Weapons of Mass Distraction (9 page)

“You’re a knockout. He’s going to love it,” I assured her, knowing my brother would appreciate anything she wore.

“You’re sure?”

“Knowing my brother, I am sure he loves you and he’ll love anything you wear. Except a potato sack. We’re from Irish stock and get a little sensitive about that.”

Lily laughed and reached for my hand. I gave it a squeeze. “Who knew this would happen?” she said. “I marry Jord; we get to be sisters-in-law!”

“Don’t forget I’m your bridesmaid too.”

“Chief bridesmaid,” Lily reminded me.

“The only bridesmaid!”

“Are you sure you don’t want to wear white like Pippa Middleton?” Lily asked, pointing to the black bridesmaid dress with a white sash I selected from an array she deemed acceptable. It hung over the changing room rail, looking the right side of sexy for a wedding.

“No. If you were getting married in a cathedral to royalty, I would.”

“Probably too late for that now,” said Lily, after some thought.

“Next time,” I grinned, dodging to the right before she could cuff me upside the head.

“Shame you’re not exactly single,” Lily mused.

“Why’s that?” I asked, not thinking it was a shame at all. Since Solomon and I had finally gotten our acts together and decided to give “us” a shot, my romantic life was going great. Unfortunately, only Lily and Anastasia knew that. Anastasia had since left town for her job in the city, and Lily was sworn to secrecy. I had an inkling she told Jord, however, but he never said a thing. Come to think of it, Solomon and I still needed to have that chat…

“Have you seen Jord’s groomsmen?” Lily asked, raising one perfectly arched brow.

“I have. I have also seen one naked, but I’m not saying which one.”

“Tell. Me. Now.” Lily fixed me with The Look, but I was saved from interrogation by Sharon returning with an armful of boxes, which she set on the ottoman I recently vacated. “Ooooh! Pretties,” Lily exclaimed, and I knew I was safe for now. That meant the groomsman was also safe from my brother who probably wouldn’t be thrilled hearing about that accidental night, which turned into an accidental weekend several years ago.

As I watched Lily rifle through the boxes, I mused on weddings, allowing myself to daydream a little. There’s something amazing about weddings and how an event like that affects people. It makes people happy and hopeful and full of laughter and good memories. In Lily’s case, it made her even more excited and enthusiastic about life than normal. Considering that she’d been through a really rough time recently, I couldn’t have been happier. Plus, playing dress-up legitimately, and without anything that involved Spandex and embarrassing photos later, was pretty fun.

“This is the one,” said Lily, pulling a tiara from the very last box. There were already two dozen spread around the fitting studio, at haphazard angles from where they’d been discarded in their boxes. Lily held it aloft. “This is the one for me.” She placed it on her head, while the manager fiddled with the combs, tucking them into Lily’s curls as she turned to the mirror. I couldn’t argue. It looked perfectly elegant with the dress.

“Yes, it is,” I agreed. “You don’t even need a veil.”

Lily looked wistfully at the heap of veils she’d tried on and discarded. “Shame,” she said.

“Maybe next…”

“There will be no next time! One wedding and one wedding only!”

“Maybe I’ll wear a veil,” I said, picking one up and attaching it to the top of my ponytail, then fluffing it over my shoulders. “How’s that?”

“Cute. Did Solomon propose?”

“Nope.”

“Did you?”

“Nope. Remember, we’re not telling anyone yet.”

“I’m sure no one noticed at all that you and your boss are getting smoochy.”

“No one noticed last time.”

“You were pretending to be a married couple then. You were in your undercover role.”

“And now, we’re not. We’re barely working this case together. I don’t even know when we’ll see each other next, thanks to the undercover aspect taking up all my time.”

“But you are dating?”

“Yes. No. Maybe. Yes,” I replied.

“And you actually go out on dates? When you’re not going at it like rabbits?”

“Lily!” I pretended to be affronted, but it was so true. “Yes, we go out. To places no one can see us.”

“I bet the whole of Montgomery has seen you.”

“They’re all being very quiet about it if they have, and this town is anything
but
quiet.”

“Especially your family.”

“You remember the last wedding?” I asked her. “My cousin Sian?”

“She throws a good punch,” said Lily and we both pulled faces. “Three hundred people and a six-tier cake. My wedding will not be like that.”

“You wish.”

“It won’t. We’re having a quiet, outdoor wedding in The Belmont’s courtyard, then a civilized wedding breakfast, and after that, a big party with chocolate cake. The Belmont’s security staff has been thoroughly briefed.”

“Good to know.”

“Try on your dress,” suggested Lily, nudging me in the direction of my bridesmaid dress. “I don’t want to hog the mirror,” she added, admiring her reflection from every possible angle.

I checked my watch, noticing the time. The daily meeting would be over, but I still had to get to the agency’s office to write my initial report; not to mention, start running background checks on the deceased. “I can’t. I have to go.”

“Where? Did you get a break in the case already?” Lily was off the podium and whirling around, trying to undo the dress before I could say no. “Really? Oh, that sucks. I don’t want to be callous, but do you think it will be over before the wedding? I want you totally focused.”

“I’ll do my best, but I’m not sure the killer is working to accommodate your schedule.”

“Stupid serial killers,” said Lily, pouting.

“Tell me about it. Right now, we don't even know if the deaths are connected. I have to go to the office to run some background checks, and then, I need to go home and take a shower. Tomorrow, I have another shift at the gym. On the plus side, with all the extra exercise I’m getting, I will look a lot better in my bridesmaid dress!”

“Just so long as you don’t get murdered. I don’t have time to get a new chief bridesmaid. Can you help me out of this?”

I helped Lily unzip her dress, leaving her to shuffle into a large changing cubicle. While Lily dressed, I repackaged as many of the tiaras as I could. By the time she emerged, clad in blue jeans, t-shirt, and a smart blazer, the manager had reappeared.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Sharon said, noticing my neat pile of boxes, “but I really appreciate it; thanks. You have no idea how many times a day I have to re-package these things.”

“You won’t have to box this one again,” said Lily, clutching her tiara to her chest. The wedding gown was draped over her shoulder and she was also trying to hold her purse and the straps of her heels. She might have had better success if she were an octopus. “Thanks,” she said when I relieved her of her purse and heels. I pulled the dust bag from her purse and dropped her heels inside it as Lily handed her gown and tiara to the manager.

“Let me just check your final fitting…” said Sharon, taking the items and disappearing behind another curtain, only to reemerge empty-handed a moment later. “One week from today,” she said, “I think it’s perfect now, but we can do any last minute adjustments after you’ve selected your shoes. The full dress rehearsal. Are you excited?”

“Ridiculously so,” said Lily. “Will the dress be secure here?”

Sharon stopped. Her face paled and her breathing seemed to hitch. “Yes,” she stammered. “Yes, of course. No problem at all. We’re very secure. Why do you ask?”

Lily shrugged and leaned over to pull on her boots. “No reason,” she said and I frowned as Sharon gave a long, relieved exhale before recovering her composure.

“I’ll show you out,” said Sharon, guiding us from the changing rooms to the showroom. At the front door, she undid two bolts, then turned two locks. As she opened the door, I looked up, noticing the new security camera, safely hidden under the porch roof, aimed at the door. “Do call if you need anything before then. I’m afraid we’re ‘appointments only’ now,” Sharon added. We stepped onto the sidewalk and the door shut softly behind us. Even with the noise of the traffic, and the gaggle of teenage girls in prep uniforms walking past, I still heard the sound of the bolts sliding into the place, and the clicks of the locks turning.

“That was odd,” I said.

“What?” Lily rummaged in her purse, before revealing her retrieved car keys.

“Do you think the manager was acting funny?”

Lily’s forehead wrinkled. “Sharon? I didn’t really notice.”

“There’s a lot of new security here. More than when we first came to see the dresses and when did they go to ‘appointments only’?”

“I don’t know. It’s probably nothing. You’re getting too used to crimes and weirdoes.” That was probably true. All the same, I had a nagging feeling that all wasn’t well with the wedding store as Lily leaned over and gave me a quick hug and air kiss. “Keep me informed of You Know What,” she said, waggling her fingers as she turned to walk to her car, parked next to mine. “And ask Solomon outright what the hell is going on with you two!”

~

The array of databases I had access to, thanks to the Solomon Agency, was dazzling. Sometimes, they were really tempting, too. After all, I could look up the credit history of anyone I knew! But, despite being a career snoop, I knew Solomon frowned upon that sort of thing. So, as of now, I hadn’t snooped on anyone that I wasn’t supposed to. I figured my days were numbered. One could only be virtuous for so long. Since I probably should have started the background checks prior to beginning the undercover role, I figured the virtuous angle was already pushing it. However, time was of the essence and this was the first moment I found to delve into the potential victims’ lives.

I had plenty to keep me occupied from thinking about Lily’s burning question. Jim Schwarz, Karen Doyle, and Lorena Vasquez all needed to have their backgrounds crawled through if I were to get a well-rounded picture of who they were in life. Since they were dead, and I was trying to ascertain whether all three were killed, I figured they probably wouldn’t mind, but I didn’t expect them to say thank you.

Since I actually knew Lorena, I worried that digging through her virtual records might be more testing on my emotions than the other two potential victims, so I put her off until last. I chose to start with Jim Schwarz.

Jim was an unassuming man. He kept a steady job and was employed as a research assistant for a little over a year. Prior to that, he had a short gap in his resume after working nine years for the same firm of which he directed a lab. I wondered what might make him switch roles after nine years to take up a job so inferior to his qualifications. Was it a change of scenery or a change of pace? I doubted he received a better paycheck at his new job.

His Harbridge apartment was a two-bedroom that he’d been slowly renovating. That was something I picked up when combing through his phone records, noting several calls were placed to a kitchen and bathroom showroom. His driving license was clean and he paid monthly installments on a Toyota. An internet search revealed he was a keen cyclist and took part in charity races as well as long distance cycling vacations. He didn’t subscribe to any kind of social media. His credit history was good. I couldn’t see any evidence of a girlfriend or a boyfriend. Altogether, he seemed like a very average citizen. With the plain evidence of his life accumulated in the file on my desk, I failed to see any compelling reason for someone to murder him. Then again, as I’d learned over the past year, an awful lot of people conceal an awful lot of secrets.

I made my notes, added a few printouts and moved onto potential victim number two, Karen Doyle. She was thirty years old and engaged. That was easy to find out as she and her fiancé established an engagement website with details of their upcoming wedding. The photos were professional and she appeared both pretty and happy. The short biography told me she met her fiancé at work when she joined the company fourteen months ago and happened to take the desk opposite him. No one had updated the site yet, and the idea of someone having to do so made me incredibly sad.

Continuing to comb the website, I learned Karen had two sisters, both close to her own age, and that she and her fiancé loved hiking and camping, and had gotten engaged at Lake Pierce. Like Jim, her credit history was good. She had no outstanding debt except for two thousand dollars on her sole credit card. She had just moved into her fiancé’s house, after leasing her smaller apartment to her younger sister. Her phone records revealed she sent a lot of texts. A few numbers appeared over and over and I made a note of them. She had a driving license, and the couple were registered for wedding gifts at two local stores. Perhaps saddest of all, she had just put a down payment on a dress at Georgina’s Gowns.

I stared at the photo of Karen and her fiancé for a long time, thinking about how familiar she looked. I definitely remembered seeing her in the gym the day before she died, now that I thought about it. Like Lily, I was sure she was the same woman who sat on the bike next to Jim during our spin class. From my bike on the row behind, I only saw the back of her head; and apart from a brief moment when I admired her cute workout outfit, I hadn’t really paid much attention to her. I confess being too focused on my own screaming thighs. She was definitely a similar height and build as the woman I saw Jim speak to. I added, then underlined two questions:
Where did she go when Jim died? Did Maddox catch up with her?

I stared at the computer screen a long time before I typed Lorena’s name, feeling a little guilty for snooping through her life when we’d only recently become friends. Lorena Vasquez was fifty-three and thanks to amazing genes, didn’t look a day over forty. I knew a little about her already, which I noted in my file. Her father was Spanish, her mother American, and they met when her mother took her first trip to Europe. She returned with several tourist refrigerator magnets, a husband, and a pregnancy. Personally, I thought that was pretty terrific souvenir hunting.