this troubled man but because she wanted to reassure him.

  He’d just disclosed damning facts about himself. Once he had time to reflect, he might panic. Erin wondered how far he’d go to stop her from telling anyone else.

  And how would he react if he discovered that Joseph was listening?

  “I want to protect you,” he said. “Stay away from Lance, Brandy, your mother—the whole lot.”

  “I can’t stay away from Mom.” Erin drew the line there. “I failed her once. This time, I’m taking her with me.”

  “You don’t understand. You’ll put yourself and me in terrible danger.” Chet strode across the room. “I can’t let you do that, Erin.”

  He reached into a drawer. She caught a flash of something metallic.

  She couldn’t afford to wait for Joseph. Desperately, Erin stuck her hand into her purse and groped for the cold, hard metal of the gun.

  It didn’t feel right. Too smooth, too solid. She opened her purse and looked inside.

  The weight she’d felt was her father’s brass stapler. Someone had taken the gun.

  “Oh, no!” she blurted.

  BIRDS OF PARADISE. A good clue, except that more than one house on Carmine Way grew the dramatic plants. Near the first clump Joseph spotted children’s play equipment, so he ruled out that place, but he counted three more bunches of the flowers as he continued down the street.

  All the while, he followed the conversation over the phone. Chet had embezzled from Erin’s trust fund. That alone was enough to end the man’s political career and send him to prison. Joseph’s other hand clenched the steering wheel at the thought that this lying scoundrel had nearly conned her into marrying him to hide his crime.

  “You’ll put yourself and me in terrible danger. I can’t let you do that, Erin.”

  The threat galvanized him. He hit the gas, searching for more birds of paradise and a clue to show him the right house. At the same time, he had to remain alert for children.

  “Oh, no!” Erin’s distress jolted him.

  There it was. Chet’s car. He nearly passed it. His brakes creaked as he stomped the pedal and immediately threw the car into reverse.

  Joseph zipped into the driveway, leaving the door open so Chet wouldn’t hear it slam. He’d missed part of the conversation, but he couldn’t take any more chances.

  “Get out!” he shouted into the phone as he drew his service revolver. “Get out of there!”

  He ran at a crouch toward the house

  “WHAT’S WRONG?” Chet asked as Erin stared dumbfounded into her purse.

  “What?” Too shocked to think straight, she looked up to see him holding a photograph of himself with her parents in a silver frame. It must have been taken at one of the annual company dinner-dances.

  “You said ‘Oh, no’ as if something were wrong.”

  Unable to invent a good story in a hurry, she decided to stick close to the truth. “I can’t figure out how this got here.” She showed him the stapler. “I felt something heavy and wondered what it was. I hope Lance isn’t going to accuse me of stealing.”

  “That’s bizarre. Maybe Brandy thought it was yours.” Losing interest in the stapler, he indicated the picture. “I want to explain…”

  “Get out! Get out of there!” Joseph’s voice, blurred but unmistakable, issued from her pocket.

  “What the hell?” Chet said.

  Erin froze. She couldn’t think of anything to say except the truth. “It’s my phone.” She took it out. “It was a precaution while I was at my mom’s house.”

  His face flushed. “Joseph heard what I said?”

  “I’m not sure,” Erin admitted. “I didn’t even know if it was still connected.”

  The door flew open. Chet flashed to his feet, clutching the framed photo, as Joseph dodged inside. Light reflected dully off the revolver in his hand.

  “Put it down!” Joseph commanded. “Now! Hands in the air!” It had to be a police tactic to shout like that, she thought, to frighten and confuse his quarry. It certainly worked on her.
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br />   After a shocked pause, Chet set the picture on the coffee table. “Are you going to arrest me?”

  “Erin, come over here.” He didn’t take his eyes from Chet as she crossed the room. “Are you all right?”

  “He didn’t do anything,” she said. “I mean, apart from the embezzling.” She couldn’t explain about the missing gun in front of Chet.

  “Turn around, Dever. Hands on the wall.” Upon being obeyed, Joseph gave Erin the revolver. “Hold this.” Only after he’d patted down Chet for weapons did he step back and reclaim the gun. “You can turn around. I’m not going to arrest you tonight. It’s up to Erin whether she presses charges.”

  “So you’re letting me go?” He straightened with a trace of his old swagger. “You barged into my house for nothing?”

  Joseph’s expression darkened. “I’ll have to file a report about what I heard, of course.” He had to be bluffing. As if he intended to inform the police that he’d been snooping!

  Chet’s hooded eyes assessed the lowered revolver and the two of them. “You set me up,” he growled at Joseph. “You’ve been after me ever since you found out I was marrying your ex-girlfriend.” His brain had finally clicked back into gear, Erin realized. “You knew she’d be in the car with me and you planned this to get something incriminating. I’d call it entrapment.”

  “Nobody trapped you,” Joseph said. “Nobody induced you to steal Erin’s money or to confess it.”

  “You’re so full of yourself. The knight in shining armor!” Chet snarled. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”

  Noticing the door standing open, Erin hoped the neighbors couldn’t hear. She didn’t want some gossipy type relaying this quarrel to the newspaper. Besides, they needed to leave so she could alert Joseph about the missing gun.

  “We’d better go before the whole town hears us,” she said.

  That stopped them. “Erin,” Chet said more quietly, “I’ll repay the money. Please don’t ruin my life over this. Believe me, I had nothing to do with the attack on you and I’m not sure who did.” He’d called it an attack, not an accident, she noted.

  “You must have some idea,” Joseph said.