I looked sheepishly at him. I hated being called out on my subterfuge.
He hesitated and prefaced his next words with, “Susan, she’s ok. Anna is perfectly fine. But when I got to her house, the front door was slightly open, and I heard muffled sounds from inside. She had been tied to a chair and had duct tape over her mouth.”
I gasped. Poor Anna. She had already been through so much this week.
Darby was quick to jump back in. “She was fine. Just a little scared. The two guys from the arena had just been there. She said one was a man with tattoos on his arms, and the other had an ugly scar on his face.” Mick and I both nodded. “They said her husband had something of theirs, and they wanted to know where it was. They threatened to kill her if she didn’t tell. Carl had been to her house twice recently trying to sweet-talk information out of her, but she was clueless as to what he was talking about. She panicked today and told the guys about the motel room and that she had given the key to you. They tied her up and left. I called the police, but I wasn’t going to stay and wait for them. I took off for the motel. I knew it was going to be close between you two and those two guys. By the time I got there, Dudley was running through the parking lot and yelling at me to call the police. It was confusing because we’ve always thought he was one of the bad guys. He got in his car and yelled at me, and I quote, ‘Tell Chuck Bentley they’re running south out of the city on Peterson.’ That was it.”
Dudley had been at the motel? He probably followed me and Mick. and then saw what happened with the two guys.
Darby had more to tell. “Before I could even pull my phone out, Dudley was gone, and three police cars were pulling into the motel lot. I was clueless. I didn’t know if you were up in the motel room, running out of the city on Peterson, or somewhere else. When Detective Bentley stepped out of one of the police cars, I gave up trying to figure out any of it. I only convinced him to let me come along here by promising I would stay in the car until they told me I could get out.” He stopped again as though the next words were hard to speak. “It was maddening to sit in the car knowing a car had exploded down the road and one of the guys confessed to tying you to the tracks.” He stopped talking for a moment, choking back the tears which threatened to come again. Finally he said, “Then the train came through.” There were no more words. He was simply too emotional, and he was done telling his story.
We could hear an ambulance coming in the distance. Detective Bentley walked over to us and said, “You two. You’re going back to town by way of the ambulance. We need to get you both checked out.”
“I’m fine,” Mick and I both said at the same time.
“You’re not fine,” he said. He pointed to Mick and said, “Your head’s bloody.” He pointed to me and said, “Your wrists and your feet look like hamburger. You’re both taking a ride in the ambulance.” It was obvious there was no arguing about it.
“Darby,” I said with concern. “Where’s Nate? And where are my parents?” I was suddenly sick to my stomach thinking about Mom and Dad.
“They’ve been at the police station,” he said. “On the way down here, I sent Nate a text and told him to tell Dad where the car was so they could pick it up. I left the keys at the motel office. I couldn’t tell him anything else right then, but I heard later all three of them were at the police station waiting for information. If they’re taking you to a hospital, they’ll probably be told where to go to meet you.” He stood up, patted me on the shoulder, and said, “I’ll see both of you there, too.
Chapter Fourteen
Someone was weeping behind me. It was soft at first, but then it became louder. I smiled. It had to be Mom. I turned to look and saw it was Nate and Darby making the noise. Both of them were sniffling with handkerchiefs held to their eyes. I turned back to Mick and giggled.
The pastor continued, “Susan, do you take this man as your lawful wedded partner, to live together in the estate of matrimony? Will you love him, honor him, comfort him, and keep him in sickness and in health; forsaking all others, being true to him as long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” I practically squealed it came out so joyously.
“Mick, do you take this woman as your lawful wedded partner, to live together in the estate of matrimony? Will you love her, honor her, comfort her, and keep her in sickness and in health; forsaking all others, being true to her as long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” said Mick as he gazed adoringly into my eyes.
He placed the simple white gold wedding band onto my finger, and I slipped my engagement ring from my right hand, where I had placed it earlier, to my left hand, nestling the two rings together.
Mick’s simple band was similar to mine, and I slid it onto his finger. I was giddy with happiness.
The pastor continued, “By the authority vested in me by the great state of Nevada, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Mick pulled me into his arms and kissed me passionately. My knees went weak in a good way, and as always, I wanted to stay in his strong arms forever. I heard my dad clear his throat. I glanced over at him and felt a blush creeping into my face, but his crow’s feet were prominent, and he was grinning from ear to ear.
I looked around the room and couldn’t believe what Mom and two gay men had accomplished in just one day. We weren’t in a chapel on the strip; we were in a lovely non-denominational church in one of the suburbs. It had been quickly decorated with pink bows and beautiful flowers. Aunt Charlotte and her new boyfriend from Christmas, the one who was 23 years her junior, had flown in last night from who knows where to be here this morning. Detective Bentley and Dudley were seated a couple of rows behind Mom and Dad. Anna Torres was sitting beside Dudley. Betsy Ann and Gregory were behind Darby and Nate. One of the best surprises of the day was to see Dell Grady and his girlfriend, Lisa, walk into the church. He had arranged for her to fly in early this morning to make our 10:30 ceremony.
There was a flurry of well-wishes with lots of hugs and kisses in the church. We would all be headed back to the hotel soon where we would be having a luncheon in the private dining room at Wolfgang Puck. Mom and Darby had put the menu together, but alerted the chef that most of the guests would probably want Reuben sandwiches.
We walked out of the church and into a gorgeous day of bright sunshine. There wasn’t any rush, and we all stood around to chat.
Dell and Lisa were standing beside me. She was a lovely girl, and had been sweet and kind to me when we had a few minutes to talk about the entire fiasco with Dell. I could see how much she cared for him, and his love for her was obvious as well. Lisa asked me, “Where did you find such a pretty dress on such short notice? It’s absolutely perfect on you.”
I laughed and said, “In my closet. I bought it at the Paris Hotel intending to wear it tonight, but it quickly became my wedding dress.”
The look in Mick’s eyes when he saw me in the dress let me know it was the perfect dress. Heck, the look in Darby and Nate’s eyes let me know it was the perfect dress. I giggled again thinking about it.
Mom had been so helpful. She bought a lovely pair of antique white, fingerless gloves for me to wear to hide the rope burns on my wrists. A pair of pantyhose in a light suntan color helped to hide the scraped flesh on the tops of my feet, and some makeup on the horrible racquetball bruise on my back kept the top part of the purple blotch from showing through the sheer organza of my dress.
Mick was incredibly handsome in a new black wool suit with a gray shirt and tie. He had surprisingly not needed any stitches. The first glancing blow to his head had caused a small cut which had simply bled a lot. The second blow to his head had been while he was moving and not as serious as it first seemed. It had only produced a temporary lump and a mild concussion which kept him in bed most of the day yesterday.
Darby and Nate had placed a pink rosebud in Mick’s lapel, and had arranged for a small bouquet of white and pink roses for me. Nestled in the center, almost hidden from vi
ew was one black-eyed susan, my favorite flower, and I knew Mick had asked them to put it there for me.
I turned, tried to face everyone at once, and announced, “Ok, whoever isn’t married, be ye man or woman, gather over here and try to catch my bouquet.” I pointed to another section of the walk outside the church. As almost everyone attending was gathering in a group, I slipped the black-eyed susan out of the bouquet and tucked it into my glove. I winked at Darby, turned around, and tried to concentrate on where I should pitch the flowers.
I sent the bouquet flying, and I quickly turned to see who would catch it. Darby and Nate had both jumped for it at the same time, and twice it seemed to bounce up and off of their fingertips. Aunt Charlotte simply reached over and plucked it out of the air on the third bounce. It was wonderfully funny timing on her part, and everyone laughed.
I saw where Dudley had joined the singles crowd, and I said to him teasingly, “Dudley, I thought you had a wife.”
He laughed and said, “You really put me on the spot that day at the dam. And I had to pay a woman to accompany me to the magic show, and then buy her dinner, all so you would think I had a wife.”
I looked at him with a grateful look and said, “Thank you for not giving up. It must have been hard to follow us around like that.”
“You have no idea,” he said with a laugh. “But it all worked out for the best, and maybe even in more ways than one.” He smiled at Anna.
Anna looked lovely today, and she was beaming as she said, “Darryl helped me get an interview at the Bellagio on Monday. I’m taking my cookies for them to sample, and I might get a job baking.”
“I’m so happy for you, Anna,” I told her. “I guess Dudley really is a good guy after all.” I gave him an affectionate smile.
Detective Bentley screwed up his face and asked, “Why do you keep calling him Dudley?”
I heard Darby snort.
“Because he has the deep cleft in his chin, and his coloring and hair are light,” I said. “When I first saw him, he reminded me of Dudley Do-Right.”
“Oh, criminy! Of all the ridiculous things I’ve ever heard,” Detective Bentley said shaking his head and walking away.
The deeper humor of the situation seemed to be lost on everyone but my dad. His eyes were twinkling, and he was trying to hold back laughter. He whispered something to my mother, and she burst out laughing saying “Dudley Do-Right.”
Mick turned to everyone and said, “How about if we head on over to the hotel? We can all visit some more over lunch.”
Everyone agreed and started moving to their cars. Darby and Nate had arranged a limousine for Mick and me, but Mom and Dad stopped us before we could get into the vehicle.
Dad’s eyes were shining. “Susan. Mick,” he said. “Your mom and I have something for you. We’d like to give it to you now.” Dad handed an envelope to me.
Mick stood beside me with his arm around my waist, and looked over my shoulder as I opened the envelope. Inside was a piece of paper. It was a wire transfer of $150,000 into my bank account back home in Ohio.
My eyes widened. “What is this?” I asked. “Where did you ever get this much money?”
Mick seemed a little uncomfortable. It was, after all, a large gift from people he had just met.
Mom chimed in, “He sold that stupid, beat up, old comic book at the pawn shop.” Dad started laughing.
My mouth fell open. “What?! You’re kidding! You got this much money for it?”
“Not quite, but I did get $80,000,” Dad said. “They called in an expert who told them it was worth $110,000. We came to a meeting of the minds at $80,000. The rest of the money is from poker.”
My mouth fell open again. “You won $70,000 playing poker?”
“More than that, Susan,” he said with a big smile. “Your mother and I are taking a nice chunk home, too. While you were working and, unbeknownst to us, trying to get yourself killed, I was playing in poker tournaments.”
I couldn’t believe it. Yesterday, I had wired home a little over $21,000 of my own winnings. This was unbelievable. Mick and I were going to be able to look for a house together as soon as we got back home.
After giving Mom and Dad huge hugs and kisses, Mick and I happily settled into the limousine. The ride to the hotel would take a few minutes, and we fully intended to enjoy one another on the way.
Management at Slimmers had been so grateful for the revelation of Carlton Waltham’s embezzling, and they felt so terrible about what he had done to me and Mick, they were giving me an extra week of vacation and paying for our honeymoon. After lunch, we would be catching a flight out of McCarran Airport for Paris, France. I couldn’t think of any place I’d rather be for a honeymoon with Mick than in the city for lovers. Michael Buble would be there on tour, and Darby and Nate were working on getting tickets for us.
In the limousine, Mick pulled me to him and kissed me long and hard. He took my breath away and sent tingles and warmth throughout my body. He looked at me with the wonderfully amused look I loved so much, and he said softly, “Mrs. Mick Raines. Susan Raines. It’s the prettiest name in the world.”
It was. And I couldn’t wait until tonight when we would be in Paris, where we would try yet again to put out this fire between us which simply would not be quenched.
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Easy-breezy reading from Breezy Books!
Sunshine Hunter, A Susan Hunter Mystery #1 – Athletic and attractive, Susan Hunter wants to have a normal life. Working in a weight-loss center by day and a racquetball club by night, she enjoys her life, the sport, and her friends. … When she finds out her new boyfriend of three months is actually married, she bolts with her best friend to Florida for a week. But someone has followed them, and they are now being stalked. To make matters worse, a murder has been committed back home in Carbide City, and Susan is involved. … Humorous, sometimes ominous, Sunshine Hunter is entertaining and perfect for summer reading!
Big Apple Hunter, A Susan Hunter Mystery #2 – Working in a weight-loss center by day and a racquetball club by night, Susan Hunter enjoys her life, the sport, and her friends. … But now she has life-changing decisions to make. Should she accept the new position with Slimmers Weight Loss? Should she give in and move the relationship with Mick to the next level? . . . When Darby has business in New York City, Susan jumps at the chance to tag along intending to indulge in a weekend of shopping. It doesn’t take her long to realize she’s being hunted in The Big Apple. And what does the stalker have to do with Darby’s new client? It becomes a matter of life-and-death when the stalker shows up in Carbide City demanding something that Susan lost in New York. … Humorous, sometimes ominous, Big Apple Hunter is entertaining and perfect for summer reading!
Sin City Hunter, A Susan Hunter Mystery #3
Big Easy Hunter, A Susan Hunter Mystery #4 – Working in a weight-loss center by day and a racquetball club by night, Susan Hunter enjoys her life, the sport, and her friends. … When Susan is accused of being a cat burglar, and a serial rapist is on the loose over by the mall, she takes off for New Orleans to attend a wedding and finds even more trouble in The Big Easy. … Humorous, sometimes ominous, Big Easy Hunter is entertaining and perfect for summer reading.
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