The Stolen Bride

She was grateful, too, for Tina, her best friend from high school. Tina, now a junior high school life-skills teacher, had come to see Erin after she was transferred to the local hospital. She’d continued to visit during the past month while Erin recuperated at her mother’s home.

No one from Tustin had visited or accepted the wedding invitation. Erin had been particularly disappointed when Alice reported that Bea had declined.

Tina broke into her reverie. “How’s your leg? Think you can make it down the aisle without limping?”

Between her badly bruised hip and the head injury, Erin had been mostly housebound until now. “Probably. If Chet doesn’t step on my feet.”

“I’m sure he’ll be careful. If he isn’t, I’ll pound him into dust.”

“Spoken like a true friend!”

A loud knock startled both women. “Not the photographer again!” Erin didn’t think she could summon one more artificial smile.

“It’s probably Chet.” He planned to walk Erin down the aisle, since her mother was recovering from yet another bout of bronchitis.

She’d declined to let her stepfather fulfill that function. Although Lance had been pleasant this past month, Erin couldn’t bring herself to like him. She hadn’t entirely lost touch with her emotions after all, she supposed.

Tina peeked outside. Before Erin could see who was there, her friend stepped into the hall and shut the door behind her.

It had to be Tina’s boyfriend, Rick, a detective sergeant who braved her father’s disapproval to date her. One might expect more sympathy from a chief of police who’d risen through the ranks, but Edgar Norris had always been a bit of a snob. Now that he’d joined the country club, he preferred that his children move in elite social circles.

Fortunately, Tina didn’t share her father’s preoccupation with social status. Erin hoped he would come around eventually, because she liked Rick.

Her friend hurried back. “There’s a detective here to see you. Can you talk to him?”

“You mean Rick?” she asked.

“No. Someone with a few questions about your accident.”

“Now?” Erin could hardly believe the timing, less than an hour before the ceremony. Besides, she’d told the Tustin Police Department everything she remembered—which was a big fat zero. “They drove all this way on a Saturday to talk to me?”

“It’s someone local.” Tina cleared her throat. “Erin, it’s Joseph.”

Joseph. It couldn’t be him. She knew he’d joined the police force and that he was friends with Rick, but she hadn’t expected to meet him. Not unprepared like this. Not in her wedding dress.

Once, she’d been closer to him than to anyone in the world. Then he’d broken her heart, or maybe she’d broken his. Most likely both.

“My accident was in Tustin,” she heard herself say. “That’s a different jurisdiction.”

“I know.” Tina picked up her bouquet and fingered the ivory, blue and green flowers. “Joseph investigated your mom’s accident. He thinks there might be a connection with what happened to you.”

“How could they be connected?” Alice’s near drowning and Erin’s hit-and-run had occurred four months and fifty miles apart.

“I’d better let him explain it. He promised it won’t take long.” Tina sounded torn.

“I can’t see him.”

“He said he tried to talk to you before, but Lance objected and my father ordered him to back off. He seems to think it’s important.”

The boy she’d adored when she was fifteen was standing right outside in the hallway. Joseph might not belong at her wedding to Chet, but he was already here. How could she send him away? But how could she see him when she already felt so shaky?

The woman Erin had been until six weeks ago could have handled the situation with quiet self-possession. Now, she didn’t trust her own reactions. During the past month, she’d found herself doubting everyone around her and getting upset for no reason. How could she maintain her poise with Joseph?

She remembered something that had slipped her mind. At the hospital, she’d learned that, when admitted, she’d been wearing the broken-heart pendant he’d given her in high school.

She wished she knew why she’d put that on, apparently right after calling Chet to accept his proposal. It didn’t make sense.

A lot of things didn’t make sense, she acknowledged with a start. She didn’t know why her friends in Tustin had abandoned her. Also, at her mother’s house, she’d imagined that conversations stopped abruptly when she entered a room. That the phone rang and was answered in hushed tones so that she couldn’t understand.

In high school, Joseph had been the one she’d turned to with her thoughts. Maybe he could help her sort things out now. In any case, she refused to send him away without saying hello.

“All right,” Erin said. “For a minute.”

“I’ll warn him not to overtire you.” Tina went to the door.

Not overtire her? That was going to be hard. She just hoped that, after the interview, she could recover her composure in time to walk down the aisle at Chet’s side with an appropriate smile on her face.

Tina ushered in a man. When his eyes met Erin’s, emotions pricked and stung like blood flooding through a sleeping limb.

The gray vagueness she’d known since the accident lifted. This was Joseph, her Joseph. She’d missed him terribly, even if she’d refused to acknowledge it.

The years had broadened his shoulders and given him an air of authority, but if she buried her nose in his chest, she knew how he would smell. If she smiled up at him, she knew how his face would glow with warmth. Or perhaps she was imagining it.

His dark blue eyes riveted Erin with their intensity. He hadn’t forgotten anything that had passed between them, she was sure of it, yet she saw no sign of tenderness or welcome. This muscular man wearing a navy sports jacket and tan pants had changed in ways she couldn’t even imagine.

Joseph glanced toward Tina. “This will only take a few minutes.” It was a polite dismissal.

With an apologetic shrug, the bridesmaid left the two of them alone.

“Thank you for seeing me.” Remaining where he stood halfway across the room from her, he took out a notepad. “I need to run over a few details with you.”

“Your timing leaves something to be desired.” She hoped for a wry smile.

“I’m afraid I had no choice. I wasn’t allowed to see you sooner.” No smile. No eye contact, either.

“This is awkward. I’m getting married, you know.” Realizing what she’d blurted, Erin felt spectacularly foolish. As if the fact that she was standing here in her wedding dress didn’t give him a hint! “Is it that urgent?”

“You nearly got killed recently and so did your mother.” Although Joseph kept his voice level, she noted his tightly coiled tension. “I’d say that’s one heck of a coincidence.” The look he slanted her suited his tone: edgy and challenging.

“They were accidents,” Erin responded. “I don’t know what else I can tell you.”

“Were they?”

“Were they what?”

“Accidents.” He tapped his pen against the pad and waited.

“I don’t know.” She gripped the arm of the nearest chair, expecting to get light-headed again. It was the way she’d reacted all month when Chet and Lance and her mother told her things that didn’t match her distorted perceptions.

They’d said Alice was fine, even though to Erin she seemed gaunt and nervous. They’d said it made sense to go ahead with the wedding even in her befuddled state.

But her mind stayed clear. This hard-faced policeman wasn’t arguing with her perceptions. Instead, he’d implied that someone had deliberately attacked her and her mother.

It was the first thing Erin had heard in the past six weeks that made sense. And it scared the wits out of her.

JOSEPH HAD BEEN prepared to confront a wealthy young woman subtly dismissive of the man she’d once been foolish enough to date. He hadn’t expected to care whether she respected him, let alone liked him. No one knew better than he did the uselessness of holding on to the past.

After spending five years among police officers who worked high-stress jobs on rotating shifts, Joseph had seen relationships crumble right and left. People who’d once believed their hearts irretrievably shattered simply picked up the pieces and got over it, and so had he.

Or so he’d believed. Right now, he wasn’t sure.

Seeing Erin took him back to the innocent, hope-filled days of high school before his world fell apart. He wanted to cup her heart-shaped face and to smooth those quizzical eyebrows. He wanted her to melt into his arms and help him find the trusting young man he used to be.

Yeah, sure, she’d been pining for him all these years. That was why she was marrying Chet Dever, big-shot candidate for Congress and a superslick operator, judging by the way he came across in television interviews. That was why she sported a diamond necklace and crown that probably cost more than a policeman earned in a year. Or ten.

Still, it bothered Joseph to see her hanging on to a chair for support. What was the darn hurry to get married so soon after a major accident? If he were Chet—well, he’d be in just as big a hurry, he supposed.

“I apologize for the inconvenience, Miss Marshall,” he said. “Please bear with me and I’ll make this as brief as possible.”

“My name’s still Erin. And please tell me why you think that van hit me.” Despite the pallor of her complexion, she released her grip on the chair and held herself straight. Her late father would have approved.

Joseph forced his attention to the task at hand. He’d better make the best of these few minutes because, after Erin became Mrs. Chet Dever, he’d never get a chance to talk to her again unless this whole case blew wide open. By then, it might be too late.

“I don’t know the motive,” he said. “I don’t even know for sure that a crime’s been committed. Call me naturally suspicious.”

“The Tustin police called it an accident,” she said.

“The witnesses said they thought it might have been accidental. The police aren’t so sure.” He’d spoken at length with the investigating officer.

Her brown eyes widened. “Chet told me he read the report himself.”

“He probably read the cover sheet.” Joseph knew better than to call a man a liar without hard evidence. “Basically, no one saw the van hit you, only the aftermath, and there are several unexplained issues.”

“What…” Erin broke off, swaying a little.

Joseph caught her arm. “You okay?”

“I get dizzy.” She took a couple of deep breaths. In the formfitting gown, the movement made him uncomfortably aware of her bosom, and as soon as she looked steadier, he let go. “What do you mean by unexplained issues?”

Joseph referred to his notebook. “For one thing, the van had been stolen. It was recovered, stripped, twenty-five miles away in Los Angeles.”

“If it was a stolen van, that could explain why the driver didn’t stop to help me,” Erin replied. “What else?”

“Here’s the puzzler,” Joseph said. “You were carrying two thousand three hundred and forty-seven dollars in a cash box, which you left on the pavement about a hundred feet from where you got hit.”

“I did? Why?”

“You got me,” he said. “It was sitting there neatly with no sign of damage. It doesn’t look as if you dropped it. Why did you set it down?”

“I don’t know.” Erin’s blank expression confirmed that, as she’d told the Tustin detective, she didn’t recall the circumstances surrounding the hit-and-run. Crime and accident victims often blacked out the event, even if they didn’t suffer from head injuries. Sometimes the memories returned, sometimes not.

“Tustin PD finds that odd and so do I,” he said. “It’s possible you believed someone was trying to rob you and left it there so he’d leave you alone. But no one took the money. That might indicate some other motive.”

“Nobody told me that before.”

He had to ask a hard question, even if it upset her further. “Can you think of anyone who might want to kill you?”

Her horrified look went straight through him. “Of course not!”

She was being naïve, of course. The Marshall Company, of which Erin was half owner, wielded tremendous power in this town. It had developed major parcels of property and owned the mall, the hospital and several office complexes. There had to be people with grudges, from competitors to former leaseholders to outright kooks.

Apparently, she’d been sheltered from threats and lawsuits. Although technically Erin held the title of vice-chairman of the board, her position appeared to be largely ceremonial.

As CEO, Dever ran the Marshall Company in conjunction with Alice Marshall Bolding. Erin’s mother, who’d become chairman of the board since her husband’s death two years earlier, maintained an office at Marshall headquarters and apparently also conducted business from home.

“That brings us to your mother,” he said. “I’ve never been comfortable with the idea that she simply went boating by herself at twilight and fell out.”

He knew his report hadn’t made a strong enough case to convince his superiors that there’d been a crime. After Erin was nearly killed, however, his concerns had doubled. Although the Tustin police were doing their best to find the driver, he wondered if Erin herself held the key.

“Your mother decided to take out Lance’s motorboat even though it was nearly dark and there was no one around,” he continued. “Does that sound like something she would do?”

She shook her head. “I can’t imagine my mother sailing in anything less than a yacht.”

“She said she’d had a couple of drinks and lost her balance,” he went on. “What do you think of that?”

“Even if my mother did get drunk, she’d never admit it.” Erin plucked at her lace skirt. “She’s always insisted on keeping up appearances.”

Although he felt uncomfortable talking with his high school sweetheart as if they were strangers, at least she was willing to hear him out, Joseph mused. Alice Bolding had become annoyed at his implications and her husband had gone ballistic.

His goal was to resolve his case, and perhaps Tustin’s case as well. That was it. Then Erin could marry any darn fellow she pleased.

“Your stepfather claims he went shopping that evening, but he didn’t buy anything so there are no receipts,” he said. “I haven’t found any salesclerks who remember seeing him.”

“I’ve never trusted Lance,” she said. “So I can’t be objective. But if he tried to kill my Mom, why wouldn’t she say so? You must have asked her.”

“She denied it,” he admitted. “But her body language was extremely tense.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Erin said. “I’m sure she didn’t like talking to the police.”

Alice had always been a proud woman. Joseph hadn’t liked her much when he’d dated her daughter, because she’d had a way of making him feel about six inches tall. Even so, he’d been surprised by how coldly she’d behaved when he arrived at the lake, as if she resented his attempt to set the record straight.

Of course, she might have been in shock. Or could she fear that someone would retaliate if she spoke freely? Police dealt with abusive situations all the time, and they weren’t necessarily confined to poor homes.

“Did you ask her what happened?” he probed.

“I tried,” Erin said. “I phoned her as soon as I heard. I wanted to come up and find out what was really going on, but when I asked whether Lance had anything to do with it, she ordered me to stay away. For months, she would hardly speak to me, and she refused point-blank to let me visit. We didn’t reconcile until after I got hurt.”

“You’ve been staying with her. How has she seemed?” He watched her reaction closely.

“Moody,” Erin said. “Sometimes she’s giddy, then she gets kind of mad at the world.”

“Was she always like that?”

“She could be touchy, but I don’t think she feels well. The water must have affected her lungs.” Concern thickened her voice. “She says she’s been fighting off bronchitis, so she rarely goes out and she never invites anyone over except on company business.”

Abusive spouses often isolated their victims. “Did you talk to her about this?” Joseph asked. “It sounds like she needs help.”

Erin’s lost expression tugged at his sympathies. “I didn’t dare say anything. My perceptions have been so screwed up, I thought I was getting paranoid. I…” She hesitated.

“What?” he pressed.

“It’s silly.”

“The things people believe are silly often turn out to be important.” Joseph could feel her wondering whether to trust him. He waited, willing her to cooperate. Whatever was going on here, he might never find it out without her help.

“I thought people were whispering behind my back,” Erin confessed. “Does that sound crazy?”

“Not at all,” Joseph said. “Has your stepfather threatened you in any way?”

She swallowed. “No, actually, he’s been rather mellow. That doesn’t mean I like him.” She twisted her gloved hands together. “After my father died, my mother asked me to move back here, but I refused to leave my job. If I’d been around, maybe she wouldn’t have turned to Lance.”

“This isn’t your fault. Your mother’s always had a mind of her own.”

“She’s changed,” Erin said. “I don’t think she’s in control anymore. Can’t you help her?”

Joseph wished he could. He’d become a police officer to help people, and there was nothing more frustrating than when a woman insisted on protecting a man who was abusing her. But there were limits to what the police could do.

“The chief ordered me to close the case,” he said. “He puts a lot of stock in making nice with the town’s ruling class, and I suspect Mr. Bolding told him to back off.”

“You’re not supposed to be here today?” Erin said.

“That’s right.”

“You are trying to help.” The quaver in her voice hit him in the gut. “You could get into trouble because of me.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Their gazes met and held, and then she smiled. Just like that, he knew he wasn’t over her. He had never been over her. She was the reason every woman he’d dated since high school seemed to lack something vital, only he hadn’t understood that until now.

“Why the hell are you marrying Chet Dever?” Joseph braced himself for her to say, “Because I love him.”

“I don’t know,” Erin said.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Relief mingled with pain as raw as it had been more than ten years ago. “How can you marry a guy if you don’t love him?”

“I must love him. I said yes, didn’t I?”

“Why are you asking me?”

Erin scrunched her nose the way she used to do when an idea hit her. Like defying her parents and going to play Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus at a Christmas party for poor children rather than attending their school’s winter formal. Joseph treasured the photo he’d kept from that escapade.

“I don’t remember saying yes,” she said.

“Excuse me?”

“That whole morning is a big blank,” she explained. “He’d proposed the previous weekend. The morning of the accident, I phoned and said I couldn’t wait another day to tell him I wanted to be his wife. That’s what he told me.”

Joseph hadn’t expected anything like this when he decided to inject himself into Erin’s wedding day. “Whoa. Is it just me or does something smell rotten around here?”

“Smell,” she said.

“What?”

“I just remembered. Something smelled sweet. Flowers.” She blinked. “I’m sorry. I must be thinking of the hospital.”

She was so confused she could hardly follow her own train of thought. “You’re in no shape to marry anybody.”

Erin gestured at her wedding dress. “I made a commitment, and I always keep my promises.” Her voice wavered slightly as she added, “Besides, I’m sure it’s what I want.”

“You don’t sound sure to me.”

She hesitated. “I guess I’m wondering why I didn’t accept his proposal right away, why I waited. If I could just put my finger on what happened that morning, I’d feel better.”

In a little over half an hour, this woman was going to walk down the aisle with a man who, in Joseph’s estimation, was both cunning and amoral, and who would dearly love to come into possession of Erin’s millions. She had only his word that she’d agreed to marry him.

He gripped his notepad. Erin wasn’t his problem. As far as this town was concerned, he had no business getting anywhere near her.

Not only weren’t the Lowerys in the same league as the Marshalls, they’d been virtual outcasts since his father, a former policeman, was arrested and convicted of murder eleven years ago. The fallout had destroyed his relationship with Erin. It had destroyed his father, too.

Although Joseph and his mother had stood by him, very few people shared their belief that Lewis Lowery had been framed. After he died in prison and the years ticked by without new evidence emerging, the chances of clearing his father’s name had become negligible.

Erin was another matter. If she’d just become engaged, surely she had confided the happy news to someone. There was no reason to rely on Chet’s testimony.

“Is there a friend you might have talked to that day?” he asked.

“My boss, Bea,” Erin said. “We were working together at the carnival.”

“Do you know her phone number?”

“It’s in my organizer.”

He retrieved her purse from a chair. “May I?” It might take her a while to get those gloves off.

“Go ahead. It’s in the side pocket.”

He found the number and dialed her cell phone. While it was ringing, Joseph handed it to Erin.

After a moment, she exchanged pleasantries with her boss. He heard her ask if, before the accident, she’d mentioned her engagement.

“I don’t understand,” Erin said. “What do you mean you didn’t know I was engaged?… Well, to Chet, of course. You received the invitation, didn’t you?… What?”

He’d thought she was pale before, but some previously unsuspected color drained from her cheeks. “Oh, my gosh,” she said. “Oh, Bea. You won’t believe—well, I don’t have time to explain. Thank you. Yes. This helps a lot. I’ll be in touch.” She clicked off.

“Well?” Joseph said.

She swallowed hard. “I didn’t promise to marry Chet. I told Bea I was going to turn him down.”

Much as he welcomed the news, Joseph had to make sure it was valid. “Could there be a misunderstanding?”

“She talked to me that afternoon, right before I got hit.” Erin spoke in a dull, shocked tone. “I said the whole thing with Chet was a mistake. I planned to give him the bad news in person the next day.”

Joseph couldn’t believe Dever had lied so baldly. “Maybe you accepted him and then had a change of heart.”

“I don’t see how that could have happened,” Erin said. “Chet described how overjoyed I was when I called. He said I could hardly wait to walk down the aisle. I’m not the kind of person who would say that and then change my mind a few hours later.”

“When he told you, didn’t you wonder why you’d agreed? I mean, you ought to know whether you love him or not.” He knew he was being rough on her, but it was nothing compared to the storm that would sweep over Sundown Valley if Erin Marshall left Chet Dever at the altar.

“I believed everything I was told. I couldn’t rely on my memory or my feelings.” She sounded dazed. “I didn’t trust my perceptions.”

What a violation! What Dever had done might not be a crime, but it ought to be. “You can’t marry him.”

Erin dropped her cell phone into her purse. “What a mess! Everyone’s going to be so upset. I don’t know how I’m going to deal with them.”

“The only person you have to deal with is your fake fiancé,” he said.

“No.” Tears welled in her eyes. “There’s my mom. And all those people out there.” She started to shake. “I’m sorry. I know I ought to be able to take care of myself, but I can’t think straight.”

Joseph couldn’t help it. He knew he was compromising his investigation, but he wrapped his arms around Erin and pulled her against him.