All Dressed in White (Under Suspicion #2)(23)

The night before Amanda disappeared, Jeff had told Nick and Austin that he wasn’t sure Amanda was the perfect fit for him. It was only one comment, and when Nick told him that it wasn’t too late to back out, Jeff quickly reassured him that he was “just nervous.”

“So it’s agreed,” Austin said. “We’ll tell the producers about that comment.”

Nick nodded. “And I’ll make sure Jeff knows that we plan to tell the truth. If he’s going to drag us into this, we need to protect our own reputations, too.”

“Weird,” Austin said. “We’ll all be together again, just like old times.”

“It’ll be just like college. We’ll be chatting up two babes at the bar and they’ll both be after me!”

“Okay, that does it,” Austin announced. “You’re paying for dinner.”

“Oh, did you know that the Grand Victoria added a dock this past year? I’m going to reserve a boat. I have two clients in Boca I want to meet up with.”

“Good idea. I’ll reserve one as well. I’m sure we’ll have some downtime when we’re there.”

As Nick signaled for the check, he did not see the smile that came over Austin’s face.





24





By the following afternoon, Laurie, Jerry, and Grace had done enough legwork to start planning production. Jeff had called that morning to confirm that both he and his wife Meghan were willing to do the show. He also promised that his two groomsmen, Nick and Austin, would cooperate and gave Laurie their contact information. And Brett had called her in. As usual, he wanted the show done yesterday. “How soon can you get to Florida?” he asked.

It was on the tip of Laurie’s tongue to tell him, Yesterday.

“We’ll go down in one week,” she said. “The camera crew can go a few days earlier. We want to film them against the background of different locations at the hotel. The wedding party had been enjoying the pool and the beach and having drinks on the veranda. We’ll use those as backdrops.”

Summer in Florida wasn’t ideal, but at least Timmy wouldn’t be in school yet.

Alex had told her that because time was so short, he could do the preliminary interviews, the ones she called his “warm and fuzzy” questions, on the telephone.

Now she and Jerry and Grace were in her office preparing to watch the security camera footage that had been taken in the three days before Amanda disappeared.

“Let’s start by going over the chronology,” Laurie said. “According to Sandra, the bridal party arrived late Wednesday morning and immediately went to the beach and had lunch in the ocean-side dining room. She and Walter had planned to arrive on Friday, in time for the rehearsal dinner. But Thursday was the last night anyone saw Amanda.”

Laurie had immediately followed up by contacting Jeff’s college friends, Nick Young and Austin Pratt. According to both, Amanda’s brother, Henry, left the restaurant right after the bachelor’s dinner on Thursday. Jeff and the other groomsmen had an after-dinner drink at the restaurant and then had gone to Jeff’s room for a nightcap and were there for about forty minutes. They estimated that they left Jeff’s room shortly before eleven P.M.

Both Nick and Austin said they were happy to help with the show if that’s what Jeff wanted. They both corroborated Jeff’s account of his whereabouts the night before Amanda was reported missing. More interestingly, though, both Nick and Austin agreed that when they were in Jeff’s room that night, after a little too much to drink, Jeff had said he wasn’t certain that Amanda was the right woman for him. On the other hand, they both construed the comment as harmless, typical of a groom just two nights before the big day.

If nothing else, Laurie thought, Brett would certainly be happy about the prospect of having two successful, eligible bachelors on the show. Her boss believed that some viewers would only watch shows about wealthy people and their problems.

“So is that everyone?” Grace asked, peering over Jerry’s shoulder. Other men might be uncomfortable with Grace’s ample and barely covered bosom next to their right ear, but Jerry and Grace were like siblings.

Jerry had added Nick and Austin to the list he’d been compiling on his notepad. He read the names aloud to make sure they were all on the same page. “Sandra, of course. And I’ve spoken to her ex-husband, Walter. He’s on board, too, but I can tell he thinks we’re tilting at windmills.”

“Did he say why?” Laurie asked.

“I got the impression he just wants to keep believing that his daughter might be okay.” Laurie nodded. As much as she had come to depend on Jerry, she was not quite ready to rely entirely on his “impression,” even though this time she thought he was probably right.


She could not believe how seamlessly this installment was falling into place. Despite having met Sandra for the first time only a few days ago, they had the cooperation of everyone they needed. And so far, everyone had been able to adjust their schedules to go to Palm Beach.

“Is the video ready?” she asked Jerry.

The Grand Victoria had sent a zip file containing all of the hotel’s surveillance from the wedding party’s stay at the resort. Shortly after Jerry clicked on play, Laurie saw a beautiful young woman in a sleeveless floral sundress walking quickly through a tiled alcove lined with orange blossoms.