Vegas or Bust: An Aggie Underhill Mystery (6 page)

“What?  That’s justified,” he said.  “You’re an awful driver.  Anyone with half a brain would agree.  Isn’t that right, Aggie?”

Three sets of eyes were on her.  Betty, Anita, and Roger were waiting for her answer.  “Um, well…”  She wondered how she could get out of giving her opinion.  She didn’t feel like having everyone angry with her.  That was when she saw a man who looked extremely familiar standing by a slot machine.  She recognized the tall thin man with the scraggly comb over.  He had the same awful comb over on the cruise.  He was wearing a burgundy sweater vest over a white shirt and black pants.  “Hey… isn’t that Harold Smith?”

“Who?  Where?” Betty asked, turning to follow Aggie’s gaze.  “Harold?  Miriam’s ex-husband?”  Her green eyes grew large.  “What would he be doing here?”

“I could have sworn I’d just seen him and then he disappeared behind that row of slot machines over there.”  She pointed in the direction she’d seen him.

“That area is for high-rollers,” Roger said.  “I doubt that Miriam’s ex-husband can afford those.  Not unless he became an accountant to the stars.  Last I heard, he worked as a CPA for a
very small, nondescript company.  If he had money they would’ve had a better room on the cruise ship.”

“Unless he got a better job since the cruise,” Aggie said.  “That would make sense.”

“Doubtful.  Miriam would’ve mentioned it,” Roger said.

“I didn’t know you were so chummy with Miriam?”

“I’m not.  I have them on my
My Corner
account,” Roger said, matter-of-factly.  “Don’t you?”

“I do,” Anita piped up.  “I kept in contact with everyone from the cruise.”

“Um, me too,” Betty said, sheepishly.  She didn’t want to upset Aggie who’d been obviously left out of the loop.  “Well, almost everyone.”

“Everyone?” Aggie asked, unable to hide the truth that she was shocked by this.

They all nodded. 

“I see,” she said, suddenly feeling hurt.  “Everyone, but me.”

“Oh, Agsie, dear,” Betty said, putting her arms around Aggie and giving her a hug.  “It’s not like that.  All you need to do is find them by name and send a friend request.  I’m sure everyone would friend you.  They all wanted you to be here for the wedding.”

“That’s true.”  Anita nodded.  “Miriam specifically asked for you to be here.  She was very adamant about it.”

“Really?  Me?”

“Yes,” Anita said.  “She often inquired about you.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Aggie said, and then looked again in the direction of the high-roller section of the casino.  “I swear I saw Harold Smith.  Either that or it was another tall thin man with awful taste in clothing and a horrible comb-over.”

“I don’t know,” Betty said, shrugging.  “There’re a lot of men with horrible comb-overs in this world.  Trust me.  I’ve dated most of them.  It must’ve been someone who resembles Harold.  I can’t imagine what he’d be doing here, anyway.  I doubt he’s invited to the wedding.”

“Do you have Harold Smith on your
My Corner
?” Aggie asked.

Betty shook her head.  “I didn’t think it would be right considering I accepted Miriam’s request first.”

“She found you and sent you a friend request?” Aggie asked, feeling another pang of jealousy.  She never received a request from Miriam or anyone else they met on the cruise ship.

Betty looked down and fumbled nervously with her fingers.  “It was right after the cruise.  I offered to send her some of the photos I’d taken.  And I gave her my contact information.”

“Oh, I see,” Aggie said, feeling slightly better about it. 

“I don’t have Harold on mine either,” Roger said.  “Not that he’d sent me a request or anything.”

“Me neither,” Anita said.

“Hmmm, I was probably just seeing things and it wasn’t Harold after all,” Aggie said.  “He’s probably just on my mind because the last time I saw him it was with Miriam.”

“Oh, no,” Anita said, who had been half listening to their conversation.  She’d slipped a twenty dollar bill into a nearby slot machine.  “You weren’t seeing things.  It was most definitely him.  I saw him, too, and I never forget a face.  You know, I’m really good at faces.  I have a memory like a steel trap.  It’s because I eat well and take care of myself.”  She gave them all a once over and her eyes landed on Roger.  “And I don’t worry over little things.” 

Roger scrunched up his eyes and glared at Anita.  If looks could kill, Anita would’ve keeled over.

Oblivious to Roger’s reaction she continued, “Harold Smith was at the Black Jack table when I sat down.  And I asked him if he was here for the wedding.  I told him how wonderful it was that he was so supportive of his wife’s new found happiness.”

“What did he say?” Aggie asked, her eyes growing large.  She couldn’t believe that Anita said that.  Well, on second thought, she could believe it. 

“Nothing.  All he did was nod and then he left the table,” Anita said, shrugging.  “He didn’t seem very happy.  But I can’t say I blame him.  Miriam shouldn’t be getting married so soon after the divorce.  I think it’s horrible!  Not that I agree with divorce, anyhow.”

“What?”  Betty scowled.  “Do you believe in cheating then?  The man was having an affair!  If you ask me, he got what he deserved.  Good for Miriam for finding happiness and leaving that louse!  And, for the record, there’s nothing wrong with getting a divorce.  Trust me, sometimes it’s unavoidable!”

There was a moment of awkward silence and then Anita’s jaw dropped.  She put her hand on Betty’s arm to console her.  “Oh, you poor, poor, dear.  How could I be so dense?  I forgot that you’ve been divorced…what is it?  Four… or five times now?  It’s so sad.”

“No!” Betty snapped.  “Not as many as that.  Only three times.”

“You poor thing,” Anita consoled, shaking her head.  “Poor, poor thing.”

Relieved, Aggie sucked in a deep breath.  She was so glad that Betty had become Anita’s
poor, poor you
target.  Normally it was
poor, poor Aggie you lost your husband
.  It was nice to have someone else be the
poor, poor dear
.

“It’s fine,” Betty said to Anita.  “Really.  Just a string of bad luck.”

“Come on.  Before we’re late,” Roger said.  “We’ve been standing here gabbing long enough.  We’re wasting time.  I wanted a good seat at the wedding.”

“I didn’t know that was a priority for you,” Aggie said.

“I like to be able to see the bride and groom and hear the wedding vows,” he stated.  “There’s nothing worse than being at a wedding ceremony and having only the back of someone’s head to stare at while trying to make out the muffled voices of the bride and groom.  They never speak loud enough.”

Anita looked at him, pressed her hands over her heart and shook her head while she
tsk, tsk, tsked
.  “You’re worrying again!” she sang, and pushed a button cashing out what was left of her twenty dollar bill from the slot machine. 

“I am
not
worrying!  I don’t like sitting in the back.  That’s all.”  Roger scowled.  “I’ll have you know there’s nothing wrong with my ticker.”  He threw Anita another dirty look, and spun around on the heel of his brown loafer.  He headed in the direction of the elevators in search of the wedding chapel.

Chapter 5

The wedding chapel was small and quaint, yet beautiful.  When they arrived, Jack was standing near the entrance and greeted them.  He thanked them all for coming. 

“Aggie, I’m so glad that you could make it,” Jack said, giving her a gentle hug.

Aggie was a little taken back by his friendliness.  She thought it was rather odd considering she seemed to be the only one left out of the social loop on My Corner.  “Thank you for inviting me,” she said graciously.

“It’s our pleasure,” he said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze and covering it with his other hand.  “Miriam will be so relieved to see you.”

“Relieved?” she asked as he released her hand.  Aggie wondered what he meant by relieved.  She felt that was a rather peculiar thing to say.  “What do you mean by…”

“We have gifts,” Anita said, butting in and giving Jack a big, exaggerated hug.  It was obvious she didn’t like the amount of attention Aggie was getting.  She made sure to stand directly in front of her, blocking Aggie from Jack’s view, while taking hold of both his hands.  Being that Aggie was a good foot or so taller, she could see Jack right over the cute little blonde bobbed head.  “Miriam had mentioned that we should bring the gifts to the reception after the ceremony.  She said there’d be no where to put them until then.  So, we’ll just slip back to our rooms to pick them up afterwards.  I have a huge gift for you!”

Aggie could feel the blood drain from her face.  Her legs wobbled and she began to feel a bit lightheaded as if she were about to pass out.  She wondered how she could’ve forgotten to bring a gift.  Since it was a last minute decision to come to Las Vegas for the wedding, she hadn’t even thought about it.  Her mind had been preoccupied with thoughts of getting rid of her dreadful houseguests, packing, and traveling.  Not once did buying a wedding gift cross her mind. 

Aggie decided that after the ceremony she’d drop by the gift shop in the casino before the reception.  She knew she couldn’t buy a Las Vegas souvenir because not only would it be tacky, they’d know she’d forgotten to buy a gift.  She’d have to search for something that didn’t have Las Vegas stamped on it.  Maybe she’d get lucky and be able to find a blank card, any decent card would do.  Hopefully she’d be able to find one with some pretty flowers on it.  She could write a little something like,
“Congratulations,”
or
“Wishing you the best,”
and then stuff a check inside as a gift. 

Yes,
she thought. 
That’ll work.
 
Newlyweds always need money. 
And the happy couple would have no idea that she’d forgotten to buy a gift.  It was the perfect plan.  And maybe they’d be so happy with the generosity of the money she’d given them that they’d actually send her a friend request on My Corner to thank her as soon as they got home.  She’d show Anita that she was just as popular as her.  In fact, she was going to go all out and become more popular than Anita just to put her in her place.  She bet that Miriam and Jack would appreciate receiving a graciously large amount of money any day over a silly wedding gift that would rarely be used.  Seriously, how many times do useless wedding gifts get shoved into the back of cupboards or closets and collect dust? 

“Oh, you’v
e talked to Miriam?” Jack asked Anita.  His shoulders slumped with relief.  That meant she was all right.  She was just avoiding all contact with him until the wedding.  Her superstitions had gotten the better of her. 

“Yes,” Anita said.  “We chatted about a week ago.  She was so excited.  She told me all about her dress and about what she had planned for the wedding ceremony…”

“Oh,” Jack said, cutting her off and frowning.  That horrible feeling returned to his gut, telling him that something was wrong.  “Well, go have a seat.  Anywhere will be fine.”

“Thanks,” Roger said, shaking Jack’s hand and patting him on the back.  “We’ll have to light up some wedding cigars during the reception.  You do have cigars, don’t you?”

“I quit smoking,” Jack said.

“You quit?” Roger asked. 

“Miriam doesn’t like it.”

“She wouldn’t stop you from having a cigar on your wedding day, would she?”

Jack shrugged.  “Maybe.”

“It’s not like you’re inhaling the smoke.  A cigar is for tasting,” Roger said, winking at him. “We’ll sneak you one.” 

The four of them walked down the aisle and filed into the third row from the altar on the right side of the room.  The first two rows on each side were already filled, and a few other people were scattered in the rows behind them.  Aggie was surprised to see a couple of familiar faces from the cruise.  FBI agents, Gladys and George, were sitting in the row across from them.  Gladys leaned forward and waved.  Aggie smiled politely and returned the wave.  George leaned forward to see who Gladys was waving at.  He nodded and then winked.  Aggie felt her face flush.  She wondered if he was winking or just had something in his eye.  Just then she heard giddy giggling beside her.  She turned to see Anita blushing.  Anita wiggled her cute petite digits at George and he smiled.

Embarrassed, Aggie pretended not to have noticed the wink.  She hoped that no one had seen her confusion as to whom it was for.  She looked around and admired the chapel.  She had to admit that Miriam had stunning taste which was quite surprising.  From what she remembered, Miriam was a bit on the plain side.  Mousy would be a good word to describe her.  Aggie remembered how she dressed on the cruise.  Her shirts were always tucked in and her shorts were darn near pulled up to her chin.  And she always had a great big bow tied into the back of her hair.  But Aggie did have to admit that on formal dining night, Miriam had dressed rather nicely in a stunning emerald green dress.  Aggie remembered admiring it.  She decided deep down inside, Miriam had good taste that was trying to break free.

The aisle down the middle of the chapel had hundreds of pink and white rose petals scattered among the beige tiles.  The front of the chapel had a beige carpeted stage with two huge clear glass vases filled with beautiful fresh cut pink and white roses.  Three tall glass candle holders were at the back of the altar.  The entire room was lit up by candle light and the lamps suspended from the ceiling.  Aggie wondered if they’d turn the lights off and do the ceremony completely by candlelight.  She felt that would be very romantic. 

Turning in her seat to get a better look at the rest of the chapel, Aggie admired the chairs.  They were
draped with lovely beige fabric and dark green satin bows were tied at the back.  Placed on the floor at the end of each row was a tall glass vase with a lit candle inside.  She glanced over at the rows behind her and noticed Jack greeting a few more guests.  Again, she looked around the room.  There were about twenty guests seated.  Suddenly, another familiar face caught her attention.  A smiling redhead with severely short, straight bangs, and shoulder length hair caught Aggie’s eye.  She was sitting two rows behind her.  Aggie waved, recognizing Bianca, the manager of the restaurant on the cruise ship.  Bianca had been very kind and helped her order gluten free meals every night from the menu.  She’d even been kind enough to give Aggie her phone number and personal information on the last day of the cruise so they could keep in touch.

At least Bianca was kind enough to keep in contact with me,
Aggie thought.  Even though she never used the information Bianca had given her.  Though, she did email her to thank her for being so helpful on the cruise.  And she had received a reply that sort of confused her a bit.  Bianca had mentioned wishing she’d been of more help and asked if she’d call her sometime.  Aggie wondered what she meant by being more helpful.  She probably meant she could’ve given her recipes to the gluten free meals on the ship.  That would’ve been really helpful.  But after that email, Aggie sort of lost contact with Bianca.  She wasn’t the best at keeping in touch with people who weren’t in her daily life.  And she didn’t really like to chat on the phone.  She was more of a once a year Christmas card sender.

Bianca gave Aggie a curt nod with no hint of a smile.  This was pretty much what Aggie had expected.  She hoped Bianca wasn’t upset with her for not keeping in contact.  It was hard to say.  From what she could tell, Bianca wasn’t the sort of person to normally break out in a smile.  She then wondered if that was why the rest of the group hadn’t sent her friend requests on My Corner because it wasn’t within her nature to be chatty with everyone.  Aggie smiled and nodded back at Bianca.  And to her surprise, Bianca winked.  Quickly, Aggie turned in her seat.  This time she wasn’t imagining things.  She was winked at.  There was no mistaking it. 

“I told you she likes you,” Roger said, nudging her with his elbow.  “I told you that on the cruise.  You were the only person she was nice to.”  Roger was sitting to Aggie’s left and Betty was sitting on the other side of him.  Aggie hadn’t realized he was turned around in his seat, admiring the beautiful chapel, too.  “Remember when I told you that on the cruise?”

“Oh, hush,” Aggie said.  “I’m sure she just had something in her eye.”

Just then a man dressed as Elvis in white leather pants, matching jacket and dark sunglasses, accompanied by a flamboyant woman in a red feathered Vegas Showgirl costume flounced down the aisle arm in arm.  Jack followed closely behind them, smiling shyly at his guests.  Elvis stepped up on the stage and ran a comb through his slicked back black hair.  The Showgirl retrieved a microphone from a stand at the left side of the altar.  She switched it on and handed it to him.

“Hello everyone,” he said, in his best Elvis impersonator voice.  “Uh, hum.”

The room grew silent.

Aggie smiled.  This was more like what she expected out of a Las Vegas wedding.  She beamed at Elvis and the Showgirl.  Her hands clasped together, excitedly.  This was going to be fun.

“Let’s begin, uh huh,” Elvis said, and did a funky little dance move, shaking his hips, and then stopping with his index finger pointing up in the air signaling the music to begin.  The Wedding March floated on the air from the speakers above.  Jack stood at the altar waiting for his beloved Miriam to enter the chapel.  The wedding guests all turned in their seats and stared at the doorway waiting to see the lovely bride.  Midway through the song, the guests began to whisper to each other.  Eyes were darting to the entrance of the chapel, to Jack who was nervously wringing his hands together and then back to the entrance.

When the Wedding March ended there was still no sign of Miriam.  Elvis switched his microphone back on and made a bad joke about brides being hung up with wedding jitters.  Everyone chuckled.  Jack’s face flushed.

“I told you that woman was no good!” shouted a short stout woman with lots of really tall black hair and gobs of bright blue eye shadow that looked to be straight from the 1960s.  She hopped up from her seat in the front row and firmly planted her hands on her hips.  “You’re better off without her!”

Aggie figured the woman must be Jack’s mother.  She then looked over at Jack who glanced around the room at his guests.  “I’m sure there’s some mistake,” he muttered, apologetically. 
“Someone should go see what’s holding Miriam up.  She’s probably still getting ready.  Isn’t that right, Mama?”

The woman thrust her hands up in the air and said while shrugging, “How should I know?”

“But, but…you were helping her, weren’t you?”

“No!” she snapped.  “Why would I waste my time on her?  That awful woman stood me up last night!” 

The color drained from Jack’s face.  He was suddenly unsteady on his feet and his knees felt wobbly.  Aggie got up from her seat and scooted out of the row.  She was worried that Jack was about to faint.  She put her arm around him and walked him over to the first row where his mother had been sitting.  A small quiet man, probably a relative of Jack’s who’d been sitting next to Jack’s mother, got up and offered his seat to him.  Aggie helped Jack sit down.  He seemed to be in a daze. 

“Are you all right?” Aggie asked.

“Um, yeah, thanks,” he said.  “I’m just a little confused.”  He then looked over at his mother.  “Mama, did Miriam refuse your invitation to dinner?”  He had a hard time believing that Miriam would be so rude to his mother.

“She certainly did!” Sylvie huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

“I can’t believe it,” he said, slumping down in the chair.  “What did she say?”

“Nothing,” she said,
“absolutely nothing.  She didn’t even bother to answer the door.”  Sylvie sat down next to Jack and took his hands in hers.  “My little boy stood up at the altar by that horrible woman.  She’s an embarrassment to the family, making a fool out of you.”  She pursed up her lips and made an exaggerated pouty face.  “Don’t you worry, sweetheart.  You let Mama make everything all better.  Gina’s daughter Megan is still single and she’d make a beautiful bride.  You let Mama take care of the arrangements.”

“That’s quite enough!” An older lady with tight curly hair and a cane hobbled over to Sylvie.  “I’m Miriam’s grandmother and I know my granddaughter would never stand anyone up at the altar unless he was a no good bum.  It must be your son’s fault!  He must’ve gone and done something to make her run away.”

Jack’s mind immediately thought of the strippers last night.  But Miriam couldn’t possibly know about that, could she?  Plus, it’s not like he touched them.  He only watched.  He even turned down the lap dance his buddies had ordered.  Or he thought he did.  He couldn’t remember.  Last night was still a blur.  He was kicking himself for having had too much to drink.  He knew he shouldn’t have gone to the strip club.  It’s caused him nothing but trouble.