The Deception (20 page)

"That's Reggie. She's one of the senior partners in the firm. She mentored Alex when he first came on board so he respects her. She also specializes in civil cases. If push comes to shove, Alex may have to step aside and let Reggie take over."

C
arrie returned to her apartment the following afternoon. Alex's prediction had been accurate. There was some flack in the local media for a few days after the story broke of the Mercer's Market
s
girl showing up in the pages of
Gentry Magazine
. It had since faded into obscurity, being replaced by newer headlines, and Carrie didn't want to wear out her welcome. She gave Alex a long, lingering goodbye before getting into her car and heading home, but by the time she turned off his street and onto the main road she was starting to miss him. Alex spent the rest of the day moping around his empty house, missing her as well.

The following weekend was the Labor Day holiday. Allison wanted to take advantage of all the sales to do some wedding shopping and she decided to take Carrie along. The time had come to find a bridesmaid's dress.

Their first stop was the bridal shop. Allison had picked out a traditional white satin gown, trimmed with lace and pearls, with a chapel-length train. She had an appointment that morning for another fitting. Both women marveled after she put on the gown and looked in the full-length mirror. Her dress had a Victorian look with its high collar, tight-fitting bodice, and long lace sleeves. Completing the outfit was a fingertip length veil with a pearl-trimmed headband.

"Allie, you're a beautiful, blushing bride, and I can't help it. I'm jealous."

"Don't worry, your day will come," she replied.

"I wish I had your confidence, but I'm afraid my Prince Charming was abducted by someone named Jennifer Logan."

"Whoever said Doug was your Prince Charming? What about you and Alex?"

"We're just friends, Allie."

"Is that all?"

"Okay, so we're best friends, but that's all it is. That's all it'll ever be."

Carrie was obviously in denial so Allison decided not to force the issue. Whatever was meant to happen would happen, when the time was right. She only hoped that time wouldn't come until after Carrie's lawsuit with Louise was settled. In the meantime, she decided to change the subject.

"Did I mention that my family and I are about to come to blows over my wedding?"

"What? No way. What's going on?"

"My parents, and my grandparents, are what you'd call old school," she explained. "They want me to have a traditional Catholic wedding, just like my two younger sisters had. I'm already on thin ice with them, because Steve and I have been living together for the past four years. On top of that, I'm marrying a man from a Protestant background with no intentions of converting. So, we've decided to have our wedding at a different church and that's not going over too well with some of my family."

"What a shame. You know, I recall Alex once telling me the story of a similar thing happening to his parents. His mother was not only Protestant, she'd also been married and divorced."

"I didn't know that."

"Not that many people do," said Carrie. "She'd been married, briefly, when she was very young. Obviously, the marriage didn't work out and there were no children, but I guess when she and Alex's father decided to marry there was a big ruckus over it. They ended up getting married at her family's church, and Alex's dad decided to leave the Catholic Church. You know, the whole thing is just wrong. You should be able to marry the person you love and not be hassled over it."

"You just did it again, Carrie."

"Did what?"

"You just brought up Alex's name. Again. That's the fourth time you've done that this morning."

"I have not."

"Yes, you have."

Before Carrie could respond the alterations lady arrived to check Allison's gown. After a close inspection they determined it was ready and Allison made arrangements to have it delivered the day before her wedding. Next, they headed to the mall. It was time to look for a bridesmaid's dress for Carrie. They didn't find anything they liked at the first two department stores. They were now in the third, and so far they were coming up empty. Allison was nearly at her wits' end. If they didn't find the right dress soon, they'd have to return to the bridal shop.

"I think I've found something," exclaimed Carrie as she pulled out a dress from one of the racks. "Take a look at this. It's my size, and it's even on sale."

She brought it to Allison for a closer look. The dress was royal blue chiffon. It too had a slightly Victorian look with a tight-fitting bodice similar to the one on Allison's wedding gown. It was low-cut, with three-quarter length sleeves and a double-layered skirt. Carrie placed the dress in front of her so they could check the length. It came down to her mid calf.

"Now that one I like," said Allison.

"Me too. It's pretty, it's feminine, and it's kind of sexy too. Can I try it on?"

Allison ran her fingers up and down the bodice to get a feel for the fabric.

"Yeah, you can try it on, but you know what? It'd probably look better if you had a bustier underneath. Let's run down to the lingerie department and see what we can find before you try it on."

Carrie handed the dress to a salesclerk, asking her to put it on hold. They took the escalator down and soon found a lacy-beige bustier in Carrie's size. They were just about to complete their purchase when something else caught her eye.

"I absolutely, positively have to have that."

Allison followed her gaze. Carrie had spotted a beautiful white negligee set. She went to take a closer look. The flowing, sleeveless nightgown was low-cut and very sexy. It was topped with a low-cut, lace-trimmed sheer peignoir with ruffled sleeves.

"It's been far too long, Allie, since I've had anything as pretty as this." The gown felt soft and silky as she caressed it. "Most of the time I sleep in raggedy old t-shirts. I still have the pink nightshirt you gave me last year for my birthday, but even it's starting to get a little threadbare, although Alex thought it was pretty funny."

"What was that?"

"I wore it while I as staying at his place. He brought me there to hide out from the media, remember? It was on the up and up. I told you, I stayed in the guestroom."

"Humph. That's makes the fifth time that you've brought Alex up."

"Allie, please." Carrie rolled her eyes. "You don't know how good it feels just to be able to buy new clothes again, and I'm going to get this negligee set. It doesn't matter if anyone else ever gets to see me in it or not. I'll still wear it and I'll still enjoy having it."

Carrie took the nightgown off the rack and made her purchases. Afterwards, they headed back up the escalator. She was anxious to try on the dress. Allison browsed while she waited.

"Look at this," Carrie exclaimed as she stepped out of the fitting room.

"Oh my gosh. Carrie, it's perfect. It's like this dress was made just for you. You look absolutely stunning in it, and the color even matches your eyes. There is one little problem, though."

"What's that?"

"You may just upstage the bride." Both women started to laugh. "Do you have a pair of shoes to go with it?"

"Not any more. I used to have a pair of strappy, open-toed, black patent leather high-heels, but I threw them out."

"Why?"

Carrie let out a sigh. "Because I had them on when I did that stupid photo shoot, and then I wore them on my second, and final, date with Scott Andrews. They were tainted. Every time I saw them in my closet it brought back bad memories. Nothing good has ever come from that photo shoot, Allie. Doing it will always be one of the biggest regrets of my life."

"Well, that's not entirely true," argued Allison. "One good thing came of it."

"What's that?"

"Alex came back into our lives."

"Aha! Now you just dropped his name."

"So I did," replied Allison with a smile. "Now if you'll just head back into the fitting room and change we can get out of this place and go grab a bite to eat. I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

"What about the food court?"

"Not today. Let's go someplace else, away from the mall."

"What about the shoes?"

"There's a big discount shoe store, not too far from here, where you'll get a much better deal. We'll head over there after lunch."

As Carrie headed back to the fitting room, Allison decided to take a closer look at something that was bothering her. She thought she'd seen someone casually following them around the mall, and she'd just spotted that someone again. The person tailing them was a middle-aged woman with short blonde hair, and Allison noticed she'd been watching Carrie very intently. Both she and Steve had been concerned for her safety ever since the photos had appeared in
Gentry Magazine
. They became even more worried when the story broke on the local news. She turned to face the woman, giving her a strong look. A startled expression suddenly appeared on the other woman's face. She looked like a child who'd just been caught with a hand in the cookie jar. Allison took a few steps toward her, but as she did the other woman turned on her heel and quickly walked away. Allison hoped she'd scared her off. Carrie arrived a few minutes later with the blue dress in a plastic hanging bag.

"Ready?"

"Yeah," replied Allison. "Let's get out of here. I know the perfect spot for lunch."

As they headed back into to mall, Allison once again spotted the blonde-haired woman. She was still watching Carrie, this time keeping more of a distance. Allison quickly wove her way through the crowd, saying she was starving and wanted to beat the lunchtime rush. As they headed out to the parking lot, she let out a tiny sigh of relief. She'd successfully managed to ditch their stalker. They quickly got into her car and drove away.

T
he
Gentry Magazine
controversy damaged Carrie's photography business and she needed to find new clientele. Now that the next issue was on the stands, she hoped to be able to put the episode behind her, as least as far as business was concerned. Her website was back up and she'd added new items to her professional portfolio. She'd just finished emailing a prospective client, when she heard her cell phone beeping. It was a text message from Alex, reminding her about their meeting in his office at four o'clock that afternoon to discuss her case. She glanced at the clock. She'd been so wrapped up with work she'd completely lost track of the time. It was nearly three-thirty and Alex's office was across town. At least there wasn't anything on her desk that couldn't wait until the following day. She sent a quick reply.

"On my way."

She grabbed her purse and headed out the door. The traffic on the freeway was heavier than usual, causing her to arrive ten minutes late. The receptionist quickly ushered her into the conference room. Alex was waiting, along with Steve and two other men.

"Sorry I'm late. My bad."

"Don't worry about it," replied Alex with a smile. "We have some new information about your case, so as soon as you take a seat we can get started."

As Carrie took a chair Alex introduced her to the others. They were George McCormick, Alex's private investigator, and Jonathan Fields, an Internet and computer expert.

"You seem familiar to me. Have we met before?" asked Carrie as she shook Jonathan's hand. He appeared to be in his fifties, but he was still quite handsome. His dark hair had a touch of gray, and his wire-rimmed glasses gave him a distinguished look.

"I can't say we have. I guess I must have one of those common faces."

"I guess so," said Carrie as she acknowledged the others.

"As you know, I brought George onboard to investigate your case," said Alex, "and Jonathan has been working with George."

"Jonathan owns a computer networking business in Tucson," explained George. "As far as I'm concerned, he's the best damn computer and Internet forensics expert in the entire state of Arizona. He's been working diligently on your case and we want to let you know what we've found."

Jonathan began by explaining that each computer has a unique
IP
address, and that there were ways to track all of that computer's activities on the Internet.

"We already know the computer that uploaded the photos to
Gentry Magazine
belongs to Scott Andrews, and I've tracked down everything that computer did on the Internet for the entire day. I have the report with me." He pulled some papers out of his folder, explaining that Scott's computer had first been used to access Maggie Andrews' email account, then it went to another email account, this one belonging to Scott. "It appears to be an email account he used exclusively for contacting you, Carrie."

"I see." Her face began to turn red. "So tell me, were you able to actually read any of the email?"

"Yes, I was, and, I did. Scott Andrews used this account to, shall we say, describe in great detail his feelings of lust for your client, Alex. However, Carrie conducted herself like a lady. She never responded to any of his racier messages--"