She met his gaze and smiled, her brown eyes warming to liquid honey. He felt his heart lift and soar. He wanted this woman—for life. He wanted to marry her, have children with her, grow old with her. He found it hard to breathe and felt as if he would die if he lost her.
He had to swallow the lump that formed in his throat as she passed. As Shep turned to watch her approach the pastor, he caught Greg looking at her, his expression unreadable.
Was it longing? Or was it fear? Had Greg been there the night Lindy died? Was he afraid that Charlie had seen something? That she knew more than she’d told the police about that night? His hands fisted at his sides before he saw Greg’s attention shift to the young woman coming down the aisle. Tara, Charlie’s friend who’d had the baby just days ago.
Greg was looking past Tara to his bride.
Shep turned to see Amanda swishing toward the altar. She’d chosen a very voluminous dress that brushed both sides of the aisle. Static seemed to crackle and pop as she moved. But it was her expression that surprised him. There was something almost fragile-looking about her. Definitely vulnerable. Shep wondered if she had any idea what she was getting herself into.
He was only thankful that this wedding would soon be over. That earlier sense of foreboding he’d felt was now a thunder in his chest.
The preacher cleared his voice and everyone sat. Shep lowered himself into his chair. He realized he was holding his breath, terrified that something horrible was about to happen and he wouldn’t be able to stop it.
* * *
CHARLIE FELT IN a daze as she listened to Greg and Amanda share their vows. This was really happening. All the wild days since she’d first seen Lacey standing across the street from her apartment seemed to lead up to this moment. She felt as if she’d been caught in a whirlwind that had brought Shep back into her life.
Amanda had wanted her to pinch her because she couldn’t believe it was finally her wedding day. Charlie felt the same way. She’d never dreamed she could feel this way at just the sight of Shep. She was beyond happy. Beyond content. Beyond her wildest dreams.
With a start, she realized that she hadn’t checked her horoscope this morning. She never forgot, but this morning... She took a breath and let it out slowly. Maybe it was for the best. What if it had said something terrible was going to happen today?
She heard the pastor say, “If anyone has any reason why these two should not be wed in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
The room fell silent. Charlie held her breath.
* * *
SHEP REALIZED IT was almost over. Well, the wedding at least. He was anxious to talk to Greg. Why had the man kept it a secret from Charlie that he had lived just down the street? That he had known her stepsister? And why had Greg wanted her on his team so badly? Maybe more important, what had Greg been so hell-bent to tell her?
His head ached, his pulse a roar in his ears, as he stared at Greg while the pastor pronounced the bride and groom husband and wife.
“You may kiss your bride,” the pastor said and the room broke into cheers and clapping as the guests rose to their feet. The woman in front of Shep wore a large hat, blocking his view of the front of the room.
And then he heard the gunshot.
It echoed through the room, followed by a cacophony of shouts and screams. He heard someone yell, “He’s shot! Greg’s shot!”
Shep began to push his way toward the front of the room, fighting to get through the wedding guests who were panicking like cattle during a stampede.
A second gunshot boomed, adding to the pandemonium. Shep finally got a glimpse of the pastor, white-faced, holding his heart and leaning against the far wall. The room was a blur of movement and noise with raised panicked voices and screams.
In front of the pastor, Greg lay on the floor bleeding, Amanda in that huge wedding dress kneeling next to him. There was no sign of the best man—just as there was no sign of the maid of honor. But Tara was kneeling next to Amanda trying to stop Greg’s bleeding.
Shep’s gaze shot to a doorway off to his right in time to see a blond woman with a gun.
The gun was pointed at Charlie’s head as the woman dragged her down a hallway, around a corner and disappeared.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
LACEY’S FINGERS BIT into Charlie’s arm as she steered her away from the wedding, a gun literally to her head. Charlie had been so shocked at first that she hadn’t been able to move. No one had for those few seconds after Lacey came out of a side door and shot Greg.
Lacey had grabbed Charlie, fired a shot into the air and put the barrel of the gun to her temple. “Don’t think I’ll kill you?” Lacey had whispered as she backed Charlie out of the room. “Think again.”
It was that second shot that had sent everyone scurrying in a panic.
Except Shep. Charlie had seen him fighting to get to her through the terrified guests.
Lacey had forced her down a hallway, her grip painful but not as worrisome as the gun to her head. Charlie had no doubt that Lacey would kill her. She’d had no choice but to come along with her. Lacey had already shot Greg. Charlie didn’t want her shooting anyone else. Especially Shep.
“I don’t understand,” Charlie said as Lacey hurried her down yet another hallway. She had no idea what Lacey was planning to do with her. She assumed eventually she would kill her. All she could do was hope that before Lacey pulled the trigger again, there would be a chance to turn the tables. “Why would you shoot my boss?”
“Why do you think?” Lacey snapped. “Do you really not know why he hired you?” Apparently not. “He lived down the street from you. You didn’t recognize him?”
Recognize him? Lived down the street? A cold spike of ice rattled up her spine. “You mean when we were teenagers?”
“He went by Patrick then. Patrick Gregory Shafer. He was that old man’s stepson. Did you really not know about him and Lindy?”
Charlie felt blindsided. She stumbled and Lacey’s grip tightened. “Still, why did you shoot him?”
“Because he deserved it,” she snapped. She pushed open door after door, a labyrinth of passages behind the scenes in this massive hotel, and hurried her along. Charlie thought she heard running footfalls somewhere in the maze behind them. Shep.
“What happened that night?” Charlie asked, thinking she had to no the truth.
“That night you locked Lindy out of the house,” Lacey said, grinding the barrel of gun into her temple hard enough to make Charlie cry out. “You knew she was afraid of the dark.”
“You both tormented me, but I suspect you were the real mean one.”
Lacey laughed. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that.”