A Catered Murder (27 page)

Authors: Isis Crawford

BOOK: A Catered Murder

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Leeza Sharp, the daughter of the late Monica G. and Lawrence D. Sharp, of Kentworth, Missouri, is to be married today to Jura Raid, a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Raid of Brooklyn. Minister James will officiate at the ceremony, which will be taking place on the fabled Raid estate in upper Westchester County.

A beauty pageant winner,
âLeeza decided she was glad she'd insisted that go in despite the PR person's objections. She didn't think it was tackyâ
the bride, 27, graduated from the University of Missouri with a liberal arts degree in marketing. Working for Raid Enterprises was the first job she acquired upon her move East.

Mr. Jura Raid, 53, completed a year at Wharton Business School before going to work in the family business, a move made necessary by the untimely death of his parents in an automobile accident. He is popularly credited with expanding the business, Imperial Caviar, into the successful enterprise that it now is.

Jura noted, “I actually saw Leeza in the lobby her first day of work and was instantly attracted to her, but I didn't approach her. Imagine my delight when she turned up in my office two months later.”

“Actually,” Leeza confided, laughing, “turning up in his office wasn't an accident. I was really attracted to him, too, and so I arranged to swap jobs with one of the women who worked for him. At first she didn't want to, and I had to bribe her with a month's worth of free coffee and bagels.”

Not bad, Leeza thought. Not bad at all. She had just gotten to the part about how the couple was planning a three-week honeymoon on Bali when her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of the pocket of her robe.

“Yes?” she said.

She frowned as she listened to the other person on the line.

“I don't know why I have to meet you. Why can't it wait? No. We've already discussed that.”

Leeza tapped her fingers on her thigh while she listened some more.

“Well, I'm sorry, but you're wrong,” she told the person on the other end, who judging from the expression on Leeza's face, was saying something she didn't like.

“My make-up and hair people will be coming soon and I have a million little details to attend to before the ceremony. Surely you know that.”

As she listened to the answer two little spots of red appeared on her cheeks.

“Fine,” she snapped. “I can give you five minutes. At the most.”

The person on the other end of the line said something else and Leeza replied, “Hey, be glad I'm giving you that.”

“What an idiot,” she muttered to herself as she pressed the off button on her cell.

As soon as she had she was sorry she'd agreed to the meeting. It was going to be unpleasant, and she didn't want anything to mar this day, but not going might potentially make the situation even worse. And if there was one thing she'd learned working for Jura it was that it was better to take control of the situation then let the situation take control of you.

She slipped her phone back into the pocket of her white silk robe, slid on her satin mules, and walked out of the room. Hopefully she wouldn't meet anyone on the way to the tent. She didn't want to have to lie about where she was going. It would just be a needless complication and Leeza believed in keeping things simple when she could. Fortunately, no one was around. Jura, Jura's brothers, and his executive secretary, Esmeralda Quinn, who was also Leeza's maid of honor, were all in the main wing of the house preparing for the big day.

“This had better be good,” she muttered to herself as she opened an umbrella and stepped out into the rain.

Even though the downpour had become a drizzle, Leeza's feet and ankles were soaked by the time she'd walked down the embankment to the tent. She was so angry she didn't even see the ruts in the grass the tent people had made when they'd delivered the tent yesterday.

What was the matter with people anyway? Didn't they realize how busy she was? Two little dots of color appeared on Leeza's cheeks as she realized the person she was supposed to meet wasn't even here yet. If there, she would be able to see a silhouette through the tent.

Leeza couldn't believe she was being kept waiting. She tapped her nails against her thigh. This would be the last time something like this would happen. When she was Mrs. Jura Raid things were going to be very different. Very different indeed. And people better start getting used to it now.

On that note she pushed the tent flap open and walked in.

She didn't have time to scream when the arrow hit her, much less get out of the way.

Longely is an imaginary community, as are all its inhabitants. Any resemblance to people living or dead is pure coincidence.

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