Jack of Diamonds Read online

  The lights were off inside the photography studio, but Alice’s blue Bug was parked out back—the only car in the lot. Why is she here? The place looks closed.

  Before he got out of the car, his phone buzzed again.

  “Dublin PD located Carson Murray.” Bob Morrison’s voice was low and even, which wasn’t a good sign.

  “But . . .”

  “Carson Murray didn’t rent that house. His identity was stolen.”

  “That’s convenient.”

  “It’s the truth.”

  “Are you certain?” Jack’s edge of frustration stemmed from the letdown; he was banking on this Carson guy having answers.

  “Carson Murray has been in a state mental-health facility for the last six months.”

  Jack’s fingers tightened around Alice’s purse in his hand. “I told you this didn’t feel right, sir.”

  “Hold on, Jack. We still don’t know if this is more than a panicked artist who injured a cop.”

  Jack pulled down the visor and stared at the picture of Alice as he talked. “Actually, we now know that whoever rented that house stole a man’s identity. So, it’s not just some innocent artist who accidentally hurt Donald. We need to determine who the other women in those sketches are.”

  “And how am I supposed to do that, Jack?”

  “Go to the news stations. Have them run the pictures, see if people recognize any of the women.”

  “Are you listening to yourself? Do you have any idea of the panic that would start? And for what? We’re still not sure Donald was attacked.”

  “Is Castillo ever going to get a statement from Donald? What’s he waiting for?”

  “Ed talked to Donald.” Morrison exhaled. “Donald’s not making too much sense right now. The doctors think it’s his medication.”

  “What did he say?”

  “Ed didn’t get into specifics, just that he was loopy on meds. He’s going to try again in the morning.”

  “So, you’re not going to do anything more until tomorrow morning?”

  “Honestly, Jack, I’m giving a lot more man-hours to this just because it’s Alice and your gut. But my gut is saying that it could still be that someone hooked up the weight over the door, Donald got hurt, they panicked and fled, and the pictures are all copied from the paper, like Alice’s. Another coincidence.”

  “Whoever it was also stole Carson Murray’s identity.”

  “And that alone could explain the redneck alarm and the running. Do me a favor—just give it a day. We found some fingerprints and we’re processing them. Tomorrow, when Ed gets a coherent statement from Donald, we’ll take another look at it. Okay?”

  Jack’s phone buzzed with another text from Alice.

  R U ON UR WAY?

  Jack texted back, HERE.

  “I appreciate all you’re doing, Bob, it’s just . . .” He stared at the photograph, into the smiling eyes of his beautiful bride-to-be. “It’s Alice I’m worried about.”

  “Me, too. Believe me, we won’t let anything happen to her. I just don’t want you worrying over nothing.”

  Maybe. Or some crazed patient stole Carson Murray’s identity, escaped the mental health facility, and is stalking Alice. Nothing to worry about at all. He rubbed the fatigue from his eyes.

  Jack knew that further debate would just tick Morrison off. Bob was assigning a lot of manpower to the situation. Jack had no choice but to wait.

  And worry.

  “Thank you, sir. Please continue to keep me posted.”

  “I will.”

  Jack flipped up the visor, grabbed Alice’s purse, and shoved his door open, his mood as dark as the evening sky. He needed to talk to Donald. How long would it take for the meds to wear off? Maybe he could stop by the hospital later this evening.

  A little bell above the door chimed as he entered the photography studio, but otherwise the place looked closed. The interior was dark and quiet. “Alice?” Why are the lights off? Whoever heard of a photoshoot in the dark?

  Something shifted in the darkness. Metal crashed to the floor.

  Bang!

  What sounded like a gunshot echoed in his ears. Jack dropped Alice’s purse, and when the lights snapped on, his gun was in his hand and pointing at the source of the noise—Bobbie G.

  His friend had his huge arms raised high over his head, and a light stand was knocked over on the floor in front of him, surrounded by fragments of glass from the shattered bulb. A half dozen people, including Alice, stood in the room with streamers and confetti in their hands, ready to toss them.

  “Surprise?” Shawna tossed her confetti despite the awkward quiet.

  Bobbie G. kept his hands up. “Hey, Jack? That was all like Han Solo cool, but you can stop pointing that gun at me?”

  “Sorry . . .” Jack quickly holstered his weapon.

  Alice ran up to his side. He expected her to give him an earful for how he’d just reacted, but she looked beside herself with worry. “Jack, I’m so sorry! I didn’t even think . . . with you being a veteran and . . . I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Jack gave her a small reassuring hug and tried to smile.

  Shawna danced up. “Take a look at this.” She held up her phone and pressed play. Her video of the moment had captured Jack drawing his gun, and then zoomed in on Bobbie G’s terrified face. “I bet it goes viral!”

  “Give me that phone,” Bobbie demanded.

  “Not on your life!” Shawna skipped away like a schoolgirl getting chased around the playground. “I’m uploading it now!”

  Jack turned back to Alice. “What’s this all about?”

  “Tonight’s our bachelor and bachelorette parties. Surprise?” Alice leaned into Jack and whispered, “I didn’t really want to do this, but Erica insisted that it would mean a lot to our friends. The guilt got me and I caved. I’m so sorry.”

  Jack draped an arm around her shoulders. “Me, too.”

  Now was not the time to let their guard down.

  8

  Alice sat with the bachelorettes at the big round table in the private room in the back of the Great Wall Chinese restaurant looking forlornly at the exit sign while trying to keep the smile plastered on her face. Surrounding her on the walls were colorful murals of China folklore and mythology. Above her head hung a large glass dragon chandelier suspended from the ceiling by silver cables. No matter where she moved, one of the little lights was always shining down on her through the dragon’s scales like a spotlight, making her even more uncomfortable.

  She wanted to be sure not to give anyone the idea that she was unappreciative. All of this—it was beyond her wildest dreams, far beyond what she had ever imagined for her wedding. She had never even considered having a wedding planner, a professional cake decorator, or any of the other ever-growing duties, expenses, and staff.

  Truth be told, none of it mattered to her. Jack mattered.

  The dragon light sparked off her engagement ring. She missed Jack; her stomach fluttered at the thought of him. She felt like she’d only seen him a couple of times in the last few weeks.

  Things still weren’t right since their last fight. Jack kept insisting it wasn’t a fight, and maybe it wasn’t exactly, but it certainly felt like one. She knew Jack wasn’t upset with her, but he was upset. Things were tense and it had nothing to do with either of them.

  What was she supposed to do? Run and hide because some kooky artist drew a picture of her?

  “Who’s a kooky artist?” Marisa asked from across the table.

  Alice swallowed. “Did I say that out loud?” She chuckled nervously. “Sorry. Not you!” she added quickly. “I was just thinking about the sketch Jack found.”

  “That’s nothing to worry about.” Shawna nudged Alice’s shoulder. “You should be flattered. I heard artists do that all the time. They see some model in a magazine and draw their picture. Isn’t that right, Marisa?”

  “All the time.” Marisa smiled, but not with her eyes.

  �
�You’re just saying that to make me feel better,” Alice said.

  “You’re right. I am.” Marisa nodded. “The truth is, it’s an odd situation. Especially because of the wedding invitation. I think you should listen to Jack.”

  “Marisa’s just kidding,” Shawna said quickly with a wave of her long acrylic nails, decorated with tiny stars and constellations. “What you want to do is not listen to Jack for one more night and relax and have some fun. Now, as soon as Nyah and Annie get here, we can get the party started.” She waved her hands over her head and did a little dance in her chair for emphasis.

  Marisa raised an eyebrow. “Who?”

  “Nyah is Boomer’s girlfriend, and Annie is the guest of one of Jack’s friends from the army,” Shawna explained.

  An awkward silence descended on the table. Shawna drummed her long nails on her water glass before pulling out her phone.

  “Tell you what, I’m going to call Nyah and get her ETA. Be right back.” She got up and disappeared through the beaded curtain that separated their private room from the rest of the restaurant.

  Alice sat staring at the beads until they stopped moving. Then she turned and forced herself to smile at Marisa.

  Marisa raised her water glass and sipped. “From the look on your face, this is the last place you want to be.”

  “Is it that obvious? It’s not you, of course, it’s just . . .”

  “You want to be with Jack?”

  Alice nodded.

  “Understandable. But it’s just for a night. You can make it through this.”

  Alice twisted her cloth napkin so tightly it looked like a rope. “So, you think there’s something more to the pictures in that house?”

  “I do.” Marisa calmly took another sip of water. “But Jack would never let anything happen to you.”

  Alice relaxed a bit. That was the plain truth. “Thanks. I really needed to hear that.” She smiled across the table at Marisa, and then gave just a slight shake of her head.

  “What are you thinking?” Marisa asked.

  “Pierce. I still can’t believe he didn’t visit Hope Falls. It’s so beautiful there. And you could have shown him the town.”

  “It was probably for the best. I’m focusing on myself. And my art.”

  “Kristine told me that you like the loft in the inn.”

  “Like is far too pale a word. I adore it. I’ve been devoting myself to painting, landscapes mostly, and every moment of every day God creates a new wonder for me to vainly try to capture. I’ve been spending a lot of time with Jack’s grandmother.”

  “Really?” Alice struggled to keep her smile on her face as a pang of jealousy rippled through her. She would have loved to spend more time with Jack’s grandmother—his biological father’s mother, whom they’d found while solving the long-ago murder of Jack’s father. “I can’t wait to see her.”

  “Kristine is bringing her down here. She’s also gotten permission to bring Patty.”

  Alice pressed her lips together. She didn’t know how to take the news that Jack’s birth mother would be at the wedding. Of course they’d invited her, but neither she nor Jack had expected her to make it. Her many years of drug abuse had taken such a heavy toll on her mind and body, she had been institutionalized.

  “How has Patty been doing these days?” she asked, genuinely curious.

  “Much better. Still, Kristine’s going to have her hands full. I offered to help, but she said she could handle it.”

  “You’ve met Patty?” Alice asked, taken aback.

  Marisa shrugged. “Sure. I keep Kristine company when she goes to visit. It’s not too far.”

  Alice shifted uncomfortably in her seat. It appeared Jack’s old girlfriend was spending far more time with Jack’s family than Alice was; the thought made her wince. Her smile grew tighter.

  “Jack’s parents are coming in at the beginning of the week,” Alice said. “We just spent a couple of weeks with them in Florida.”

  Why did I say that? This isn’t a competition. But Alice couldn’t help but feel like she had to prove that she knew Jack’s family, too.

  “Oh yes, they’re very nice.”

  “You’ve met the Strattons, too?” Alice failed to mask her surprise this time.

  Marisa smiled. “Only once, but we hit it off. They came up to check on Jack. I happened to be over.”

  Alice took a long gulp of water, trying not to think about what was happening when Marisa happened to be over.

  “I want to thank you again for inviting me to the wedding,” Marisa said. “It’s very big of you. I know I wouldn’t be so . . .” She paused.

  Secure? Brave? Alice wanted to offer to finish her sentence in spite of the fact that she’d had nothing to do with inviting Marisa in the first place.

  “Reckless,” Marisa finished.

  Alice’s glass dinged off the table as she set it down a bit too aggressively. “Reckless?”

  Marisa’s eyelids, shaded in smoky silver, closed for a moment, and then her enormous brown eyes locked on Alice again. “If I can offer you one piece of advice: keep Jack close. Not because he would wander, but because other women will be looking for an opportunity to pounce.”

  The beads hanging over the doorway burst aside and Shawna bounded through with two women in tow. Alice recognized Nyah, an attractive black woman with her ebony hair pulled back in a tight bun, but she’d never met the other woman—a blonde with stunning blue eyes.

  Shawna hesitated for a moment, her eyes traveling back and forth between Alice and Marisa, then her smile reappeared. “Marisa, this is Nyah.”

  Nyah gave Marisa a wave with a slender hand, then hurried over to Alice and gave her a hug before pressing a gift bag into her hand. “Congratulations, Alice. I’m so happy for you. I hope you—and Jack—like the gift.” Nyah smiled impishly, her eyes sparkling.

  “And this is Annie Summers,” Shawna announced, gesturing to the blonde.

  A huge smile broke across Annie’s heart-shaped face, and she shook Alice’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you.” She handed Alice a wrapped present.

  “Thank you so much. Why don’t you sit down and order yourself a drink?” Alice asked as she placed Nyah’s and Annie’s presents safely underneath the table. When she straightened back up, Annie stood smiling like she hadn’t heard the question.

  Standing slightly behind Annie, Shawna tried to covertly wave in front of her chest then tapped her ear. Alice had no idea what Shawna was trying to convey. But when Annie turned and saw what Shawna was doing, she turned back to Alice.

  “I’m sorry. Did you ask me something? I’m deaf. I should have explained earlier that I need to be looking at a person to be able to read their lips. Speech-to-text apps don’t always work well in noisy environments like restaurants.” She gestured to the other guests.

  Alice looked directly into Annie’s gorgeous blue eyes as she spoke. “Please, sit down and have a drink. How did you meet Finn?”

  Annie’s bright smile returned. “We work together.”

  Marisa’s hands moved in sign language as she spoke. “Nice to meet you, Annie.”

  Annie’s entire face lit up as she sat on Marisa’s other side. “You sign? That’s great. I’m a little nervous—group settings can be tough.”

  Alice forced herself to smile. She felt like a dope that she hadn’t picked up on the fact that Annie was deaf, but mostly she was frustrated with Marisa. Was there anything the woman couldn’t do?

  “My cousin was deaf,” Marisa explained. “We spent a lot of time together.”

  As everyone sat down, three waiters started bringing in trays of food.

  Shawna lit up. “Alice wanted to keep this a low-key, ‘civilized’ affair, but I say drink ’em if you got ’em, and since the booze is on the house, I’ll have a double frozen margarita with salt!”

  The headwaiter nodded.

  “Iced tea, please,” Annie said.

  “I’ll have a water with lemon,” said Nyah.

&nb
sp; “I’m good with the hot tea, thank you.” Marisa poured herself a cup.

  “I’ll also have water,” Alice said.

  Shawna crossed her arms and frowned. “You’ve got to be kidding me. It’s an open tab!”

  Nyah shook her head. “I don’t drink.”

  “I’m driving,” Annie said.

  “You drive?” Shawna blurted out, then waved her hands in front of herself. “Sorry! I didn’t mean anything by that. I just didn’t realize that you can be deaf and drive. I guess that makes sense but . . . wow.”

  “My father had me take a TEVOC class,” Annie said.

  “That’s awesome!” Alice sat up straighter. “Jack signed me up for one. It took me a while but I finally got him to let me help him on some cases and I’ve been able to put those skills to use a time or two.”

  “What’s TEVOC?” Nyah asked.

  “Tactical Emergency Vehicle Operation Class,” Alice explained. “Police and FBI use it. Now that I’m helping Jack with bounty hunting, he signed me up for martial arts, tactical weapons training, and driving classes. He’s big on education.”

  “So is Finn. He’s an insurance investigator and is teaching me a great deal. I’m his photographer,” said Annie.

  “Wow, that makes three of us who work together as couples,” Shawna said. “Though technically, I’m almost Bobbie’s boss, since I’m the office manager at Titus Bail Bonds.”

  Nyah’s eyes widened. “You all have such exciting professions.”

  “Your job is plenty exciting, Nyah.” Shawna reached for a plate of chicken fingers. “I couldn’t even think about nursing. Hospitals and sick people gross me out.”

  Annie turned to Marisa. “And what do you do?” She signed the words as she spoke them aloud.

  Marisa smiled. “I’m an artist.”

  “What medium do you prefer?” Annie asked.

  “Pencil.”

  The beads rattled and flew open, and to Alice’s surprise, a clown backed into the room, complete with red wig, giant blue shoes, and a white onesie adorned with gold stars. The red nose on his face bounced up and down as he bowed low, and when he came up, he held a balloon rose that he presented to Alice.