by Susan Harper
Victims of His Vengeance
Senoia Cozy Mystery, Book 6
Susan Harper
Fairfield Publishing
Contents
Copyright
Message to Readers
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Thank You!
Copyright © 2017 Fairfield Publishing
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Except for review quotes, this book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the author.
This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is purely coincidental.
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Chapter 1
Felicity laid out the final centerpiece in the small hotel room full of red and pink decorations. Each centerpiece consisted of some sort of board game as a base and a vase full of roses and heart-covered pipe cleaners for a sillier look. The centerpiece would be taken apart by party guests, and the board games would act as a great ice breaker.
“This was one of the easiest events we’ve ever done,” Jefferson said as he signed off on the food from the caterer. Felicity could smell the chicken and rice, and her stomach growled slightly as the caterer finished setting up the buffet in the back of the room.
“Well, the art group did pretty much everything,” Felicity said, stepping back to admire the immense amount of artwork displayed on the walls and around the room. MAG PRO was a local art group that had been around for a few years; they focused on creating events like this to give artists a chance to promote. This would be the group’s first fundraiser since they had started up nearly five years ago. Up until now, they had relied entirely on volunteers and donations, but they were looking into doing bigger and better things for their artists. Felicity was glad to be a part of making the art group’s leadership team’s vision come alive.
“Whoa!” a young woman shrieked as she entered the small ballroom that had been rented for the event. She was in her early twenties, and she and her husband ran the group together, along with the small leadership team. “This place looks like Valentine’s Day just threw up in here!” she shrieked with excitement.
Jefferson laughed. They had learned that the woman, Stephanie, had a strange way of expressing her excitement. “Glad you like it,” Jefferson said.
“I’m so glad we hired you guys,” she said and did a little spin to admire the room in its entirety. “The art displays are fantastic! The artists are really going to love this.”
Felicity smiled. Stephanie and her husband TJ were both artists, though they were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Stephanie was an outgoing, spontaneous writer and lover of theater, while her husband was a musician still working on coming out of his shell. In the brief period that Felicity had known the couple, she had learned that TJ had never performed for a live audience before Stephanie pushed him to branch out. When the young couple had appeared in their shop looking for some assistance on the event, Overton’s Events had been a bit out of their budget. After hearing about what the group did for local artists, however, Felicity had offered them a discount. “Where’s everyone else?” Felicity asked.
“They’ll be right behind me,” Stephanie said. “TJ has to come in to set up the sound equipment, so he shouldn’t be long. I’ll have to beat his rear end if he is too late.”
“So exactly what type of art does your group cater to?” Jefferson asked, and Felicity grinned, knowing that he had just opened a can of worms.
For the next ten minutes, Jefferson stood trapped in a corner as Stephanie went on and on about the art group and what they were about—a place for musicians, dancers, actors, painters, sculptors, writers, craft artists. Basically, anyone who considered themselves to be an artist of any kind had a place with MAG PRO. “TJ and I joined the group when it was first getting started over five years ago,” Stephanie said. “It was something we could do together as a couple back then. We had only just started dating. I was a writer, and he was a musician, but the group would do events where we could both showcase our art under a single roof. We loved it! I never imagined that we’d be running it on the side someday.”
“Well,” Felicity said, coming to Jefferson’s rescue. “We will get out of your hair so you can finish getting set up. We’ll be back in a few hours to close down shop for you.”
“Oh no you don’t!” a familiar voice from behind said, and they spun around to see a tall, skinny, redheaded young man smiling at them.
“TJ! You’re late!” Stephanie’s voice sang as she wagged her finger back and forth. They exchanged a quick kiss.
“Babe, this room looks great!” TJ said.
“Oh, no, they deserve the credit,” she said, throwing a thumb in Felicity and Jefferson’s direction.
“Well, either way, you two aren’t going anywhere,” TJ said and then slipped them two tickets. “After all you two did to help us out, we would love for you to stay and check it out. There will be all kinds of performers, all local. Who knows? You guys might even find someone you’d like to hire for your business here. Plus, it’s Valentine’s Day, so you two might as well enjoy a date night, right?”
Felicity blushed, as did Jefferson. “Oh, we’re not together,” she said.
TJ turned as red as his hair. “Sorry, my mistake.” Stephanie laughed at him, and the young couple giddily headed to the front of the room to start setting up the sound equipment. It was evident that Stephanie had no idea how any of the equipment worked, but she didn’t shy away from helping her husband with the heavy lifting of the speakers, stands, and other things. She seemed like the type to always have her hands in everything, eager to please.
Felicity smiled and glanced Jefferson’s way. “Want to hang?” she asked, waving the tickets TJ had given them.
“Sure,” Jefferson said. “Not like we could go far because we’d have to be back in a few hours to close down for them. You don’t have any Valentine’s Day plans with Brian?”
“Unfortunately, with this event tonight and Brian working that big case all week up in Atlanta, well, it just wasn’t going to happen. We’re going to try to do something next week, I think,” she explained with a slight eye-roll. She had really been hoping that they would be able to do something on Valentine’s Day, but it simply had not worked out.
“You’re all moved in now, right?” Jefferson asked.
Felicity smiled. She knew Jefferson was jealous of Brian, but it meant a lot that the two of them had been making a better effort to get along. It wasn’t fun having your best friend/employee constantly at odds with your boyfriend. “Yeah,” she said, blushing. “And my house sold yesterday, by the way. So no going back now. It’s real. I honestly can hardly believe it. I’ve never been one to move fast, you know? But it felt like the right move.”
“You deserve to be happy,” Jefferson said and offered her an honest smile.
Soon the party was underway. Volunteers worked hard to make sure everything went smoothly, and Felicity and Jefferson got a taste of just what S
tephanie meant by a diverse group of artists. A young country singer, seven years old, stole their hearts early on in the night, and she was followed by an eighty-eight-year-old man who played the fiddle. A slam poet delivered some powerful words, a pianist entertained them with some jazzy romance on the keyboard TJ had brought, and at one point during the night, they were all invited onto the hotel’s balcony to enjoy a professional fire dancer who had some amazing tricks with hula hoops. People bid on artwork of all sorts: illustrators, sculptors, photographers, and painters. It truly was a diverse group, and Felicity was taking numbers of just about every performer and logging their information for future events.
One of the special games the MAG PRO team had prepared involved the men making jewelry for their dates and women creatively sketching a coupon book. Jefferson managed to snag some pink, zebra-striped jewels to make Felicity a charm bracelet with the jewelry craft artist there, and Felicity made Jefferson some silly coupons that involved her picking up coffee, letting him off work no questions asked, and hugs. Felicity loved the bracelet; she’d always enjoyed pink zebra print, and Jefferson had a good laugh about the joke coupon book she had made.
As the party drew to a close, Felicity and Jefferson got to work on clearing the place out. She noted that Jefferson seemed distant, perhaps even a bit sad. He came up to her as she was gathering tablecloths and said, “Head on out. I got clean up duty tonight.” He forced on a smile.
She frowned. “Why? I can stay and help. You don’t have to do all of this yourself.”
“You’ll see,” he said. “Just head on out to the parking lot. I’ve got this covered. No big deal.”
Felicity shook her head, but she didn’t argue. After taking a moment to thank TJ and Stephanie for such an entertaining evening, Felicity headed for the parking lot. She smiled when she spotted Brian standing beside the Overton’s Events van holding a small bouquet of roses. “About time!” he exclaimed with a smile. “I thought Jefferson would never get you out here.”
“Are those for me?” she teased as he handed her the bouquet of roses.
“Of course,” he said. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Felicity.”
“And here I thought I wasn’t going to get to see you,” she said, making a mental note to thank Jefferson for handling clean-up duty. Clearly, her friend knew that her boyfriend was waiting out in the parking lot for her.
“You know I always come through, right?” he said as he hooked her arm and escorted her to his vehicle. He was extra giddy, which was saying something for the always serious lawyer type that Brian was.
“So what do you have planned?” she asked.
“Oh, no,” he said, opening up the passenger’s side door for her. “It’s a surprise. No questions!”
And it certainly was quite the surprise. After a quick stop by their home for them to change into something a bit more extravagant, Brian drove them all the way up to Atlanta. Felicity admittedly became a bit giddy as they drove into Atlanta on Valentine’s Day, imagining that Brian must have something pretty special planned to bring her downtown. She certainly was not expecting to pull up outside of the Bank of America Plaza, the tallest building in the city. “I kind of thought we were going to have dinner,” she admitted. She had only had a few bites of the chicken and rice dinner the art group had prepared, so she was starting to feel a bit famished.
“Stop guessing,” he warned and had a valet park the car. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and then nodded toward the front entrance.
A man in a suit met them inside and escorted them to the elevators. They had to use a special keycard to gain access to an employee’s elevator once they reached a higher level, and the next thing Felicity knew, she was stepping out onto the rooftop overlooking the city. “Whoa,” she said under her breath, having never seen the Atlanta skyline from such an advantage point before. It was quite breathtaking, awe-inspiring.
Brian tipped the gentleman who had escorted them up, and then he hooked arms with her and led her around the railing to the other side of the rooftop. She was too busy staring at the intricately designed spire of the building to notice the beautiful white lights strung all around her. Brian nudged her slightly, and she looked forward to see an intimate table set for two. Her cheeks burned red; she certainly was not used to this sort of treatment, but she was certain that she could get used to it. Brian was by far the most impressive man she had ever been with; he was the whole package: good career, caring personality, and the man looked like he had missed an opportunity to work at Abercrombie as a male greeter.
Felicity grinned as he escorted her to her seat, popped open some champagne, and started a radio so that they could enjoy some elegant music with their dinner. “How in the world did you pull something like this off?” she asked as he revealed the freshly cooked salmon dinner. She gazed out at the view; it was breathtaking.
“Look who you’re talking to,” he teased. “It’s our first Valentine’s Day. I wanted it to be memorable. Jefferson made sure to get you out of the party quick for me, though. So I suppose I should give him some credit.”
The two of them enjoyed a plated dinner followed by splitting a slice of strawberry cheesecake for dessert. It was a beautiful dinner, and frankly, Felicity caught herself swooning. She never thought she would be the type who would love this sort of romantic atmosphere, but Brian brought it out of her. “Do you remember a few months ago when I asked you to move in with me?” he questioned, and Felicity laughed.
“Of course. I made a fool of myself and completely freaked out because I thought you were asking me to—” Her face turned bright red as Brian rose from his seat to come closer, and then kneel down beside her.
He opened a small ring box, revealing a shimmering diamond. “Don’t freak out this time,” he said with a grin. “Felicity Overton, will you marry me?”
Chapter 2
Felicity spread the wedding magazines and sample books from her shop out across her and Brian’s coffee table. Brian was still up in Atlanta on his commute home, but her girlfriends would be arriving soon. One by one, they trickled in: Autumn, Veronica, and of course, Dawn, who was the reason for their gathering this evening. They were going to work on some wedding planning details and sip some chardonnay. Last to arrive was Brittany Lull; Dawn had made Brittany a bridesmaid after Brittany’s elder sister, Whitney, had been arrested less than two months before.
Dawn and Veronica had been friends with Whitney back in high school, and so they both knew Brittany fairly well too. Dawn, Veronica, and Autumn had all been in some of the same medical classes together at college. Felicity had grown up with Autumn, so that was how Felicity had come to know the group of women.
The women all gathered giddily around the coffee table, and Felicity smiled happily at Brittany. Brittany, though only twenty among the slightly older group of women, fit in with them much better than her sister had. After attempting to kill her husband and failing to pin it on Jefferson, Dawn and Veronica had cut off communication with Whitney. Brittany had helped to put her own sister behind bars, clearing Jefferson’s name in the process, and just like that, she had become part of their little posse.
“Ooh, wine!” Brittany exclaimed excitedly.
“Don’t even think about it,” Felicity said. “No wine for minors in my house.”
Brittany whined slightly, and they all had their laugh. They began skimming through magazines, cutting out things Dawn liked to help Felicity create a clearer concept. They had already made a lot of decisions, but the wedding was only four months away. Autumn had only just opened up her first magazine when she spotted the little secret Felicity was keeping out in the open. “Felicity’s wearing a ring!” Autumn practically jumped up from her seat on the floor, sprinted around the coffee table, and plopped herself between Felicity and Brittany on the couch. “Oh my gosh! Felicity and Brian are engaged!” Autumn screamed, gripping Felicity’s wrist and waving it around for all to see.
Dawn and Veronica released an in-sync response
of girlish screams, and even Brittany grinned excitedly for her new companion. Felicity smiled. “Took you long enough to notice,” she said, and was then prompted to immediately give every detail of the engagement.
Veronica, always the dramatic one of the group, was practically dancing. “Have you two picked a date yet?” she asked. “Are we going to have two weddings this year? Because I’m totally down with that. You know how I like to party. Knowing you, you’re going to want a—”
In unison, Veronica and Felicity both said, “Fall wedding.”
Veronica giggled and jumped up and down, reaching for Felicity’s hand to examine the ring more carefully. “I know you well! Almost as well as Autumn does now.”
Felicity laughed and looked at Autumn. “You know you’re my maid of honor, right?”
“Yes!” Autumn said with a pumped fist. “I can’t believe you’re getting married! This is so exciting!”
“Ah! This is so great!” Dawn exclaimed. “Ugh, we’re all growing up. You’re next, Autumn.”
Autumn’s face turned red. She had been seeing Nick, Brittany’s ex-brother-in-law, ever since Whitney, her father, and Whitney’s boyfriend had attempted to kill him. Nick had been shot by Whitney’s boyfriend Kristopher in the neck, and Nick had been in physical therapy ever since. “How is that going, by the way, Autumn?” Felicity asked once the women settled down from their initial excitement.
“It’s…different,” Autumn said. “It’s hard being with someone who has gone through something so traumatic so recently, but he’s a strong person.”
