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“You do?” Adair wasn’t sure at all.
“You think it’s too soon to know for sure and that falling in love and planning a future with someone takes a great deal of thought and a detailed plan.”
A future? The queasiness in her stomach intensified. But it wasn’t her aunt and Daryl she was worrying about now. How could you possibly plan a future with someone when you never knew what it would bring? Or how soon it might end.
“Aunt Vi, are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure. Oh, it flustered me at first to believe a man could be attracted to me after all these years. And it was a shock to realize that he could make me feel this way—giddy and…beautiful. He makes me feel beautiful, Adair.”
Adair squeezed her aunt’s hand. “Then I love him, too.”
Vi leaned closer and kept her voice low. “I did the riskiest thing last night.”
“You made love with him, I hope.”
Vi blushed prettily. “Oh, yes. But first I took him out to the stone arch, and I kissed him. I wanted to make absolutely sure that he’s it for me.”
The women were holding each other and laughing when Cam entered the kitchen.
“Sorry to break this up, but the sheriff just pulled up. I think our strategy session is about to begin.”
* * *
HALF AN HOUR later, Adair was perfectly clear on one thing. Her first big wedding at Castle MacPherson, as promised, had turned into an undercover op. Daryl had begun their meeting by having everyone coordinate their cell phones so that they could reach each other instantly on speed dial. They also had a code word to use if they needed help. “Angus” meant that there was a problem. “Eleanor” meant they had a full-out code red.
One day she was going to look back on this and laugh. For now she merely refilled her coffee mug. The tea seemed to be equally good. Vi had poured Daryl three cups. Her aunt looked like she was having the time of her life. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright. Even brighter when she looked at Daryl Garnett.
“Essentially,” Daryl said, “we’ve got a groom running a major scam and he has to marry the girl to get the money. And we want him to sign the agreement with Maitland before we arrest him. Otherwise we’ve got him only on intent to defraud and we’ll have to hope that the chain of evidence in Oregon hasn’t deteriorated or disappeared. Not to mention that if Scalzo makes bail on those charges, he’ll pouf again.”
“There’s one other little twist we can add to the mix,” Skinner said. “My deputy has learned that at Banes’s request Bunny Maitland has hired a security service to provide protection for him. They arrived at the clinic late last night and they’ll be transporting him to the wedding.”
“So he’s more worried about the cut brake lines than he wanted to admit to the local sheriff,” Daryl said.
“And he may have a pretty good idea of who cut them,” Cam said. Then he turned to Adair. “Why don’t you take us through the schedule one last time?”
Adair went to the wall chart. Bunny Maitland had taken her over it so many times she could have recited it in her sleep. “The florist and caterers will arrive at eleven and begin setting up the ballroom for the reception. That’s in the east wing.” She pointed to the large room at the back of the castle.
“The bride and her parents along with the maid of honor and the flower girl will arrive at one, and they’ll use a suite of rooms above the ballroom to dress.” She shifted her finger on the floor plan. “The groom and his best man and his new security entourage will arrive at two and they’ll use a room over in the west wing. A team of photographers will cover all of that. Guests should start arriving at three-thirty, and the actual saying of the vows will occur at four-thirty, followed by champagne and food and dancing in the ballroom and the cutting of the cake at five-thirty or so.”
She turned back to face the others. “If the groom hasn’t been arrested by then.”
“But the signing of the partnership agreement and any wire transfers that Banes will make—that could take place at any point in any room,” Skinner pointed out.
Daryl rose to stand in front of the floor plan. “Maitland has held off on the signing until Scalzo actually marries his daughter. I’m betting that they’ll close the deal directly after the ceremony.” He tapped a finger on the floor plan. “They could use the groom’s suite for privacy. Plus, it’s close to the garden and almost on their way to the ballroom.”
“Logical,” Cam said. “Unless they make the signing part of the official celebration—a sort of welcome-to-the-family thing.”
“We should be able to cover either option and pick up Banes as soon as he drives that proverbial nail into his coffin,” Skinner said. “I’ve still got my deputy on him at the clinic. He’ll follow Banes and his bodyguards and see that he gets here. But that still leaves us with the problem of this MacDonald guy. His agenda doesn’t seem to be as clear.”
“I’ve got an idea about that.” Daryl moved back to his chair to pick up the folder he’d been carrying earlier. “I had time to play around with Adair’s computer last night. I sent some images to a good tech man and he was able to send me these.”
He opened the folder and passed each of them side-by-side enlarged photos of two men. “I had my guy age an old photo I had of Scalzo’s partner. Then I had him take the beard and long hair off our friend MacDonald.”
For a moment there was complete silence as they all studied the images.
“If it’s not the same man, they’re related,” Skinner said.
The nods in the room testified to everyone’s agreement.
“And he and Scalzo have had a falling-out.” Cam leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs at the ankles. “Both of them were in the area when the earring was discovered, so both of them could have it on their radar. Which gives MacDonald two reasons to show up at the wedding. One, to finish off Banes, and two, to get the earring.”
“If he does show up,” Vi said, “Alba will know.”
Daryl pulled another set of prints out of his folder. “I’ve also run off some copies of MacDonald as he appeared in the security disc with the beard. Even though I doubt he’ll try to make an appearance in that persona again.”
“No,” Cam agreed. “He’ll choose something that will blend in. That’s his M.O.”
As Daryl passed the pictures out, he said, “I figure we don’t bother the catering and florist people because we don’t want to spook the bridal party. But with the sheriff’s two men and the four of us, we’ve still got quite a few people looking for this guy. We all have to blend in, too. This is a small wedding and we can’t let Banes suspect that there’s a bunch of security people here.”
As the rest of them continued to discuss the blending-in part, Cam drew Adair aside. “You’re nervous.”
“It goes with the job.” The concern in his eyes touched her. “I’d be nervous even if we weren’t planning to destroy a bride’s wedding, catch a major criminal and try to predict what a crazy man might do.”
“We’ll all be on the lookout for MacDonald. Skinner’s good and Daryl and I aren’t half-bad.” He leaned down and kissed her nose. “Just focus on doing your job. It’s all going to work like clockwork. The wedding will take place, Banes will be arrested and you’ll find a way to handle Rexie’s heartbreak.”
This time Adair felt more than a flutter beneath her heart. As she stood with him while the morning light poured through the terrace doors, she realized that it wasn’t Rexie’s heartbreak that was worrying her. It was her own.
15
“THEY MAKE A good team,” Daryl said.
“I was thinking the same thing.” Cam stood with his boss observing the two women through one of the archways that opened into the castle’s official ballroom. Alba lay at Daryl’s feet while Vi and Adair worked both separately and together to orchestrate an amazing transformation. Two hours ago the room had been an empty expanse of gleaming parquet floors and cream-colored walls. Now linen-covered tables were scattered along the walls to serve as food and drink stations. Flowers were everywhere.
Daryl sent a sidelong glance at Cam. “We’re doing everything we can to keep them safe.”
Cam knew that. The problem was that no one had so far gotten access to the castle who looked anything like Nathan MacDonald. And they’d been looked at by a lot of people. None of the florists or caterers or any of their drivers bore any resemblance to the images that Daryl’s tech man had captured on the prints.
“I promised Vi we wouldn’t let anything happen to Adair. So we won’t.”
No, they wouldn’t. Adair was in business mode with her curls sternly disciplined into a knot at the back of her head. She wore a professional-looking pale gray linen suit. A notebook was in her hand and she kept methodically checking things off.
