Honeymoon for Three (6 page)

It was too late for regrets. It
was time for action. He got out of the car, leaving it unlocked for
a fast getaway. As he shut the door, he glanced at the sleeve of
his grungy sweatshirt. That would never do. He impatiently took off
the offending garment and threw it into the backseat. The T-shirt
he wore underneath wasn’t quite as grungy. Penny would understand.
When they got married, he would look elegant.

He forced himself to stride
briskly to the chapel and up the four concrete steps before he lost
his nerve. He opened the glass door and walked inside. Then he
stopped short. The reception area was small, but a number of closed
doors ranged along the walls. It was a rabbit warren.

He turned to the receptionist,
sitting behind the counter, who anticipated him and asked, “May I
help you?”

“
I hope I’m not too late. I got
here as soon as I could.”

“
I’m sorry. Are you here to attend
a wedding?”

“
Yes.” Wasn’t it
obvious?

“
Which one?”

“
Penny and….” He couldn’t remember
his name. “…Gary.”

“
You’re in luck. They’re changing
their clothes. Then they have to get their license across the
street at one o’clock. They’ll be getting married after
that.”

Alfred felt momentary relief. Then
a letdown. Then panic. He had to get out of there before they saw
him. He turned and opened the door, calling over his shoulder,
“I’ve got to get something to eat. I’ll be back at one.”

***

Penny looked at herself in the
mirror. She liked what she saw. The knee-length white dress with
the fringe was a size eight, something she had never been before as
an adult. She wouldn’t put the hat on yet. She wanted to save it
for the actual wedding. Something should be a surprise for
him.

She walked out of the dressing
room just as Gary walked out of an adjoining one. He looked very
handsome in his blue suit and tie and short, sandy hair. If she
weren’t convinced before that they were doing the right thing,
watching him look fondly at her and feeling his firm grip as he
took her hand did it.

“
What a good looking couple you
are,” the receptionist said.

She probably said that to all the hundreds of
couples who passed through this wedding mill, but nevertheless, it
was nice to hear.

“
Your friend was just here,” that
woman continued. “He said he’ll be back at one for the
wedding.”

“
Friend?” Penny said, confused.
Nobody even knew that they were getting married today, let alone
where. She glanced at Gary. He looked equally baffled.

“
He said he just got here. He was
dressed a little…informally. Maybe he’s got some other clothes in
his car.”

“
Are you sure he’s not here for
another wedding?” Penny giggled. “Nobody knows we’re getting
married today.”

“
He said the wedding of Penny and
Gary.”

They exchanged bewildered
looks.

“
Did he tell you his name?” Penny
asked.

“
No.”

“
Can you describe him?” Gary
asked.

“
Well, he’s about your age but
quite a bit shorter. He has longish brown hair and a beard. He was
wearing a T-shirt and sneakers. And he has a potbelly.”

“
That doesn’t ring a bell,” Penny
said.

Gary shook his head. “I don’t have
any friends with beards. Well, if he shows up at one o’clock, I
guess we’ll find out. Let’s go get our license.”

He took her hand, again, and they
walked across the street to the courthouse.

CHAPTER 6

Alfred could see Penny and Gary standing at
the top of the courthouse steps across the street, talking to
another couple. A couple probably also waiting for a marriage
license. The four were partially hidden by one of the marble
columns in front of the building. They weren’t looking in his
direction.

He carefully got out of his car and walked
back to the chapel, keeping an eye on the foursome. When he entered
through the glass door, the same receptionist looked at him. This
time she wasn’t smiling. She must have told them about him, and
they drew a blank. He needed to regain her confidence.

He gave her a big grin and said, “Penny and
Gary are going to be so surprised to see me. They aren’t expecting
me here at all.”

“What did you say your name was?” The woman
looked skeptical.

“Jack. Jack London.” It was the first name
he came up with. He hoped it didn’t sound too fake.

“They’re certainly going to be surprised to
see you. Maybe you should go across the street and tell them you’re
here.”

“Good idea. I will in a minute. But first, I
just want to say what a nice thing you’re doing.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”

“By marrying them. After all, Gary is trying
to start over. This will give him the opportunity.”

She looked puzzled.

“I guess you don’t know the story. There’s
no reason why he would tell you. And after all, what else could he
do?”

“I’m not following you.”

“He killed his parents. Back in Kentucky.
They deserved it. They had been beating him for years. He got out
of there and came west to start a new life. In California and
Nevada, nobody cares about your past. But, of course, they don’t
see it that way in Kentucky. They’re still looking for him back
there.”

The woman was staring at him with her mouth
open, glancing at the telephone on the counter in front of her. Had
he said enough to impel her to action?

“I don’t want to alarm you. I don’t think
he’s dangerous. But, of course, you never know. Once you’ve killed
someone, it’s easier the next time.”

“Where in Kentucky did this happen?”

“Er…Berea.” It was the only place Alfred
could think of in Kentucky—the place where his father had been
born. “Please don’t tell Penny. She doesn’t know any of this. And
as I said, I don’t think she’s in danger. Maybe I’ve said too much.
I’m going across the street to let them know I’m here.”

He turned toward the door and looked at her
one more time before he stepped outside. She had picked up the
receiver of the phone and was already dialing. Good.

***

The sun was shining as only a high desert
sun can shine, and the day had warmed up nicely. Gary took off his
suit coat so he wouldn’t get too sweaty. He glanced at his watch.
It wouldn’t be long now.

He might have felt funny waiting here with
Penny on the courthouse steps, with both of them dressed in their
wedding clothes, if another couple hadn’t been doing the same
thing. Apparently this was normal for Reno.

A uniformed policeman walked up the steps
toward them. Well, this was the courthouse. He was undoubtedly here
as a witness for a trial. Gary thought he was going to walk around
them to the front entrance when he stopped and said, “Which one of
you is Gary Blanchard?”

“I am,” Gary said.

“I need to ask you a few questions. Come
with me, please.”

“Questions about what?”

“I’ll let you know when we get to the police
station.”

“But—”

“I don’t want to have to put the cuffs on
you.”

“What’s going on?” Penny asked, fear in her
voice.

“Routine questions,” the officer said.

“I’m going along.” Penny walked down the
steps with them.

“Sorry, miss. Can’t take you in the patrol
car.”

“Where’s the police station?”

“On Second Street. Up that way and turn
right.”

“Keys. I don’t have the car keys,” Penny
almost screamed.

Gary reached into his pocket. Then he saw
the officer make a movement toward the gun strapped to his belt. He
said, “My keys are in this pocket.”

The officer watched him warily as he pulled
out the keys and handed them to Penny. She looked so frightened
that he said, “It must be a misunderstanding. Don’t worry. I’ll get
it cleared up.” His voice sounded shaky, even to himself.

The officer opened the back door of a patrol
car that was sitting at the curb. Gary slid into the recesses where
there were no door handles or window cranks and a metal screen
separated him from the front seat. The door slammed shut.

***

Alfred looked approvingly at his reflection
in the mirror of the barber shop. He saw a different person. His
beard was gone; his hair was as short as Gary’s. If that’s the kind
of person Penny liked, that’s the kind of person he was going to
be.

He thanked the barber and tipped him. He
walked out of the shop to the clothing store the barber had told
him about, determined to upgrade his wardrobe. It was only a few
doors away. Once inside, he quickly found two decent-looking,
long-sleeved sport shirts on sale. He held them against his body in
front of a mirror, not wanting to take the time to try them on.
Then he found a pair of washable pants in his size.

The only problem was that his body didn’t
look like Gary’s. He had this potbelly, and he was at least six
inches shorter than Gary. Not to mention his outie bellybutton. He
hoped Penny would come to her senses and leave Gary. A nice girl
like her wouldn’t want to be associated with a jailbird. He would
show her that external looks were superficial.

Alfred had watched the drama unfold from his
parked car. He retreated there after telling the story to the
receptionist at the chapel. He saw Gary being driven away in the
police car. Penny remained, alone and vulnerable, left at the altar
in her wedding dress. She looked as if she might cry. He had an
urge to confront her right then and there—to console her, to let
her know he cared about her.

Something inside told him that would
backfire. Then she got into the VW and drove after the police car,
and the opportunity was gone. That’s when he knew he had to change
his appearance. Leaving his car parked where it was, he found the
barber shop by asking a clerk in a store.

The barber had told him where the police
station was located. He carried his package of clothes back to the
car and drove to the police station. He parked a block away and put
on his new pants and one of his new shirts in the car. The
receptionist at the chapel wouldn’t recognize him now. He donned
dark glasses to complete the transformation.

Alfred walked to the police station. In its
parking lot he saw the Volkswagen. He was glad and sad at the same
time. Glad because he knew where Penny was. Sad because she hadn’t
left that jailbird yet. He took up a position across the street
from the police station to await developments.

***

Penny had never been inside a police station
before. She didn’t like it. Most of the people who came in looked
like losers. They had the haunted appearance of victims. Victims of
crime, victims of being associated with criminals, either by blood
or romantically, which was worse because they were in the
relationship by choice.

She sat on a wooden bench, conspicuous in
her wedding dress, waiting for information. She had been told
nothing. The officers on duty would tell her only that Gary was
being questioned. About what? Had he not told her everything? Was
there a dark secret lurking in his past? It was hard to believe,
and yet she supposed it was possible. She put her head in her
hands.

“You look like you got a problem,
honey.”

Penny lifted her head and saw the woman who
had sat down beside her. She was double the size of Penny and wore
a black dress the same color she was. She looked like the mammy
that Penny’s grandfather had had, at least based on how he had
described her.

“You don’t belong here, neither,” the woman
continued. “Wearing that fancy white dress and all.”

“I’m supposed to get married today.” Penny’s
voice faltered.

“That do looking like a wedding dress. What
happened, your man get busted?”

“He’s being questioned, but I don’t know
about what.” She wanted to place her head against this woman’s
ample bosom, be enveloped in her huge arms, and make the world go
away.

“Well, one of two things is going to happen.
Either way, it’s for the best. Either he’s innocent or he’s guilty.
If he’s innocent, you can go ahead and get married. If he’s guilty,
it’s better you find out now. I know because I been through it.
More than once.”

This made a strange sort of sense. The
woman’s name was Rowanda. She began talking about her own
husbands—plural. Right now she was here because her son was in
trouble. As Penny listened to her sad story, she felt a little bit
better about her own situation. Then she remembered Emily.

When Rowanda paused in her story, Penny
said, “I may be jinxed. My best friend was murdered a year ago,
just before she was going to get married. She would have been the
perfect wife. Sometimes I have the feeling that because she
couldn’t get married, I can’t either.”

“That’s silly talk.” Rowanda took Penny’s
hand in her own baseball gloves and patted it. “If the Lord means
for you to be married, you will get married. It don’t matter what
happened to your friend.”

***

Gary didn’t know why the young police
officer whose badge said his name was McGinty and who had thick
eyebrows that gave him a perpetual scowl kept asking him about
Kentucky. He had never even been to Kentucky, as he tried to point
out. He certainly hadn’t killed anybody there.

“I grew up in Western New York—near
Buffalo.” This wasn’t the first time he had said it. “That’s where
my parents live. They’re both alive. You can call them and verify
it.”

“We’ve been calling the number you gave us.
There’s no answer.”