Bride Interrupted (5 page)

Kayla took a step back, dread filling her feet with lead. “This note was left with the ring. Does it mean anything to you?” She showed him the note.

“No. I’ve never heard this before.”

Kayla felt around on the counter for her cell phone. “I’m calling her parents.”

Before she could pick up her phone, Jerry pulled his phone out of his pocket and punched in something. “Mr. Firwood, this is Jerry. Please tell me Marcy is there with you.”

Kayla took a sip of her coffee while Jerry spoke with Marcy’s father. The much-loved brisk coffee of her home state of Louisiana burned as it slid down her closed throat. She set the cup on the counter and waited. Jerry’s hand tightened on the phone. Kayla paced back and forth behind him. Confusion and fear warred in her head.
What was going on? Who sent Marcy’s ring to her? Where was Marcy?

“I’ll be right over.” He started to end the call, but instead, he breathed into the phone, “First, send the cops to this address.”

He rattled off her address. Kayla stopped in her tracks. “What’s going on?”

He popped off the barstool to stand next to her. “I don’t know. But something is wrong. The cops are at Marcy’s house questioning them about the last time they saw her.”

“Oh.”

“I didn’t say anything to her father about the ring because I didn’t want to alarm him any more than he already is. He is so upset he could barely talk. The cops will be here in a few minutes. Tell them everything.”

“Sure. Sure. Anything I can do to help. Keep me posted.” She pulled at her left earlobe, a nervous habit since childhood.

Jerry slowly set the ring back in the seashell dish on the counter. He pulled his hand away and brushed the tips of his fingers against his lips. “I think I will stay until the cops get here. I want to know what’s going on.”

Kayla put a hand on his shoulder. “Certainly. Jerry, everything will be okay.”

Kayla paced in the small kitchen area. She couldn’t concentrate on anything. Where was Marcy? Why had someone sent her the young woman’s engagement ring? And the note, what did it mean? The last time Kayla saw Marcy was that first night at the bar, less than a week ago. Hell, that was the only time they met in person. She was such a lovely woman, so alive and excited about her upcoming wedding. Her enthusiasm leaked into Kayla’s blood and made her long for that special something she would never have. Now, that woman who had such hope about her future marriage was in some kind of trouble. Although no one put it in words yet, Kayla could feel it deep in her gut.

She breathed a sigh of relief when a knock sounded at the door. Finally, the cops had arrived. They would be able to shed some light on the situation. She jerked opened the front door and found herself staring into a pair of familiar dark eyes.

“Colton.”

“Hey. Expecting someone else?” His lazy voice tickled every nerve in her body while his massive frame filled the doorway, making her feel small.

“I’m sorry. Yes, I am. But come in.” She stepped aside to let him enter her living room.

“I just left the nursing home and wanted to tell you Earl looks good today. Said to tell you to stop by later if you have time.” Colton turned to face her. Concern lit his features. “You okay? You’re shaking like a leaf.”

His warm hands closed around hers, and she realized for the first time that she was ice cold and shivering. “I…it’s…” She jumped at the sound of the doorbell ringing. “That must be the cops.”

“Cops. What the hell?”

Kayla opened the door to two men. One dressed in police blues, the other in plain clothes. Plain clothes’ eyes bore into Kayla, a sinister smile formed on his lips. She instantly disliked him. His deep voice sent a chill down her spine. “Ms. Boudreaux, we need to ask you some questions about Marcy Firwood. May we come in?”

“Certainly.” She moved aside.

“Thank you,” police blues said. “I am Officer Banks, and this is…”

“Detective Hayden Sawyer.” The ice in Colton’s voice sent shivers down Kayla’s spine. She looked between Colton and the stony face of the detective. The men faced off with each other. The tension between them was thick as the muddy water of the Louisiana swamps.

“Colton Ford.” The name rolled off the detective’s lips with fire.

Kayla instinctively moved closer to Colton. For all of her unanswered questions about him, she felt safer beside him rather than next to the detective.

“Excuse me,” Banks interrupted. “We need to get some information from you, Ms. Boudreaux. Mr. Smith said you have something to show us.”

Thankful for the distraction, she led the three men to the kitchen counter and pointed to the ring and note in the seashell. She indicated the man sitting at the bar. “Jerry said this ring belongs to his fiancée, Marcy. Is she okay?”

“Why don’t you tell us how you came to have possession of these items?” Detective Sawyer’s gruff voice startled her. She didn’t miss the unspoken accusation either.

“Last night, I had a headache from the loud music in the bar so I came up here to take some aspirin and rest for a while. I found a wrapped package taped to my back door. There was no name tag, so I opened it to find this ring and note.”

“Why didn’t you call the police?” Sawyer eyed her.

Two more uniformed officers entered her house. They nodded to the detective and escorted Jerry outside. Before the door shut, Jerry looked at Kayla, his eyes pleading for a positive outcome.

Colton moved to stand behind her. His hand at the small of her back was comforting, but the gesture filled her with confusion. She didn’t expect the protective touch from Colton to be so pleasurable. “I am a wedding coordinator. It’s not unusual for men and women to leave their rings with me until time for the wedding.” Granted, they usually delivered them to her in person, not as an unexplained gift. She kept that to herself.

“But this is obviously an engagement ring and not a wedding band. Again, why didn’t you call the police?” Sawyer’s voice dropped a notch.

“Dammit man, tell us what this is all about,” Colton barked. He tensed next to Kayla. Heat and anger radiated off his body.

The hairs on the back of her neck raised. Without him speaking the words, Kayla felt like the detective was accusing her of something. “I didn’t think I needed to.”

Colton leaned over to take a closer look at the ring. Kayla noticed he didn’t touch it. Fingerprints. Hers were all over it. As well as Jerry’s. “So after you found the note, what did you do?” The question coming from Colton startled her.

“I…umm. I wasn’t sure what to think of it. I figured one of my clients sent it for some reason or another. It was too late to call any of them and ask, so I left it here and went back to the bar. It sat there all night until a while ago when Jerry identified it.”

Detective Sawyer made a hand motion to Banks. The officer pulled out a plastic bag and placed the ring and the note inside. Then Sawyer turned his steely eyes back to Kayla. “What do you think the note means?” He recited the words from notes he made in a small notebook. “Here comes the bride dressed all in white. Radiant and lovely she shines in his sight. Ms. Boudreaux, what does that mean?”

“Look, I don’t know. I just found it. That’s all.”

“Are you sure you didn’t write those words? Sounds like something a wedding planner would say.” His smirk annoyed Kayla.

“Wedding coordinator. And no, I didn’t write the note.” She was tired of this. She wanted answers.

“When was the last time you had contact with Marcy?”

“About a week ago. Why?” Kayla pulled at her ear.

“Did you want to do her any harm?” His tone rose with each question.

“Wha – what do you mean?”

“Did you have any reason to kill her?” Sawyer pinned her with a stare, an ugly sneer twisted his mouth.

“Kill. No.” The ominous words did not have time to sink in before Sawyer bombarded her with more questions.

“Where were you last night between midnight and three a.m.?”

“I was at the bar until around two in the morning.” Kayla looked up at Colton before continuing. “I don’t understand. Did something happen to Marcy?”

“And after two? Where were you? Did you see Marcy last night?” Kayla shook her head. Sawyer’s hand slammed down on the bar. “Did you kill her?”

“Sawyer, back off.” Colton’s jaw clenched tight. He wrapped one arm around Kayla’s shoulder and pulled her close. “Stop the interrogation.”

Kayla looked from the sullen face of Officer Banks, to the chiseled features of Sawyer, to the hardened lines of Colton’s face. “She’s dead? No.”

“All right, Sawyer. That’s enough bullshit. Tell us what the hell is going on.”

Sawyer looked at Kayla then focused his gaze on Colton. “This is official police business. Colton, you should probably leave. It doesn’t involve you.”

“Hell no, I’m not leaving. Why are you here?”

“Look, man.” Sawyer’s condescending tone grated on Kayla’s last nerve. “Just leave the lady to me, and we’ll straighten this all out.” He took a step towards her.

Colton’s hand fisted. Kayla laid a hand on his arm to restrain him. The pissing war between these two men apparently went deep. “Detective Sawyer, Colton is staying. Now, if you don’t mind, cut to the chase and tell me what the hell you are doing in my house, and what you think you are accusing me of.”

Kayla didn’t miss the tweak of a smile on Colton’s face, as well as the shocked expression on Sawyer’s.

Sawyer’s cell phone beeped. He pulled it from his pocket and he looked at it. “I have to take this call. Officer Banks, fill them in.” The detective walked out the front door, closing it behind him.

The instant he left the room, Kayla could feel the tension leaving Colton’s body. He turned to the officer. “Talk to us, Banks.”

The officer thumbed through his notes before starting. “Yesterday evening, a body was discovered by the old fishing pier at the boat launch a few miles from here. It was identified this morning as Marcy Firwood’s.”

“Oh, my gosh,” Kayla screeched. Her bride was dead.

Colton took her trembling body into his embrace while he talked to Banks about the details.

“I can’t say much more than that right now. Her death is still under investigation. There are certain details, such as the ring, that have not been released to the public. We would appreciate it if you kept that to yourselves.”

Kayla only caught bits and pieces of the conversation. She was mentally exhausted from the news of poor Marcy’s death, and from the intense grilling from Detective Sawyer. The flow of tears wouldn’t stop long enough for her to follow the two men. She drifted in and out of a daze until Colton laid her down on her couch right after the door shutting indicated Banks’ and Sawyer’ departure.

She snuggled into the comfort of Colton’s arms. The beating of his heart steadied her nerves. Never before had she turned herself over to another man’s touch so wholeheartedly. It had a calming effect on her. She could get lost in his strong embrace every day.

Colton locked the bar, the last of the supplies for the next week put away. Turning, he caught sight of a familiar woman making her way towards the waters’ edge. He couldn’t stop himself from staring. He had seen and been with many beautiful women in his forty-one years, but something about Kayla intrigued him. Turned all of his internal buttons. Her auburn hair and hazel eyes stopped him every time he was around her. He admired her independence. Unlike some of the needy and reckless women from his past, this lady knew how to take care of herself. Maybe a little too much. He often wondered why she pushed so hard at everything, never giving herself a break. Just like a fireball, she rolled and consumed whatever got in her way.