The Best Man to Trust - By Kerry Connor Page 0,28
Haley seemed like the last person who would have been killed by one of her longtime friends. And if Brad was holding a grudge, who knew how far he would go? He did already have a history of violence against women....
Even as he considered the idea, Tom had to wonder whether he was letting his reflexive dislike and anger toward the man affect his thinking. “Just exploring every possibility.”
Jessica slammed her hand against the table. “I’m tired of hearing a good man insulted like this. It might make for good TV, Tom, but it has nothing to do with reality. He didn’t do anything to her—” she jerked her head toward Meredith “—and he certainly didn’t have anything to do with Haley’s murder.”
To her credit, Meredith didn’t say anything to defend herself. She simply stared at Jessica, long and steadily, before pointedly looking away. The clear message was that she didn’t need to defend herself. They were her experiences. She knew what had happened better than Jessica did.
As if recognizing the unspoken point, Jessica’s face reddened further with suppressed anger. She looked at Rachel. “I hate this. I wish you’d never brought us here.”
Rachel offered no disagreement. She lowered her eyes to her plate, her expression uncomfortable and more than a little guilty.
“Why did you bring us here?” Alex asked. “Why did you have to get married here of all places?”
Rachel waved a hand around the room defensively. “Look at this place. It’s amazing. Who wouldn’t want to get married somewhere like this?”
“Anyone who’s heard what happened here?” Alex suggested. “I have to believe most people would have canceled their weddings after that murder. Right, Meredith?”
“Most of the other weddings were canceled,” Meredith admitted.
“‘Most?’” Alex echoed.
“All,” Meredith confirmed after a beat.
“But not you,” Alex said to Rachel. “You still dragged us all up here. Why?”
Rachel hesitated, obviously struggling to think of a response.
It was Jessica who answered. “She said she thought it would make her wedding even more special,” Jess interjected. “She didn’t think anyone else would want to get married here after what happened, so she’d get to have the only wedding here. And even if there were other weddings, hers would still be the first.”
“Jess!” Rachel snapped.
“Well, it’s true,” Jessica shot back. “If we all get killed, at least we’ll know why.”
“So I wanted my wedding to be special,” Rachel sniped. “What bride doesn’t?”
“Brides who don’t want their wedding parties to be murdered?” Greg suggested wryly.
“No one else is going to be murdered,” Tom said firmly. “If we all watch out for each other, and figure out who’s responsible for killing Haley, we should be able to get through this.”
The statement was met with silence, skepticism heavy in the air. Still, he figured the fact that no one voiced their doubt out loud had to be considered a positive.
“How long does it look like we’re going to be here?” Rachel asked.
“It’s still snowing,” Tom said. “We won’t be able to start digging out until it stops. If it takes a couple of days, I’m guessing it would be Monday or even Tuesday before we can get out.”
Today was Friday, a grim fact that seemed to settle over the table like a lead weight. Monday couldn’t possibly have seemed further away.
“So what are we supposed to do until then?” Jessica asked, her tone unusually subdued.
No one seemed to have an answer for that. The possibilities of what could happen in the meantime were too grim and terrifying.
It was Greg who finally responded, lifting his flask yet again. When he spoke, there was no humor in his voice, his tone ironically sober.
“We survive.”
Chapter Eight
“Hey, Meredith.”
Meredith looked up from the table where she’d begun to collect the breakfast dishes. Most of the room had cleared, but Alex lingered on the other side of the table. She suddenly felt the emptiness of the room much more strongly, keenly aware that she was completely alone with him.
She did her best to shake off the feeling. Even if he was a threat, they had the massive table separating them. If he tried anything, she could run before he made it around the thing. And Ellen was just in the kitchen behind her if she called out. “Hi, Alex. Is there something I can do for you?”
“We didn’t really get a chance to talk yesterday,” he said, gracing her with a smile. “I thought it would be nice to catch up with an old colleague from the Daily, but I wasn’t sure if you remembered