As Leo’s laptop pinged with the incoming message, Jeff Hunter’s cell phone rang. It was an unexpected call from New York City. Jeff was shocked by who the caller was and what he said about Meghan.
57
As Jeff ended his call, Austin signaled a poolside waiter and ordered a scotch. “By the time it gets here, it will be five o’clock. Who am I kidding? I started at lunch. You want anything, buddy?”
Jeff shook his head but said nothing. Once the waiter was gone, Austin said, “I’m sorry, I can’t imagine what you’re going through. I guess most of us suspected Amanda was-you know-but it’s got to be rough to finally know for certain. What was that call? You sounded upset.”
Jeff told Austin he was fine and then quickly changed the subject. “Where’s Nick?” he asked, even though the person he was eager to see was his own wife. Meghan was with Kate at the hotel spa for the afternoon. After that phone call, Jeff was tempted to storm into the spa and demand an explanation. But in light of today’s grilling by Alex Buckley, he knew everyone was suspicious of him. For all he knew, the police had undercover officers at the hotel, watching his every move. The last thing he needed was to lose his temper in public, but he was hurt and confused, and desperate to speak to Meghan. He took a deep breath and tried to remain calm.
Austin said, “Nick’s getting his boat ready. You know him. He takes forever.” Austin and Nick, always competing, Jeff thought.
Jeff looked at his watch. “I doubt you two have time for a cocktail cruise before dinner.” All the college friends were planning a group dinner tonight. After Amanda’s body was found, Kate moved the reservation up to six-thirty. It would be an early, somber evening, not the reunion they’d been expecting. Jeff didn’t even want to go, but Meghan felt bad about leaving Kate to mourn alone.
“Not a cocktail cruise,” Austin corrected. “Nick’s leaving early to woo a billionaire, remember? A client meeting in Boca Raton.”
Right. With everything that was going on, it had slipped Jeff’s mind.
“Speak of the devil,” Austin called out. Nick was headed their way in madras shorts and a Polo shirt, his captain’s hat already donned and a can of beer in his hand. “You finally got that poor excuse for a boat ready to hit the water?”
“You’re just jealous that I got the nicer boat.” Only then did Nick seem to notice Jeff’s pensive mood. “Hey, we’re just trying to keep things light. We’re all sorry about Amanda.”
Jeff nodded.
“Where are the ladies?” Nick asked. “I’ll see Meghan soon enough back home, but I wanted to say good-bye to Kate.”
“They decided to get facials and massages to take their minds off all this,” Jeff said. His eyes drifted to the corridor leading to the spa. No sign of them. Every minute without an explanation about that phone call felt like hours.
“Were you able to say good-bye to Amanda’s family?” Austin asked.
“I just came from Sandra’s. I almost walked away from her room without knocking, but I couldn’t leave without expressing my sympathies.”
Jeff didn’t tell his friends that he had knocked on the same door earlier in the day, only to have Sandra slam it in his face.
Austin asked how the Pierces were holding up.
“Honestly?” Nick said. “Not well. I got the impression they wanted to be left alone. They’ll be having a family dinner tonight to talk about their memories of Amanda.”
Austin held up his scotch and said quietly, “To Amanda.”
“See you boys back in New York,” Nick said. “You hang in there, buddy.”
Nick gave Jeff a comforting pat on the back, and Austin followed suit. Was Jeff being paranoid, or did even his best friends seem to be looking at him differently now?
He needed to talk to Meghan.
58
Laurie pushed her chair back from the desk in her room the second she heard the beep of a key card in the door. Timmy and Alex were back from the water park, both in swim trunks and Knicks T-shirts.
She gave Timmy a hug. His hair was still warm, and he smelled of chlorine and sunscreen. “So how was it?”
“It was awesome! I think it was even better than Six Flags.” Coming from Timmy, that was the equivalent of Shangri-la. He surprised her by saying that he wanted to tell her all about it but was hot and wanted to take a shower. He was growing up so fast.
Once she heard the water running, she began briefing Alex on what he’d missed this afternoon. She showed him Jeremy’s photographs of Meghan, as well as the yearbook information from Colby. When she was finished laying out her case, he put his hands on his hips and exhaled. “Just when we thought we were getting somewhere.”
“I know. I was sure it was Jeff. Now I think Meghan was involved. And I’m wondering if I’m missing something once again.”
“But what about the ring Amanda was wearing?”
“Amanda could have been the one to take the bands from the safe. Maybe she wanted to try hers on to see how she felt about it, and maybe Meghan didn’t realize she was still wearing it later.”
“That’s a lot of maybes.”
“Exactly. Which is why I have no idea what to do with this evidence. In the other specials, we found clear enough proof to be absolutely certain about the truth. We were able to produce our show and identify the killer, all at once. But now I have this evidence against Meghan, and I want to keep digging. But Brett’s breathing down my neck to finish so we can go to air. Plus, I feel like I should tell the police what we know-”
Alex finished her thought. “But right now it’s exclusive to you. And if you share it with the public-”
“There goes my scoop. And Brett will want my head on a platter.”
“Is he really that ruthless? He’d want you to sit on evidence?”
“Unless it’s subpoenaed, absolutely. He told me once that the Nielsen ratings were his religion.” She felt a hot coal forming in the pit of her stomach. “I don’t know what to do.”
Alex placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye. “First of all, try not to panic. The last Meghan knew, I was giving Jeff the third degree. She has no idea you have these pictures, right? Or that Leo called Colby?”
Laurie nodded and was already starting to calm down. Alex always had that effect on her.
“Okay,” he said confidently, “that gives you some time to think. Why don’t I clean myself up and we can all have an early dinner. Grace and Jerry, too. We’ll go over everything we know, and then you can decide whether to go to the police now or keep working.”
“That sounds good,” she said, moving into his embrace.
“Now, is there any chance I can take your mind off this by telling you about the trip to the water park today?”
“I would love that,” Laurie said with a smile. “I can’t even picture Jerry with wet hair in a swimsuit, hurling himself down a slide.”
“You would have loved the sight of it. He was like a big kid, and Timmy was overjoyed to have a friend who was at least as excited as he was to play in the water.”
“And what about you?” she asked. “If I ask Jerry, will he have pictures of you bouncing into the waves?”
Alex put on an intentionally haughty expression. “I’m much too dignified. But it’s possible I had an identical twin on the premises. And I imagine he looked ridiculous with six feet and four inches of arms and legs sticking out everywhere.”
“If Jerry has pictures,” Laurie quipped, “I’m sending them to the Law Journal.”
59
Jeremy had forgotten how sprawling the Grand Victoria was. He’d been roaming the property for nearly twenty minutes without crossing paths with any of the bridal party members he was supposed to be watching.