Wedding Bell Blues (30 page)

"So, tell me, Jessica, how is it possible such an attractive
and
entertaining woman as yourself is without an escort tonight?" Forsythe
drawled, his hand closing over mind as I reached for my knife.

I
stared at that lump of pale flesh and, for a moment imagined grabbing
my fork and plunging it into his hand. I could hear his pig-like squeal
of pain. I even imagined everyone at the table applauding my actions.
After all, in the hour he'd been there, he'd managed to come awfully
close to getting into an argument with Brett's father over the upcoming
election. He'd also done what, until tonight, I'd thought impossible.
He'd almost made my mother forget her role of hostess. When he began to
expound on the need for the government to socialize medicine, ignoring
all attempts by Brett and Maryanne to change the subject, Mom had
looked ready to skin him. Only Dad's quick and scathing response saved
him; not that Forsythe realized it. Now, with his sweaty fingers trying
to hold mine, it was all I could do not to rip his hand off at the
wrist and force feed it to him.

"Oh, she's not really unescorted tonight, Hayden," Maryanne
said
sweetly before I could answer. I opened my mouth and then closed it
with a snap as I recognized the twinkle in her eyes. This might just be
interesting.

"Really?" He looked at her as if she'd lost her
mind because, after all, I was sitting there without a date. I slid my
hand from beneath his and didn't make any attempt to hide the way I
scrubbed it against my napkin.

"Really." Now Maryanne's grin deepened. Oh, she was enjoying
this.
"It's just that her date for tonight is running a bit late. But he will
be here shortly."

"Well, I can't say I'm too impressed that he'd feel anything
was more important than being here with your charming sister."

My God, did he spend his time reading Jane Austen and writers
of her
ilk? He actually sounded like one of their none-too-bright characters.

"Believe me, Hayden, he didn't want to be late. But, being a
police
detective, he sometimes has to put his job above what he'd personally
like to do. And, Hayden, he's the jealous sort." She paused, just a
beat, to let that sink in. "So you might want to take a moment to
decide if you want to risk my sister's wrath if you keep trying to put
the moves on her. I assure you, you'll be singing soprano before you
realize she's made a move. Of course, if she doesn't do something,
you're still not in the clear, especially not when Colton gets here."
Gone was the good humor in her voice as she looked at her fiancé's best
man in open challenge.

"Is there something going on I should know about?" Colton
asked, right on cue, as he stepped through the doorway.

At my side, Forsythe paled and made a choked sound of protest.
I
grinned and pushed back my chair, hurrying to greet Colton. He drew me
close and gave me a quick kiss. I leaned into him, glad he'd finally
arrived and rescued me before I gave in to temptation and did turn
Forsythe into a soprano - or worse.

"What's up?" he asked softly, still holding me close.

"I'll explain later. Just know I love you for getting here
when you
did." I pulled back and smiled. Then, my fingers linked with his, I led
him to the table and the empty chair to the right of mine. Amazing how
my appetite returned now that he was there and Forsythe was effectively
muzzled by intimidation.

"I apologize for being late, Maryanne, Brett."

"We understand, Colton," Brett assured him. "We're just glad
you could get away as quickly as you did."

From there, conversation turned to the wedding. It didn't
hurt my
feelings one bit that Forsythe sat there, silent and brooding. Nor did
it hurt to have Colton hold my hand or, when he wasn't doing that,
finding some way to touch me. He'd clearly read the situation and was
making sure there was no doubt about his place in my life.

The only problem was, did I really know what that place was?

Quit being
stubborn, Jess. You know exactly what his place is. All you have to do
is accept it
.

Whether I was ready to do that yet or not, I was more than
glad to
have him there, and not just because he was keeping Forsythe at bay.

A little after nine, Forsythe finally gave up and excused
himself,
pleading an early appointment at work the next morning. Not long after
that, Brett's parents left. Then, to my surprise, Mom and Dad all but
shooed Maryanne and Brett, Colton and me out the door. Maybe all the
talk about weddings had put them in a romantic mood…

And I was so not going there.

"Thank you," I said softly as Colton and I crossed the lawn to
where he'd parked in front of the house.

"For what?" He slid his arm about my shoulders and I leaned
against
him, matching my pace to his. When he shortened his stride a bit to
accommodate me, I couldn't help smiling.

"For being here tonight. I know you must be exhausted."

"A little," he admitted. He unlocked the car and held the door
for
me as I slid inside. "But," he continued a moment later as he slid in
behind the steering wheel. "I knew you'd be a little curious about what
happened."

"A little?" I stared at him in disbelief. "That's a slight
understatement, Colton. So tell me."

"We picked the kid up at his parents' house. The search
warrant has
turned up a couple of things I'm pretty sure we can tie not only to
Manny's but to the fire at your place. I'm not going to tell you what,
in case this actually goes to trial. I don't want to run the risk of
tainting your testimony. So don't ask."

I didn't like it. But, seeing how serious he was, I had no
choice
but to agree. After all, I didn't want to do anything, didn't want him
to do anything, that might jeopardize the case.

"What can you tell me?"

"So far, he's not saying much. But he's being held overnight,
and that will loosen his tongue."

"What do you mean?" A flash of concern washed over me. I knew
Colton
wouldn't do anything to Joey, nor would he let anything happen to him.
Still, Joey was one of my students, and I was having a hard time
accepting that he could have done what we suspected him of doing.

"He's eighteen, Jess. That means he stays at the jail and not
juvie."

"Colton!"

"Easy, babe. I made sure he wasn't put into the general
population.
He's in a holding cell all by himself. Nothing's going to happen to
him," he assured me. He waited as we merged onto the freeway before
continuing. "But he is in a cell and he will hear and see what goes on
in the cells around him.

"And, before you say anything, I want you to remember, this is
the
ass who killed Manny and hurt you. He burned your house down, and you
could have been seriously hurt or killed if you'd been home at the
time." Now his voice turned hard as his own emotions came to the
surface.

"Colton, I'm not about to say anything. If he did what we
suspect
him of, he deserves everything he gets. But it's hard to imagine that
the student I know could do all that."

"I know, babe. Just remember that you only know one side of
him."

I nodded and rested my head against the back of the seat. Yes,
I was
worried about Joey. But that wasn't what was on my mind just then. He'd
called me babe. He hadn't done that since…well, since we broke up so
long ago. Maybe he was slowly coming to the same realization I seemed
to be, and that scared me some. But it also made me feel good. Perhaps
we really did have a future together.

Now, all I had to do was decide if I was ready for that.

I leaned against the edge of the counter top and glared at the
coffeemaker as it continued to refuse to cooperate. I'd programmed it
the night before to go off at five thirty so there'd be fresh coffee
when Colton and I got up. Had it done so? Oh, no. In that way most
mechanical things have whenever I want them to do something, it had
failed to activate when it was supposed to. I swear sometimes that it's
a conspiracy designed to drive me insane.

The fact I hadn't slept much didn't help matters. I don't
think
I've ever been so tired. Every time I closed my eyes last night, I kept
seeing Joey and how surprised he'd seemed to see me at school. Had it
been because he was glad I hadn't been hurt any worse than I had been,
or because he was afraid I'd be able to identify him to the police? Or,
just maybe, had it been a combination of both?

Not that it mattered. He'd fooled me and in the worst way.
Before
yesterday, I'd been convinced he was basically a good kid, one who
wanted to make something of himself. He'd seemed so different from some
of the others I'd seen him hanging around with. They were the slackers,
the troublemakers. I'd always wondered why he didn't hang with more of
his teammates from the football team. Now I couldn't help wondering if
any of those I'd seen him with had also taken part in Manny's murder
and the torching of my house.

The coffeemaker gave one last burble, signaling the completion
of
the brew cycle. Automatically, I poured coffee for myself and Colton.
Still thinking about Joey and those I knew he ran with, I took one of
the mugs to the bathroom where Colton was showering. As I opened the
door, steam billowed out, and I called for him not to use all the hot
water. It was bad enough the coffee hadn't been ready. The last thing I
wanted was a cold shower to start the day.

"Think, Jess," I said softly as I paused by Colton's desk.

I
retrieved a pen and pad. Then I returned to the bed and sat against the
headboard, the pad balanced on my knee. Maybe if I wrote it out, it
might make more sense. Or not. Still, at least I'd be doing something
and not driving myself crazy as I tried to remember something, some
connection that simply might not be there.

Colton emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, a towel
wrapped around his waist. For a moment, as I looked up at him, I forgot
everything else. I might be worried and more than a little scared, but
I'm also living and breathing. There's no way I couldn't lust after him
when moisture from the shower still beaded on that finely sculpted
chest, with his eyes lit up to see me and the way he smiled at me. It
left no doubt that he was glad to see me. More, that he was glad to see
me there, in his bed.

Then, his smile disappeared and he moved to sit on the edge of
the
mattress, nudging my hip so I'd move over some. He gently took the pad
from me and spent a moment reading my notes. When he looked back up,
his expression was a mixture of concern and excitement. Understanding,
I nodded once and then leaned back, closing my eyes as I blew out a
long breath.

"Are you sure?" he asked softly, his hand warm as it rested on
my
thigh. It wasn't much, just his way of letting me know he was there for
me, and I appreciated it.

"No." I frowned and shook my head. "I'm not sure about
anything. But
you asked me yesterday who he ran with. I didn't think about it then.
But it kept bothering me last night, as if my subconscious was once
more trying to get me to remember."

"Tell me about them."

"There's not much to tell, Colton. The first two, Madison and
Bishop, are slackers. Given the chance, they'll cut school. The only
way they will graduate is because of the No Child Left Behind
guidelines. They'll scrape through by the skin of their teeth. I think
the only reason they're still in school is that their parents will kick
them out of the house if they drop out and they don't want the hassle
of having to work to survive. While they'd neither one flinch at
pulling a scam if it were a pretty sure thing, I can't see them doing
anything like this. The same goes for McKilroy."

Of course, I still had a hard time seeing Joey doing anything
like
this. So my judgment was obviously a little suspect just then.

"What about this last one? Underwood?"

"Thinking about it, he's with Joey more than the others. At
least it
seems that way at school. I know they've got a couple of classes
together. Not mine, but history and government. Maybe another that I'm
not aware of.

"Colton, the few times I've had to deal with Underwood, he's
been so
smug, so confident that he could do whatever he wanted, without fear of
repercussion. If I remember correctly, he's had several in-school
suspensions. I know he's got the reputation of being a bully. And, to
be honest, he's one of the few students who scare me. If I had to deal
with him on my own, I wouldn't."

For a moment, he didn't say anything. Instead, he swung his
legs
onto the bed and nestled me against him. His lips brushed the top of my
head. Feeling safe in his arms, I relaxed, realizing for the first time
just how tense I'd been since getting up.

"I'm going back to the school this morning to conduct
additional
interviews. I'll make sure those three are on the top of my list." He
lifted my face so he could look at me. "Jess, listen to me. You are
doing the right thing. If these guys aren't involved, all that's going
to happen is they get to miss class. But, if they are involved, you
telling me about them will help get them off the streets before they
hurt anyone else."

"Will you talk to Joey first?" Maybe if he did, Joey would be
ready
to tell him what happened and why. More important in a lot of ways,
maybe he'd tell Colton who else was involved. I hoped so. I was tired
of being scared, and I didn't want to have to look over my shoulder
every time I went to work, worrying whether one of my students might be
the one who had helped kill Manny and burn down my house.