For His Name's Sake (Psalm 23 Mysteries) (10 page)

Maybe the point wasn’t to kill either Geanie or Joseph but to make their lives a living hell. Still, why hire someone of this man’s obvious skills for what ultimately ended up being a monumental case of harassment? Yes, two people had died, the women in the bridal shop, but they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the more Mark uncovered the more he became convinced that the assassin hadn’t been trying to kill Geanie. He just wanted to terrorize her and he didn’t care who got killed in the process.

All of which was terrible news for everyone around Joseph and Geanie at that moment. He began to seriously rethink his decision to have the bridal party staying in the mansion with them. After all, killing the mother-of-the-bride would certainly bring the festivities to a screeching halt.

Maybe he could convince them to postpone the wedding. If they did that, though, the killer might just slip away only to resurface a few months later when the wedding was back on.

Any way he looked at it he was starting to get a very bad feeling that this wedding was going to have the ultimate party crasher.

He walked into the hospital and headed straight for Jeremiah’s room. He wanted to talk a few things over and the rabbi seemed a better choice than Joseph. He wondered
fleetingly how things were going back at the mansion with Geanie’s family. He could only imagine the fear they were experiencing as they walked into this nightmare. The others were at least getting used to this kind of insanity, sad as that was.

His phone rang and he was pleased to see that it was Traci. “Hey, honey, how are you doing?” he asked.

“Okay, although it turns out morning sickness? Not such an accurate description.”

Mark furrowed his brow. “I’m sorry. I wish there was something I can do.”

“Next time you can hold my hair for me,” she said.

“In a heartbeat. That’s what love is all about.”

“I miss you,” she said.

“I miss you, too.”

“How about when you finish with all of this we go away on a real vacation, just the two of us.”

“That sounds like a wonderful plan,” he said.

“Ugh. Gotta go,” she said before unceremoniously hanging up.

Mark felt bad for her as he pocketed his phone.

He checked in with the officers outside Jeremiah and Joseph’s rooms, and they reported that all had been quiet since Cindy and Geanie had left. He pushed open the door to Jeremiah’s room, took two steps inside, and froze.

The rabbi was gone.

Jeremiah was slouching in a chair next to Joseph’s bed, chatting with him when Mark came flying in, eyes wild.

“Hi,” Jeremiah said as Mark came to a stop.

“What are you doing in here?” the detective demanded.

“Talking to Joseph.”

“How did you get in here?”

“I crawled out my window, shimmied along the ledge, and came in this one,” Jeremiah said.

“What?”

He rolled his eyes. “I walked, from my room the five steps to this one. Why?”

“No one saw you do that,” Mark said, turning red.

“I don’t know why,” Jeremiah said.

Actually, he knew exactly why. He had made sure the policemen outside didn’t see him. The last thing he needed was to feel confined to his room. Besides, he’d wanted some time to talk to Joseph in private.

Mark went back into the hallway and Jeremiah could hear him reading the baffled officers the riot act. He didn’t actually feel bad. If he could sneak out of his room and into Joseph’s without their knowing, whoever was after Joseph could certainly get to him as well.

A minute later Mark returned. He looked like he was barely managing to restrain himself. He took a deep breath and sat down in the other chair in the room. “Next time you feel like taking a little walk, please inform the officers and for heaven’s sake let one of them escort you.”

“I’m not the one he’s after,” Jeremiah said calmly.

“No, but neither does he mind collateral damage,” Mark snapped.

“Fair enough.”

Joseph cleared his throat. “Yesterday, before all this happened, Jeremiah and I were discussing possible suspects. The only one that came to mind was a woman
who worked for one of my charities two years ago who had a crush on me. I let her down easy, but she was still upset.”

“Did she have money?” Mark asked.

Joseph blinked. “I have no idea, why?”

“Because I think you have a professional after you and they don’t come cheap.”

“I thought it was important Joseph bring her up,” Jeremiah said.

“Okay, what’s her name?” Mark asked.

“Amanda. Last name started with a B I believe. If you help me find my wallet I can give you a card of the person who can get you the last contact info we had for her.

Jeremiah watched as Mark checked the closet. The tuxedo pants he’d been wearing when they brought him in were hanging there. “Nothing here,” Mark said.

Joseph craned his neck to look. “My wallet was in my pants that I had to take off to put those on. Do you think it’s still at the store?”

Mark shook his head. “Officers collected your belongings. I’ve got them at the precinct. I didn’t think about it until this minute.”

“I’d like my wallet back,” Jeremiah said evenly. He’d already checked his room looking for it and he’d been hoping the police had it.

“Sure,” Mark said absently.

“You’ll find a business card for The Coulter Foundation in my wallet. Ask for Miles in Human Resources and he’ll be able to help you out.”

“Okay, I’ll do that as soon as I get back,” Mark said. “Have either of you come up with any other possibilities of someone who might want to ruin this wedding?”

Both Jeremiah and Joseph shook their heads.

There was a sudden commotion outside and then a man burst into the room chased by two police officers. “Please, you’ve got to help me!” he screamed.

Jeremiah sat up abruptly. It was the second tailor, the one who had poisoned him.

“Help me!”

“What’s going on?” Mark roared.

“He knows, he knows I failed and he’s afraid I’ll-”

The man fell to the ground convulsing. Just as suddenly as he had started, he stopped. His eyes rolled back in his head.

Mark dropped to the ground checking for a pulse but Jeremiah already knew he wouldn’t find one.

The tailor was dead.

Cindy heard voices on the stairs. “I think everyone’s coming down,” she told Geanie.

Geanie sighed. “Okay, time to put on our game faces and tell them what’s going on.”

“Would you like some privacy, because I can always-”

“Oh no you don’t! You’re in this with me,” Geanie said.

“Somehow, I was afraid of that,” Cindy answered with a sigh. “Game faces it is,” she said, plastering on the best fake smile she could manage.

They hopped down off their stools in the kitchen and walked into the entry way as Geanie’s family was walking down the stairs.

“Let’s head into the sitting room so we can all get comfortable,” Geanie said brightly as soon as they had made it all the way down.

She turned and led the way into the sitting room where she picked one of the chairs. Cindy sat down on one of the couches and the others made themselves comfortable as well.

“Would anyone like anything to drink, coffee, tea, soda?”

“What, he allows something other than champagne into his house?” her mom said snidely.

“We’re fine for now,” her father said.

Geanie nodded. “First things first. Sorry about the hasty introductions earlier. This is Cindy Preston, my best friend and roommate. Cindy, these are my parents, Milt and Dorothy. And, of course, my cousin, Charlotte, is the one bridesmaid you haven’t met yet.”

“Nice to finally meet everyone,” Cindy said.

“We’ve heard a lot about you,” Dorothy said.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Milt said. At least he smiled.

Charlotte just dipped her head in acknowledgment.

“Okay, so we’ve got some catching up to do,” Geanie said, her voice suddenly very nervous. “Obviously plans have changed somewhat.”

“Somewhat?” Dorothy asked with a raised eyebrow.

As much as Cindy wanted to like Geanie’s parents, she had to admit she was starting to feel less than charitable toward Dorothy. For just a moment she wished that she and Geanie had come up with some cover story: their house was being fumigated or something, just to spare the other woman from having to tell her annoying mother the truth.

Unfortunately, the lie wouldn’t have held up more than a few hours. The constant police escort couldn’t be explained away.

“Yes, well, the truth is, there have been some rather unfortunate accidents that have occurred in the last couple of days.”

“What type of accidents?” Milt asked sharply, glancing at Cindy.

“Well, the bridal shop where I was having my dress fitted sort of...blew up for one,” Geanie said with a nervous laugh.

“Blew up? For real?” Charlotte asked.

Geanie nodded.

“Are you okay?” Milt asked.

“I’m fine. I was knocked unconscious, but the only damage done was to the dress,” Geanie said.

Cindy winced, thinking of the dress. In all the chaos, what Geanie was going to do for a wedding dress at this point was something they still had to figure out. They didn’t have much time left either.

“Oh dear,” Dorothy said, actually looking distressed.

“Yeah, so between that and a couple of other things, Cindy’s detective friend thought it best we all just stay here until the wedding is over. Joseph’s got a great security system after all.”

“I don’t understand,” Milt said, leaning forward. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Geanie cleared her throat and looked at Cindy who nodded encouragingly.

“Well, the thing is. It looks like the shop wasn’t an accident. The police think someone might be, I don’t know, trying to sabotage the wedding or something.”

It was downright painful to watch Geanie, who was always so blunt and forthcoming, dance around the truth with her parents.

“What?” Charlotte gasped.

“I knew this wedding was a terrible idea!” Dorothy burst out.

Milt jumped to his feet. “Where is Joseph? I think I’d like to have a word with him right now.”

“That’s just it, you can’t.” Geanie took a deep breath. “Yesterday while they were having their tuxes fit, he and the best man were poisoned. They’re both in the hospital.”

Milt sank slowly down into his chair, a look of shock on his face.

“Someone’s trying to kill you?” Dorothy asked after a moment.

“We don’t know that for sure,” Cindy spoke up. “What we do know is that they are targeting Geanie and Joseph and trying to derail the wedding for some reason.”

“I knew you’d come to no good carrying on with a rich California playboy,” Dorothy said, wagging her finger at her daughter.

“I’m not ‘carrying on’ with him and he’s not a playboy,” Geanie said heatedly.

Suddenly everyone seemed to be shouting at once. For her part Cindy wished the ground would just open and swallow her whole as she listened to the escalating anger and accusations. After a minute everyone was on their feet and the shouting was just getting louder.

Sooner or later the patrolmen outside are going to come in here to see what all the commotion is about
, Cindy thought. Images of them bursting in, guns drawn, danced through her head. This was so not good. Geanie didn’t need this. Not one week before the biggest day of her life. Not when someone was trying to hurt or kill her. Not when family and friends should be loving and supporting her. It wasn’t right.

And as Maid of Honor, she had a responsibility to stop it.

“Enough!” Cindy roared, leaping to her feet. “Everyone sit down and shut up!”

Everyone turned and stared at her as if she had grown a second head. “Right now!” she emphasized. “Sit!”

Slowly everyone else sat back down, eyes still riveted on her.

“You’ve all talked or shouted. Now you’re all going to listen. First. Geanie and Joseph are in love and it couldn’t have happened to two nicer people. Second. One week
from today they are getting married regardless of what else happens or who is or isn’t present for it. Third. When someone is a victim, you don’t attack them. You love them, support them, and help them get through the experience while you do everything in your power and pray as fervently as you can that the bad guy gets caught. Fourth. Geanie is a grown woman and she can do whatever she wants. She is loving, sweet, funny, incredibly spiritual, and makes excellent choices. If you have a shred of decency in your hearts or a bit of love for her, you’ll cut the crap and shower her with nothing but love and support until this is all over. Fifth. Anyone who can’t live with what I just said doesn’t need to be here and I will personally call one of the police officers from outside and have them put your butt on a plane out of here. Are we clear?”

Everyone else nodded mutely.

“Good. Now, I’m starving. Let’s all get some lunch and talk about something happy for the next hour.”

“You’re the boss,” Milt said.

“That’s right, I am. Now, everyone follow me to the kitchen.”

Cindy turned and stalked out of the room, head held high. After a few steps Geanie caught up to her. She grabbed her arm and squeezed it. “You were amazing in there,” she breathed.

“Maid of Honor. It’s my job to get you through the wedding and I take it seriously,” Cindy said.

“Do we have no security here?” Mark demanded as he stood up. The man on the floor was dead. The way his own heart was racing he was afraid for a moment he was going to have a heart attack and join him.

“Someone didn’t want you questioning that guy,” Jeremiah said from his chair.

“No, really?” Mark demanded, his voice dripping sarcasm.

He turned and barked at the two police officers. “One of you get me a doctor, and I mean like yesterday.”

One of the officers scurried off and Mark threw himself down in the chair. “This is a fine mess,” he said.

Less than a minute later the officer returned dragging a protesting doctor behind him. The man’s protests stopped completely when he saw the corpse on the floor. He started forward.

“Don’t waste your time, he’s dead,” Mark said bluntly. “I’m guessing that when you do an autopsy you’ll discover that it was the same poison that he used on these two that did it.”

“Obviously in a much higher dosage,” Jeremiah said.

The rabbi was too calm. It rattled Mark at the moment.

“I’ve got to-”

“I’ll tell you what you’ve got to do,” Mark interrupted the doctor. “You’ve got to give me whatever staff or equipment I need to move these two men to a more secure location.”

“I, I can’t-”

“You can and you will. Tell me what I need.”

The doctor picked up Joseph’s chart and flipped through it with shaking hands. Finally he looked up. “The danger should be over. Let me see what I’d have to do to be able to release them.”

“Do it and make it quick. Every second they’re here they’re at risk and so is everyone in this hospital,” Mark said, glaring for good measure.

The doctor stumbled out of the room.

“Good call,” Jeremiah said quietly.

“Not a word from you at the moment, okay?”

Jeremiah nodded.

Mark stood and began to pace. Things were spinning out of control. Or maybe it was just that
he
was spinning out of control. Either way he needed to lock this situation down and the only way he could do that was to get Joseph and Jeremiah back to the mansion and triple the police detail he had on them. If the captain put up a fight he’d just remind him that Joseph was so rich that his taxes alone probably paid for a quarter of their annual operating budget.

“It’s going to be okay,” Mark said to the air.

He would give anything to believe that was true.

Half an hour later Cindy had Geanie’s parents recounting embarrassing stories about Geanie as a kid. Some of them were priceless. She was just sorry Joseph was missing out on hearing some of them. Although, she supposed there’d be plenty of time for that later. Plus, she’d make sure to tell him one or two of her favorites just to be on the safe side. Geanie was flushed scarlet but she was laughing as hard as the rest of them.

“I can’t believe Joseph doesn’t have a cook,” Dorothy said as she bustled around the kitchen.

“I hope he doesn’t expect you to cook,” Milt said wrinkling his nose in a way that let Cindy know he, too, had had the misfortune of tasting Geanie’s cooking.

“No, he cooks, and he’s good at it. Can you believe that?” Geanie gushed.

“He cooks?” her mom asked incredulously. “You hang onto that one.”

“I know, right?”

They had foregone the leftover cold cuts in the refrigerator and instead they were grilling some steaks they had found in the freezer on the cooktop range. Off to the side in a pan Dorothy was frying up some potatoes and onions. The smells were making Cindy start to salivate and she began to realize that the last thing she’d had to eat was some lousy hospital cafeteria food the night before. She couldn’t even remember eating that much of it so she was definitely past due.

“Medium rare okay for everyone?” Milt asked, wielding some gourmet salt and some ground garlic like a pro.

“Yes, please,” Geanie said.

“So, what happened?” Cindy asked, prompting Dorothy to finish her story.

“Well, we found her, sitting in the living room. She had painted her entire arm from shoulder to fingernails blue and she was getting ready to start painting one of her legs red. That’s when we knew we had an artist on our hands.”

“Yup, and that was just last Easter,” Milt said with a straight face.

“Dad!” Geanie protested while Cindy and Charlotte giggled.

“Please tell me the food’s almost ready,” Cindy finally begged.

“Steaks are,” Milt said, sounding supremely satisfied as he piled them high on a serving platter he’d found in one of the cupboards.

“So are the potatoes,” Dorothy said as she reached for a bowl.

They took the food to a kitchen table where Cindy had already laid out plates and utensils for everyone.