All Dressed in White (Under Suspicion #2)(32)

Laurie found a notepad and jotted down the name Jeremy Carroll. Walker didn’t have contact information for him, but he said Carroll was around twenty-five years old when he worked for him. Laurie thanked Walker profusely before saying good-bye.

“I take it your caller had something interesting to say,” Leo observed.

She summarized her conversation with Walker. “If Jeremy’s the man from the video, I need to talk to him. It really did look like he turned around to follow Amanda. But all I have is a fairly common name and an approximate age.”

“No, you have more than that. You have a father who still knows a thing or two about basic police work.” Leo snatched the piece of notepaper from the counter, and Laurie knew that First Deputy Police Commissioner Farley was on the case.





31





The next morning Laurie had no sooner reached her desk than her phone rang. She suspected it would be Brett. I swear whenever he calls, even the ring sounds angry, she thought.

Keeping her fingers crossed, she picked up the phone. It was Brett. Typical of him, there was no exchange of greetings.

“Laurie, I’m very upset,” he bellowed.

It was obviously the beginning of a wonderful day.

“Can you please tell me why some local-yokel reporter in Palm Beach, Florida, is calling me for a comment on our plan to shoot the Runaway Bride segment at the Grand Victoria? That was supposed to be kept under wraps.”

“Brett, we tried to keep it quiet. We had to be in touch with the hotel manager, the director of security, and other personnel. Obviously, somebody spoke to the reporter.”

“Who cares who blabbed? The point is that your supposedly cold case is hot again. Laurie, don’t worry about expenses.”

That’s a first coming from him, Laurie thought.

“Get your team down there yesterday. I don’t want 60 Minutes to do a piece on the Runaway Bride and beat us to the punch.”

The click of the receiver hitting the cradle signaled that the conversation was over.





32





Yesterday turned out to be six days later.

Six days. In the past, Laurie had spent weeks reinvestigating an entire case, from beginning to end, before starting to film. But now they were at the Grand Victoria, just hours away from turning on the cameras. Even worse, those six days had been spent almost entirely on coordinating the logistics. Laurie felt as though she needed another month to dig into the facts, but the accelerated schedule gave her no choice other than to plow forward.


She felt the stress of the situation wash away as she walked through the breezeway at the hotel entrance. For a brief moment, it felt as though she had stepped back in time. She remembered Greg reaching for her hand. Happy Anniversary, Laurie. She assumed at the time they’d have at least fifty more.

“Mom!” Timmy was already heading toward the pool. “This place is awesome!”

The one upside of the ridiculously rushed timeline was that Timmy was still on summer break, so he and Leo were treating the trip as a vacation. It was ninety degrees and humid, but if Timmy had palm trees and a pool to splash around in with a few other kids, he’d be happy to stay year-round.

The resort was even more beautiful than she remembered—modern but inspired by classic villas of the Italian Renaissance. A man in his fifties wearing a tan poplin suit was heading directly for her. “Are you Ms. Laurie Moran, perchance? Irwin Robbins, general manager.”

She returned his friendly handshake and thanked him for all the help he’d already provided. Robbins hadn’t been kidding when he said that the resort wanted to help in any way possible. They had donated rooms for Amanda’s parents and the entire wedding party and provided a generous discount for the production team.

“And who’s this young man here?” Irwin asked, gesturing toward Timmy. “Your number one investigator?”

“Don’t tell anyone,” Timmy piped up, “but I’m undercover. I’ll be needing a pool for my work.”

? ? ?

Two hours later, Grace turned in a circle, gawking at the enormity of Alex’s suite. “This room’s the size of all of ours put together.”

For once, Grace wasn’t exaggerating. Alex’s suite was more like a large apartment, with an enormous living room. He generously suggested that his living room serve as a conference area for the team.

It was four o’clock, and they were meeting for one last team discussion before the first production session this evening—a reunion   cocktail gathering for the wedding party and Amanda’s parents in the ballroom where Amanda and Jeff were supposed to have had their wedding reception

“Alex, the front desk clerk probably upgraded you when she saw those beautiful eyes,” Grace said.

Alex laughed. He was used to Grace flirting with him, and Laurie knew he got a kick out of it.

“Have you met Jeff’s college friends yet, Laurie?” he asked.

“Not in person, but I spoke to them on the phone. According to Sandra, they’re both rich bachelors.”

“The tall one, Nick, is a hunk,” Grace interjected. “But that other one? Austin? He’s lucky he’s rich. Now, Jeff, on the other hand?” She pretended to fan herself. “He looks so sweet and innocent, and has no idea how gorgeous he is. Of the three of them, he’s the catch.”