Mice, Marriage and Murder (Wendy the Wedding Planner Cozy Mystery Book 4)

by Cindy Bell

  “It's okay,” he breathed. “It's Polson.”

  He unlocked the door and Polson stepped inside. Theresa tensed at the sight of the police officer.

  “I think I've changed my mind,” she said swiftly. “I don't want to be Alisha's next victim.”

  “Ma'am, let's just talk about what you know,” Polson said gently. Wendy was a little stunned by his demeanor. She had never seen him behave so mildly. He sat down beside Theresa on the couch. “I want you to know that we are actively seeking Alisha Baker at the moment, and she will soon be in custody.”

  While Polson and Theresa talked, Wendy pulled Brian aside.

  “I need to get to The Mansion,” she said softly. “I have to do a walk through so that I can confirm everything is okay with the bride and groom.”

  “I'll walk you back to your car,” Brian said, and glanced over his shoulder at Polson. “I don't want to stick around here anyway.”

  Polson glanced up for a moment as if he might have heard Brian's comment, but he returned to speaking to Theresa. Once they were in Brian's car, Wendy breathed a sigh of relief.

  “I guess it's finally over,” she said and reached over to lightly pat the back of Brian's hand.

  “We did good,” he smiled as he glanced over at her. “Now, you just have to pull off this expensive wedding.”

  “I'm looking forward to it,” Wendy admitted. “At least now I can focus on the wedding and nothing else.”

  “Maybe once the wedding is over, and you're ready for a relaxing night, we could plan some time together?” Brian suggested hesitantly.

  “I'd like that,” Wendy smiled.

  Brian smiled back. Wendy waited a moment, wondering if he might attempt to kiss her. Instead he glanced away shyly. Then as if he had just remembered something he looked back up at Wendy.

  “Remember, Alisha is still out there, until she's arrested you need to be extra careful, okay?” he asked.

  “I will be,” Wendy promised before unlocking her car and climbing in. She waved to Brian through her windshield.

  Wendy glanced at her watch and realized that she was much later than she had anticipated. She sighed as she wondered if there would be anyone available to do the walk through of The Mansion. She knew that Shawna would be waiting anxiously for her final confirmation text. Wendy pulled over to the side of the road for a moment. She flipped through her contacts until she came across the phone number for The Mansion. She quickly called it.

  “Hello?” a familiar voice asked.

  “Claudia, this is Wendy,” Wendy replied swiftly. “I know we had an appointment at four, but I'm running behind. Will you wait for me?” she asked hopefully.

  “Yes, don't worry, Wendy, I'll meet you at the garden door,” Claudia replied.

  “Wonderful, thank you so much,” Wendy said before hanging up the phone. She was relieved that she would still have the chance to do the walk through. As she was driving towards the venue where the wedding would be held, she felt her mind drift back to Alisha. She had been a happy bride at first. So very excited about her future with her husband. But she had been very superstitious. Not only would she not let her husband see her dress, she wouldn't allow anyone else to see it either. She stressed over the seating arrangements as she wanted to make sure that anyone who had been divorced was not seated too close to the main table. She even refused to honor invites of a few family members who were having trouble in their marriage.

  Wendy had tried to soothe her, to calm her down a little, but Alisha was adamant that the 'energy' around a wedding could predict how the marriage would turn out. Once they finally had everything settled Wendy felt a sense of relief. Then the venue had been temporarily shut down a few days before the wedding. Alisha crumbled. She refused to see anyone but Wendy, she even rejected Camilla who had tried to take the tough love approach. Alisha was ready to cancel the wedding and never marry her husband because she believed that the bad luck would always surround them.

  Looking back Wendy had been concerned for Alisha's mental health, but after she talked with her for some time it seemed Alisha was fine and Wendy just put it down to pre-wedding jitters. The wedding went off without a hitch at the new venue, and Alisha seemed over the moon. Wendy had seen plenty of ‘day before the wedding’, or ‘hour before the wedding’ breakdowns, so she didn't think much of what had happened. All that mattered was the wedding was done, and the couple was happy. At least at the time they seemed to be. Wendy knew differently now. Alisha was getting a divorce, and that must have validated all of her fears about the bad luck surrounding her wedding.

  Chapter Ten

  Wendy pulled into the circular drive of The Mansion. It used to be a mansion and had been converted into a hotel and banquet hall. Of course Shawna and Kyle loved the idea of tying the knot in such a luxurious atmosphere. A valet took her keys as she stepped out of her car.

  “I'll just be a minute,” she explained. “I'm here to do a quick walk through.”

  “All right, I'll keep it nearby,” he assured her. As she watched him drive off in her car she smiled at the simple luxury of not having to park. She was beginning to think that Shawna and Kyle had the right idea.

  Instead of walking in the main entrance of The Mansion, Wendy made her way around the corner of the vast building. She knew that the garden entrance would be open and going through that entrance would get her straight to the hospitality manager that was involved in preparing for the wedding. She walked up to the garden door expecting that it would be open because she had called ahead. However, when she tried to open the garden door, she found it locked. She peered through the large, glass window. The kitchen looked dark as if there was no one there. Wendy was very confused. When she had spoken to Claudia on the phone she had assured her that it was no problem to meet her a little later than expected. So, why was no one there to greet her?

  “I called ahead for you,” a voice explained from a few steps behind her. Wendy's eyes widened as she recognized the voice. She turned slowly to find Alisha standing behind her.

  “Alisha, what are you doing here?” she asked, her voice wavering with fear.

  “I overheard you on your cell phone saying that you would be here this afternoon. I got held up with the police so I called to see if you were already here, but they said you were on your way. I told them not to worry they could lock up as you had been delayed again and you weren’t coming,” she explained matter-of-factly.

  “What do you want from me,” Wendy asked with a shaky voice. She reached into her purse for her phone.

  “Don't,” Alisha warned her. Wendy caught the flash of the muzzle of a gun which Alisha had half-hidden under her jacket. “We wouldn't want to cause the bride and groom any bad luck, would we?” she asked as she stepped closer to Wendy. Wendy pulled her hand back out of her purse. Her heart was pounding. She had broken out in a sweat as her mind raced searching for an escape. The garden was actually quite large and very empty. The Mansion itself always had people in it, but by this late in the afternoon they were likely working on the other side of the building where the guest rooms were or near the front entrance. Even if she screamed there would be no guarantee that anyone would hear her.

  “Alisha, you don't want to do this,” Wendy tried to reason with her. “There's no reason to do this.”

  “No reason?” Alisha snapped. “No reason?” she repeated in a louder, more crazed voice. “The reason is that you ruined everything!”

  “I didn't,” Wendy said quickly and held her hands up in front of her in a gesture of innocence. “I didn't ruin anything, Alisha. Remember? I helped fix things.”

  “Fix things?” Alisha repeated incredulously. “You manipulated me into making the worst mistake of my life, and now my life is ruined.”

  “That's not true,” Wendy insisted. “You know that it isn't. All I did was show you that you could still have the wedding that you wanted.”

  “It wasn't the wedding I wanted,” Alisha hissed in return. “It was the we
dding you tricked me into believing I wanted. The wedding I wanted was ruined the moment that imbecile from the health department shut down Oliver Handley's restaurant, the moment that idiot Oliver Handley allowed a rat infestation, the moment that you failed to fix it so that I would have the wedding I had always dreamed about having.”

  Wendy felt her stomach churn. She could see the fire in Alisha's eyes. She was unstable. Wendy doubted that she was going to be able to get through to her. But she had to try. Wendy started to back away a few steps.

  “Alisha, you're confused,” she said softly. “Your mind is playing tricks on you.”

  “It's not a trick,” Alisha insisted as she glared at Wendy. “You took everything from me. My wedding was ruined, and you made me go ahead with it. I should never have gotten married that day. If I had trusted my instincts and waited until the bad energy cleared then maybe my marriage would have had a chance. Instead, I listened to you and your lies and I went ahead and got married. You see how well that turned out,” she growled.

  “I think that you need some help,” Wendy said in a murmur. “You have to realize that none of this makes any sense. Your marriage not working out had nothing to do with the venue, Alisha. I'm sorry your marriage didn't work out, but that wasn't my fault.”

  “I didn't think so at first,” Alisha admitted. “I knew, it was that inspector, George, that was out to get me. I still haven't figured out why. Then there was Oliver who I'm sure caused the venue to be closed. So, I got my revenge on both of them. However, I didn't think it through far enough. Not until you showed up on my doorstep, and I remembered that it all began with you. Wendy, you're either an amazingly cunning person, or you're just full of bad vibes. Either way you stole my chance at my perfect wedding, you ruined my marriage, and now you're trying to take away my freedom.”

  “You murdered a man,” Wendy said with disbelief. “You took his life…”

  “And you all took mine first!” Alisha shrieked as she lunged towards Wendy with the gun pointed directly at her. “I had everything planned perfectly. My entire life was about to unfold just the way it was supposed to. But it all crumbled,” she sighed and looked down at the gun in her hand. “Maybe you don't understand this, but I don't see a difference between death and what has happened to me. It all seems about the same to me.”

  “But it's not,” Wendy said. “You could still have a good life, Alisha. You could meet someone new or you could be happy being single. Maybe it wasn't bad luck, maybe it just wasn't meant to be,” Wendy said pleadingly.

  “Wasn't meant to be,” Alisha repeated softly and shook her head. “I wasn't meant to be happy I guess. I wasn't meant to be in a loving marriage, I guess,” she frowned.

  “Maybe, he just wasn't the right person,” Wendy suggested helplessly. She was stalling Alisha as much as she could. It was clear that she could not possibly reason with her. But she knew she was delaying the inevitable. It really didn't matter how long she stalled her. No one was going to come looking for her.

  “Oh, he was the right person all right,” Alisha snapped. “Enough talk,” Alisha narrowed her eyes. “Now, Wendy. I don't want to make a mess all over the garden. So, if you would kindly walk over behind that statue,” she pointed to a large stone statue that featured various goddesses. It was to be the centerpiece of the wedding. Wendy grimaced as she thought of the wedding. The wedding that would be tainted with such horrible memories if Alisha harmed her. She hoped that Alisha’s acts would not ruin a special day for a happy couple. As strange as it was, that was what she thought about. But it wasn't the only thing. Her mind flooded with images of Brian, of the life that they would never share together, a life that Wendy hadn't realized until that moment that she had been anticipating and expecting.

  Wendy grew determined to survive, but she saw no way to escape. She nervously picked her way around behind the statue. She felt as if she only had moments left to live, and she had no idea what to do. She knew that if she tried to attack Alisha, she would certainly pull the trigger. She couldn't imagine what was going to happen if she didn't try to escape. She pushed lightly on the statue. It was far too heavy for her to tip it over onto Alisha.

  “Please,” she whispered to Alisha. “Don't do this. We can figure something out together. Remember those dating sites I told you about…”

  “I do,” Alisha nodded. “I'll be sure to use them once you're dead.”

  “But you're going to be in jail,” Wendy pointed out. “You can't murder two people and get away with it, Alisha. The police are already out looking for you.”

  “Maybe they are,” Alisha shrugged. “But I’ll get out of the country. There's nothing left for me here. It's filled with bad luck. I'm going to try out life in a new place. Maybe then I will have a chance that things will work out correctly.”

  Wendy grimaced as she knew that what she was about to say was taking a big risk, but she felt as if she had no other choice. She tried to duck behind one of the arms of the statues, hoping that it would shield her if Alisha pulled the trigger.

  “I was never bad luck, Alisha,” she said firmly. “You're wrong. It was never about luck. It was about marrying the wrong man.”

  “No, you're wrong,” she shrieked and lunged towards Wendy. Wendy tripped over the edge of the statue as she backed up. She landed on her back. She stared up at Alisha who was towering over her, with the gun pointed directly at her face. Wendy was in a state of shock as she waited for what she was sure would be a bullet. But instead she heard a rustling.

  “Wendy, you're never going to get it,” Alisha sighed. “I thought you were smarter than this. You're looking at me like I'm doing something wrong. But really, I'm righting a wrong. Don't you see that?” she asked as if it was very important that Wendy understand her. Wendy was listening more closely to the rustling than she was to Alisha's words. She stole a glance in the direction of the sound and saw a familiar shadow crouched down in the bushes. Wendy's heart began to race. It was Brian. He had come to save her, she was sure of it. Or was she just so terrified that she was hallucinating a hero?

  “Wendy!” Alisha barked, drawing her attention back to her. “You are going to help me erase all of the bad things that have happened in my life. You have to see what a blessing that is, you're part of something much larger…”

  Alisha stopped mid-sentence. Wendy knew why. There was the loud snap of a twig. Loud enough to be heard over Alisha's rambling. Wendy was sure that it was Brian who had stepped on the twig. Alisha slowly turned her head towards the bushes.

  “Who's there?” she asked in a low, vicious growl. “I will not be tricked!”

  Wendy looked towards the bushes. The gun was still pointed at her. She knew that any sudden movement might cause Alisha to pull the trigger. Then there was another snap. Alisha swung the gun away from Wendy and pointed it towards the bushes. Wendy was sure that if she pulled the trigger she would hit Brian. Brian had nowhere to hide, nowhere to run. In a split-second Wendy jumped up from the ground. Alisha's finger was on the trigger.

  “Don't!” Wendy gasped and lunged forward to knock the gun out of Alisha's hand. Alisha shrieked at the interruption and started to swing the gun back towards Wendy. Before she could, Brian jumped out of the bushes and tackled Alisha to the ground. Alisha screamed and wrestled with Brian for a moment, but she was not a very strong woman, and Brian was a very strong man. He pinned her down easily beneath him, despite her flailing and shrieking. He glared down at her and wrenched the weapon out of her hand.

  “Don't make me use this,” he warned her harshly. Wendy stared in utter shock as Brian folded Alisha's arms behind her back to restrain her.

  “Are you okay, Wendy?” he asked breathlessly as he looked up at her.

  “How did you know?” Wendy asked with disbelief. She couldn't process how Brian had shown up at just the right moment. All she knew was that they were both safe, and she couldn't think much beyond that.

  “Call Polson, let him know we have Alisha,” Brian instruct
ed her urgently. His voice was sharp only to pull Wendy out of her shock. Wendy nodded, still slightly dazed from the shock of the event. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Polson's number to alert him to Alisha's capture. After she told him where they were he assured her that he was only a few minutes away. Alisha was weeping into the grass.

  “I knew you were bad luck,” she muttered over and over to herself. She didn't even try to lift her head up off the ground as if she was completely defeated. Wendy stared down at the woman with a mixture of confusion and hurt. She had never known someone to hate her so deeply. She felt a pang of guilt for the circumstances that had led to this moment, and more importantly for not encouraging Alisha to get the help that she needed at the time of her wedding. Wendy simply didn't realize how serious it was at the time. Maybe if she had, maybe if she had paid closer attention, or maybe she had just got much worse since the divorce. It seemed to her as if there were many chances to help Alisha, but she had missed them.

  “Are you sure you're all right, Wendy?” Brian asked as he gazed up at her with those beautiful hazel eyes filled with concern. “You're shaking,” he whispered.

  “I'm okay,” Wendy nodded a little. “I'm not hurt.”

  “Good,” he sighed with relief.

  “How did you know to come here?” Wendy asked with amazement.

  “I wanted to stop by your house,” he winced a little. “I wanted to stay with you until Alisha was caught. That's what I should have done in the first place. However, I didn't realize just how serious it was until I got a call from Theresa. She said she had received a text from Alisha saying that she was going to give herself a clean slate. That she was going to finally turn her bad luck around. She only had one more thing to do,” he shook his head. “I was worried that it would have something to do with you, since you had a strong connection to her wedding. So, I went to your house to look for you. But when you weren't there, I remembered that you said you were coming here. I spotted you in the garden, but Alisha already had her gun on you, so I was afraid to startle her,” he paused a moment and looked down with a shame in his eyes. “I'm so sorry, Wendy.”