“Anyway,” Lily continued, “last week I called the chief a couple of times. Once I swore I was being watched. And one night I swore someone was breaking into my house.” She released a nervous laugh. “I’ve never been alone a night in my life until last week. I overreacted, that’s all.”
As he and the chief shared a look, Jake’s body tensed and his back gave a sudden twinge. The warning signaled that he had better be careful before his back gave out or he’d be no use to anyone, especially his client. He got up and stretched like he had learned in physical therapy.
Was Lily being paranoid or was she sensitive to her surroundings and someone was actually watching her? “You’ve never been alone before?”
“Never. Growing up, someone was always home. Granny lived with us for years before she passed. When I went away to college, I had a roommate. When I returned, someone was always home. Rose went away to college, but Chrissy commuted to the local university.” She stopped and watched him massage his lower back. “Are you okay?”
He nodded. Then took mental notes as he counted out another exercise the therapist taught him to help with his pain. Under the circumstances, he wouldn’t expect a stranger to be worried about his health, and yet she was, and that didn’t slip past him. Sophia, the woman he was going to marry one day, had demonstrated a lack of concern. After the accident, all he got was cold disdain.
“So you helped Aunt Bee, and then what, Lily?” the chief cut in.
“I drove here.” She gasped suddenly. “Wait a minute! I completely forgot. I thought I was being followed this morning and was tempted to call you but stopped myself.” She shook her head. “Crazy. When I got here, whoever it was kept driving. I must’ve imagined it. I was glad I didn’t call.”
Again, he and the chief exchanged glances. This time, Jake piped in. “Can you describe the car? The person driving?”
She frowned and tapped a finger to her temple. “Hmm, let me see. Black car, four door, tinted windows.”
“Man or woman driver? License plate?” Jake asked, and the young officer poised his pen ready to jot the information down.
She shook her head, and he could see the regret in her eyes. “The car didn’t get that close. I couldn’t even tell you if it had Jersey plates.”
She told them about the alarm being off. “Haley forgot to set the box like she did last week.”
“What did she say when you questioned her about it the first time?” Jake took these facts in and added them to the pile of scraps he collected in his mind.
“She apologized. She was upset, and I didn’t want to make a bigger deal out of it. I needed to be with Aunt Bee that night so I asked Haley to close up. That’s part of her job description, and I reminded her of that yesterday. I was shocked that she forgot again.”
“I’ll question Haley about that,” the chief said. “Let’s get back to when you arrived. Did you hear anything like a gunshot?”
“No. Nothing. Could the killer have used a silencer?”
The chief scratched his head. “It’s possible. With Sam’s body still warm, I don’t think he was dead long before you got here.”
Lily started to rise from the couch, looked around, and sunk back down. “What am I going to tell my brides? Giselle? We have a lot of appointments today. Maybe we can open for business later this afternoon? Some of them will cancel as soon as they hear what happened, but the ones who are coming in for fittings . . .”
“Sorry, but this is a crime scene now.” The chief jerked his thumb and pointed. “Close your doors. You’re going to disappoint lots of brides today.”
Lily gazed toward the back of the store and wrinkled her forehead. “They’re counting on me. Giselle is going to be crushed. She flew in last night from Georgia to try on that dress that Sam’s wearing. What am I going to do now?”
Jake could see her distress at letting down her customers and he wished there was another way, but someone was murdered and a crime scene was a crime scene. No way around the fact. “How long is she in town for? Maybe when the chief is done here, she can find another dress.”
She turned to Jake with raised eyebrows. “Giselle wanted that particular dress. I labeled the garment bag with her name. But maybe for the other brides . . . I already asked Haley to pull a selection last night. They’re off to the side, I hope. Chief? Can I grab them at least? I could hold appointments at my house.”
The chief scratched at his chin, then shook his head. “Sorry, not even for you can I break protocol. As soon as my guys have processed the area, I’ll let you know. Finish giving Officer Graham here your statement and stop by the station later. Let me go back there now and get started.”
The chief vaulted toward the back and when Lily finished her statement, Officer Graham clicked his pen and stood watch.
Jake continued where the young officer left off. Whatever he learned would help him in his own investigation. “Let’s start again at the beginning. You left your house at six-thirty.”
He took down notes in a pad he extracted from his jeans pocket. She once again raised her eyebrows, this time with suspicion. He added, “Sorry. Once a cop, always a cop. Maybe I could help the chief.”
She pushed locks of blond hair behind her delicate ears. Pretty diamond studs sparkled back at him. Her silence signaled she didn’t believe him. On impulse, he glanced down. She couldn’t see his gun strapped to his ankle, could she? He wore his pants a little loose on purpose. No way. That wasn’t her problem.
He tapped his pen against the pad. “Anything unusual happen? Besides that you left early and helped your neighbor?”
“There was the car that pulled out of my street behind me and stayed there all the way down the boulevard until I got here, then it kept going. I didn’t recognize the car as being one of the neighbors. I mean, that’s weird, right? Hardly anyone was about this morning except a couple of news crew vans.”
“Can you describe the car any further? Make, model?”
“Black sedan, older.” She sighed in disgust. “That’s all I got. The fog was too thick. And I was worried about meeting the delivery guy and all the appointments I have today.”
“What happened next?”
“Do you think that had something to do with Sam’s death?”
“It’s possible.” More likely than not someone kept an eye on Lily while someone else broke into her shop. He suspected someone had been watching her all week to study her routine, which appeared to be the same each day. He grunted inwardly. He always told his family to change up their routines. Never let strangers get wind of their habits. His sister had a business and delivered cash to the bank. Creatures of routine were vulnerable. Hadn’t the chief ever warned Lily about simple safety measures?
The chief returned. “Okay, my guys are working on things back there. Someone was looking for something. Lily, did you notice if anything was missing or out of place?”
She glanced around. “Nothing that stands out. And obviously I hadn’t had a chance to check on the inventory.”
The chief scratched at his head. “Why would someone dress Sam up in a gown?”
Lily choked back a sob. “Doesn’t make sense.”
He scratched at his head again. “When you come to the station later, tell me all you know about this Giselle. And give me her contact number. An officer will escort her to the station. I’ll be needing to talk to her and her family.”
“What? No! She doesn’t have anything to do with this. The murderer could have chosen any dress, but the bag was separate from the others, on its own hook, easily accessible.”
“Labeled with Giselle’s name. From my limited experience, I thought these dresses came in small sizes. Giselle must be a big girl because the dress almost fit the victim,” Jake added and received a glare from Lily.
“Lily?” The chief waited
for her to respond.
“The dress was a larger sample size, which didn’t matter to Giselle because she had planned on getting it altered to fit perfectly, and . . .”
The chief intercepted. “Okay, in a rush, the killer grabbed the first gown available. Maybe. The fact is the wedding dress she flew miles to see is now on a murder victim. Might be a matter of convenience because that gown happened to be set aside. Or maybe Giselle knows the victim. Or the murderer. I need to question her. Who flies to another state for a wedding dress?”
“Lots of brides do. Especially ones who know what they want and where to find the gown of their dreams. Giselle is that kind of bride. Giselle searched the Internet and found that we had it. She is going to be devastated that . . . that . . .”
“That the gown is covered in blood?” Jake was losing his patience about what a spoiled bride would think.
Lily’s glare turned into a death stare, which he tried to ignore, but found impossible to do.
The chief disregarded the increased tension. “I need a list of your staff’s contact information.” He studied his own notepad. “And a list of your inventory,” he added.
“Of course. I’ll get that right now from my office. Then if it’s okay with you, I’ll go to my house and start canceling appointments.” Lily left the room with Leo following on her heels.
Jake ran a hand through the length of his hair. Worn a little longer now since he left the force, the cut was an unwanted freedom. After some time, like his hair, he grew to accept the reality that because of his injury, he could never be a cop again.
He stared at the chief’s worried face and waited until Lily was out of earshot. “What’s going on here, Chief?”
The chief spoke in a clipped tone. “Damned if I know.” He looked about the shop. “This is no ordinary break-in. Look at this place. Nothing’s disturbed or vandalized. Except that rack of dresses he or she hid behind. Someone was searching for something in the back. Drawers were torn open, contents trashed about. Won’t know for sure until Lily checks the inventory against her list, but if I were a betting man, I’d say most, if not all of her stuff is intact. I’m afraid this is personal.”
Jake said nothing, letting what the man said sink in.
“Could have something to do with this bride, Giselle. But with Lily calling me last week about hearing noises and her thinking she was being followed today, most likely what’s going on revolves around her. Her ex-fiancé is dressed as a bride for Christ’s sake. Someone murdered the guy and put him in one of Lily’s expensive gowns to make a statement.”
Jake agreed with the chief’s summation. The murder had to be connected to Lily, which meant Lily was connected to his own case. “Question is, Chief, what’s the murderer trying to say?”
Chapter 4
As Lily searched her office for the info the chief wanted, her vision blurred and the tightness in her throat increased. She grabbed for her chair and sank down. Sam. After all that had happened between them, and after what he had done, when she saw him lying there, murdered, her heart broke for him again. Why did someone do that to you, Sam?
She scanned the room for anything missing or out of place. Nothing. Lily printed out the contact information, and as she waited, she tried to stop her hands from shaking. What was going on? She hadn’t seen nor heard from Sam, and no one had been able to reach him.
Sam was an outdoorsman, so each morning she had gone out and strolled the beach, fantasizing she would catch him surfing. Once or twice she had spied a guy in a wet suit and a rush of hope coursed through her body. That was him! He had had cold feet, but now he had come back to apologize. Could she forgive him?
But the avid surfer was never him. Nor the guy out kayaking in the cold bay. Or the man who waved to her from a fishing boat. She began to accept Sam’s inconceivable disappearance.
She and her sisters had searched social media sites, hoping someone had tagged him somewhere. The chief, bless his heart, had tried his best to find him too, but Sam had dropped off the planet. Until now.
Feelings of betrayal, confusion, and anger flooded back. Shock and sadness joined the list and hit her like a Nor’easter.
Tears poured down her face and her shoulders quaked as she ripped tissues from the box on her desk and dabbed her eyes. She had missed him so much this past year.
“How’s it going?”
Lily whipped around to see Jake standing in the doorway.
“Fine,” she lied, clasping her hands together, hiding the soaked tissues. She didn’t feel comfortable letting a complete stranger see how shaken up she was, even if the chief trusted him.
Besides, Jake was her competition. Whether intentional or not, he stole the bait and tackle shop out from under them. That place was a big part of their shop’s expansion and now couldn’t be. No sense in being anything more than businesslike with him.
She glanced down at Leo whose tail was wagging at Jake. So much for her dog remaining indifferent. Leo was ready to cross the line and become friends with the handsome ex-cop turned fisherman.
Lily grabbed the paper from the printer. “I’m going to give this to the chief and head home to deal with my brides.” Out of politeness, she added, “Nice meeting you.”
“I wish it were under different circumstances.”
“Sure. Me too.” She moved to skirt around him, but he took over the entire space of the doorframe.
He didn’t budge. “Let me go with you.”
She shook her head in confusion. Did the fog creep into her skull too? She was about to spit out a snappy reply like ‘over her dead body’ but that would have been in poor taste under the circumstances, particularly since he was being kind and thoughtful. She scrutinized him, wishing she had the powers of mental telepathy and could read his mind.
He was an ex-cop fisherman with no interest in bridal gowns. Hadn’t he figured out that she and her sisters were miffed at him for stealing away their chance at expansion? He must have. What was he up to?
And then the fog in her brain cleared. Of course.
He was an ex-cop.
She narrowed her gaze at the realization. “Did the chief put you up to this?”
His intense stare bore into her. Now he looked more cop than fisherman. “Not exactly.”
“How much, exactly?”
“The chief wanted to send a uniformed officer to shadow you today, but he doesn’t have the manpower. He needs everyone on this case. So I offered.”
Muscles clenched in painful tempo from her scalp to under her shoulder blades. Note to self. I need a massage. As soon as her sisters came back, she would treat herself. For now, all the tension fell on her shoulders. “Why would you do that? Why would you care? You have a business to open. Shouldn’t you be concentrating on that?”
He leaned against the door and folded his muscled arms across his well-toned chest. Kissable lips hinted of a smile. “To answer your last question, yes, but it’s the off season and I’m renovating the place. At this time, I’m waiting for contractors, permits, that kind of stuff. Not much for me to do.”
Then he grew more serious again. “Lily, you walked in on a murder. You’re lucky you weren’t killed too.”
Now she crossed her arms over her chest, but the gesture was meant as more of a protective hug than a casual stance. “You don’t think I thought about that?”
He nodded. “Good.” He hesitated seconds before saying, “I don’t want to alarm you, but has it occurred to you that you might still be in danger?”
Suddenly, she felt the wind knocked out of her, as if that assailant had rushed her again. Sadness and fear overwhelmed her. She stumbled back, using the safety of her desk to steady herself. Jake dashed to her aid and grasped her arms. His hands were warm and strong, and for some reason she felt safer in the arms of this stranger than
she had felt in years. Was she that lonely? No, if she were being honest, he radiated strength, and she found that incredibly attractive.
“Not until you said it,” she said. The chief trusted this man. Maybe she should too.
“If you had just had a break-in, I’d say you caught the burglar in the act and he attacked you. But the dead guy in the back dressed in a wedding gown tells me differently.” He gave her arms a slight squeeze to emphasize his point. “The chief is going to pull one of his men from the case if you don’t let me accompany you.”
“You said he needs all his guys. And a cop in uniform is sure to freak out my customers. They’re already stressed from planning weddings, I don’t need to add any more. But I still don’t get why you’d offer to come.”
“I had planned to do some surfcasting off the beach before the contractor came in later to give me estimates. The fog is supposed to lift, but the tide’s not right.”
He stopped as if that was enough of an explanation, but when Lily didn’t respond, he frowned.
“What kind of a guy would I be if I didn’t help a lady in distress?”
Her shoulders went slack. “Okay. I don’t have time to argue with you.” Even though she didn’t want to admit it, she wouldn’t mind the company. She had had the creeps all week, and now Sam lay dead in the back of her shop, murdered. An ex-cop by her side would ease her fear. The lone person who had carte blanche on neuroses during bridal appointments was the bride. Lily needed to be the calming force. And if Jake could help her achieve that, then great.
“Let’s go out front. I’ll give the chief this list of my seamstresses and call my store manager, Denis.”
“You have a guy store manager?”
“Yep. He’s the best.” She grabbed her bag and said a silent prayer of thanks that her appointment book was inside. Even though everything was computerized, she kept a duplicate book like her mother always had. “If you’re coming in my van, you can ride shotgun with Leo on your lap. He prefers the passenger seat. Or you can drive your own truck.”
Forever Hold Your Piece (The Becker Sisters Bridal Series Book 1) Page 4
