“No way,” Sadie said. “You’re coming with me.”
As the two girls left them alone again, Morgan turned her tear-filled eyes to Blair.
“There you go. Mama is still here. She’s in you, Morgan.”
With her free arm, Morgan hugged her the way her mother would have done, and the sadness for her parents’ absence seemed to fade away.
CHAPTER 59
An hour later, Melba Jefferson knocked on the bedroom door and stepped inside. Her mother’s best friend looked on the verge of tears. “Oh, honey, you look like a princess. I just know your mama and daddy are giggling in heaven, tickled to death that things have turned out the way they have. But it’s time for the wedding to start, hon. Are you ready?”
Blair drew in a deep breath. “I think so.”
Morgan picked up the veil. “Then let’s get this on you. Turn around.”
Blair turned back to the window and looked down. The lawn was full of guests, hundreds of friends taking their seats. The string orchestra that Cade had hired from South University had already begun to play.
Excitement bubbled up inside her. It was really going to happen. Today she would become Cade’s wife.
Cade took his place on the raised altar that Horace Jenkins had built for the occasion, and tugged at his collar. The tux was unbearably hot for such a warm day, but it was worth it. Thank You, God, for giving us such a glorious day. Blair deserved it. The guests all smiled at him, and he began to feel self-conscious. He glanced over at Joe McCormick, his best man.
“Kind of makes you wish you could tap-dance, huh?” Joe muttered.
Cade laughed and turned back to the crowd. Some of the guests were still being seated, and the City Council members who were up for reelection were making the rounds, shaking hands and politicking, as if they thought the event was for them. Sarah Williford’s hat was so huge she looked as if she might become airborne if a strong wind blew. He felt sorry for anyone sitting behind her.
The music began, and he watched, amused, as everyone hurried to their seats.
The police officers on his force lined the aisle in full dress uniform. The child-sized police car was brought to the end of the aisle, and Sadie put Caleb into it. With her small bouquet in one hand, she took the floral rope in the other and pulled the little car slowly up the aisle. The crowd laughed softly as the toddler bucked and laughed, clutching the pillow that had their mock rings sewn on, and waving like royalty.
Caleb was the hit of the show, Cade thought. At least until the bride came out.
When they got to the front, Sadie took Caleb out and, holding his hand, went to stand next to the gazebo. Caleb was compliant for now, but if he started to get disruptive, Melba Jefferson would swoop him away.
Sadie’s dress was the color of sunshine, beautiful against the backdrop of the ocean, and she had flowers in her hair. She looked radiant. No one would have ever imagined that she’d been held prisoner in a pit just a month ago. Cade thought of how he’d found her, two years ago, beaten up and sleeping on the beach. She’d come such a long way.
And then came Morgan, walking slowly and smiling, in her own yellow dress. He’d always thought his best friend’s wife was beautiful, but he had to admit that she’d never been more lovely than she was since having the baby. Her skin glowed with contentment and joy, and she wore her hair up, with some of her stray curls cascading down to her shoulder.
Finally, the music changed, and the strings launched into the famous wedding processional.
And there she was. He saw her all the way across the street, floating like an angel out of Hanover House, on Jonathan’s arm. She was beautiful, more radiant than he’d ever expected, and he fought the urge to break and run for her, scoop her up in his arms and carry her, laughing, down the aisle. But he knew the walk was important. It was the walk that every little girl dreamed of.
And boy, did she walk it. The guests came to their feet, and he heard their collective gasp as they caught sight of her. Tears stung his eyes as she started up that long aisle. He’d wanted her for so long, and now she was going to be his. Thank You, God.
Their gazes met as she came closer, and he could see that she had tears shimmering in her eyes under that veil. She could have come barefoot down the aisle, in a terry cloth robe, and he would have thought she was beautiful. But forever he would remember the sight of her in flowing white, that pure white veil covering her shoulders, framing her in light …
As Jonathan brought her to him, he took her hand. Jonathan pulled her veil back over her head and kissed her on the cheek.
Then he stepped into the preacher’s spot and turned to face the audience.
The crowd chuckled at his double role.
“We are gathered together to join Matthew Cade and Blair Owens in holy matrimony …”
CHAPTER 60
Amelia and her parents got to the wedding late. She had changed her mind about coming at the very last minute, even though Nate’s accomplice hadn’t been caught. She’d hidden out for a month now, but she longed to be at the wedding. So many of the residents of Cape Refuge had prayed for her while she was missing, and she’d been barraged with cards and letters from them expressing their joy that she was all right. She wanted to meet them and to see her sister and little half-brother dressed up in wedding clothes. It had suddenly become important to her.
She decided she would feel safe enough, with so many police officers there. Surely no one would hurt her at the police chief’s wedding! Her parents agreed to come with her, so they’d all hurried here.
Blair had already gone down the aisle when they arrived, so they went to join the standing crowd at the back. Caleb stood up at the front, next to Sadie, squirming and trying to break his hand free of hers. He looked like a little doll, dressed in a miniature tuxedo that looked comically uncomfortable.
She watched him tug at his tie, trying to get it off. Sadie whispered something to him, but her words seemed to fall on deaf ears. Finally, Sadie looked out into the guests, and a sweet-looking woman came forward, picked Caleb up, and whisked him away.
Amelia was glad she’d come. She smiled at the picture before them, struck by the purity of this ceremony and the newness it represented. The sky was so blue, and the ocean so quiet. Sadie looked beautiful, and the police officers lining the aisle looked sharp in their dress uniforms. Blair’s dress looked like something from the cover of a bridal magazine, and Cade looked as if he’d never been happier.
Jonathan came to the question that stopped every wedding. “If anyone here has reason that these two should not be joined together, let him speak now or forever hold his peace.”
There was a moment of tense quiet, and then the crowd erupted into laughter.
“Guess we can go on with this,” Jonathan said with a grin. The crowd began to cheer.
Amelia listened, warmth in her heart, as they exchanged their vows.
“I, Cade, take you, Blair, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward …”
Hope bloomed inside her. For the past few weeks, since Jamie’s death and her captivity, Amelia had felt a lingering sense of hopelessness and defeat, as though she lived on borrowed time. For the first time in a month, she found herself looking past today, to a future in which she was the bride, standing at an altar with the man God had chosen for her. Would that day come, or would her time in that pit, at Nate’s mercy, keep her from ever trusting a man again? No, she thought. She wouldn’t let him steal that from her.
“I, Blair, take you, Cade, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward …”
She hardly knew these two, but she felt somehow a part of this union, as if she had a stake in its success, just because she’d witnessed it.
Jonathan pronounced Cade and Blair man and wife, and told Cade to kiss his bride. Amelia held her breath as he took Blair’s face in both his hands and kissed her so sweetly that an “Awwww” went out over the crowd.
T
hen they turned to face their friends and family.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Cade.”
The crowd erupted in cheers, and Amelia applauded with the rest, caught up in the joy around her. She laughed as Blair and Cade walked back up the aisle they’d come down, their faces beaming with joy.
She waited as Morgan and Sadie made their way up the aisle, then the uniformed police officers made their way out. Finally, Jonathan invited them all to the reception in the backyard.
As the crowd broke up and began to move out of their rows, Amelia sought out Sheila. She saw her in her wheelchair, and a girl walked beside her. She squinted in the sunlight, trying to remember where she’d seen her before.
The girl turned and met her eyes … and then she knew.
It was that girl Tina from the Flagstaff.
Her heart constricted, and a sense of apprehension fell over her again.
“Sweetheart, are you all right?” Her father touched her arm. “You look a little pale.”
She nodded. “I’m fine. I just … saw the girl I told you about from the Flagstaff.”
Her parents followed her gaze to the girl walking next to Sheila. “Are you afraid of her?” her mother asked.
“I have no reason to be. She wasn’t involved. It’s just that … well, she was there that day.”
She watched Sheila as she rolled across the street, toward the reception in the backyard. She hadn’t yet seen her, and Amelia thought that might be for the best, at least while Tina was with her. She didn’t think she was up to talking to the girl right now.
“Let’s go find Sadie.”
Her father took her clammy hand and led her through the people. She looked for Sadie, knowing she’d feel better when she found her sister.
Sadie reached the backyard and watched Cade spin Blair around. “She actually married me!” he shouted to the wedding party.
They all laughed as the photographer snapped pictures.
Scott came to stand beside Sadie. “You look good, Sadie. The bride was pretty and all, but it was you I couldn’t take my eyes off of.”
She smiled. “You don’t look so bad yourself.” She hugged him, but as she did, she saw Matt over his shoulder. He was brooding, clearly not happy to see her in Scott’s arms. She pulled back.
“Hey, Matt! You and your folks did a great job with the flowers. They’re gorgeous. I don’t know how you do it.”
Matt shot Scott an unappreciative look, then bent down to hug Sadie. “I’m glad they turned out all right.”
She stepped back to look at him. “You clean up nice. I’ve never seen you in a suit.”
“You look pretty too, but I’m sure I’m not the first one to tell you.”
“Thank you.” She felt the tension between the two men and wished she knew how to handle it. She bit her lip and looked at the people coming around the house. Her mouth fell open when she spotted Amelia. “My sister came! Amelia!”
Amelia looked in Sadie’s direction. She lifted her hand in a wave … then froze …
Across the lawn, Amelia heard Sadie call her, turned to see her sister, standing between two men. Both turned to look at her.
And then she saw him.
The man who’d been with Nate the night they’d abducted her, the one who’d bound her with duct tape, wrestled her out of the car, watched as her best friend was shot …
Dizziness wafted over her, and a scream tore from her throat.
CHAPTER 61
The terrified scream cut through the crowd, and Cade turned from his well-wishers, searching across the heads for its source. Amelia was backing into people, hysterical. “It’s him!”
Blair looked at Cade. “The accomplice?”
Cade saw McCormick and yelled, “Seal off the place! Don’t let anybody leave.”
“Everyone stay where you are!” McCormick yelled out. “Sit down at the nearest table, please!”
But no one listened. Everyone strained to see what had set Amelia off.
Sadie looked all around her. What was happening? One minute Amelia was calling to her, smiling and waving, and the next she was screaming.
“It’s him! You monster! You killed my best friend!” As the words registered, Sadie stepped toward her. “Who? Amelia, who is it?”
“Him!” But the crowd had filled in, and Sadie couldn’t tell whom she was pointing to.
Amelia’s screams went up an octave. “Stop him! He’s getting away!” She fought her way through the crowd.
Sadie turned and saw Scott running, and her heart jolted. Was he the one? She watched him, horror-stricken, as he ran.
Then, up ahead of him, she saw Matt Frazier, dodging through the crowd flowing around the house. Scott … was chasing him.
“Matt Frazier!” Sadie screamed. “It must be Matt!”
Matt jumped into his van, parked on the side of the property, and pulled out toward the crowd, spinning up a cloud of dirt.
The crowd split and people screamed as he drove through them.
Sadie turned to find Cade. He was already running.
CHAPTER 62
The moment Cade jumped into his police car and took off after Matt, Blair hiked up her big skirt, grabbed the camera out of the hands of the photographer, and took off running to her own car.
“Blair, you can’t follow them!” Morgan shouted. “He may have a gun. You could get shot!”
“I’ll be all right,” Blair shouted back.
“But your wedding dress! You’ll ruin it!”
“No, I won’t.” She flicked the tulle from her veil back over her shoulder and got into her car.
Morgan stepped in front of it to keep her from leaving. “Please, Blair. Get out of the car!”
When Blair started the engine and began backing away from Morgan, Morgan turned to Jonathan, who was running toward them. “Jonathan, stop her!”
“You know better than that. The only thing to do is to go with her.”
He grabbed her car door and flung it open. “Hold on, Blair. I’m coming too. Come on, Morgan.”
Morgan jumped into the front seat, and they started to pull out. “You’re crazy, you know that? Cade’s going to be all right. He’s a professional. He doesn’t need you to follow him when he’s in pursuit of a criminal.”
“Somebody has to get the story,” Blair said as she drove. “It might as well be me.”
CHAPTER 63
Matt tried to make the curve to Ocean Boulevard, back toward Hanover House, and saw that he was cornered. Police cars surrounded him on three sides, and on the fourth, there was nothing but ocean.
Instead of stopping his van and surrendering, he turned into the South Beach Pier’s parking lot, drove through it and out onto the sand. Then, leaping out of his van, he took off running down the long pier.
Cade jumped out of his car and took off running, as well. He heard other footsteps pounding the planks behind him.
Matt had a gun now and was waving it around, threatening to use it if anyone got too close. He reached the end of the pier and turned around, holding the gun out with both hands.
“Don’t come any closer!” he shouted. “Stay back or I’ll kill all of you. I have nothing to lose! I’m not going down for two murders I didn’t even commit!”
Cade stood several yards from him, arms extended, his own gun pointed at the kid. “We know you were just the accomplice, Matt. We know you didn’t pull the trigger. A jury will go easy on you if you surrender now.”
“I’m not taking my chances on a jury! They won’t understand!” He was crying like a frightened child. “I never meant for it to get like this. I was trying to help my cousin! He killed Emily. He was on crystal meth and he came on to her at the concession stand. When she rejected him, he got violent, like he always did, and he forced her to go with him. After he killed her, he came to me all panicked, begging me to help him dispose of the body. The boat was the easiest thing, and I had just read about doing that in one of Marcus Gibson
’s books. But I shouldn’t have helped him!”
“The jury will listen to that, Matt. Just don’t make it any worse. Now drop the gun.”
Matt shook his head. “And then I went to see him at the Flagstaff, to warn him that he had to go to treatment, because things had gone too far. We argued, and I told him that because of his stupid addictions he had dragged me into this. I threatened to turn him in. And then he warned me that if he went down, I was going down too, because I helped him. But those girls … they were listening to everything, and we couldn’t take the chance of their reporting us.”
“So you abducted them to shut them up?”
“It all happened so fast. I panicked, then Nate said we had to make sure they didn’t talk. I didn’t think far enough ahead to realize what that meant. I just knew I couldn’t go to prison. But after we got them into the car and took them out to his grandfather’s land, one of the girls tried to run for it, and he shot her. After that, I didn’t want any part of it anymore. But I was in too deep.”
“Then you didn’t kill anybody yourself? If that’s true, Matt, then Amelia and Sadie will tell the jury. It may not even be a murder charge.”
“Don’t lie to me! I know what happens in court! You’re not going to let me get away with this!” He kept his gun trained on Cade and backed up to the railing at the end of the pier. He pulled himself up on it, put his leg over.
He was going to jump.
Cade heard McCormick behind him, talking into his radio, calling for the Coast Guard.
And then Matt put the gun to his head.
“Don’t do it,” Cade shouted. “Matt, suicide is not the way out. Put the gun down.”
“What do you care? It’ll save the taxpayers money. I’ll get what’s coming to me, and I won’t have to suffer through a trial.”
Cade suddenly felt sorry for the kid. “I care, Matt. You got caught up in something bigger than you. You’re not beyond redemption.”