by Leena Clover
Jenny spotted Ray Fox standing there with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder.
“Good Morning, Ray. You’re out early today.”
“I came to say bye,” he said. “I want to thank you for all your help.”
“I didn’t really do anything,” Jenny said bitterly.
Her failure to find Bella’s killer still rankled.
“You did your best,” Ray Fox said with a shrug. “I guess we will never know what happened to my Bella.”
“Where are you off to?”
“Back home. I’m taking Bella with me.”
“So the police cleared you, I guess.”
“I can’t stay here indefinitely. Jason talked to them. They don’t have any evidence against me so they have to let me go.”
“When’s your flight?”
“I’m flying out from Norfolk later today. But I want to get a head start. I can’t wait to get out of here.”
“I can understand,” Jenny nodded gloomily.
She wrapped a hot scone for him and poured coffee into a travel container.
“It’s on the house.”
Ray gave her an awkward hug. He was gone soon after that.
Petunia came out looking relieved.
“The contractor can start work today. We should be able to meet the town’s deadline by a whisker.”
The kitchen phone rang again and Jenny rushed inside to answer it.
“We’re going shopping!” Heather screamed over the phone. “I’m picking you up in five minutes, Jenny. Get ready.”
“You know I can’t leave the café…” Jenny objected. “What’s the rush?”
“Just be there, Jenny. We can talk on the way.”
A black stretch limo pulled up outside the café five minutes later. Heather’s head sprang up through the sun roof. She waved madly at Jenny, urging her to hurry.
“I think you better go, dear,” Petunia laughed. “Don’t worry about the café.”
A uniformed chauffer stepped out of the car and came around to the passenger side. He held the door open for Jenny. Jenny snatched her bag and ran down the stairs, unable to curb her excitement.
Crystal and Heather reclined against the plush seats, sipping glasses of champagne.
“What’s going on?”
“Just get in,” Heather urged. “We are shopping for Crystal’s wedding dress.”
“I’m getting married tomorrow,” Crystal preened, looking as cool as a cucumber.
“But I thought you were all leaving this weekend.”
“Tomorrow is our last day in town,” Crystal explained. “What better way to end this horrible trip?”
“Wayne’s going along with it then?”
“Of course he is,” Crystal told Jenny. “He proposed to me again last night. The studio’s thrilled. They are going to film everything this time and use it for the show.”
“Wow!” Jenny exclaimed, giving Heather a questioning look.
“Only bummer is, we just have one day to shop for the wedding.”
“Aren’t you wearing your Vera Wang?”
Crystal’s body quivered.
“That dress is jinxed. I’m getting something new from a local designer.”
Jenny was honest.
“I don’t think you can have a custom-made dress in a day, Crystal.”
“Throw enough money and you can get anything,” Crystal dismissed. “Mom’s already booked appointments for us with the area’s top designers. We can give them credit on the show. None of them is going to pass up this opportunity.”
“Crystal changed her wedding colors,” Heather enthused. “All the bridesmaids get new dresses too. I’ve got everyone’s measurements right here.”
“Where are all the other girls?” Jenny asked, noticing their absence.
“They are at the spa,” Crystal told them. “Everyone’s panicking because they are going on camera tomorrow.”
Jenny wondered why Crystal wasn’t at the spa too. But she kept her thoughts to herself.
“So I can get a dress that fits this time,” she joked.
“Why don’t you relax?” Crystal invited. “Sip some champagne. It’s Moe Chandon, compliments of the studio.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Jenny giggled nervously.
Jenny had spent her life attending parties where the finest French champagnes flowed like water. But she had missed them since coming to Pelican Cove.
“What’s our first stop?”
“Williamsburg,” Heather supplied. “Crystal wanted to go to Richmond but I talked her out of it. It’s too far.”
“Are we going to the outlets?” Jenny asked eagerly, already planning to squeeze in some discount shopping.
“Outlets?” Crystal asked, looking horrified. “We are not shopping retail, Jenny. Surely you know that.”
Jenny began feeling light-headed after an hour of sipping champagne. Heather pulled out some cheese and crackers from a picnic hamper. There was a jar of olive tapenade and a loaf of crusty bread. The girls feasted on them. Crystal refused to eat anything.
They spent a couple of hours in Williamsburg, visiting four different designers. Crystal tried on exactly one wedding gown at each place. Jenny thought she looked gorgeous in every one of them, but Crystal rejected them all.
“Can we stop for lunch?” Heather asked.
“We can eat in the car,” Crystal told them. “I ordered Chinese food.”
The car sped north toward Hampton Roads while the girls feasted on the greasy salty food.
Crystal tried on two more wedding gowns. She fumed when a designer showed her a mermaid design.
“This is so last year!”
Their next stop was on the outskirts of Virginia Beach. Thankfully, Crystal fell in love with the gown. It came with black gloves and a big bow at the back. Crystal announced it was suitably ‘au courant’.
The bridesmaids got dresses in pale blue.
“Wayne’s meeting us for dinner in Virginia Beach,” Crystal announced, reading a text from her phone. “We are going to this fancy seafood place on the boardwalk.”
“I’ve been there with Jason,” Jenny told them. “It’s really fancy.”
“As fancy as this place can get, I suppose,” Crystal quipped.
Wayne was already at their table when they reached the restaurant. They ordered a tower of seafood, with oysters, crab legs and jumbo shrimp. Crab cakes followed, with grilled fish and seared scallops.
“Have you ordered the whole menu, Wayne?” Jenny asked him.
She dipped a giant shrimp into cocktail sauce and exclaimed as she was about to bite into it.
“What’s he doing here?”
Jenny had spotted someone who looked like Ray Fox. She stood up and walked over to the table. She had guessed right.
“You’re still here?” she burst out.
“My flight was delayed,” he told her. “Someone recommended this restaurant so I took a cab and came here.”
Jenny thought it was a long way to travel just for some seafood.
“All the way from Norfolk?”
“I have nothing else to do,” Ray shrugged. “I’m glad I came. This place is really something, huh?”
Jenny went back to her table after that. Crystal and Wayne were arguing about Jordan almonds. Crystal wanted a mix of white and pale blue nuts to match her wedding colors. Wayne didn’t know what the fuss was about.
“I know a shop here that sells them,” Heather said eagerly. “Why don’t we go check it out, Crystal? They do bulk orders. You can get a few pounds for tomorrow.”
Crystal agreed immediately. They decided to walk to the store to work off their meal.
Atlantic Avenue was crowded, with tourists jostling each other for space. Jenny and Heather walked arm in arm, followed by Wayne and Crystal. Wayne was talking about how he had liked the multicolored Jordan almonds as a kid. They stopped to cross the street as the light turned red.
Jenny suddenly felt her knees buckle as she fell into the oncoming
traffic. She landed on her side as horns blared and a large SUV screeched to a stop barely inches from her face. Jenny felt the ground spin as she blacked out momentarily.
The next thing she knew, she was sitting on a small stool on the sidewalk. Heather and Wayne were fawning over her, asking if she was hurt. Crystal stood a few feet away, looking at her in disgust.
“You’re bleeding!” Heather exclaimed as she noticed Jenny’s dress. The right side of her body was soaked in blood.
Wayne pulled out a handkerchief and started dabbing her arm with it. One of the onlookers handed over a bottle of water. Wayne washed her hand and gently wiped the blood off.
“I think it’s just a flesh wound,” he said. “You must have cut your arm on something.”
Jenny felt a searing pain in her shoulder. Her arm didn’t respond when she tried to raise it.
“Looks like you dislocated your shoulder,” another guy on the sidewalk offered. “There’s an urgent care place a couple of miles out. You should get yourself checked out.”
“Let’s just go home,” Jenny pleaded.
Wayne would have none of it. They took her to the 24 hour clinic. The man on the street had been right about Jenny’s shoulder. The doctor popped it back in place and gave her a sling to wear. She had a few more scratches and one big cut on her arm. She had to get a tetanus shot because she didn’t remember when she had her last one.
The limo sped home over the Chesapeake Bay and crossed the bridge leading to Pelican Cove.
“I’m so sorry about all this,” Wayne apologized as he helped Jenny out of the car.
Crystal had dozed off, probably piqued by all the attention Jenny was getting.
There were a few figures sitting out on Star’s porch.
“Jenny!”
Three different voices cried out in the night.
Jenny looked up to see Adam and Jason standing on either side of her aunt.
“What are you doing here?”
“Adam wanted to ask you out for a walk,” Star explained. “Jason brought dinner.”
“What happened, Jenny?” Adam demanded curtly. “Are you hurt?”
“How did this happen?” Jason asked sharply.
Jenny gave them the Cliff Notes version.
“It’s getting late,” she said meaningfully, tipping her head at Wayne.
Jason thanked Wayne and accepted his impromptu wedding invitation.
Adam opened his mouth as soon as the limo went out of sight. Jason stopped him.
“Let’s get her settled in.”
“I’m fine,” Jenny stressed. “It’s just a few cuts and bruises…”
“And a dislocated shoulder,” Star guessed.
“Think carefully, Jenny,” Adam said after she was ensconced in an armchair inside the cottage.
Star had pressed a steaming mug of tea in her hand and covered her with a soft rug.
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
“I don’t know. We were standing on the sidewalk, waiting to cross the road. I must have lost my balance.”
“Or someone pushed you,” Jason said bluntly.
“Where was Wayne Newman when this happened?” Adam asked grimly.
“He was right behind me.”
Chapter 22
Jenny’s bridesmaid’s dress fit her properly this time. The blue sling on her arm matched her dress.
Star got all choked up as she looked at her. She had come to drop Jenny off at the country club.
“You look beautiful, sweetie.”
Jenny held up her arm.
“I’m going to be an eyesore. They will probably keep me out of the wedding photos.”
Star gave Jenny a meaningful look.
“Are you sure you want to go to this shindig? We can just turn around and drive home, you know.”
“I need to be there,” Jenny stressed. “This is my last chance to get a close look at these people. I’m sure one of them is the murderer.”
“You’ll be careful, won’t you?” Star frowned.
“Don’t worry about me, Auntie.”
Star looked down at her paint spattered smock. She would have crashed the wedding party if she was wearing something decent.
“Jason’s going to meet you here?”
“Yes, he’s my date.”
Star pulled up in the club’s porte-cochere. Jason was waiting for them. He helped Jenny out of the car and escorted her up the steps.
Heather and Chris Williams were seated in the lounge, sipping slim flutes of champagne. Heather came around to hug Jenny.
“So what’s the plan?” Jenny asked.
“The studio people are setting up on the lawn,” Heather reported. “It’s going to be a fairy-tale wedding, Jenny.”
Jenny and Heather discussed wedding details like flowers and arches and dresses. Jason and Chris pretended they were bored. One of Crystal’s posse came in and began rounding everyone up.
Jenny spotted the wedding arch from a distance. A big white tent was erected at one side for the reception. The color theme of white and yellow was reflected everywhere. A bunch of ushers began leading people to their seats. Jason and Chris chose a couple of chairs in the back row.
A lot of studio staff was milling around, dressed in black. A man sat in a crane forty feet high, fiddling with a large camera. The crane swept across the landscape, recording the activities of the guests.
A couple of tight lipped men wearing tuxedos stood at one side, observing everything with eagle-like precision.
“They are the big bosses,” Heather whispered. “The show’s producers.”
The bridesmaids huddled together in a group, dressed in blue like Heather and Jenny. One of the girls came over and told Jenny the studio wanted her to stand aside.
“It’s your sling,” she said apologetically. “It won’t look good on film.”
“No problem,” Jenny shrugged.
“Where’s the groom?” Jenny mumbled to herself.
A whir sounded just then and a plane came into view.
“Are you kidding me?” Jenny burst out.
All the assembled guests trained their eyes toward the plane. Some of them were clutching each other’s hands. A body dropped from the plane followed by another. The two bodies plummeted to the ground, gaining speed rapidly until their fall was thwarted mid-air. A canopy unfurled over each body and they began drifting to the ground.
Jenny heard the crane whir as the camera captured the spectacle.
A cheer went up through the crowd as the two bodies landed on the ground with a soft thud. Wayne stood up first and pulled off his parachute. He was dressed in a tuxedo, wearing a white rose in his lapel. He turned around and helped Crystal out of her chute.
“Wasn’t Crystal deathly afraid of heights?” Jenny asked Heather urgently. “She said she wouldn’t jump from a plane for all the money in the world.”
One of the studio execs overheard them. He leaned toward Jenny with a smirk on his face.
“All the money in the world turned out to be a million dollars in this case. They all have their price.”
“I just hope she’s worth it,” the other guy in the suit said.
The first studio exec looked up toward the guy on the crane. He gave them a thumbs up sign.
“After that dive, I say she’s worth every penny.”
“Aren’t you glad we sent her for that certification course?”
“What course?” Jenny asked urgently, grabbing one of the men by his arm.
“The sky diving certification of course!” he said, raising an eyebrow at her arm.
“So Crystal has knowledge of sky diving?”
“How do you think she did a solo dive?” one of the studio execs asked. “She can’t do that without being a certified diver.”
“She must know all about parachutes and stuff.”
The other studio exec butted in.
“I’m a C level diver. Even the most basic level requires you to know all about your equipment.�
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“You’re sure about all this, right?” Jenny asked.
“Of course we are,” the guys chorused. “We are very particular about licensing requirements. There’s no way we will let an actor do something without the proper permissions.”
The strains of the wedding march sounded. Kathy Mars stood ready to walk Crystal down the aisle. Wayne stood at the other end, an inscrutable expression on his face. One of the studio minions held up a big sign saying ‘smile’ and waved it in front of Wayne. Wayne’s lips stretched in a ghastly smile. Then his eyes crinkled at the edges and the smile almost looked real.
“Stop!” Jenny roared. “Stop this wedding.”
Everyone stared at her as if she was a mad woman.
“Stop this wedding now, Wayne, or you will regret it.”
Jenny elbowed Crystal and walked down the aisle toward Wayne. She whispered something in his ear. Wayne pulled a phone out of his pocket and pressed some buttons.
“What is this crap?” one of the studio execs thundered. “Who is that woman?”
Sirens split the sky as the crowd began to murmur.
Crystal flung her bouquet aside with a cry and plowed into Jenny. Before she realized what was happening, Jenny found herself flat on the ground with Crystal sitting on top of her.
“You couldn’t heed my warning, could you?”
Several pairs of hands rushed to pull her off Jenny. Jenny doubled up in pain as Crystal punched her ailing shoulder.
A couple of cars with lights flashing drove up on the grass and stopped right next to Crystal. Adam Hopkins leapt out of one of them.
“Stop running, Crystal,” Jenny said, struggling to get up from the floor. “We know you did it. You killed Bella and Rainbow.”
Crystal let out an inhuman shriek.
“Yes!” she screamed. “I killed them both. And I almost got away with it too.”
“Are you getting this?” one of the studio execs whispered in a walkie-talkie.
“Why did you do it, Crystal?” Wayne asked. “Do you know you killed my baby too?”
“That’s why she had to go, of course,” Crystal said, laughing hysterically. “I didn’t want to be saddled with someone else’s brat.”
“Bella and Ray were going to raise the child as their own.”
“You expect me to believe that?” Crystal leered. “You were seeing Bella behind my back. You think I didn’t know, did you? Everyone knew, Wayne. The whole world knew. You made a laughing stock out of me.”
