Read Online All the Beautiful Brides by Rita Herron - Free Book Online

she was running from something.

    Cal followed Rosalyn to her den and leaned against the big club chair by the window, giving the young lady time to calm down.
    “Why do you say it’s your fault?” he asked quietly.
    Rosalyn wiped her eyes with a tissue, then tossed it on the coffee table and snatched another one from the box. “Because I talked her into going out with me the other night, then I left her at the bar alone.”
    Now he understood the guilt.
    Cal chewed the inside of his cheek, waiting for her to elaborate. Instead, she began to shred the tissue into pieces, her fingers working nervously.
    “What bar was this?”
    Rosalyn sniffled. “Blues and Brews. Gwyn was so sweet, but she didn’t get out much, so I convinced her to go with me.”
    “She wasn’t dating anyone?”
    “Gosh, no,” Rosalyn said. “She was too busy taking care of her mother. Frankly, I thought she used her mother as an excuse not to date, because she was so shy, so I encouraged her to go out. To even meet people online.”
    “Did you meet some friends at the bar?”
    Rosalyn bit down on her lip. “Two friends from my programming class came, but their boyfriends were with them.”
    Cal sensed this conversation could go on forever. “Did Gwyneth hook up with anyone?”
    Rosalyn grabbed another tissue and began to mutilate it. “A couple of men asked her to dance, but she turned them down. Then Eddie showed up.”
    “Who is Eddie?”
    “A guy I dated for a couple of years. We broke up last year, but he wanted to talk and said he’d made a mistake and . . .” Her voice cracked. “And I left with him.” She released a pain-filled sigh. “I didn’t think I’d be gone long. Eddie and I just stepped outside to talk, but then . . . things got hot . . .”
    “And you two argued?”
    Rosalyn shook her head, her cheeks flushing.
    “You had sex?”
    She nodded. “It had been a long time, and we were always good that way, so we ducked into the car—”
    “You don’t have to justify it to me,” Cal said, trying to steer her back on track. “Then what happened?”
    “By the time we went back inside, Gwyn was gone. I thought she was in the ladies’ room, but she wasn’t, then I called her cell but it went to voice mail, so I figured she caught a cab.” Rosalyn brushed at more tears. “I tried again the next morning and she still didn’t answer, then she didn’t show up in class and I got worried.” Rosalyn choked on another sob. “Then this morning I read in the news that she was dead.”
    So she’d only been gone one night. Not enough time for anyone to realize she was missing and file a report.
    It also meant that the killer hadn’t kept her very long.
    Cal gave her a sympathetic look. “Was there anyone in the bar who stuck out to you? A man who asked Gwyneth to dance and got angry with her?”
    She shook her head. “Not really. Both the men she turned down wound up with other girls.”
    “Do you know if she’d talked to these men before? Had she met them online?”
    Rosalyn bit her lower lip. “She didn’t say.”
    “Was anyone watching her that night? Maybe a guy who looked creepy or kept staring at the two of you?”
    Rosalyn rubbed her forehead. “I didn’t notice anyone.”
    “Would Gwyneth have left with a man if she’d met up with someone she liked?”
    Rosalyn shook her head vigorously. “No. She didn’t do one-night stands.”
    So if she had left with a man, it was possible he’d coerced her or drugged her.
    He stood, jamming his hands in his pockets. “I’m going to talk to the bartender. Maybe he saw something.”
    Hopefully they had security cameras and he could get a glimpse of the person she’d left with.

    Mona drove to the county housing project, still disturbed about Felicity’s reaction. Even thirty years later, it was obviously difficult for her to talk about the baby she’d lost.
    Although Mona hadn’t carried her baby to term, she understood the grief of losing a