Illusion of Luck (9 page)

“
Yeah, I guess. But since
when are you an authority on this stuff?”

“
What can I say? I watch a
lot of Oprah.”

They both laughed.

“
Okay,” said Greg.
“Thanks.”

“
So, just concentrate
tonight. I’m sure you can keep
little
Greg
in check while you kiss that
gorgeous, sexy redhead in front of God and man.”

Greg punched him in the arm. “Stop.”

“
Fine. How about a
snack?”

**********

Rebecca always thought of
her dad when she drank coffee. The two had downed gallons of the
black stuff while she did P.I. work with him. She liked Starbucks
because it was a handy place for her to use her laptop. But it
was
not
the
kind of coffee shop her dad frequented that had only regular or
decaf. With no frilly options or foreign-sounding sizes.

She could just imagine what would have
happened if he’d ever walked into a Starbucks.

“
Give me a large
coffee.”

“
Grande or
Venti?”

“
What?”

“
Which size did you want,
Sir? Grande or Venti?”

“
I want a
large
.”

“
Medium or dark
roast?”

“
Son, I just want you to
pour some coffee into a large cup. What’s so hard about
that?”

No, her dad wouldn’t have liked this at all.
But she sure wished he was here. She missed him every day. And
right now she could use his help catching Melanie’s killer.

She wondered if
Larry the Loser
had
killed his wife the way his alter ego did in the book. Probably,
she thought. The scene in which the hooker was killed sounded
exactly like what had really happened to her partner. If he had
known Melanie was an attorney instead of a hooker, he might not
have killed her. But even after he knew, he still bragged about the
murder in his book.

She wanted to nail his balls to the wall. If
he pulled a gun, she’d blow him away. But if she got the chance she
would prolong her enjoyment by torturing him first. She could
lasso his neck and let him see what it feels like. She imagined
sitting on his back, tightening the leather choker until he passed
out. Then she would let him regain consciousness and do it again.
He would plead for mercy as she took him to the brink of death over
and over again. She would show mercy—to the same degree he had
shown it to Melanie.

But she also wondered about the redhead.
Larry seemed obsessed with her. And now his attempts, or his
character’s attempts, to get her to call off the wedding had
failed. What would be his next move?

His book said the wedding
was on Saturday and Rebecca assumed it was in Texas. So, she
googled the phrase, ‘wedding announcements February 24 texas.’ If
she could find a wedding scheduled for that day
and
there was a
picture
and
the bride-to-be was a redhead…

She looked through several pages of wedding
announcements, mostly listed in the online versions of local
newspapers. Some of the pictures were in black and white. She began
to wonder if it was just waste of time.

Finally she came across the
wedding announcement page of the
Coreyville Courier
and spotted
a beautiful redhead posing with her fiancé. Rebecca remembered that
the woman in Larry’s novel had been a cheerleader in high school.
Yeah, she thought, this woman definitely looks like the cheerleader
type.

The ceremony was set for 7:00 PM. She
checked her watch. Could she get there before it was too late?

She closed her laptop and rushed out to her
car.

Chapter
12

Cynthia and her mom were at the church
getting dressed and putting on their makeup for the wedding when
Beverly heard a beep. “What was that?”

“
My cell phone. I got a text
message. Could you hand it to me?”

“
Sure.”

It was a message from Greg.

“
r u sure u want 2 go thru
with this?”

Cynthia typed in, “of course - hope ur not
getting cold feet”

“
not me - im worried about
u. that ul be sorry”

“
no way - ur the best thing
that ever happened 2 me”

“
but what about
sex?”

“
can’t wait”

“
but i may not be as good as
u think”

“
don’t b silly - gotta get
ready – c u soon”

“
ok”

“
What was that about?” said
Beverly.

“
Greg’s worried he’ll
disappoint me in bed. But he won’t.”

“
Of course not. Y’all are
the perfect for each other.”

**********

The ceremony was going by so fast. Soon she
would be his wife.

“
I, Greg, take you,
Cynthia…” From the moment she walked in his door he wanted nothing
more than to hold her, to care for her, to make love to her, to
never let her go. In the blink of an eye she had gone from stranger
to the most important person in his life. At first, he wasn’t even
sure it was love. He only knew that suddenly she was all he could
think about.

He had loved other women, and had even been
married before. But this was different. Looking at her, touching
her, just being near this amazing woman did magical things to his
body chemistry. Why couldn’t they have met sooner—before either of
them got married the first time?

He looked deep into her glistening blue
eyes, and thought, oh, Cynthia, do you realize you’re making my
whole body buzz? He hoped he had said his vows correctly…and that
he hadn’t said the word ‘buzz.’

“
I, Cynthia, take you,
Greg…” Oh, Greg, I love you so much, she thought. You still don’t
even know how much I love you. You are so kind and caring. And I’ve
never felt so loved. You think I’m too beautiful for you. But all I
know is that I’ve never enjoyed being with any other man the way I
love being with you. I’ve never respected and cared as much for any
other man. And I’ve never felt my body
heat up like this
for any other
man. Baby, you just turn me on like crazy!

She wondered if he was reading her mind.

**********

The uninvited guest went quietly up the
stairs, two at a time. The .38 was hidden under the right pant leg
in the ankle holster, ready when needed.

The balcony was empty. The
perfect spot for a sniper. The groom could be taken out with one
shot to the temple. The suppressor would muffle the shot enough to
confuse the congregation for a few seconds while Larry escaped.
Then, after a few months, Cynthia would be open to a new lover —
the man she
should
have been
marrying.

But Larry was not in the balcony.

Rebecca took a seat to watch
the rest of the ceremony. Where was that slimy would-be novelist?
She had driven like a maniac to get there in time. She desperately
wanted to save Cynthia Blockerman from Larry the Loser. But what if
Cynthia was the wrong redhead? She couldn’t be sure. The
right
redhead or her
groom might already be on the floor of some church, bleeding all
over the carpet.

No. Her gut told her this
was
the
redhead. Perhaps Larry was waiting until the reception. Or the
honeymoon. And did he plan to kill Cynthia or abduct her? It was
difficult to tell from his latest chapter. But she would do
everything in her power to stop the filthy creep.

And terminate him—with extreme
prejudice.

**********

When Rebecca entered the Fellowship Hall of
First Baptist Church, she tried to fit in. She hoped she wasn’t the
only woman wearing pants. She would try to avoid talking to
anyone.

There was a nice spread of finger
sandwiches, nuts and mints, and the two wedding cakes. A young
teenage girl was ladling out the fruit punch for the attendees who
were already forming a line at the end of the first table.

A young boy, probably the brother, Rebecca
thought, picked up one of the fancy glass cups. The sister tried to
stop him, but he pulled away and guzzled the yellow liquid in two
seconds. Then he put the cup back on the table and stuck his tongue
out at her. She threatened him with the ladle, and then looked
around to see if anyone had just witnessed her unladylike
behavior.

The boy started coughing and grabbed his
throat. Then he fell on the floor. The sister started to panic.

Not poison, Rebecca thought. Larry would
have no way of predicting who would be the first to drink it.

Then the little boy started laughing. The
sister grabbed a tuna sandwich and threw it at him. The sandwich
opened in flight and landed in two parts on his chest. He snatched
it up, smearing it across the pocket of his white sports jacket,
and shoved it all into his mouth at once and mumbled, “Thanks,
Sis.” Then he started laughing again. Bits of bread and tuna spewed
from his mouth.

A woman appeared out of nowhere and pulled
the boy up by one ear. “What did I tell you?”

“
Ow, ow, ow—that hurts,
Mama.”

“
I don’t believe we’ve
met.”

Rebecca had been so caught up in the drama
at the punch bowl that she hadn’t seen the Best Man walking up to
her side. “Uh, no, I guess not.”

“
Well, I’m Sandy. What’s
your name?”

“
Rebecca.” If he asked for
her last name she would use one of her old standbys. She often had
to lie when doing private investigations. It was just part of the
job.

“
I’m surprised nobody told
me about
you
. I know most of Greg’s old friends. You must be a friend of
Cynthia’s.”

“
Actually I’m working
security for the wedding. Keeping an eye on things. You never
know—somebody might be out to get Greg and Cynthia.”

“
To walk right into their
wedding reception and shoot them.”

“
Or poison the wedding
cake.”

“
Or go after them with a
slingshot.”

They laughed.

Sandy slapped her across the shoulder. “I
like you, Honey.”

“
Good.” Rebecca punched him
in the stomach. “But I’m not your honey. Look—I went to high school
with Cynthia, but she won’t remember me. I saw in the paper that
she was getting married, and I didn’t have anything better to do
tonight, so—“

“—
so you thought you’d crash
the wedding—get some free food and booze.”

“
Sure, why not. It seems
like fun when they do it in the movies.”

“
Well, if you were looking
for alcohol I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong place. These people
don’t drink.” Sandy noticed she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. “I’d
be happy to be your date for tonight—so you won’t feel funny
standing around all by yourself.”

“
Okay. Sure. As long as you
don’t touch me. ‘Cause if you do, then be prepared to
lose
whatever you
touch me with.”

“
No problem. I’ll get us
some punch.” As Sandy walked away, he imagined the stocky, but sexy
woman ripping off his lips…or his hands…or his… He couldn’t
understand why he was so attracted to her. Not that she wasn’t
pretty. But she was definitely rough around the edges. She might
even be dangerous.

Maybe that was the attraction.

**********

Larry walked out of the convenience store,
lit his pipe and stood there puffing on it as he watched the cars
go by. He had not played the Texas Lottery in a long time. He knew
he could win any time he wanted. But that wouldn’t fair to everyone
else. So, he used his powers of luck sparingly.

But now that his funds were
dwindling, he figured it was his turn to win again. By correctly
selecting all six numbers, he could walk away with as much as $45
million. Then he wouldn’t need to play again for a few years. But
he didn’t plan to sit nervously in front of the TV at 10:12 PM to
witness the drawing. He
knew
he would win.

Money had never been an issue for Lucky
Larry. Let everyone else work at a crummy job for low pay. All he
needed was his luck.

And now his luck in
publishing was finally turning around. He knew it would happen. Two
agents and a small publisher had already contacted him about his
new book,
Illusion of
Luck
. It would be a New York Times Best
Seller—he could just feel it.

They would need a good portrait for the back
cover. He would go to an expensive hairdresser for a precise trim
of his beard and shaggy hair. In his picture he would, no doubt,
appear to be in deep thought, holding his beloved pipe to his
lips.

He got into his Jaguar and drove away. He
laughed when he pictured the pastor of First Baptist Church,
Coreyville looking for Johnny Jones at the wedding reception. What
a doofus, he thought.

Larry had not attended the
wedding. He had never planned to. But he
would
attend the
honeymoon
.

Chapter
13