The Stolen Bride

“Do you recognize it?” he asked. “I thought maybe it was a friend of yours.”

Erin shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

There were too many curves and trees for him to make the plate, and the car was painted a neutral shade. The driver appeared to be alone, although Joseph didn’t discount the possibility of someone hunkering down.

He wasn’t ready to phone in a report, however. Joseph didn’t want to get the department involved in what might be simply a Marshall family dispute.

“It’s probably nothing,” he said. “Just some golfer going home.”

“If you think he’s following us, he probably is.” Erin’s hands clenched.

“I shouldn’t have mentioned it.”

“Don’t treat me like an invalid! Even if I am one, sort of.”

“I won’t. But it was premature to say anything.” Joseph hadn’t intended to make his friend any more paranoid than she already was. He felt edgy enough himself after those unpleasant scenes at the country club.

They passed Rainbow Lane, which led to the old fishing area where Joseph and some of his high school buddies used to sneak forbidden beers. But the pier had been declared unsafe years ago, and Joseph had given up drinking after alcoholism cost his father his police career. Joseph didn’t intend to run that risk.

When they swung right on Aurora Avenue toward the Marshalls’ property, the luxury car continued on along Via Puesta del Sol. “False alarm,” Joseph said.

“Good.” Erin beamed. He wondered if she had any idea of how appealing she struck him with those lively eyes and a mouth that fit naturally into a curve.

She’d never been vain about her appearance or her social position. Sometimes Joseph used to forget she came from a rich family. It hadn’t mattered so much when they were kids, but he’d learned long ago that it mattered to adults.

They passed a cluster of cottages. Farther along the pavement, a Do Not Enter sign marked the point where the road became private.

They curved past a stand of eucalyptus on the sprawling estate. When the Boldings’ house emerged into view, Joseph didn’t like it any more than he had the first time he saw it six months ago. Maybe less.

He’d arrived the night of Alice’s near drowning to see police spotlights playing across the water and red lights blinking atop a welter of emergency vehicles. The structure sat in a hollow, its jutting roof giving it the appearance of a brooding misanthrope with hunched shoulders.

He wondered again how Lance Bolding had persuaded aristocratic Alice Marshall to give up her palace for this low-slung house on the far side of the lake, away from her friends and the country club. Although the wooden structure, painted tan with brown trim, had its own pier on the glittering lake, he found it depressing.

The place hadn’t grown on Joseph during his investigation. After reading about Erin’s accident, he’d disliked the thought of her staying out here. He found the atmosphere toxic, both literally and figuratively.

He halted on the turnaround. A covered porch the width of the house supported a glider seat and small table. “This place reminds me of a Louisiana plantation gone to seed.”

“It is gloomy, isn’t it?” Erin made no move to get out. “But the lake’s pretty.”

“That depends.” He decided not to make any further reference to her mother’s close call. “You’ve got a key, I hope?”

“Yes.” Erin reached into her purse. Joseph came around to escort her.

As she emerged, sunlight picked out the blue-white clarity of the diamonds in her tiara and choker. “You’d better leave those behind unless they belong to you,” he said. “I wouldn’t put it past Lance to file a theft report.”

“Actually, they were a wedding present from Chet.”

“Chet makes that kind of money?” He stopped short of asking how much they’d cost. Maybe they were artificial, but he doubted it.

“We pay our CEO well,” Erin told him. “I’ll send them back, of course.”

When they entered the house, the smell that hit Joseph was a mixture of furniture polish and stale air heavy with moisture from the lake. Drawn curtains plunged the living room into semi-gloom.

At least Alice had brought with her the beautiful antique furnishings from her former home. Chosen with taste, the curving divan and beveled-glass china cabinet retained a lightness that brought to mind happier times. Inside the cabinet, row after row of charming bells—glass and ceramic and metal, lovingly collected over many years—sat silent.

He knew from his investigation that no servants lived on the property, and the only full-time staff was the housekeeper. Even so, Joseph called out “Hello?” a couple of times and listened to his voice echo through the rooms. No one answered.

“Wait while I check it out,” he told Erin.

She frowned in confusion. “There’s nobody here.”

“Humor me.” Drawing his gun, he moved quickly from room to room. It wasn’t a proper search. He would never go through a house alone if he believed there was someone lying in wait. But it reassured him that they weren’t likely to meet any surprises.

“Go ahead,” he told Erin on returning to the front room.

“I have to change,” she said. “I’ll work as fast as I can.”

“Need any help?”

“Changing?” She started to smile. “That’s quite an offer.”

“I didn’t mean…” Joseph ducked his head. “I was thinking your dress must be complicated. But you wouldn’t want me fumbling with it. I’ve got butterfingers.” And a tongue tied in knots, he thought in embarrassment.

When she was amused, Erin glowed. It should happen more often, he thought. “You don’t have to tell me! Remember that Santa Claus costume? When you first put it on, you had a beard growing out of your ear.”

“I did not!”

“Yes, you did. It was cute.” Her face tilted toward him. For a moment, she became again a laughing girl of fifteen and he was seventeen, so much in love he couldn’t see straight. He had to kiss her.

Joseph stopped. He wasn’t a kid, and besides, he’d come here to protect Erin, not indulge himself. “Better hurry. We don’t want to be here when your parents get back.”

“Oh.” With a visible effort, she recovered her poise. “I won’t be long.” She whisked away, leaving a floral scent in her wake.

Since he considered himself to be on an investigation despite the chief’s orders, Joseph scanned the area. In violent households, one might expect to find a broken lamp or a dent in the wall. He saw none.

Moving to the lake side of the house, he glanced into the sunroom. Through a wall of windows, daylight gleamed across enough wedding presents to stock a department store. Despite the brevity of the engagement, friends had showered the bridal couple with heaps of silver, crystal and china.

After checking through a front window to make sure no cars had pulled in, Joseph paced the living room as the minutes ticked by. Finally Erin rejoined him, toting a suitcase and an overnight bag. She’d swapped the wedding gown and diamonds for a pair of jeans, a pink sweater and a simple pearl necklace.

“I hope I didn’t take too long.” She glanced past him to the table covered with gifts. “Oh, my! Those all have to be returned. I should write notes to the guests, too.”

“Unless you plan to hire a moving van, I suggest you let your mother take care of it,” Joseph said. “Besides, no one expects you to write notes in your condition.”

“But it’s my responsibility.”

“Who appointed you the world’s only perfect person?” It was a phrase he’d used often when they were teenagers.

“I’m being Little Goody Two Shoes again. You’re right. Without your healthy corrupting influence, I slipped right back into the role,” she teased.

He didn’t bother to ask how a corrupting influence could be healthy. He understood what she meant.

On a message pad, Erin wrote a message to her mother. “Okay, how’s this? I’m asking her to return the gifts and give the diamonds to Chet. She can leave them with Betsy—she’s the board secretary at the office.”

“Sounds good.” Joseph was glad she didn’t insist on handing them to Chet herself. No matter what the etiquette books said, as far as he was concerned, the less contact between them, the better.

“Well, that’s that.” Erin signed the note. “Mom can reach me on my cell phone.”

“Have you decided where you’re going?” Taking the suitcase, Joseph led her onto the porch.

“Not yet.” After locking up, she dropped the key through the mail slot. Joseph would have advised her to hold on to it in case of emergency, but she’d beaten him to the punch. “Before I know what I can afford, I need to consult Stanley Rogers at the company. In addition to being the chief financial officer, he manages my trust fund. Until he gets in on Monday, I don’t have much money with me.”

“Excuse me?” A multimillionaire, and she made it sound as if she were broke!

“I’m not trying to plead poverty. It’s kind of complicated.” Erin beat him to the car and let herself inside. But once there, she sank back as if she’d expended most of her energy. She must have been operating on adrenaline, Joseph reflected as he stowed her possessions in the trunk.

When he got in, Erin resumed her explanation. “The fund makes a quarterly deposit in my account, and I turn it over to the Friend of a Friend Foundation. That’s confidential, by the way.”

“You’re behind the Friend of a Friend Foundation?” The organization had made a generous grant to the after-school tutoring program founded by his mother and a close friend of hers, a teacher.

“Even Tina doesn’t know that.”

“Obviously not.” Tina volunteered at The Homework Center, and she’d been as mystified as anyone about who was behind the donation.

“I’ve been living on what I earn at my job,” Erin said. “Believe me, that doesn’t go far. My bank account in Orange County has a couple of hundred dollars at most. Of course, there’s always my credit card.”

“Card, singular?”

“I told you, I’ve been living on my income,” she said. “I’m not sure when the next quarterly payment is due, but maybe I can get an advance.”

“You could call this financial guy at home.”

“I’m not that desperate,” Erin said. “I don’t think it’s right to force an employee to go into the office on his day off just to suit my convenience.”

As he drove, Joseph reflected on the contradictions in her attitude. On the one hand, she saw herself as an owner with an obligation not to abuse her authority. On the other hand, she seemed to doubt her ability even to tap into her resources for a small advance. She owned a half interest in the Marshall Company, for heaven’s sake!

Well, these decisions belonged to her, not him. What she needed from her old friend, he mused, was emotional support and physical protection.

He knew he tempted fate by getting involved where no one except Erin wanted him, and he wasn’t entirely sure how she felt. Perversely, the prospect of defying the rest of the world appealed to him. If he ever stopped leaping before he looked, life could get awfully boring.

“Well, if you still haven’t decided where to stay, I’m taking you to my house,” he said.

Erin didn’t answer.

“If that’s all right,” Joseph added.

She gave him one of those sweet, enigmatic expressions that made him want to kiss her and poke her in the ribs at the same time.

“Or I could drop you at the mall,” he said with mock solemnity. “Considering that you more or less own it.”

“There’s a tempting thought. I could pitch a sleeping bag in the food court.” She made a face.

“Well?”

“I’d love to go to your place, but I don’t want to get you in trouble,” Erin said. “You worked hard to get where you are.” She might not know the details, but she obviously suspected the hurdles he’d had to leap to get hired on the force, not to mention making detective so quickly. After what had happened to his father, some people had been waiting for him to fail. They still were.

“It’s only for the weekend.” Joseph negotiated the curving side streets toward Old Lake Highway, the most direct route into town. “It’s too isolated for you to stay there next week while I’m at work.”

“Where exactly do you live?” she asked.

“In the woods.”

“You always said you wanted to be close to nature,” Erin recalled. “If I remember right, at one point you talked about becoming a forest ranger.”

“I’m too stubborn for that,” Joseph said.

“Too stubborn?” After a moment, Erin answered her own question. “You mean, if you left town, everybody would think you were running away.”

“Exactly.”

“You gave up your dream to prove a point?” she demanded.

“I’m stubborn, but not that stubborn,” he said. “I like being a cop.”

“You don’t have to convince me about being stubborn.”

“I thought I was downright accommodating in the old days.” After all, he’d poured his earnings from a lawn-mowing job into movie tickets and hamburger dinners, not to mention a couple of tuxedo rentals that nearly broke his personal bank.

“You were, except when we broke up,” she reminded him. “I wanted to talk things over. I wanted to give our friendship a chance. You insisted it was hopeless.”

“Don’t remind me. The past is dead and buried, Erin. If you’re going to be staying with me, we have to agree on that.” He didn’t want things hitting too close to home.

Just being around Erin made Joseph want things he shouldn’t. He’d long ago made his peace with the injustices of the past. He didn’t need a nest of stinging emotions stirred up again.

“Okay,” she said after a long pause. “I agree. Under protest.”

“Duly noted.”

They fell into silence. During the eight-mile drive into town, the gentle rocking of the car, combined with her exhaustion, put Erin to sleep.

A lock of her shoulder-length brown hair, crinkly where she’d brushed it out of its twist, floated in a draft. Joseph imagined how it would feel against his cheek, as silky as a whisper in the night.

In the old days, he’d have slung his arm across the back of the seat and she’d have scooted close. It was ridiculous how natural it felt to be riding with her again, as if the intervening years had evaporated.

He’d expected to fall in love with someone else by now. When one potential relationship after another failed to develop, he’d attributed it to the rigors of a policeman’s schedule and to the difficulty of trusting anyone.

Maybe taking her home with him ran the risk of reigniting an old flame. But under the circumstances, what else could he do?

He returned his attention to his driving. As they made their way through the heart of town, Joseph spotted a luxury sedan like the previous one, again lagging a few car lengths behind them. If it had followed them on the highway, he hadn’t noticed.

He made a couple of turns, and the car disappeared. Gone, he hoped. Most likely a different vehicle.

On Little Creek Lane, which wound through a grove close to his cabin, he caught sight of it again. He hadn’t imagined it; they were being followed.

Erin’s eyes blinked open. “What’s wrong?”

“I thought you were asleep.”

“I was dozing. I felt the car speeding up.”

“We’re being tailed again.” Before she could sit up, he added, “Stay low.” He didn’t expect the guy to start shooting, but you never knew.

Erin obeyed. “Can you see who it is?”

“Not yet.” Joseph considered his options. The other car hadn’t broken any laws, so he could hardly call dispatch. Normally, he’d pull into a public place such as a gas station, but there was only woodland on both sides and the road was too narrow for him to reverse course.

Although he carried a gun, he didn’t want to risk a shoot-out in the middle of nowhere. While he hated to lead whoever was tailing them to his house, his property would offer cover and a chance for Erin to escape inside.

The funny thing was, the vehicle seemed familiar. Not just because he’d seen it earlier today, either. That particular make, that beige paint—well, they were common enough. The only thing he could say for sure was that the figure behind the wheel didn’t appear as large as Chet.

Maybe it was another resident. Although the houses were set far apart, including vacation cabins that frequently lay empty, it was possible the guy lived nearby. Maybe that was where Joseph had seen the car before.

They passed one driveway, then another. The vehicle didn’t turn. Finally, the only one left was Joseph’s.

“Looks like we’ve got a visitor.”

“Can’t you call someone?” Erin kept low, as he’d instructed. “Cops can call 911, can’t they?”

“Sure. Or I could use my radio. But I’ve been out conducting an investigation against the chief’s orders, and I’ve got a feeling whoever’s behind us wants to talk about it,” Joseph said. “I’m not real eager to bring in the rest of the department unless things get sticky.”

“Okay,” Erin said. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble for you.”

“If there’s any trouble, I caused it for myself.”

He hoped his decision not to call for help wasn’t putting her in unnecessary danger. For himself, Joseph never worried. Except for the pain it would cause his mother, he didn’t fear death nearly as much as disgrace or false imprisonment, the fate his father had endured.

His driveway wound uphill through dense woods. Normally, Joseph enjoyed the sense of leaving civilization behind. In all but the worst weather, he rolled down the windows to enjoy the twitter of birds and the scent of pines. Not today.

With Erin at risk, he had to assume that whoever was tailing them might turn nasty. He made some quick calculations.

“You may have to duck inside,” he said. “There’s a spare gun in the bedroom, in the nightstand.”

“I don’t like guns,” Erin said.

“Ever fired one?”

She nodded. “My dad took me to a shooting range a couple of times. He said I needed to know how to protect myself.”

“Watch out for the recoil,” he told her. “It’s a .38. That’s powerful but we don’t know if this guy’s on drugs, so if you have to shoot him, fire at least two or three rounds. One bullet might not stop him.”

“You’re scaring me.”

“Don’t get scared. Get mad.” He’d adopted that slogan as a teenager, and it had served him well. “Okay, enough of the pep talk. When I turn off the motor, I’ll hand you the keys. There are two, one for the car, one for the door. Stay out of sight until I give the word, then bolt for the house. He may not know you’re here, so you’ve got surprise on your side. The bedroom’s the first door to the right.”

“Thanks,” Erin said. “I’ll be okay as long as I know the plan.” She sounded steady and determined. Joseph respected people who kept their heads in an emergency.

Cresting the hill, they came within sight of the cabin. A gravel clearing fronted the wood-and-stone building, which had a carport situated on the far side.

“I’m going to stop in front of the porch,” Joseph said. “If you have to duck out the door, you’ll be right there.” Pulling into the carport would have given him more cover but would slash Erin’s chances of making it inside. “Don’t go until I tell you to.”

“I won’t.”

So far, there’d been nothing threatening about their pursuer other than the fact that he was following them. Unexpectedly, the other car jolted forward, almost hitting Joseph’s bumper. It felt like a threat.

In the rearview mirror, the driver’s eyes met Joseph’s. Cold fury radiated at him.

At least he understood why he’d recognized the car. The man behind the wheel was Edgar Norris.

Judging by the chief’s taut jaw and the angry gesture with his car, he was royally ticked about having his orders disobeyed. That didn’t explain why he’d left the wedding and lit out after them. Or why he emerged from the car with one hand hovering near his gun.

Eleven years ago, as detective lieutenant, Norris had headed the investigation into the robbery-murder of jewelry store owner Binh Nguyen. It was Norris who’d evaluated the evidence against Lewis Lowery, recommended that he be charged and sat at the prosecutor’s side during much of the trial.

He’d never liked Joseph, but he’d always treated him fairly. In return, Joseph had given the chief the benefit of the doubt. Although he was certain his father had been framed, he’d assumed Norris simply failed to recognize that.

Now he wondered if he’d been wrong. And whether his shortsightedness was going to get him and Erin killed.

Chapter Five

Joseph stopped in front of the porch. “Remember the plan,” he told Erin in a low voice.

“You bet.” She didn’t chatter or seek reassurance. Not that he would mind comforting her, but not under the circumstances. “Can you tell who it is?”

“It’s the chief.”

“Why would he follow us?”

He kept his face averted as Norris approached, so he couldn’t be seen conversing. He hoped the chief believed that he’d left Erin at her mother’s house, and he intended to keep it that way. “I don’t know. He looks mad.”

“He wouldn’t shoot us, would he?”

“Let’s hope not.”

After slipping the keys to Erin, Joseph opened his door and eased out to face his boss. He had a good three inches on the chief, but you didn’t judge a man like Edgar Norris by his size. Or by the spare tire around his waist or the fact that he dyed what was left of his hair. He had kick-butt body language and the grit to back it up.

Norris’s fist pounded Joseph’s trunk, making the car creak on its aging springs. “What the hell did you think you were doing when you barged into Erin Marshall’s dressing room?”

“I wanted to wish an old friend well,” he replied evenly.

“Don’t lie to me,” the man growled. “I told you to leave Alice’s case alone. You’re harassing one of this town’s leading families, and now you’ve managed to screw up the wedding of the year.”

“I needed to clarify some points to wrap up my report,” he said. “I didn’t expect to discover that her fiancé had pulled a con job on her.”

“Nobody forced that woman into a bridal gown.”

“There’s more than one kind of force,” he said.

“You don’t know understand the kind of fallout there’s going to be,” the chief snapped. “Do you have any idea how a public humiliation like this is going to hurt Chet Dever’s campaign?”

“What does Chet Dever’s campaign have to do with the Sundown Valley Police Department, other than the fact that your son is managing it?” Joseph shot back. It wasn’t the smartest remark to make under the circumstances. Sometimes retorts flew out of his mouth before he could stop them.

Although the chief’s face darkened, he kept himself under control. “You’re injecting your personal feelings into police business. When it comes to the powerful people in this town, there’s a chip on your shoulder and everyone knows it.”

“Everyone being Gene?” He’d gone too far, Joseph thought. “I take that back.”

“You’re going to wish you could take a lot of things back,” Norris said. “You’ve made enemies all over town, embarrassed this force and contradicted my direct order. As of right now, I’m busting you back to patrol.”

“Wait a minute!” A demotion made it unlikely Joseph would ever advance in this department or, possibly, any other. Thank goodness the police union had established protections for its member. “I have the right to appeal.”

“I’ll throw in a few more charges to make it look good.” Satisfaction was written all over the chief’s face. “Like the fact that you drew a gun on me.”

“I haven’t touched my weapon!”

“It’s my word against yours. Who do you think people will believe?”

Joseph’s passenger door swung open. Before he could call out that the situation might still be dangerous, Erin’s resolute face appeared above the car. “I think they might believe me,” she said. “I heard the whole thing.”

The chief’s Adam’s apple performed a couple of rapid bobs. “Miss Marshall. I didn’t see you.”

“So I gathered.” She studied him levelly.