Wedding Bell Blues (26 page)

Damn.

"Okay, describe the vehicle."

I kept my eyes closed and brought up the memory of the vehicle
again. "Smallish for an SUV. Black, four door. Spare on the back hatch.
Plain cover over the spare. Red pinstripe down the sides. Bug catcher
on the hood. Clear, I think."

"License plate?"

"It had one." I sighed, knowing the joke fell flat. "Sorry. I
didn't
pay that much attention." But I would from now on. That's for sure.

"What about make and model of the vehicle?"

"Sorry."

"No, you're doing great." He smiled and reached over to give
my hand
a quick squeeze. Then he climbed to his feet and poured coffee for the
two of us. "And this helps a lot. There wasn't an SUV in the lot when
the uniform returned after talking to Dispatch. So I'll talk to the
DA's Office and see if they can't get a warrant that will give us
access to the school's parking permit list for this year and last."

"Please, Colton, don't tell Mamie Peterson that you're going
through
student files because of me. She's already doing her best to force me
out of the school."

"Don't worry. She won't learn it from any of my team." He
placed a
mug in front of me before returning to his chair. "Jess, what you
remembered might be enough to help us finally catch the bastards who
killed Manny and hurt you."

"Really?"

"Really." He smiled and leaned over to gently kiss my cheek.
"Now, I
know neither of us feel like going back to sleep. So I'm going to take
a shower and get dressed. I'll drop you at your mother's later. I want
you to stay with her until I can come for you."

Now it was my turn to smile. Not because I was going to spend
the
day with my mother, but because he'd obviously forgotten what tonight
was. Or, perhaps he was hoping I'd forgotten that he'd been invited as
well. That way he could avoid the potential minefield of dinner with my
parents.

Well, too bad. I hadn't forgotten and I wasn't about to face
my mother in full wedding-mode alone.

"Not so fast, detective. You need to be at my folks' by six
tonight.
We have dinner with them, my sister and Brett, Brett's parents and best
man." He paled and groaned, confirming my guess that he'd hoped I'd
forgotten he'd been invited. "Colton, you will not leave me alone with
Hayden Forsythe. He is a boor and much too fond of putting his hands
where they don't belong."

"Well, sweetheart, I'm awfully tempted to do the same thing
whenever
you're around." He gave me a leer and proceeded to put his hands where
most men - or women for that matter - shouldn't.

"But your hands belong there." To prove my point, I held his
left
hand firmly to my breast before leaning over to kiss him. "And don't
think you've distracted me, Detective Dougherty. You will be at dinner
tonight unless something comes up at work. For your own continued
well-being, if something comes up, it had better be a doozy."

"I'll be there," he grumbled. "But you have to protect me from
your mother."

"We'll hide behind Maryanne and Brett. If we keep her focused
on the happy couple, she won't think about us."

Hopefully.

After Colton left to grab a shower, I poured myself another
mug of
coffee and returned to the table. Using the pad and pen he'd produced
earlier, I began making notes. At first, they were about the dream. If
I wrote the details down, I wouldn't forget them. Besides, the act of
writing them down might help me remember even more. It was worth a try,
at any rate.

Without consciously thinking about it, after finishing with
the
dream, I began writing up what happened inside the liquor store.
Everything I felt, everything I saw and heard. It didn't take long for
the first page to be filled with what can only be generously called my
scrawl. By the time I got to the part where I'd regained consciousness,
I had three pages filled with notes.

But nothing new had come out of it.

Damn it.

"Good. I was going to ask you to do this."

I started
nervously as Colton reached over my shoulder for the pad. As he looked
at my notes, I blew out a long breath and tried to still my racing
heart. I hadn't heard him come in, and his sudden comment and the sight
of his hand reaching over my shoulder had scared me more than I wanted
to admit.

"I thought it might help keep it straight in my mind and I'd
hoped it might jog my memory some more."

"Jess, don't sweat it. You've given me enough to work with
now." He
took a sip of my coffee, grimacing to find it only lukewarm. "And
you've helped confirm something I'd suspected."

"What?"

"We've been operating on the assumption that the robbers who
killed
Manny were the same ones who've been hitting other liquor stores in the
region. That assumption was based on the masks they wore. But I haven't
really believed it. There are too many differences with what happened
Saturday from what the robbers' usual MO is. Besides, I learned a long
time ago to listen to my gut in cases like this and my gut kept telling
me these guys aren't the same ones. The information you remembered
about the SUV and parking sticker help confirm we've got a copy cat out
there."

"I don't understand."

"I don't have anything solid to back it up, just my gut. But
my
gut's pretty good about things like this." He paused, drumming his
fingers on the tabletop for a moment. "Look, Jess, the only reason we
initially thought the cases might be related was because the perps wore
the devil masks. But that detail wasn't a secret. The press had covered
it. So it wouldn't be difficult for someone to figure out that was a
good way to throw suspicion onto someone else."

"Colton, there has to be more to it than that."

"There is. To begin with, there's Manny's murder. These
so-called
devil robbers have brandished weapons but have been very careful not to
use them. They've locked the employees in a back room after making sure
they can't call for help. From what I've been able to gather from the
other crimes, they've never gotten close enough to anyone in the store
for there to be a physical altercation.

"And, before you ask, there's more. These perps seemed more
intent
on trashing the store than anything else. They only took money from one
of the registers, didn't even look in the other five. Nor did they make
Manny open the safe. Hell, Jess, the safe is small enough they could
have taken it with them and they didn't. Everything about this robbery
screams amateur."

"Is this a good thing or bad?"

"To be honest, it's a bit of both. It's good because it means
we're
dealing with kids most likely, kids who have to be scared to death.
That will cause them to make mistakes.

"On the other hand, it's bad because it means the original
perps are
still out there. But that's not my problem because they haven't
committed any crimes in my jurisdiction."

While that might all be true, he was forgetting one thing. If
the
guys who killed Manny really were students at the school, there was a
good chance I knew them. Oh, they might not be in one of my questions,
but I'd probably come into contact with them at some point. That's why
the one was so worried about me being able to identify them. Worse, it
meant I very well could come into contact with them when I returned to
school Monday. Did I dare risk that?

"Tell you what, Jess, go get dressed and then we'll go out to
breakfast. How's that sound?"

"You know, it sounds wonderful. Anything that keeps me from
having to cook this early in the morning sounds wonderful."

More than that, if it kept me from worrying about what might
happen come Monday, I'd be thankful.

Being scared and pissed in pretty much equal portions isn't
the best
way to start the day. It's certainly not a good way when you are
supposed to be helping your sister get ready for one last "family" meal
with not only your family but the groom's family as well. I knew it,
but couldn't do anything about it.

Well, I probably could, but I didn't know how. Nor could I
force
myself to try to figure it out. Not when my mind kept going back to
that early morning conversation with Colton. If he was right, and I
truly believed he was, then the two men who'd robbed Manny's store,
killing Manny in the process, weren't men at all. They were nothing
more than kids, possibly students in one of my classes. No matter how
hard I wracked my brain, I couldn't figure out who it might be. Nor
could I figure out what they were so afraid I might know or remember.

Worse, as I sipped a mug of coffee and watched Maryanne trying
to wake
up across the table from me, I felt my anger growing. How could any of
my students be so stupid and unfeeling to have pulled something like
this? That was bad enough. The fact they'd targeted not only me but
also my family seriously pissed me off. My house had been destroyed. My
sister and parents acted like they were walking on eggs, starting at
every little sound or shadow. I could feel their fear for me. This
should be the happiest time of Maryanne's life. Instead, she was
worried about what might happen next to me.

And I had had enough!

"Jessie, what's wrong?" Tired as she was, Maryanne had
obviously realized I was brooding. Crap.

"Nothing, Tink. I just got up way too early this morning."

She grinned, reaching over to lightly pat my hand. "You know,
I'm really glad you and Colton are back together."

I shook my head, a slight smile touching my lips. Let her
think the
reason I was so tired was because Colton and I had engaged in some
early morning "exercise." It was better than the truth. Besides, she'd
just given me the perfect opportunity to ask something that had been on
my mind for a couple of days now. I knew my best chance to get an
honest answer was to spring it on her when she wasn't expecting it.

"I gather you and Mom weren't too pleased when we broke up."

"Huh?"
She looked at me a little blearily, still not completely awake. Even
so, I had my answer in the way it became very quiet behind me where Mom
had been busy getting breakfast for the two of them.

"Colton told me the other day that you and Mama went to see
him
right after we broke up." God, it was hard not to laugh at how quickly
that woke Maryanne up. She blushed bright pink and licked her lips as
she obviously tried to figure out what to say. Then she studied the
coffee mug cradled in her hands before finally sighing and meeting my
gaze. "It's okay, little sister. I was just surprised that you went to
him instead of coming to me."

"Probably as surprised as I was to find out why you kicked
Colton
out," Mom said as she slid a plate of eggs and bacon on the table in
front of Maryanne. I heard the hurt in her voice and blushed much as
Maryanne had.

"Mom, I've already explained. It was embarrassing enough to
find him
with Heather - or at least to believe I'd found him with her. I
couldn't bear letting you know what a fool I'd been."

Instead, I'd been a fool for not talking to Colton and for
letting
myself jump to conclusions. By jumping to the obvious - but very wrong
- conclusion, I'd cost myself ten years with Colton and a really great
table. Damn it.

"So, what's on the books today?" I asked. It was most
definitely time to change the subject.

Maryanne's blush deepened and her eyes sparkled with
anticipation.
Tonight officially started the wedding festivities, and I couldn't
blame her for being excited. Or nervous. Not that she had any reason to
be. Despite the fact it took the pregnancy scare to get Brett to come
to his senses, he loved her and she loved him. Better yet, both sets of
parents approved of the marriage. That had to count for something.

Now if we could just get through the next three days without
any more upset, we'd all be happy.

"The cleaning service is coming in a ten. I need to make one
last
run to the grocery for a couple of things, and then it's just getting
dinner ready and making sure all the last minute details for the
rehearsal dinner tomorrow and then the wedding are taken care of," Mom
replied as she topped off my mug of coffee.

"I've a list of
calls you can make for me, if you don't mind, Jessie," Maryanne added
and nodded her thanks as Mom refilled her mug.

"Sure." I reached over and covered her hand in mine.
"Maryanne, I
want to do whatever I can to make this the best wedding ever. I mean
that."

"I know, Jess. And you have. You're my maid of honor. You've
helped
me be strong enough to kick Janie out of the wedding party and you're
back with Colton. Nothing else is going to go wrong."

God, did she have to say it aloud and tempt fate? I didn't
groan,
but I wanted to. Instead, I smiled and nodded. If it was at all within
my power, I'd make sure nothing else happened to detract from her day,
the day when she finally married the boy she'd loved most of her life.

After all, that's what big sisters are for.

Of course, mothers are a whole different subject, as I learned
a few
minutes later. The moment Maryanne was safely upstairs getting dressed,
Mom all but pounced. She took me by the hand and led me into her study,
where she shut the door to make sure no one interrupted us. I didn't
dare disobey when she pointed at one of the chairs before her desk.
Instead, I took the indicated seat, wondering what I'd done this time.

It still amazes me how, even though I'm more than thirty now,
she
can make me feel like a little girl caught with my hand in the cookie
jar just by looking at me like she did just then. Mothers must go to
school to learn it. Either that or it's some sort of hidden genetic
coding that's only activated after you give birth. God knows I've tried
to master that look for use on recalcitrant students, but to no avail.