Hitched

66

Regan sat on the floor of Joyce’s living room next to Kit and looked around. Everyone seemed so happy. Joyce and Tom were really hitting it off, although Joyce’s parrot was now sitting between the two of them. Romeo looked as if he would happily take a chunk out of Tom’s hand if he got too close to Joyce.

Jay, the pharmacist, came in and made a beeline for Tracy. Her face lit up when he sat down next to her. Wouldn’t that be nice? Regan thought.

The phone rang. Cindy came from the kitchen, carrying the portable phone, her hand covering the mouthpiece. “It’s Francis’s mother.”

Joyce rolled her eyes. “Give it to me.” She took it and said, “Hello.”

On the other end, Janice was in a state of agitation. “Joyce, are you all right?”

“Yes. Thank God.”

“Where’s Francis?”

“I don’t know. My friend Cindy talked to him this morning and told him I was missing. He hung up and never called back.”

“Did you have a fight? Did you do something to upset him? Maybe he’s…”

Joyce sat up. “We didn’t have a fight. I have no idea what he’s up to.”

Regan’s cell phone rang. She answered it quickly.

“Regan!” Alfred cried. “They e-mailed us the picture of the button. This is the button that was on your dress!”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. We ordered it specially from France. It’s a beautiful unique button! You know I only use the best on my dresses! It’s our logo on the back!”

“The woman found it in a cemetery near Atlantic City,” Regan said.

“Which is where I lost my keys!”

“I know. Alfred, I’ll figure out what to do next and call you back. I can’t talk now.”

“Me, neither!” he insisted. “Charisse and I are working our fingers to the bone.”

“We’ll talk later then,” Regan said.

Joyce was ending her phone conversation as well. “I have to go,” she said firmly. “If I hear from Francis, I’ll tell him to call you.”

“What’s the matter, Regan?” Cindy asked.

“An elderly woman found an antique lace button that reminded her of the one on her wedding dress in a cemetery near Atlantic City. She e-mailed a picture of it to the cable station. Alfred says it’s definitely the button he used on my dress.”

“ Atlantic City?” Cindy asked.

“Yes, and that’s where Alfred lost his keys last week. We think that whoever robbed his salon used his keys to get in. We also think that two guys at the craps table he was playing at picked his keys off the ground when he dropped them. We saw the tapes. One of the guys has a limp.”

As Joyce inhaled sharply, the whole room fell silent.

“Lazy bums!” Romeo cried. “Lazy bums!”

Cindy walked over and reached behind the couch. She picked up the set of keys she had pulled out of Romeo’s mouth just this morning. This time she took a moment to look at them. A tiny wedding dress made out of sterling silver was attached to the key ring. “Oh, my God…” she said.

“What?” Regan asked.

Cindy turned to her. “Could these be Alfred’s keys?”