Chapter Twenty-Two
Clouds covered the full moon. Cayden couldn’t remember the last time she saw the sun that day. After two dozen calls, she finally got close to fixing Deny’s mess. Tomorrow they had the wedding, which meant she only had Wes’s tech knowledge at her disposal for a little longer. With such a short window, she would have to make the best of it.
As she walked into the game room, Wes worked on his laptop.
The pool table sat in the center of the room, while four arcade games ran along the walls. Plush leather seats were placed in front of the TV screen for movie night if guests wanted to enjoy something from the media library.
“How’s my bride-to-be?” Wes asked. The meager files she had on Shana were laid out next to him.
“Sleeping, and don’t get any ideas.” Cayden pointed at him.
“You’re the boss.” He smirked before he went back to typing away on the keyboard.
“Did someone order a doctor?” Teddy stepped into the game room with two bottles of wine, shaggy, wooly hair, and an infectious smile.
“I hope you know this guy and I didn’t just give my liquor over to a vagrant,” Levi said, trailing after him with the glasses.
“Brother,” Wes cheered, “glad you could make it!” He stood to give him a half hug in welcome. Away in Syria, Teddy worked with Doctors Without Borders. Surprised he made it back in enough time for the wedding, Cayden smiled.
“Yeah, thankfully your partner here didn’t call the police when he saw me… Hey, beautiful.” He rushed over to Cayden. “Long time no see.”
“Someone’s been saving the world.”
“Trust me when I say that sleep and shower on the plane was the best I’ve ever had. How’s our diva?” He shrugged out of his hoodie. Thinner than the last time they saw each other, Cayden wondered how life on the other side of the world treated him.
“Asleep, and that’s how we’re going to keep it.”
“Tyrant,” he playfully muttered. “Do we at least have some good news?”
Cayden turned on the big screen TV that hung from the wall and changed the channel. She flipped around all the news stations until she found it.
Handcuffed and escorted by the police to the cruiser, a short woman with glasses declared her innocence. “I’ve worked tirelessly for my client’s best interest. If that’s wrong then I should be arrested!” she screamed into the microphone before they shoved her into the car.
“Stella Jean, publicist for the stars, has been arrested on fraud. According to the prosecutor, more charges are pending,” the news anchor announced.
“Wow, remind me to stay on your good side,” Wes said. “What about the deals she struck on Deny’s behalf?”
“My office took care of it. We’ve rearranged media exclusives in different areas of her life … tours, dinner at home with Deny and Wes.”
“Great, thanks,” he muttered. Private with his personal and business life, Cayden always wondered what drew Wes to the shiniest light in the room, a pop star. “At least this way her reputation won’t be trashed.”
Levi poured three glasses of wine and passed them out. “Good job,” he whispered once he got close. Cayden resisted the urge to reach out and touch the dark shadow on his face. They hadn’t seen much of each other since the wedding party arrived and it made her anxious.
“Don’t judge my sister too harshly. Trust just comes a little too easy.” Teddy fell back on to the plush leather chairs and took a sip of his wine with a groan. “This is good. I haven’t had wine in forever.”
“And don’t judge Teddy too harshly … since he couldn’t save his parents he thinks he should save everyone else,” Wes threw out there.
“Figured me out, huh?” Teddy saluted Wes with his glass. “Yep, my drug of choice is compassion. That’s why Cayden oversees all of our money from the trust and investment. If not, we would have lost it ten times over by now.”
“And to prove my gratitude,” Wes said while he held his hand out for the TV remote. Cayden passed it to him, and he changed the settings and pulled up police files from his laptop, “here’s what St. Geneva’s coroner has on Shana Waters.” Written in gibberish, the dead girl’s autopsy filled the screen.
Teddy got up and examined the report. “She was beaten and asphyxiated. It appears a sexual assault may have been attempted, but it was either interrupted or the assailant was unable to go through with it.”
“Is that it?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty meager on facts. There’s no ligature marks but plenty of defensive wounds. She probably knew the guy. Need anything else from me?”
“Nope.”
“Good, then where the hell is my bed? I’m beat.”
Cayden dug in her pocket and tossed him the room key. Levi refused to switch to key cards, claiming they were too easy to hack. “Suite 304, and don’t try to sneak in to see Deny.”
“Lucky that your sexy smartness overrides the bossy aspect of your personality.” Teddy wagged his finger at her on his way out of the door and grabbed a whole bottle of Chardonnay. “I need help sleeping. You guys don’t mind, right?” Without waiting for an answer, he left.
“Here are the criminal records… You’re up, Levi.”
Cayden sipped her wine while he got up to check out the screen. A rich blend tickled her tongue. Surprised the cheapskate shared the good stuff, she threw back the rest of it.
Levi studied the screen and swiped his finger from left to right. “Next page.” Wes clicked his mouse. After a few minutes, he gave off a grunt or two before he indicated that Wes should scroll down. Once they got to the autopsy portion of the statement, it ended.
He rubbed his hand over the shadow of his beard. “They didn’t investigate,” he said. “There’s a couple of notes from an administrator at Chesterfield, but none from the student body. They only liked the teacher for it because he went missing.”
“That’s it? That’s everything?” she asked, amazed that St. Geneva’s police were that incompetent.
“Chesterfield had money and influence, and the police were ill-equipped to deal with that wall of silence,” Wes said before he switched the screen back to the news.
“There is one good thing,” Levi offered when he turned to them. “The teacher, Ray Donahue, was married.”
“On it.” Wes’s fingers flew across his keyboard and read out her info.
Cayden looked at Levi and he nodded. They silently agreed to visit the teacher’s wife. She hoped the woman wouldn’t resent them for ripping the scab off an almost thirteen-year-old wound.
****
Cayden pulled the strings on the blinds. As they parted, the sunlight brightened the gorgeous suite. Deny’s wedding dressed sparkled on the mannequin in the middle of the room.
Stepping to the bed, where Deny was sleeping sweet and sound, Cayden shoved her curly head of hair up and down. “Hey.”
The pop star swiped at her, but she dodged her attempts.
“Wake up.”
She groaned and tried to pull the sheet over her head.
Anticipating her next move, Cayden yanked the comforter back. “We don’t have long, so get up.”
“Wes sent you to soften the blow … the wedding is called off, isn’t it?” She peeked her eye open.
“No, the wedding is still on.”
“Oh.” Her mouth fell. “Then where is everyone … my assistant, hair, and makeup?” She scooted up in the bed and her wild hair went everywhere.
“Fired.”
“What? How? Who?”
“Stella paid them to spy on you. They were selling stories to the tabloids. We confiscated their phones and let them go. Another team will be here in an hour.”
“What about my bridesmaids?” She looked around in confusion. Various B-list actors and singers made up the roster of her wedding party.
“They also worked for Stella, so they didn’t show up when they realized no check was coming.”
“But, but, but—” Fat tears slipped down her makeup-free face. Always a people pleaser, Cayden knew Deny needed to believe those delinquents truly loved her. Too bad she insisted on mistreating the people who didn’t make her work for it.
“Tilda Lorne is here from that soap opera, and that chick we graduated from NYU with…”
Deny screwed up her face but knew better than to complain.
“Look, I managed to fix everything this time but I can’t come running to the rescue anymore.”
“But we’re best friends, and—”
Cayden held up her hand. “Grow up. You’re getting married and I doubt he’ll think cleaning up after the pop star is cute for very much longer.”
Her bottom lip trembled. “You were built for this! I only have Teddy, and even he’s not here,” she whined. “Not for nothing, and you may not have had a childhood, but you’re killing it as an adult. I wasn’t built for this.”
“Hmm … I’ve got news for you. I’m in love with a man who wants me out of his life, which sucks because I can’t get a good night’s sleep without him. Oh, and I solve crimes that I probably should leave well enough alone.” Cayden sat on the edge of the bed. “All I’m saying is everyone has their own shit. I came back here to deal with mine, now it’s your turn. Grow up!”
The diva act slipped away, and Deny’s face crumpled. For the first time in a long while, the singer seemed sincere.
Embracing her best friend, she would allow her five minutes to fall apart … or at least until the makeup team arrived.