“I heard it was a knockout.” Greg took her hand and led her to a couch, where she sat. And, I noticed, he sat in a wingback chair that gave him clear access to see the entry door.

  I waited for Harrold to sit, then sat next to him. The couch was huge. A few more people wandered inside, several I recognized from the South Cove business-to-business meeting. Then Lara Gunn came in, and I stood to greet her. “Excuse me, I’ll be right back.”

  She watched me approach and held out her hands. “Jill, it’s so good to see you. When you told me about Alicia’s death, I had my assistant send flowers. She used the same florist that sent you the bouquet for your engagement, I hope they were satisfactory. You didn’t say, and I was so thrown by your call, I didn’t think to ask. And as I’m standing here, I realize I never called you back. Sorry, it’s been crazy.”

  “You sent the flowers?” The mystery arrangement was finally solved. “Actually, sorry, I didn’t mean to ignore you, but there wasn’t a card.”

  “Oh no! I bet you thought they were from your secret admirer. Is that your fiancé over there?” She pointed to Greg, who waved.

  “Guilty as charged. He’s a police detective in South Cove. Loves animals. Very active in community events.” I was listing off his attributes like he was on a dating site or something. “Do you want to meet him? My aunt’s over there with her new husband too.”

  A side door opened, and Doc Ames came out of a hallway. “Everyone, if you’d make your way into chapel one, there’s an usher at the door to give you an order of service.”

  “I guess we’ll have to do introductions some other time. I’m heading to the airport after this to jet off to New York City. I’ve got some buyer meetings to attend.” She kissed me on the cheek. “Wish me luck, okay?”

  I went back to the couch where Greg was still standing.

  “Your aunt is going to hold a seat for us.” He nodded to Lara, who waved as she disappeared into the chapel. “Is that your designer friend?”

  “Yes. And she sent us the flowers. One mystery solved.” I stood next to him. “What are you watching for?”

  “I’ll know it when I see it.” He put his arm around my waist. After everyone was inside, he nodded toward the door. “Ready?”

  I nodded, but then I saw a woman come inside. She had on a black hat that covered her face, but for a second, I thought it was Harper. She followed us into the chapel but paused at the doorway. Walking up the aisle, I saw that Colton and Harper were already seated in the first row. Doc Ames must have brought them in through a side door before announcing the start of the service. I glanced backward and saw that the woman had backed out of the chapel. When we were almost to the row of seats next to Aunt Jackie, I stopped and whispered to Greg. “Sorry, I need to use the restroom, and I don’t want to get up during the service. I’ll be right back.”

  Greg started to say something, but I hurried away before he could stop me. He might have seen the woman too. If he even thought I was going to talk to her, he’d be tying me to one of the pews. And he’d be talking to the mystery woman instead of me. Besides, she was probably just a friend of Harper’s.

  I scanned the lobby without seeing anyone. Then I went left thinking the restroom was that way, but that was the men’s room. I’d walked inside before realizing I was in the wrong room. Luckily, it was as empty as the lobby. Or at least as far as I checked.

  Turning back, I saw a figure in black move through a door. That had to be where the women’s restroom was. I hurried over, opened the door, and stopped. The room had a hallway that led to a small sitting area and wash station. I’d used the room once and remembered the stalls were farther back. Someone could sit and refresh their makeup without being right in with the other section of the bathroom. It reminded me of the bathroom at the theater where we’d gone to see a play last year. And the acoustics were just as good.

  “What in the heck are you doing here? Are you crazy?” Harper asked the woman in black.

  “I wanted to see my funeral. It’s not often you get to witness how others deal with the loss of you in their lives. I’m kind of disappointed at the turnout.”

  Alicia? The woman I’d seen was Alicia? Then who was in the casket? Who had I found on the floor of Harper’s studio, dead? And why the elaborate lie to hide the truth? All I knew was I needed to get back to Greg and get him out here before Alicia left and I looked like a crazy person.

  “You should have stayed in the chapel,” a man’s voice whispered in my ear. And I felt the hard barrel of a gun shoved in my back. “Let’s go make some introductions. I have a package to pick up.”

  Chapter 22

  I stepped into the restroom, and Harper moved in front of Alicia. “Jill, I’m so happy you’re here. We better get back in the chapel. Doc Ames is getting anxious to start. I keep getting emotional and having to step back.”

  “Good try, Harper, but she’s not alone.” The man stepped around the wall and waved his gun. “Jill, why don’t you go join the woman over near the mirror. Maybe you can swap makeup tips while I figure out how to get my wife out of here and back home where she belongs.”

  “I’m not going with you.” Alicia took the hat and veil off her head. “I left you for a reason, and you can’t make me go back.”

  “Now, see, you’re wrong. I can. And your sister gave me the perfect out. If you go to the cops now, she’ll be charged with obstruction of justice. Since she identified that poor girl in the other room as you.” Scott shook his head as he looked at me. “Too bad your boyfriend can’t just let a cut-and-dry case be solved. I gave him all he needed to arrest that bubblehead ex-wife of his. I was actually doing him a favor. I know how troubling wives can be. But now I have mine all to myself, like it’s supposed to be.”

  “How are you going to explain to the neighbors that I’m not dead?” Alicia moved so she was standing in front of her sister and trying to block me at the same time.

  “Oh, we won’t be going back to Idaho. I have a new job and a new house already set up for us in Utah. You won’t need to leave the house. I’ll have everything brought in for us.” He smiled and used his other hand to wave her closer. “You’ll be taken care of, just like I promised. Until death do us part. Of course, you kind of already died, so now you belong to me.”

  “You’re crazy. And I’m not going with you.” Alicia folded her arms. “I told you in my note that we were done. I want a divorce and for you to be out of my life.”

  “Dear, it’s too late to play that game. You’re dead. And you have a choice. You can be really dead and your sister up for charges for killing you, her, and that woman in the casket.” He pointed his gun at me. “Or you can come home with me and these women can stay alive.”

  “Don’t go with him. He’s not going to leave me alive. I’m a loose end.” I grabbed Alicia’s arm as she started to move. “He’s lying. I’m pretty sure he’ll kill your sister too. He doesn’t care.”

  Alicia froze, and Scott swore under his breath.

  “Jill, I’ve heard things since I’ve been in town. You’re too nosy for your own good. So this might just be the investigation where there really was a serial killer in town. Someone who doesn’t like people living this perfect small-town life. And one night, I might just break into your aunt’s house and get rid of them too. A serial killer explains a lot of death. Especially in a tourist town. You all just angered the wrong person.” He glanced at his watch. “This service is probably close to being over. What’s it going to be, Alicia? Are you coming home and letting these people live? Or are you dying with them?”

  Alicia met my gaze. “I’m so sorry about this. I should never have come here after I ran away.”

  Harper grabbed her hand. “No, it’s not your fault. He’s the one to blame. He’s the one who couldn’t take no for an answer. Don’t go back to him. You’ve suffered enough.”

  “I can’t let him kill you and her because of me.” She turned toward Scott. “I’ll go with you, but you can’t hurt Harper or this woman. That’s my offer.”

  “No more running away?” His eyes locked on hers.

  She shook her head and stepped toward him. “I promise. I’ll never try to leave you again.”

  I saw the move before Harper made it. With Alicia distracting Scott, Harper was outside of his view. The chairs were made of iron with a thick cushion on the seat. She reached over, never breaking eye contact, picked up the chair, and knocked him out cold.

  “Hands up,” Greg called as he rushed into the bathroom. A Bakerstown cop followed him inside. He looked around at us and the prone man on the floor. He holstered his gun into his shoulder harness and bent down with a bag he pulled out of his suit pocket. He picked up the gun and handed it to the other officer. “Cuff him.”

  The officer nodded, and Greg turned back to us. “Does someone want to tell me what’s going on? And Harper, I think you need to introduce me to your sister. The one who’s supposed to be in the coffin in the chapel, right?”

  I leaned against the counter. “Can we do this in a conference room or somewhere else besides this bathroom?”

  Greg nodded but didn’t address me. I figured I was going to get a lecture when we were alone, but for now, all I wanted was a chair and a cup of coffee. And maybe a cookie.

  We moved into a conference room by Doc Ames’s office. Doc had waited to let the service out until Greg had given him the all clear. Scott was in a police car on his way to Bakerstown jail. Colton joined us in the conference room. He’d come out of the chapel looking for Harper just after Greg allowed us to move into the other room. Colton kept trying to talk, but Greg kept shutting him down.

  Finally, when we were all sitting around the table. Greg sat down and picked up a notepad and a pen. “Who’s talking first?”

  “Harper, don’t say anything. I’m her attorney, and I’ll speak for her. You need to let us talk before we do this.” Colton puffed out his chest as he pounded his finger on the table.

  “Wrong answer.” Greg held up a hand, and Colton stopped talking. “Jill? What were you thinking?”

  “I was going to the bathroom,” I said, not meeting his gaze. Finally, when he didn’t say anything, I sighed and sat up. “Okay, fine. I saw Alicia come into the funeral home. But I didn’t know it was her, I just kind of thought it was.”

  “How on earth did you figure that out?” Harper stared at me. “We’ve been so careful.”

  I leaned forward. “Deek said he saw you at the gym the other day, but you didn’t talk to him. He’s a pretty popular person, so I thought maybe you just didn’t see him. But then Sadie said you snubbed her in Bakerstown at the store. Which is by the gym.”

  “And by your apartment, Alicia. You said you were being careful.” Harper leaned back in her chair and stared at her sister. “You knew Scott was in town. What if he’d found you?”

  “Which he did,” Greg reminded the sisters. “Just now. I don’t get why you would risk coming to your own funeral?”

  Alicia rubbed her arms, trying to push off the cold. “I was bored. Harper said that Scott was going home a few days ago, so I decided to see what a funeral would look like. You don’t get the chance to actually attend your own funeral, well, that you know about.”

  “Alicia, Harper, you both need to shut up. I’m your attorney of record, and you don’t understand what you’re saying.” Colton folded his hands. “So how long are you going to hold us here? What are the charges?”

  “There’s plenty of charges to go around.” Greg glanced at me, then back at Colton. “What I don’t understand is who killed Marsha Kilenger. Who wants to explain that?”

  I saw the look the women gave Greg and then each other.

  Harper asked the question we were all wondering. “Who’s Marsha Kilenger?”

  “She was a single mom who was dying of breast cancer. Her daughter and her ex-husband just got an anonymous gift of five hundred thousand dollars two weeks ago, just before we found the body at Harper’s studio. I can’t believe you thought this mix-up would work.” Greg was staring at Colton now. “Especially when she tried to give the money back because she got into a new drug trial.”

  “We don’t know anyone by that name.” Colton stood. “And I think we’re done now. Harper, Alicia, let’s go.”

  Harper didn’t move. “Colton? What’s going on? You said she died of a drug overdose.”

  “There were no drugs in her system. Except for her normal cancer pills.” Greg pointed to the chair. “You might want to sit, because if you leave, I’m charging all of you.”

  “You have no proof. Of anything.” He grabbed Harper’s arm, but she shrugged him away. “We need to leave now.”

  “We were just trying to save Alicia. Scott had put her in the hospital last year, and she was afraid.” Harper took her sister’s hand. “This is my fault.”

  “No, it’s mine. I should have been brave and just divorced him. I could have gotten a restraining order.” Alicia started to cry and grabbed some tissues out of the box on the table.

  “Shut up, everyone.” Colton stood and moved to the door. “I didn’t have anything to do with any of this, no matter what they say.”

  He stepped out of the door and slammed it.

  I looked at Greg. “Aren’t you going after him?”

  He moved the tissue box closer to Alicia, who was being comforted by her sister. “The Bakerstown deputy outside the door is taking care of him. You can go home. I need to talk to Alicia and Harper some more.”

  I stood and patted Harper’s shoulder. “If you need anything.”

  “We’ll be fine.” She smiled at me sadly. “It’s time to be truthful.”

  * * * *

  My phone rang on the way back to South Cove. The display said Aunt Jackie and that I had missed seven calls. “Hello?”

  “My word, girl, don’t you ever pick up? I was beginning to worry. There were cop cars all around the funeral home, and I couldn’t find you anywhere.” My aunt’s voice was tight, frightened.

  “Sorry about that. I was talking with Greg.” I didn’t know how much to say, so I left it at that.

  “Now don’t you be coy with me. I know this has something to do with that dead girl.” Aunt Jackie sighed. “But as long as you’re all right, that’s all I need to know for now. Harrold and I are heading up to Napa for the night. I’ll be back on Tuesday to work.”

  “Sounds fun.” I turned onto Highway 1 and snuck glances at the ocean to my right. It was a beautiful sight. “I’m glad you’re getting out and enjoying yourselves. It was a busy weekend.”

  “It was, and I want to talk to you about next year’s event.”

  In the background, I heard Harrold say, “Jackie.”

  One word, a warning about working on vacation. And it even worked.

  My aunt sighed. “I’ve got to go. I’m just glad to hear you’re all right. I was worried.”

  “I know. I’m sorry you were worried. But go have fun. We’ll talk when you get back.” I hung up first this time. I bet that surprised her. The thought made me smile, and I rolled down all the windows to let the air run through the Jeep. Maybe I’d take the roof off later when Greg got home. I felt the need to let the sunlight inside all parts of my life.

  Chapter 23

  Greg and I didn’t talk until Monday morning before he left for the station. He came in late Sunday night, and I’d already been in bed. Now, we sat across from each other and drank our coffee. In silence.

  “Look, I know you’re mad at me, but I didn’t think I was putting myself in danger.” I wrapped my hands around my coffee cup and stared at the engagement ring. From his demeanor, I might not be able to keep the ring much longer, so I should enjoy it while I had it on.

  “You have a knack for being at exactly the wrong place at the wrong time.” He refilled our cups. “You’re lucky you weren’t killed.”

  “He might have killed Harper and got away with Alicia if you hadn’t come looking for me.” I pointed out a factor that could be in my favor. I had saved a life and foiled a kidnapping.

  “We already had police on site. If he’d tried to leave with Alicia, he would have been arrested.”

  “Or it could have turned into a shooting gallery. This way, he went down easy. He was trained with firearms. You don’t think he would have thought twice about shooting?” I leaned forward to emphasize my point. “I saved lives yesterday.”

  “You did, but you put your life in danger. And if you keep doing that, I’m not going to be able to keep forgiving you. Jill, I want you to be safe. To be with me. Putting yourself in the line of fire isn’t smart.”

  “I don’t mean to get into trouble.” And that was true. All I’d wanted to know was if Alicia was really still alive. The thought of why she’d run in the first place and what Scott would do to get her back had been secondary. “Does Marsha’s family know what happened?”

  “I talked to her ex-husband last night. He cried. He said he didn’t realize how much stress she’d been under due to the cancer treatments.” Greg shook his head. “I understood his frustration about someone you love doing something stupid.”

  “Okay, I get it. But all I was going to do was see if the mystery woman was in the bathroom. I would have waited for her to get out of the stall, said some polite small talk, then come back to you and told you that the woman who was supposed to be dead was in the bathroom.” I reached for a cookie from a bowl on the table. “I had a plan.”

  “Yes, you did. And since I already knew the body in the casket wasn’t Alicia, I had a plan too.” He laughed when he saw my confusion. “You see, as a law enforcement officer, I get tests from the labs, and when I review them, they tell me things. Like the woman’s name. She’d done a DNA swab for a bone marrow transplant list, and when Doc found the cancer pills, we asked for additional help.”