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Book: Wedding Duress (Events By Design Cozy Mystery Series Book 2) by Ally Gray
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Authors: Ally Gray
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her blazer pocket. She didn’t recognize the number, and it only took her a few seconds to realize that an unknown number could be the answer to her questions. After all, she counted it as a source of pride that she didn’t know the number to the county jail by heart.
“Hello?” Stacy asked quietly, stepping away from the flurry of activity to the relative privacy of a fountain.
“Um, this is Brianna Barber. Someone from this number wanted to talk to me?” the girl said in a squeaky voice, nothing like the confident bellow Stacy had heard as the girl was shoved into a squad car. That protesting person was long gone, replaced by someone who’d just spent a few days in jail making all kinds of new friends.
“Brianna? This is Sta— I mean, Anastasia East, the head of Events by Design. I’m staging your sister’s wedding today.” Stacy heard sniffles through the phone, sniffles which threatened to become all out sobs if she didn’t hurry up and get the girl talking. It had to be hard, she realized, not just being in jail for a crime Stacy didn’t think she’d committed, but also missing her only sister’s wedding for a wrongful accusation. “I have some questions, and I was hoping you could answer them.”
“Did my mother put you up to this?” Brianna demanded through her tears. “Is she trying to get a confession out of me, or something?”
“No, I assure you, my only goal here is to figure out what exactly is going on, and clear up a lot of misunderstandings. If it serves to get you out of jail, and solve Sandrique’s murder at the same time, then all the better.”
“Fine. What do you want to know?”
Stacy breathed quietly for a second as she collected her thoughts. There was a part of her brain that hadn’t been sure Detective Sims could come through for her, so truthfully, she didn’t have all of her questions prepared. She decided to start at the beginning and work her way up to the present, giving the younger sister a chance to explain her side of the story.
By the time the girl had finished, Stacy was ready to kill herself a mother of the bride.
Chapter 11
“ Y ou do realize you will lose your job if you do this,” Jeremiah whispered in Stacy’s ear. She nodded stoically, aware that justice had to be served at all costs, even if those costs included her income, her expense account, her company car, and the tidy little IRA she’d been tucking money into every month.
“And you realize we won’t get to sneak you bottles of chardonnay at your desk at lunch anymore since you’ll be working at the title pawn place on the highway,” Tori said. Stacy nodded again.
“This isn’t about you and Nathan not getting to be together because you’re too stubborn to date someone who technically owns the company, is it?” Stacy started to shake her head, but instead gave up and shrugged.
The day had gone well enough, up until the point where Stacy was about to intentionally destroy her own career. The preparations had been made, the wedding party had arrived, the families had brought a gorgeous bride and a stunning groom to the venue, and everything was going so well.
Until Heaven disappeared, that is.
Stacy thought back to the look of pure determination on the girl’s face—granted, it was in the pre-dawn dark of an unlit backseat, but in Stacy’s memory it was really determined—and had done her best to stay out of Heaven’s way all day. If the girl just “happened” to arrive on the property and stop the wedding, that wasn’t Stacy’s fault… after all, the announcement had been made in every newspaper in the southeastern United States. How could Stacy be expected to run interference for crazy, jealous ex-girlfriends?
Only Heaven was nowhere to be found. She must have gotten to have her say with Ben, and ended up jilted again. She’d already said that if he was happy with his choice despite the truth she had to share, she would step back and let him make his own mistakes.
“Hello?” Stacy asked quietly, stepping away from the flurry of activity to the relative privacy of a fountain.
“Um, this is Brianna Barber. Someone from this number wanted to talk to me?” the girl said in a squeaky voice, nothing like the confident bellow Stacy had heard as the girl was shoved into a squad car. That protesting person was long gone, replaced by someone who’d just spent a few days in jail making all kinds of new friends.
“Brianna? This is Sta— I mean, Anastasia East, the head of Events by Design. I’m staging your sister’s wedding today.” Stacy heard sniffles through the phone, sniffles which threatened to become all out sobs if she didn’t hurry up and get the girl talking. It had to be hard, she realized, not just being in jail for a crime Stacy didn’t think she’d committed, but also missing her only sister’s wedding for a wrongful accusation. “I have some questions, and I was hoping you could answer them.”
“Did my mother put you up to this?” Brianna demanded through her tears. “Is she trying to get a confession out of me, or something?”
“No, I assure you, my only goal here is to figure out what exactly is going on, and clear up a lot of misunderstandings. If it serves to get you out of jail, and solve Sandrique’s murder at the same time, then all the better.”
“Fine. What do you want to know?”
Stacy breathed quietly for a second as she collected her thoughts. There was a part of her brain that hadn’t been sure Detective Sims could come through for her, so truthfully, she didn’t have all of her questions prepared. She decided to start at the beginning and work her way up to the present, giving the younger sister a chance to explain her side of the story.
By the time the girl had finished, Stacy was ready to kill herself a mother of the bride.
Chapter 11
“ Y ou do realize you will lose your job if you do this,” Jeremiah whispered in Stacy’s ear. She nodded stoically, aware that justice had to be served at all costs, even if those costs included her income, her expense account, her company car, and the tidy little IRA she’d been tucking money into every month.
“And you realize we won’t get to sneak you bottles of chardonnay at your desk at lunch anymore since you’ll be working at the title pawn place on the highway,” Tori said. Stacy nodded again.
“This isn’t about you and Nathan not getting to be together because you’re too stubborn to date someone who technically owns the company, is it?” Stacy started to shake her head, but instead gave up and shrugged.
The day had gone well enough, up until the point where Stacy was about to intentionally destroy her own career. The preparations had been made, the wedding party had arrived, the families had brought a gorgeous bride and a stunning groom to the venue, and everything was going so well.
Until Heaven disappeared, that is.
Stacy thought back to the look of pure determination on the girl’s face—granted, it was in the pre-dawn dark of an unlit backseat, but in Stacy’s memory it was really determined—and had done her best to stay out of Heaven’s way all day. If the girl just “happened” to arrive on the property and stop the wedding, that wasn’t Stacy’s fault… after all, the announcement had been made in every newspaper in the southeastern United States. How could Stacy be expected to run interference for crazy, jealous ex-girlfriends?
Only Heaven was nowhere to be found. She must have gotten to have her say with Ben, and ended up jilted again. She’d already said that if he was happy with his choice despite the truth she had to share, she would step back and let him make his own mistakes.
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