Slenderman by CeeRee Fields (good novels to read TXT) 📗

to be a day you focus wholly on Rhys and the beginning of your lives. If I’d dragged a case into the middle of my wedding . . . well, let’s just say Mrs. Redden would have left the reception and gone to see a divorce attorney.”

“Crap.”

“Just let it go. Count your blessings, one being the potential targets haven’t talked about any of it in the Legends chat yet.”

She snorted. “That’s because you and Ian put the fear of God in them telling them the killer was targeting gamers and if they let on they knew anything, they wouldn’t know it for long.”

“Too true. The subtle threat got the job done.”

“It did.”

“You need to quit worrying. Ian, Sullivan, and I will keep poking until something shakes loose. You’ve got Ian and me for at least another week since we’re meeting with Birmingham’s police chief and the mayor on Monday. Then we have to drive to Tennessee to give an update, then to Georgia to update their brass.”

“Fine. But I’ll keep digging at least until my wedding in April.” She’d be damned if she’d let this guy get away twice. Bad enough he got away with killing Mark all those years ago. She couldn’t leave the man out there stabbing other innocent people. “I’ve got to go.”

She felt torn. On the one hand, she wished she’d given into temptation and eloped with Rhys so she would be free to focus wholly on this case. On the other hand, she knew this was a growth process because she needed to learn how to better balance her work and her personal life. A headache formed behind her eyes.

“You all still have the case. I’ll touch base with you after your dress shopping,” Redden replied and hung up.

Huffing, Jo stepped from the car and headed into the dress shop only to freeze as soon as she opened the shop door. Dresses her mother had already chosen hung on an empty rack to the right. Pink, green, blue, and yellow, some dark, some light were mixed with no order. It looked as if someone had puked a rainbow onto the rack. The rainbow effect became more prominent when Maddy added two more dresses, a lavender and a dark purple.

“Mom, I don’t want all these bright colors.” She groaned. This would be yet another battle. More so since she wasn’t exactly sure what colors she did want.

“But weddings are meant to be magical.” Maddy pulled Jo from her circling thoughts on how to compromise without having her wedding turn into a swirling circus of color.

Jo looked to Terry for help. She should’ve known they would clash over bridesmaid dresses again. Simple and elegant was one thing that Maddy knew, but Jo hated all the colors. Dragging a hand over her face, she prepared for an uphill fight. “I’m not having light pink in my wed—”

“It’s blush, dear.”

“I don’t care if it’s Moulin Rouge. I am not a pink person.” Jo motioned to her body. “I’m a black and gray person.”

Maddy’s jaw dropped, and Terry, Sullivan, and Arabelle hurried to the other side of the room. Sullivan pointed to a cute princess dress to distract Arabelle while Terry listened avidly.

“Josephine Lavette Rayburn, you are not using your gun as the colors of your wedding.”

Jo perked up. Wait. That was possible? But wasn’t black for funerals? “Oh, I didn’t think of that—”

“No!” Maddy squawked.

It was Terry who finally intervened with her calm presence. “Maddy, think of the colors more like pewter, silver, and black like a raven’s wing.”

Those sounded pretty when Terry said it. Black like her gun and pewter like Jo’s bullets. Oh yeah, she really wanted those colors now.

“Crap. We’re going to use guns for the wedding colors.” Maddy sighed.

Before Jo could press her advantage, her cell belted out ‘Wrecking Ball’ by Miley Cyrus which made Terry roll her eyes and Sullivan snort. Pissed, Jo yanked the cell from her purse. “Where the heck are you?”

“Jo.” Karma’s serious tone jolted Jo.

“What?”

“We’re at Evan’s parents’ house. You and Sullivan need to get over here now.”

Jo motioned to Sullivan who jogged over. “Why?”

“Someone trashed their place.”

Her heart raced. How was that possible? She’d checked their place two nights ago. “What? The security company is—”

“You need to get here now.” Karma hung up, not giving Jo time to ask any more questions.

Shoving her cell back into her purse, she turned to face her mother.

“No, this day was picked with everyone’s schedules cleared to choose the bridesmaid dresses. Your wedding is in three months Jo, we need to get this done so the seamstress has time to alter the dresses.” Maddy wagged a finger at her.

“Someone broke into Evan’s parent’s house. If they weren’t taking a trip through wine country for their anniversary, they could’ve been there.”

Maddy gasped then her shoulders slumped in resignation. “Go. Terry and Arabelle will help me.”

She felt torn because she did not want dancing frogs on her wedding dress. She already had it on a smaller cake for the kids at the reception, and that would be more than enough.

Terry pushed her toward the door. “Trust me. I’ll keep them in line. Mostly because with my red hair I look great in silver and black.”

She hugged Terry. “Thanks. Abigail, Jenna, and Juliette should be here any minute to help, and I’ll tell Karma she’ll need to come next week.” Turning to Sullivan, Jo motioned for the door. “I’ll meet you at their house.”

“Got it.” Sullivan jogged outside with Jo hurrying after him.

~ ~ ~

Jo picked her way through Evan’s parents’ home. The ranch-style house was well away from the road with several trees and bushes obscuring the view to the door no one noticed the door stood open. With the electricity cut, no alarm had sounded. However, someone from the security company should have notified her when the signal shut off.

From the outside, the house looked undisturbed. Inside was an entirely different matter. The place had been ransacked. “I think this was personal.”

“Why would you