“Don’t be nervous, Brooklyn,” London said, giving me a quick hug as we waited in the side foyer for our cue to start walking out the door to the ceremony.
I smiled. “I’m not nervous at all.”
This was, without a doubt the most right thing I’d ever done in my life. It felt as though I’d been moving toward this moment with Derek since the first time I met him. He was perfect for me and I knew that our life together was going to be amazing. So nerves had no place here. All I felt was eager anticipation.
“I know,” my sister said, a puzzled frown on her face. “There must be something wrong with you.”
“It’s a little irritating,” China admitted. “When I got married I threw up all morning.”
“Trust me,” Savannah told her, “we all remember.”
“And Brooklyn is so calm and cool. It’s unnerving,” China mused, watching me.
“Welcome to my world,” Robin muttered, then grinned and grabbed my hand. “You ready, kiddo?”
“More than ready,” I said, and laughed. I felt downright joyful. I couldn’t wait to marry Derek.
My mother and Meg had already gone out to the garden to take their seats. Dad would be standing behind the chairs to walk with me down the aisle.
“May I have a moment with the bride?”
I whipped around. “Dad!”
“Hi, honey.” He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a gentle squeeze. “I’ve never seen a more beautiful bride in my entire life.”
I glanced around and noticed my bridesmaids had slipped into the hall to give me and Dad a few minutes alone. I chuckled. “Good thing no one else is around to hear you say that.”
He gazed down at me. “All of my girls are beautiful, but I’ve honestly never seen anything more exquisite than you today.”
“Dad, don’t make me cry.” I laid my head on his shoulder for a long moment.
“I’m afraid I’m making myself cry a little,” he said, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket. “Your mother told me I would need this.” He blew his nose and laughed. “She’s always right.”
“I love you, Dad.”
“I love you, too, my darling girl.” He grinned, his eyes still gleaming from the tears. “What do you say? Let’s get this party started.”
Dad walked out to the garden, and a minute later, the door opened again. At this rate, I would never be married.
“Hello, gracious.”
I turned. “Oh, Robson. I’m so glad it’s you.”
Robson Benedict was my parents’ guru and the head of the commune in Dharma where I had grown up. As a child I had called him Guru Bob, but now he was Robson, my good friend and a kind, lovely man. I was so happy that we had chosen him to perform our ceremony today.
“I had to take my turn wishing you well and happy, my dear.” He gave me a warm hug and then gently held me by my shoulders. “I couldn’t be more pleased that you and Derek have found joy together.”
“Thank you, Robson.”
After another quick hug, he said, “You look beautiful and the day is glorious. Savor it all.”
“I will. Thank you.”
He winked and turned to leave. “See you soon.”
I smiled as Robin and my sisters joined me again. We heard the music begin and they all gave a little squeal.
“That’s our cue,” London said. She went out first, followed by China ten seconds later and then Savannah.
Robin turned and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’m so excited for you and Derek.”
“Thank you, Robin.” I pressed my forehead against hers. “I’m so happy you married Austin and officially became my sister.”
She sniffed. “Oh great. Thanks for making me want to sob.”
“No crying! Remember the makeup!” We both laughed, then Robin took a breath and squared her shoulders.
“Uh-oh, it’s been more than ten seconds,” she said. “Gotta go. See you soon.”
I gave her a thumbs-up. “I’m right behind you.”
As soon as the door closed behind her, I counted to ten slowly as I’d been instructed to do, then pushed the door open and walked out into the warm sunshine. Standing on the landing, my gaze went directly to the ribbon-and-rose-bedecked arbor at the other side of the garden, where Derek stood waiting. Over the heads of all our guests, I saw him staring back at me, looking a little dazed. I gave silent thanks for the beautiful dress and my pretty hair and everything else that had helped put that stunned look on his face. Even from this distance, I could see the love shining in his eyes and I knew my love was reflecting back at him. I was willing to bet we had never been happier than we were in this moment.
Gradually the rest of the scene came into focus and I glanced around at all the guests, who were standing and watching me, smiles lighting up their faces. My friends and family members all looked so happy to be sharing this moment with me, and I knew it was impossible for anyone in the world to be more overjoyed than I felt. I couldn’t wipe the grin off my own face even if I tried.
I knew I had to take two steps down before I reached the ground. I had practiced going up and down these hard concrete steps in my three-inch lacy heels and now I told myself to be careful. But first I took one more quick moment to look around the garden, to stare out at the view, and to study the faces of my friends and family. I wanted to memorize this moment so I would never forget it. I saw my father standing and beaming at me from thirty feet away, ready to walk me down the aisle. Everyone in the crowd continued to smile as I prepared to move their way.
Then, as if in slow motion, their expressions turned to horror. A woman screamed. My father shouted, “No!”
What in the world? Had I suffered a wardrobe malfunction? Was my dress slipping off? Was my veil caught on something?
All of a sudden someone grabbed me from behind. He wrapped one arm around my neck and shouted, “Anyone comes close and I’ll cut her.”
That’s when I felt the blade of a sharp knife pressing into my throat. I could smell the vague stench of fear and panic wafting up from my attacker. All I could see was the anguished face of my father. And then I knew.
“Rod,” I said, and swore out loud. “Doesn’t it figure you’d show up where you’re not invited?”
Dad took a step and Rod yelled, “Stay back!”
Dad froze. His face had turned completely ashen and I knew he felt powerless to do anything. It broke my heart and in that moment I despised Rod Martin more than I’d ever hated anyone in my life.
“I’m okay,” I said as loudly as I could manage, and gave my father a weak wave of my hand. “Don’t worry, Dad.”
Derek walked cautiously but purposefully up the aisle followed by his four brothers and my two. Inspector Lee marched right behind Austin and Jackson, her hand on the butt of her gun, still holstered. Gabriel and Alex followed closely behind her. My stalwart bridesmaids came, too, and my mother, Meg, and John. The rest of the crowd stayed where they were but remained watchful.
They all moved to get within twenty feet of us and together they formed the most impressive show of force I’d ever seen. I couldn’t have been prouder to have them defending me. Unfortunately, I still had a knife shoved up against my throat, so it was a little early to be lauding my liberators.
“Don’t come any closer,” Rod said, clutching the knife more tightly.
From the corner of my eye I saw another man creeping toward us, and it threw me for a loop. It was the ex-FBI guy. What in the world was he doing here? Derek saw him, too, and flashed him a series of rapid hand signals. The guy responded in kind and remained partially hidden along the side of the building, out of the range of Rod’s vision. If Rod caught sight of the guy, he might lose control of the knife. And I might die on my wedding day—before I could even get married!
That was when I snapped.
“Listen, you creep,” I snarled. “You get one drop of blood on this dress and you’re a dead man.”
I was pleased that my voice sounded clear and deceptively calm despite the terror I was feeling inside. I knew my family shared that terror. Somehow I had to find a way to escape Rod’s grip on me.
His laugh was hollow. “Shut up. You’re in no position to make threats.”
“You wanna bet?” I countered, letting my gaze skim across the faces of everyone I loved. “Have you taken a good look around? You’re seriously outnumbered.”
“Yeah, but I’ve got you, don’t I?”
“You really think so?”
It struck me that he finally sounded like the blowhard I had always suspected he was. It was almost refreshing to see that he had dropped the nice-guy act. It had never suited him.
“Who’s the one holding the knife?”
“You’re right, Rod. You’re holding all the cards,” I said carefully. My throat was growing drier by the minute, but I kept my gaze on Derek and found the strength to keep going. “But here’s a word of warning. You cut me, you injure me in any way, and I guarantee you will not leave this place alive. My fiancé will kill you with his bare hands and then he’ll pass your mangled, bloody carcass over to his brothers and mine. And then Inspector Lee will shoot you in the head. And then—”
“All right, all right,” he said, and now his voice sounded a little unsure. As if everything I’d just said had gotten through to him. I hoped so, because the scenario I’d spelled out for him was just the beginning of what would happen to him if he hurt me in any way.
“I just want the damn book,” he ground out. “Hand it over nice and easy and I’ll be on my way.”
“You know, you’re not the first person to come here today wanting that book. Lenny and Squiggy showed up, too. Are those two knuckleheads friends of yours? Because I’ve got to say, they were kind of lame.” I forced a laugh. “My mom and my mother-in-law beat the pants off of them.”
“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
“Sure you do. The two guys who kept freaking you out at the conference?” I felt his hand at my throat tremble a little at the memory of those two men. “The tall hairy guy and the short bald one? Remember how you threw yourself at me and cried like a baby? They were threatening you, right? They wanted the book, too, probably because you’d promised to sell it to them.”
Then I remembered something Thuggy had said. I glanced up and met his panicky gaze. “Oh, wait. You already had their money, didn’t you? That’s why they were so demanding and that’s why you looked so nervous all the time. Did they threaten to kill you if you didn’t give them the book? Because that tall guy is pretty scary-looking. No wonder you were so freaked out.”
He didn’t say anything, but then, he didn’t have to.
“Funny story,” I continued, despite my throat getting drier. “The tall scary dude shot himself in the foot while trying to fight off my mother. Isn’t that crazy? We laughed anyway.”
“Shut up.”
“Oh, and my new mother-in-law nearly blinded the bald guy with hairspray. It was a great fight. I’m really sorry you missed it.” I looked up at him again. “Because my family could have kicked your butt earlier, and right now, I’d be married and dancing with my husband.”
Rod bared his teeth at me. “You know, you’re just not that funny.”
“And you’re not that charming.” I managed to smile. “You never were. And by the way, I think I’m a laugh riot, but never mind. You’ll think about it later and laugh. All the way to jail, because that’s where you’re going. You killed Sara and now you’re threatening to kill me. In front of about a million witnesses. And a San Francisco Police Department inspector. That’s just not smart.”
“Smart,” he hissed, and I watched his jaw tighten. “You always thought you were so much smarter than me. Guess this proves you’re not.”
I laughed again as he lowered the knife a fraction of an inch. “Haven’t you been listening? Actually, this just proves how stupid you really are.”
“Brooklyn, love . . .” Derek muttered, sliding a bit closer to me and Rod.
“If that man touches my girl, I want three minutes with him. Alone,” my dad announced.
Rod glanced at him and visibly winced when Inspector Lee assured my father, “You’ll have them.”
I heard the side foyer door open and someone in the crowd gasped.
“Let me go,” a woman cried out from behind us. “I didn’t do anything!”
“Heather?” I whispered.
“Look who I found lurking behind the door.” It was Mitch, Derek’s associate, and he was pulling a woman across the steps and down to the garden.
“Tell them, Rod,” she insisted. “Tell them I’m not involved in any of this.”
“Oh, shut up, Cornelia,” he said derisively.
Cornelia? Not Heather? So this was the woman Thuggy and Leon were talking about. I guess I owed Heather an apology.
“Don’t tell me to shut up,” she snapped. “I just followed him here to make sure he got the book back. It belongs to the college.”
“So you and Cornelia, huh?” I whispered to Rod. “Sara must’ve loved you hanging out with her boss.”
“Damn it, Cornelia.” Rod was fuming and I was taking a big chance by provoking him. But I refused to give in to the fear. I was surrounded by people who loved me. Even with a knife at my throat, I felt somehow safe. And damn it, this was my wedding day.
Thankfully Rod managed to hold his temper, barely. I knew he didn’t want to kill me—or maybe he did but knew he would be in a whole lot more trouble if I died. With clenched teeth, he said, “Just tell me where the book is and I’ll leave you to your stupid wedding.”
“I’ll be glad to tell you, but I’m not sure you heard me a minute ago.” I tried to swallow despite the pressure against my throat. “I know that you killed your wife.”
His laugh was stilted. “Why would I do that?”
“Good question. That’s what I wanted to know. Maybe you were growing tired of her. Or maybe you found someone new. Cornelia, for instance.”
I heard the woman snort at those words.
“None of the above,” Cornelia snarled. So it seemed that she and Rod weren’t lovers after all.
“Yeah,” Rod said. “Sara was defacing school property, which meant she was a criminal. I couldn’t live with a person who would do that to a book.”
“Oh, you’re so honorable,” I scoffed quietly.
“But you don’t mind threatening my daughter?” My mother’s shout came loud and clear.
“Just let me at him,” Meg called out. “I’ll show him how the British handle problems like this.”
I smiled. God, I loved these women. But I had to keep Rod talking while Derek and our brothers all crept closer.
“This was never about the book, was it, Rod?” I said. “We both know it. This was about you getting tired of Sara and killing her, then blaming it all on her.” But when I stared up at his face, I suddenly saw the truth in his eyes. “Oh, wait. I was wrong. She was tired of you. Did she want a divorce? Is that why you killed her?”
“Shut up.”
“How about that? A woman wanted to dump you. I imagine she was making you a nice little bundle of cash by forging all those books. How much money did she make over the years? You were getting used to living the good life and couldn’t afford to lose her, could you?”
“I said shut up.” His gaze flashed from me to Derek and the others and I could tell he was wondering if they were closer or if he was imagining things. He wasn’t.
“But once you knew she was tired of that life, you couldn’t afford to keep her around, could you?” I kept him focused on me deliberately. “Was she sick of lying for you? Was she threatening to confess to the school what she was doing? Or maybe she just wanted to get away from you. Can’t blame her for that. That must’ve been a blow to your fragile ego.”
“You’re wrong about everything.” Rod held me tighter. “I told you to shut up.”
“And I heard you the first twenty times you said it.”
I heard Robin snicker and gave myself a point for that one before continuing. “So did you offer to help Sara move the books the other night? Is that when you saw your chance to get rid of her? Or were you already lying in wait for her? Did Cornelia help you? Did she lure Sara into that cold basement while you huddled near the forklift, waiting for the exact moment to bury her under a ton of books and crates? You must have really grown to hate her, because that’s a brutally awful way to kill someone.”
“I didn’t do anything,” Cornelia wailed.
Rod bared his teeth at me. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m talking about murder,” I said. “You’re a cold-blooded killer and you’re going to rot in jail.”
“I said shut up,” he shouted.
I made eye contact with Inspector Lee, whose teeth were clenched and whose fingers were white from the pressure of holding her gun so tightly. She looked ready to kill Rod at a moment’s notice and somehow that comforted me.
“Okeydokey, Rod.” My throat was so dry I could barely speak anymore, but I stared up at him and managed to keep talking. “My husband has the book. If you take the knife away from my throat, he’ll bring it to you and then you and your delightful friend Cornelia can go.” I stared at Derek. “Tell him you’ll give him the book.”
Derek moved a few feet closer. “I don’t think he cares about the book, darling.”
I stared at him. “What do you mean?”
“Just bring him the damn book,” Cornelia shouted.
I glanced up at Rod and saw his eyes widening in fear. What was Derek talking about? But I played along. “Is it the book you want, Rod? Or something else?”
He swallowed nervously. “I need the book.”
Derek pulled a slip of paper from his pocket and waved it. “Or is it this list?”
“Derek?”
“Give that to me,” Rod demanded.
“What is it?” I asked.
Derek glanced at the list and then looked at me. “It’s a long list of books that Sara worked on, with names and dates and sales information.”
I gazed up at Rod. “Was she going to blackmail you?”
But he was glaring at Derek. “Bring me that list.”
“Or what?”
He gripped the knife even tighter. “Or I’ll end it all right here.”
“And you won’t make it out of here alive.” Derek’s voice was coldly dangerous and Rod was too self-involved to realize who he was dealing with.
“Get the list, Rod,” Cornelia shouted.
It sounded as though she had given up playing the helpless sidekick.
Rod seemed to make up his mind in that moment and jerked his arm tighter. “You’re coming with me.”
“Are you crazy? In case you didn’t notice, I’ve got a wedding to go to.”
He scowled. “There you go again, thinking you’re funny. But I’ll have the last laugh.”
Why did he sound like Snidely Whiplash all of a sudden? I’ll have the last laugh, my pretty.
Rod pulled the knife away and wrapped his arm across my shoulders, then jerked me around to face the door leading into the foyer. Glancing back at the crowd, he shouted, “Don’t even think about following us, or she gets it.”
“You’ve been watching too many B movies.” Seriously, could he drag out more clichés? I wondered. I tried to concentrate on the moment. The knife was no longer a threat, for the moment anyway, so I could take my best shot to hurt him. I just had to remember my self-defense moves that Alex had been drumming into me for the past year.
Rod dragged me another step toward the door.
I had run out of time and needed to make my move now. I took another step and faltered. “Sorry, I tripped on my dress.”
“Be careful,” he snapped.
“Yeah.” I slipped again and his grip loosened. I elbowed him in the solar plexus and heard him gasp. He dropped the knife. Then I stomped on his instep with my three-inch heels and his wail of pain sounded like choir music.
I heard Alex shout, “Yes!”
I pivoted and used my elbow again, this time aiming for his face. He screamed and I scurried backward, praying there was no blood about to spurt out and hit my dress.
In the confusion Cornelia broke away from Mitch and scrambled for the knife, but I beat her to it. Grabbing it, I pointed it right at her with one hand, holding the hem of my dress with the other to keep it from getting dirty. “Not so fast, you cow.”
Inspector Lee was already there, grabbing Cornelia’s wrist and wrenching it behind her back. “Good girl,” she said.
Derek grabbed on to me and lifted me into his arms.
I vaguely heard the crowd screaming and clapping as Derek took one long stride off the steps, landing on the ground with me still in his arms. I held on to him for dear life until we were a safe distance away.
Our brothers surrounded Rod and shouted threats. There were so many of them that I could no longer see the weasel who’d tried to kill me. I was okay with that.
Inspector Lee, still clutching Cornelia’s wrist, signaled to one of her officers standing a few feet away. “Take her out of here.”
“I didn’t do anything,” she whined. “Rod and Sara were in on the whole thing together. I was only here to save the books.”
“Yeah, you’re a real patriot,” Inspector Lee drawled.
Cornelia was shuffled off to a patrol car while Inspector Lee watched and waited for the men to finish with Rod. I could hear his screams, but I seriously doubted that the brothers were hurting him too badly.
“My hand,” Rod shrieked. “You’re standing on my hand!”
“That must hurt,” Austin mused. “Dalton, maybe you should step back.”
I smiled into Derek’s chest. My heroes. My family. My miracles.
“Okay, break it up, guys,” Inspector Lee said, her voice almost cheerful as she nudged her way through the crowd of good-looking men. They moved aside for her and I could see Rod writhing on the ground, whimpering. He didn’t look as though he’d been harmed much, at least not by any of the men. He just looked pathetic.
I had managed to give him a bloody nose, so that gave me a little thrill. Especially since I was a safe enough distance away from the possibility of staining the dress. I considered it a real miracle that my dress remained unsoiled through all of the insanity.
Derek finally set me down, but we kept our arms around each other’s waists, unwilling to let go. We both knew how easily Rod’s self-control could have shattered. I could’ve died. The thought of leaving Derek alone without me was almost unbearable. So I clung to him as the aftermath of the danger carried on around us.
“How did you find that list?” I asked. “I examined the book and never saw it.”
“Did you look all the way through the book?”
I thought about it. “No, darn it. I stopped at the title page because the paper felt different from the previous pages.”
“When I handed the book to Ian, he glanced through it and the list fell out. I looked at all the books and information and made an educated guess. I put it in my pocket, thinking I would show it to you later.”
“You saved the day,” I marveled.
“No, darling. You did that all on your own.”
And now I had to wonder if Sara had wanted me to find the list. Had she been trying to redeem herself? I guess I would never know for sure.
As soon as Inspector Lee slapped the handcuffs onto Rod’s wrists, two uniformed officers came over to guard him until they were ready to escort him off to jail. Then she walked over to me.
“You are a complete pain in the ass,” she said. “What were you thinking, taunting him like that?”
“That wasn’t taunting,” Robin put in. “That was just Brooklyn.”
I smiled at Inspector Lee. “I wanted him to confess to Sara’s murder.”
“He had a knife to your throat, for God’s sake.” She shook her head in despair. “You scared me half to death. What am I going to do with you?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, and I meant it. “This wasn’t actually part of our wedding plans. We all should’ve been drinking champagne by now. I’m not even married yet.” I was feeling close to tears now that the adrenaline rush had left me.
Derek wrapped a protective arm around me. “Let’s take care of that right now, shall we?”
“Yes, let’s do it.”
“Come here.” Inspector Lee reached out and gave me a tight hug. She whispered, “You did good, kid.” And then she let me go.
I was left dumbfounded while she carried on as usual, giving orders to the guys in uniform. Glancing up at Derek, she said, “Just give me a minute to make sure all of your uninvited guests are taken care of. Then you can start the ball rolling again.”
“Thank you, Inspector,” he murmured, and she winked at me.
She walked away and I saw her stop to talk to the ex-FBI agent, who didn’t seem inclined to leave anytime soon. I would have to ask later if this was the guy hired by Glen Cove College to hunt down the stolen books. If so, I was fairly certain he had found his suspects.
Inspector Lee suggested to the uniformed officers that they put Rod in a cell with Thuggy and Leon until she was ready to come in and do the paperwork.
“That could take days,” she admitted, and I laughed for the first time since I walked out that side door and got ambushed by a stone-cold killer.
Everyone was back in their seat. Ten minutes later, after Laura the makeup-and-hair wizard had given me a quick do-over, the music began anew. My bridesmaids were less restrained this time as each of them counted to ten before heading out of the foyer to do a little boogey down the aisle.
“Restraint be damned,” I muttered, and this time I walked out the door with my arms raised in victory. The crowd went wild and I laughed out loud. With family and friends cheering, my father took my arm and we walked together down the aisle toward my new life as Derek Stone’s blissfully happy wife.
And as I got closer, I could see that Derek looked pretty darned blissful himself. Rather than wait patiently, he walked toward me, shook my father’s hand, and kissed me. Then he lifted me into his arms and carried me the rest of the way.
“This isn’t necessary,” I whispered in his ear.
He kissed my neck where the faint impression of a knife blade still showed. “I almost lost you. I don’t want to take a chance on losing you again.”
I pressed my hand against his cheek. “You could never lose me, love. I’m yours forever.”
“And I’m yours.”
After a long moment of soulful gazing, we glanced at Robson, who smiled beatifically. “Let’s do this, shall we?”
I laughed. “Yes. Absolutely yes.”
All the way through the ceremony, the bursts of applause almost drowned out Robson’s words. But nobody cared. Not until the very end, when he finally, finally said, “I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
And the crowd went wild all over again as Derek Stone kissed his blissful bride.