A Wedding To Die For

2

Megan reached out to me with blood-stained hands and pleaded, “Abby, help him. Please help him.”

I wasn’t sure why she’d turned to me rather than her mother, but that question caused no hesitation on my part. I squeezed by the still-immobile Sylvia, hurried over, and knelt beside Megan.

James Beadford’s dilated eyes stared up at the ceiling and a wicked gash to his temple had bled enough to completely mask his right ear. I lifted his hand and felt for a pulse, not going for the carotid. His messy head and neck would have made that difficult.

So much blood. And it was still seeping into Megan’s lap. Beadford’s skin was warm, but I felt nothing, not even one tiny beat of his heart in that thick, limp wrist.

I sat back on my heels, heard and felt a crunching sound beneath my feet. The brick hearth was right behind me and I leaned against it, realizing I was crouching in small pieces of glass. A couple of feet behind Megan lay the scattered remnants of a leaded crystal vase, the jagged base glittering like a giant diamond in the light from the window.

Meeting Megan’s anxious gaze, I shook my head. “I’m so sorry. He’s gone.”

She stared down at her father’s face, then bent at the waist and collapsed over him, her strapless bodice heaving with sobs.

I looked over at Sylvia, who hadn’t uttered a sound, hadn’t moved an inch. She stood rigid, fists at her sides, a tinge of gray around her crimson mouth. Kate’s pale face loomed behind her.

“Kate, call nine one one.”

But before Kate could react, Sylvia Beadford swayed and then toppled like a felled oak, taking Kate down with her to the wood floor. Megan must have known her mother would crumble. Probably why she reached out to me for help first.

I started to get up, ready to assist Kate and Sylvia, nearly tearing my angle-hemmed skirt when I started to rise. But Megan’s cold, sticky fingers gripped my forearm. “Don’t leave us. Please.”

Then Graham appeared, looking downright sober. He assisted Kate to her knees so she could minister to the passed out Sylvia before flipping open a cell phone to make the 9 1 1 call.

Not long after, noise again filled the Beadford house. Chaos bred from fear makes plenty of noise—raised voices, the sound of a distant siren, people shouting and wanting in the room. Didn’t matter poor Sylvia was laid out like a trussed turkey in the doorway. Kate was fanning the woman’s face with someone’s handbag and I swear those so-called friends of the family would have stepped right over Sylvia to get a better look at the body.

With the help of a calm, rational Holt McNabb—maybe he was an okay guy after all—Graham pushed all the guests back, telling them to find a place to “park it.” They did let Travis pass. I wasn’t sure even he should come in, but we’d already messed up the crime scene plenty. Besides, I needed my arm back. Megan’s grip had my fingers going numb and Travis seemed the right person to help alleviate that problem.

Meanwhile Holt and Graham assisted a dazed Sylvia to her feet and led her away, leaving me and Kate alone with Travis and Megan.

Megan had stopped crying. She was probably numb with shock now. Travis gently pulled her from beneath her dead father. Once she was on her feet, he wrapped his arms around her small, trembling frame and rocked her, smoothing her hair, not letting go for dear life. “I’ve got you, hon. I’m here,” he said over and over.

I moved away from them and whispered to Kate, “I need your phone.”

She lifted her black silk shirt and pulled it from her matching skirt pocket. “You calling Jeff?” she asked.

“You betcha.” I took the phone and dialed his cell.

“Kate?” he answered, sounding puzzled. Must have recognized her Caller ID.

“No, it’s me.” I turned my back on Megan and Travis. “Remember that wedding?”

“Yeah?” Wary now. He probably heard the tension in my voice.

“It just turned into a funeral,” I whispered. “Father of the bride got whacked with a very large vase.”

Shrieking sirens sounded so close I figured the police were pulling in front of the house. I missed his reply.

“Repeat that,” I said.

“Where are you?” He was all cool and collected now. A freaked-out girlfriend might be trouble, but murder? Comfortable territory. I could hear the rustle of paper. He was unwrapping a stick of Big Red gum, no doubt.

“In Seacliff.” I gave him the address.

“Galveston County. Out of our jurisdiction. But I’ll be there anyway.”

He disconnected.

Jeff may be a man of few words, but he’s great in the action department.

He didn’t arrive for another hour, probably because Seacliff is well south of Houston, and half the trip is on two-lane roads rather than freeway. In the meantime, plenty of other cops showed up, not only from Seacliff, but from several surrounding towns. A county sheriff patrol arrived on the scene, too. And then there were the fire trucks. And the ambulance. Everyone in small Texas towns makes an appearance for the 9 1 1 calls. By the time I was commanded to my “holding area” by the female plainclothes officer who seemed to be in charge of the investigation, I was beginning to wonder if Graham Beadford had mentioned al-Qaeda when he’d called.

Kate and I had been separated. I didn’t particularly like this, but reasoned the lady in control knew what she was doing. Everyone who had entered the room or saw the body was being guarded by their own special cop until he or she could be interviewed. Mine, a uniformed officer from a nearby town, took me to the laundry room. We sat in wooden folding chairs facing each other, crammed in with the washer, dryer, and a wheeling clothes rack. He resisted all my attempts at conversation, just sat there coldly staring past my right shoulder. I swear if we were cremated together that guy wouldn’t have warmed up.

Finally a Seacliff cop rescued me, informing Officer Subzero that his help was needed with all the cameras and video recorders gathered from the guests.

Cameras. Wow. I hadn’t thought about them. Folks had been snapping pictures like crazy, and who knows what they’d inadvertently captured. The new cop and I walked through the house. Most people had been cleared out, and those who remained stood in small groups in the great room talking with uniformed police officers taking notes.

I was escorted to the formal living area off the foyer, a room I hadn’t even noticed when Sylvia am-bushed us for kitchen duty. Reminded me of my old digs in River Oaks with its uncomfortable-looking Victorian couches and artistically draped window—one of the few windows that looked out on the street rather than the water.

Jeff sat on the largest gold brocade sofa and was leaning toward a thin brunette sitting in one of several teak dining room chairs that had been brought into the room. He didn’t seem to notice our presence. The woman looked to be in her late twenties and wore a gray wool suit and open-collar blouse—the same person who had sent me to babysit the Maytag. Jeff had on a faded denim shirt that matched his eyes and had gotten a haircut since I last saw him this morning. He always kept his blond hair short, but this time the barber had left little more than stubble on his head.

My cop escort cleared his throat and said, “Uh, ma’am?”

The woman looked up and Jeff stood, his jaw working his ever-present gum.

“Hey, how you doing?” he asked, coming over to me.

“I still have a pulse—unlike someone else here—so I think I’m in good shape,” I said.

He gripped my upper arms and kissed the top of my head. “You’ve had a rough day, kid.”

I felt the tension in my neck muscles melt a little when I smelled the combination of cinnamon gum and aftershave unique to him. He took my hand and led me to the sofa. I sat, grateful for even a less-than-adequate cushion for my sore patoot.

I smiled at the woman and said, “Hi. Bet you’ve had a tough day, too.”

She did not return my smile. Her crossed legs were long enough and her features attractive enough that she could have been working a catwalk in New York rather than sitting here ready to interview a witness. “Thanks for your patience, Ms. Rose. Jeff tells me you were employed by the bride.”

Jeff? I thought. They’d certainly gotten friendly in an hour’s time.

He must have read my expression and quickly offered an explanation. “Quinn is an old friend. She honed her skills in Houston PD before taking the top job here.”

“Great,” I said. “So is that Captain Quinn or—”

“Sorry.” She reached over Jeff and offered a hand in a greeting. “It’s Chief Fielder. Seacliff PD. Quinn is my first name.”

Chief? Wow. She looked so young.

I gripped her slim fingers and offered a firm handshake, one I hoped said “I can throw a horseshoe with the horse still attached,” even though that was not how I really felt. I felt small and... well, scared. But my daddy always told me to never show weakness when I was afraid, that it would only make things worse.

Fielder had a yellow legal pad on her lap and several pages were already turned back. “Jeff tells me Megan Beadford hired you to find her biological mother.”

“That’s right.”

“So you didn’t know the rest of the family?”

“Actually, I only just met them last night at the rehearsal dinner.”

“I’m not sure I understand. Did you attend last night and today in your capacity as an investigator?”

“No. I was a last-minute replacement for the wedding book-slash-birdseed handler, the one who went into labor a month early.”

She smiled, which softened her features, made her already attractive face prettier. “That’s what your sister told me.” She then made note of my answer on her yellow pad. “And by the way, we let your sister leave. Apparently a patient of hers was in some sort of crisis. She took your car and said you should catch a ride home with Jeff. Now, to the issues at hand. You had been making inquiries about Megan’s biological mother, correct?”

“Yes, but our professional relationship is not common knowledge. I’m here as a friend.”

“Not common knowledge?” She tilted her head and raised her eyebrows.

“Megan wanted my inquiries kept private. She felt her family would not be happy about her wish to find her birth mother.”

“Really?” She scribbled some more. “There was tension in the family?”

“Maybe some.”

Jeff said, “Any conflicts at the rehearsal?”

“The rehearsal itself went fine,” I said. “But once the wedding party and families bellied up to the open bar before dinner, everyone on Megan’s side suddenly seemed to have issues.”

“Issues?” Fielder said.

“The cousins weren’t speaking—I know because I sat between them at dinner. And the best man, Holt McNabb, brought in a TV and set it in front of him on the table to watch some college basketball game. That pissed off Mr. Beadford. He and McNabb went to a corner and Mr. Beadford seemed to be raking him over the coals. This upset Sylvia and—”

“I get the picture. But these sound like minor altercations. You didn’t witness anything more serious? Perhaps a fistfight? Or threats?”

“No. Nothing like that.”

“And you’re not here in any official capacity?”

Did she think I was lying? “You mean did I find Megan’s birth mother at the last minute and bring her here? No. And I’d appreciate it if you don’t upset anyone by telling the rest of the family how I came to know Megan.”

“I’m not in the business of telling witnesses anything. They tell me. Moving on, you are licensed, correct?”

Not even an hour’s worth of absorbing the odors of Tide and Downy could make me feel “mountain fresh” pleasant about her patronizing attitude. “Provisionally,” I replied evenly. “But I specialize in adoption searches for someone who is licensed.”

“And your supervising PI’s name?” she asked, pen poised.

“Angel Molina,” I said. “But what does—”

Jeff placed a gentle hand on my knee. “Bear with Quinn. She’s just doing her job.”

“And this Molina has an agency in Houston?” Fielder went on.

“He does,” I answered. “Is that important?”

“This is all routine, Abby,” Jeff said.

Fielder glanced at Jeff’s hand, which had moved up to my thigh. “I’ll check out the agency later.” I saw her fingers flex several times, saw her nostrils flare a little when she took in some extra air.

Jeff, good detective that he is, noted these subtle indicators, too. He promptly assumed a less intimate posture by leaning back, his arms spanning the sofa’s arched back.

So he wanted her to feel more comfortable, huh? He cared about her. Oh, I was picking up on the signals, all right. These two probably had a history that was more than just professional—and from the way she kept looking at him, she wished it wasn’t history.

“Tell me exactly what you saw when you walked in on Megan and her father,” she said.

“I saw a very distraught young woman with her father’s bloody head in her lap.”

She laid the pad and pen down. “Sorry. Guess I should be more specific.”

“Guess you should.”

“You, Ms. Rose, do not have an emotional wall to climb when it comes to remembering what you saw in that room. After all, you hardly knew the dead man. I consider that rational distance important in reconstructing a crime scene that was seriously compromised by several factors.”

“You mean those gung-ho paramedics doing CPR on an obviously dead body? Why did they do that, by the way?”

“Wouldn’t you want them to do everything possible if it were your father?” she replied.

“Not if his skull was exposed and gray matter was in my lap,” I shot back. “Besides, my father’s already dead.”

Jeff rested a hand on my back. “Abby, it’s okay.” He addressed Quinn. “Abby’s father had a heart attack and the paramedics were called and... well, you understand.”

I stared hard at him, saying nothing. What the hell did he think he was doing telling her my personal business?

“I’m sorry if I upset you, Ms. Rose,” Fielder said.

“You didn’t upset me,” I said evenly, summoning a calmness I did not feel.

“Good. Now, can you tell me the exact position of the body and where Megan Beadford was sitting? I also need to know which direction her father’s feet were pointing and where the broken glass was in relationship to them.”

“Can I draw it for you?” I said.

She picked up the pad, tore off a clean sheet of paper and offered it to me along with her pen. I made the sketch, indicating that Beadford’s head had been parallel to the fireplace on the left wall, his feet toward the back of the room. Megan was sitting on the dead man’s right side facing the fireplace. “You want my impression on how they came to those positions? See, I’ve had plenty of time to think about exactly that.”

“Okay, sure,” she glanced at Jeff. “I’m always up for impressions.”

Was that a smirk? Maybe I should clam up and let her go with her own assumptions. But since the last thing I wanted Jeff to think was that I was selfish and immature, I stifled the urge to rebel.

“I saw blood on the corner of the fireplace hearth, here.” I circled the spot. “I think he hit those bricks when he went down after getting smashed from behind with the vase. He was probably facedown and Megan simply rolled him over onto her lap.”

“Thank you for your astute observations, Ms. Rose.” She took the paper and slipped it to the back of the pad behind the unfinished pages.

“So there was more than one wound?” Jeff asked, looking at Fielder, not me.

I answered anyway. “He had a nasty mess at the back of his head. I saw a paramedic take a big shard out of his hair when they were moving him onto the backboard to do CPR.”

“You really saw quite a bit.” She nodded her approval. “Jeff said you’d be a tremendous witness.”

Smug bitch. If I ever needed an artificial heart I’d be sure and call her up. “Thanks so much,” I replied, pasting on my best fake smile.

“And who else entered the room aside from the professionals?” she asked.

“My sister... Travis... and Graham Beadford came in with the paramedics. Holt McNabb—he was the best man—”

“I know who he is.”

And please make sure I know you know. “Anyway, he was around,” I said. “The cousins—you’ve met them, right? Courtney and Roxanne? They wanted in to see their uncle, but their father kept them out.”

“And Mrs. Beadford never entered?”

“No. She’d passed out,” I said impatiently. “But I’m sure you know that, too.”

Jeff squeezed my shoulder in a reassuring gesture before placing his elbows on his knees and leaning toward Fielder. I might have liked this tiny bit of support an hour ago, but not now. It was obvious he was uncomfortable showing affection toward me in front of her.

“What else about the room?” Fielder asked. “Anything strike you as out of the ordinary?”

I closed my eyes, picturing the scene. “Glass on the floor. Big chunks. And tiny pieces crunching underfoot. Wood floor with several Oriental rugs. Plenty of gifts on display—china, silver, candleholders, picture frames—and lots of unopened gifts, too.”

“Anything else?”

I held up a palm in her direction, my eyes still closed. “Two tapestry wing chairs with a table between them over by the bookshelves on the right side of the room. And glasses on the little table. Three, maybe four?” I opened my eyes and gave Fielder a questioning look, wondering if this jibed with what she knew.

She just said, “Is that all?”

“A beer bottle, maybe? Or two? One on the gift table and—”

“You sure?”

Was I? “Maybe not. A lot went down in a few short minutes.”

“Now about this wedding book,” she said. “That could prove helpful since we believe some guests left the reception prior to the discovery of the body. Where did you put it?”

“Mrs. Beadford took it from me when I came in.”

Fielder pursed her glossed lips. “We haven’t found it.”

Did she think I stashed the stupid thing somewhere to make her life more difficult? My neck muscles knotted up again. “So ask her where she put it,” I said, hoping I sounded civil.

“Can’t ask her. She’s under sedation at the hospital.” Fielder sighed. “Okay, describe this book. Exactly what are we looking for?”

As I told her, I couldn’t help but think about the woman in the brown hat. “There was at least one guest at the church who didn’t sign it. And who knows how many people only attended the reception and had to sign it at the house. If Mrs. Beadford didn’t get their names, there’s no way of knowing who all came and went.”

“We have hundreds of pictures, Ms. Rose, and more to come, so we’ll eventually know who was here. If I showed you some photos, would you remember who signed the book and who didn’t?”

Jeff, who had been chewing his gum and making sure he kept his hands off me, spoke. “Seems like the long way around, Quinn. Are there any obvious suspects you could zero in on and—”

“You know I can’t discuss how to handle the case in front of her.” She said her like I was a piece of roadkill stuck to her shoe.

Okay, that does it. I rose. “Maybe I’ll just leave you two alone.”

Jeff touched my elbow. “Abby, I’m sure Quinn didn’t mean—”

“Actually, Jeff,” Fielder said sweetly, “I think Ms. Rose has had enough questions for one day. But I could use your advice. Would you excuse us?” She arched those perfectly penciled eyebrows at me. She had eyes the color of cane syrup, but there was nothing sugary residing there.

“Certainly.” I left the room feeling both their stares on my back. If I’d had my own car, I would have driven home with the radio blaring so I wouldn’t have to think about all this. But I had to wait for a ride.

I paced in the marbled foyer, trying to deal with the green-eyed monster in a rational fashion. Fielder had a job to do. She needed all the information she could get and I had seen quite a bit. But though she had asked me plenty of questions about the crime scene, she’d asked me nothing about what I had seen or heard at the reception before Beadford’s death. I smiled. Serious oversight, baby.

Of course, the exchange I’d witnessed between Travis and his father-in-law may not have been an argument over anything more important than what time the bride and groom would leave the reception. I had no way of knowing what transpired between those two.

I walked in circles, my dress pumps torturing my feet and my head throbbing from the day’s stress. I was trying not to think about Jeff and his extended consultation with Fielder—it’s damn hard not to think about something—when Megan came down the right-hand staircase.

She had changed from the stained dress into blue jeans and a coral sweater. When she saw me, she ran over and embraced me. “I’m being punished,” she said into my shoulder. “That’s why this happened.”

I moved back, held her at arm’s length. Fresh from the shower, I assumed, what with the wet hair and scrubbed face, she looked like the child I’d thought she was when we first met.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I went behind my father’s back and hired you. And now I’m being punished. I never meant to hurt him.”

“Hold on. Did you tell him the truth today? Did you two argue about that?” I didn’t want to believe Megan could have struck her father, but she was the one sitting there with his battered head in her lap.

“No. But I wasn’t truthful, either. And that’s as good as a lie.”

“Still, you and your father were fine today, right? No problems?”

“The last time I saw him alive was when we d-danced. And... and he said he wanted me to be happy and... and...” Her eyes filled.

I hugged her again, rubbed circles on her back all the while thinking about my own adoptive daddy. He, too, had claimed to want only my happiness. But he’d made more than one mistake in that department, and mistakes born of love still hurt just the same. “I’m here for you, Megan. Call me for anything. Anytime. And I again apologize for not finishing the job.”

This time she drew back on her own. “You sound like you’re quitting. You’re not quitting, are you?”

“I didn’t plan on it, but if you want to take this up later, I’ll give you every cent of your retainer back.”

“Please don’t quit, because even though I feel guilty about keeping the truth from my dad, I still want to know my birth mother. Now more than ever.”

I was wondering if that need to know had anything to do with what had appeared to be her rather distant relationship with Sylvia, but didn’t think this was the right time to ask. Then Jeff emerged from his little conference, and while he was offering his condolences to Megan, I went after my coat, which I found in the kitchen where I’d left it. My pockets were turned out, either from the cops checking them out or Kate searching for my keys. My small handbag had been tucked in one sleeve but the clasp was open and my phone/computer nearly slipped out when I grabbed the purse. The low battery warning was beeping so I powered the phone off, then put on the coat.

After I gave Megan another reassuring hug and a whispered promise to follow through on her request, Jeff and I walked out into the bitter cold evening. Normally I would have huddled up to him, but not now. After all, Fielder might be watching us out the window and I wouldn’t want to upset her.

On our way to his truck, he exchanged high-fives with two other cops manning the scene and then introduced me. One guy had worked HPD vice with Jeff way back when and the other was a former Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy who had testified at a vehicular homicide case Jeff worked a few years ago. Seems Quinn Fielder wasn’t the only city cop who wanted to escape to the bay.

We walked down the hill and I stepped up into his nonpolice-issue white Chevy truck after he opened the door for me. He then got in and revved the engine. Before we pulled away, he shoved several sticks of Big Red in his mouth. Neither of us said a word until we passed Space Center Houston and were closing in on the freeway.

“What did she tell you?” I asked.

“What did who tell me about what?”

Typical man. If the conversation doesn’t flow continuously you better have that CNN ticker tape running across your forehead for frequent updates. “What did your friend Quinn need you for so badly? Can’t she do her job alone?”

“I can’t tell you what we discussed.”

“This isn’t your case, so why keep secrets?” My voice was hard. The green-eyed monster didn’t want to be contained.

“Any information I have concerning an ongoing investigation is off-limits. This is no exception.”

“Fine. Be that way.” I folded my arms.

He took out another stick of gum while I turned my face to the window. This might be an extra-long ride home.