Dead in the Daisies (A Heavenly Highland Inn Cozy Mystery) (9 page)

“
Thank you so much,” she said with gratitude before she was whisked out of the bridal suite. Aunt Ida had already found her seat and was eagerly observing the ceremony. She had her lavender scarf wrapped around her purple hair and was perched at the edge of her seat, just waiting for the bride to make her entrance. Vicky scanned the crowd again hoping to spot Matt, but once more he was missing. His absence sealed it once and for all in her mind. Wherever he was, he was hiding from something, as he certainly wasn't doing his job of protecting the bride. As she sat down near the back, she felt someone else sit down next to her. She glanced up with surprise to discover Mitchell settling into the chair right beside her.

“
Mitchell,” she exclaimed as she grabbed his hand. “I think I know who was behind the photographer's death,” she blurted out. A few of the people seated around her glanced nervously in her direction, but the shift of the music from peaceful to the triumphant bridal march drew their attention away from anything that Vicky had to say.

“
Shh,” Mitchell said as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze in return. “This is my favorite part,” he sighed and stood up with the rest of the guests as the flower girl emerged from behind the silk curtains that Vicky had set up to make the entrance even more dramatic. Their color matched the pale silver shade of the groom's tuxedo perfectly and made the bride's pure white gown stand out exquisitely. She sighed a little, surprising herself, as she watched Trinie emerge from the curtains behind her bridesmaids. She was carrying a bouquet of simple, small, pink roses, and the color splash was vibrant against her deeply tanned skin. She couldn't be more beautiful, Vicky was sure of it. When she felt Mitchell's arm curve around her waist she closed her eyes briefly. She tried to picture herself as the bride, walking down the aisle towards Mitchell, waiting for her. Her body stiffened, and Mitchell held her just a little tighter.

The very idea of being in a wedding dress made Vicky want to turn tail and run, but
Trinie wasn't running. She was walking in perfect rhythm with the music, towards the man she adored. It was clear in her wide, almond gaze and the flush of her cheeks that she was in this for real, not for the press. Seth who waited for her at the altar looked as if he might want to run down the aisle towards her, but he restrained himself, vacillating between a stunned smile and an overjoyed grin as she approached. Vicky was moved by the strong emotion between the two, and so very grateful that the wedding had not been stalled by the crime that had taken place.

There was nothing more precious than the moment Seth extended his hand to her, and she laid hers against his palm. It was truly breathtaking, and she heard Mitchell take a sharp breath as he witnessed the same beauty that she did. When they sat back down in their
chairs, he refused to release her hand, his eyes fixated on the ceremony that was taking place.

The office was empty, the door left
partially open. Sarah had specifically stated in her discussion with the security guards that the door should always be locked if no one was in there. She insisted that the office remained locked all of the time because it contained the safe, as well as personal information about frequent customers, and her own personal information. So, when Matt saw the door standing slightly open he suspected something might be wrong. He was determined not to fail the celebrity couple he had been called to shield, as he cared about them and did not want his career to be ruined again. When he pushed the door slowly open he quickly assessed that the office was empty. But he needed to see if there was anything taken, or if perhaps someone had left a device of some kind set to disrupt the wedding that was taking place.

Matt
noticed right away that the computer screen was lit up as if someone had been there recently. He walked over to it and sat down in front of the screen. On it he recognized the image of an angry Charlotte frozen in time by the video that was not playing. Tentatively, he slid the mouse over to point at the play button on the video, and it came to life. Matt knew what the video was about as soon as he heard Charlotte cursing and shrieking. He would never forget the accusations she had flung at him. He had been so stunned by her certainty that he was guilty. It still hurt him to recall it. Perhaps he had allowed himself to become too close to Charlotte. He had learned his lesson from that.

As the video played Matt’s
mind processed what he was seeing. Someone else had recently been in here, watching this video. Someone else had been looking into his encounter with Charlotte, and had probably read the attached article detailing the accusations by Graham that he had been involved. The same photographer who had been found dead. In that moment he knew that someone was onto him. But who? He didn't have to wait long for the answer, because he heard voices outside the office door.

“
It was such a lovely ceremony,” Aunt Ida declared as they neared the office.

“
Yes it was,” Vicky agreed, trying not to think too much about the silent interaction that had occurred between herself and Mitchell.

She had to stay focused on what sh
e had discovered about the bodyguard. She had been watching for him during the entire ceremony, but had not spotted him. This worried her as she wondered if he was going to seek revenge on anyone else. From what she had seen in the video she could assume that he had only wanted to attack the photographer, but she didn't know that for sure. Maybe after his encounter with Charlotte he had found himself so angry at celebrities that he wanted to take it out on the newly married couple.

“
I really don't want to miss the reception,” Aunt Ida lamented as she kept her pace as even as she could. The high heeled shoes she wore were much higher than she was used to, which made it rather difficult to walk.

“
I don't either,” Vicky admitted. “We won’t though. They are taking photographs with the guests first.” She wanted to make sure that everything went smoothly. She couldn't let that distract her now though, she had to focus on figuring out what to do about the bodyguard. Mitchell had been abruptly whisked away by the sheriff after the ceremony so she couldn’t tell him about Matt.

“
Wait until you see this,” Vicky added as she pushed the door to the office open. She quietly chastised herself for leaving it open, and hoped that Sarah hadn't noticed. If she had the door would have likely been closed and locked, so she was fairly certain that she had escaped her sister's wrath on this particular issue. When she stepped inside she was stunned to discover the hulking presence sitting in front of the computer. At first she was too surprised to react, but he wasn't. He must have heard them coming because he was already standing up from the desk chair.

“
Uh, what are you doing in here?” Vicky stammered out, she hoped that he didn't realize that she suspected him. But the video was still playing on the screen.

“
You just couldn't leave it alone, could you?” he asked her in a cruel voice as he began to advance on her.

“
I don't know what you mean...” she started to say but fell silent as he reached for the gun on his hip. Aunt Ida gasped from behind her. Vicky could see the cold rage in the man's eyes that indicated he would do whatever it took to make sure that they never saw the light of day again.

“
Aunt Ida,” she hissed as she grabbed her aunt's hand. “Run!” They went into the hallway and no one was around because they were still taking photos of the guests and the staff were setting up the reception. Aunt Ida was running as fast as she could but she was teetering on those expensive high heels and cursing herself for not finding that extra half-inch in her shoe size to be that important. She felt as if her toes were going to burst in the tip of her shoes as she ran beside Vicky. Matt took a few seconds to follow because he closed down the webpage.

“
Keep going, keep going,” Vicky was chanting as she steered her aunt passed a row of rolling carts in the hallway.  Vicky pushed them into the way to try to block Matt who was fast approaching. But a moment later she heard the man's boots, close behind, striking the floor once more. They were headed as quickly as they could for the kitchen.

“
Stop!” he bellowed after them. “Stop where you are!”

Vicky took a sharp breath, knowing that the man was armed. All of the security guards were carrying weapons and she knew for a fact that they were loaded.

“Don't slow down,” Vicky pleaded with her aunt as she practically dragged her around the corner of the hallway. What if they shouted for help and Matt opened fire? Who knew how many innocent bystanders he would shoot. No, they just needed to get somewhere safe, that was the main goal in Vicky's mind. They had to get somewhere that they could block him out. When they ran towards the kitchen and she saw the door to the wine cellar standing half open, she knew that it was the perfect place. She pulled her aunt towards the cellar door. The wine cellar was the best option. As soon as they stepped through the door, Vicky tried to shove it closed and lock it behind her. Aunt Ida stumbled down the stairs, hanging onto the railing as she did. As Vicky was just about to lock the door, the full force of the massive security guard slammed against it.

“
Open the door!” he shouted. Vicky struggled to shove back, but she was no match for his size or strength, and she found her feet sliding back across the top step of the wooden stairs that led down into the wine cellar. He forced the door all the way open, causing Vicky to stumble on the steps. She slid down them and landed hard on her back. The cement floor was harsh along her spine and she groaned in pain. As she forced herself to open her eyes and look up the stairs she met the barrel of a gun which was being pointed directly down at her. Matt had shut and locked the door behind him, and was standing two steps above her with the weapon promising to solve the problem within a split second.

“
No, don't,” Ida demanded as she came to Vicky's side.

“
Stay back,” Vicky shouted to her aunt, as she struggled not to move a muscle.

“
Shut up, both of you,” the bodyguard barked and released the safety catch on his weapon. “It seems we have a little problem.”

“
It doesn't have to be a problem,” Vicky assured him, ignoring his command for silence. Her back was screaming in pain from striking the floor but she tried to remain still. “Look, you killed the photographer in a fit of rage,” Vicky explained to him calmly. “He was trying to ruin your life, again. It's okay, a jury will understand that,” she assured him. “But coldly gunning down two innocent women in a basement, that's not something they'll forgive,” Vicky insisted, glaring at him. “So, just let us go,” she pleaded as she looked up at the man. “Let us go, and we'll settle all of this.”

“
Or,” the bodyguard laughed as if he had been entertained by her entire speech. “I’ll just take you out to that nice big lake that's only a few miles away, and dump your bodies. No bodies, no crime, and no one to stick their noses into my business!” he announced and descended the last two steps.

Aunt Ida
stood her ground. Vicky shifted on the floor in pain.

“
You see,” he murmured as he looked from Vicky to Ida, and then back to Vicky again. “I've been in this line of work a long time. I know how to make people just disappear. So the two of you, well, you'll be missed. But I doubt they'll look too hard. No children, no husbands.” he chuckled at that and cast a light wink in their direction.

“
You're a terrible man,” Aunt Ida abruptly announced as she stared up at him. She had never seen someone so vicious before.

“
Maybe,” he shrugged and offered a mild sigh. “But maybe that's because I've seen where being a good person gets you, darling. It gets you accused of things you never did. It gets you bankruptcy, a lost house, a lost career. I never had anything to do with those pictures. Not with Charlotte and not with Trinie. It was all Graham and he made millions off the sale of the photographs. When he told me he had some of Trinie I just snapped. I got so angry that I just wanted it to stop, the invasion of privacy, the harassment. I wanted him to experience the consequences of his actions. So, that's where being a good person gets you. It gets you locked in a wine cellar, counting down the minutes to when I will come back for you.”

“
Give me your phones,” he demanded. Vicky and Aunt Ida reluctantly handed over their cell phones with trembling hands.

With that he backed up the stairs, keeping the gun trained on the two of them.

“You make a move on me, I'll shoot you both right now,” he warned them. Then he rested his hand on the locked door. “At least this way, you'll have the chance to say your goodbyes.”

Vicky
reached out to gently grasp her aunt’s hand. She wanted to attack the man, but she knew that whatever she could do would be no match for the weapon he held. As he closed the door behind him, she heard the bolt slide into place on the outside of the door. She sighed and closed her eyes as she felt Aunt Ida's arms encircle her.

“
Don't you worry, Vicky,” she whispered to her. “We've been in much tougher spots than this before, haven't we?”

Vicky nodded a little, but she was not convinced. She felt as
if they were stuck with no way out. The two sat there for a few moments, savoring each other's comfort, before Ida bravely spoke up.