Model Suspect 3 (14 page)

There were just too many questions left unanswered. I bit my lip as I watched Sydney laugh and tip her face up toward Vic for a kiss, looking more carefree than she had since this whole wedding business had started. I hated the thought that she might be hurt just when she thought she was free to enjoy the rest of her life with the man she loved…. But what was I supposed to do about it?

By the time my friends and I headed for our bungalow, those sorts of dark thoughts had given me the beginning of a headache. “Want to take a walk on the
beach before bed?” George asked as we reached the steps leading up to the main walkway.

“Not tonight,” I said, dragging myself up the steps. “I’m ready to hit the sack. It’s been a pretty long day. And we have all week to enjoy the beach and stuff.” That was true. After we’d solved the case,
Daredevils
had invited the three of us to stay on at the resort for the rest of the week as a reward.

“Nancy!” someone called from down on the beach.

I looked that way and saw Lainie hurrying toward us. “What is it?” Bess asked her.

“Madge sent me,” Lainie said breathlessly. “She needs to see you three about something—now.” She grimaced. “And you know Madge…. She’s over by the beach volleyball net waiting for you.”

I groaned. “Way over there?” I complained, glancing up the beach, which was nothing but a shadowy blob in the twilight. “That’s, like, a quarter mile down the beach—practically all the way to the jungle!”

“Sorry.” Lainie shrugged. “I’m just the messenger.”

“We know,” Bess told her kindly. Then she glanced at me and George. “What do you say? Want to take that beach walk after all?”

“Might as well,” George joked. “Otherwise Madge will probably come drag us out of our beds in the
middle of the night and throw us into the lagoon with the lionfish.”

“There aren’t normally any lionfish in this lagoon,” I said automatically. “That guy at the police station said so. Donald admitted he bought them in a nearby town from some black-market guy who caught them somewhere else.”

Lainie smiled uncertainly. “So are you coming?”

I hesitated, tempted to blow Madge off. It would be dark soon, and we were all exhausted. And I wasn’t really in the mood for the nutty assistant director just then. Not that I ever was, but even the thought of her screechy voice was making my head pound. Surely whatever she wanted to say to us could wait until morning….

Then again, maybe it was easier to go now than to face an extra layer of the assistant director’s irritation the next day. “Fine,” I muttered, my sense of duty overwhelming my exhaustion. “Let’s get it over with. There’s a pillow with my name on it back at the bungalow, and I don’t want to keep it waiting.”

We said good-bye to Lainie and made our way down the beach. It really was pretty that time of the evening, and I was in a slightly better mood by the time the three of us neared the volleyball net. But that mood plummeted again as I glanced around and saw that we were alone.

“Where is she?” I said. “Madge? Hello, Madge? Where are—”

My words were cut off by a large hand clapped over my mouth. I let out a squeak and started to struggle as my arms were pinned to my sides and I was dragged bodily into the jungle. Nearby, I could see two more hooded figures doing the same to my friends.

“Hush!” a voice whispered into my ear. “Please, Nancy. I’m going to let you go, but please don’t scream until we get to explain.”

Just like that, I felt myself released. “Hey!” I sputtered as soon as my mouth was free. “Who—”

But I didn’t need to go on. I’d just turned to find Bo, Vic, and Jamal grinning at us. “Sorry about that,” Vic said. “I hope we didn’t scare you too much. But we couldn’t think of any other way to get you out here without tipping off Madge and the camera crew.”

“Huh?” George said, sounding irritated. “What are you talking about?”

Bo checked his watch. “No time to explain now,” he said. “Just come on! Our ATVs are hidden right over there.”

Twenty minutes later, we found ourselves watching as Vic and Sydney prepared to get married—again—in
a private ceremony on the beach in that pretty private cove we’d stumbled upon earlier. It looked a lot different from the last time we’d seen it. The whole place was decorated with tons of flowers and sparkling lights, with tiki torches flickering brightly at water’s edge as darkness fell.

“I still can’t believe you guys were planning this all along,” I told Sydney as Bess and Akinyi fiddled with her hair.

“Not us,” Sydney said happily, smoothing the skirt of the plain but elegant white sundress she was wearing. “Just Vic. Well—he had some help.” She turned to smile at Akinyi.

Akinyi smiled back and winked. “It wasn’t easy keeping the secret from you, Syd.” She shot me a look. “Especially with your own private detective snooping around. Plus we had to avoid the cameras at the same time—no easy task.”

I grinned. I’d already figured out that this was what Vic had been trying to tell me back by the pool. He’d realized I was starting to get suspicious and wanted to let me in on the secret before I unwittingly ruined all his plans.

Vic heard us talking and glanced up from tying his shoes nearby. He’d already pulled on a snazzy tuxedo over his shorts and T-shirt.

“Yeah, it was a challenge,” he agreed, straightening
up. “But it was totally worth it. I really wanted to do this again, and do it right this time. No cameras. No extra junk. Just the small romantic ceremony Syd always wanted. The wedding of her dreams.” He shot a look at Jamal and Akinyi. “With the people we really care about there to see it this time.”

“This all must have something to do with what happened when we knocked on your door yesterday,” I said to Akinyi. “We were wondering why you didn’t let us in right away—and what all that thumping was about.”

Akinyi shrugged. “I had just returned from here,” she said, glancing around the cove. “My clothes were covered in mud, plus I had some flowers and other things in my cabin that we hadn’t been able to fit in the crates when we brought them out here.” She waved a hand at the decorations all around us. “I needed a moment to hide that stuff, and my dirty clothes.”

“But you forgot about your sandals,” Bess said. “Did you ever manage to get them cleaned up, by the way?”

That brought on a lively discussion between the two of them involving said sandals, which I mostly ignored. I was just happy to finally have the answers to those last, nagging questions. Now I knew why Vic had been sneaking out of Akinyi’s bungalow at
midnight. They’d been in there—along with Bo and Jamal—making plans after Sydney was asleep. It also explained why the guys had covered for Vic when they hadn’t been playing poker that day at all. And that phone call Vic had hidden from sight. None of Sydney’s loved ones had been up to anything nefarious after all. They’d been planning this wonderful surprise for her!

Now that everything was out in the open, I couldn’t believe I’d ever suspected Vic and Sydney’s other friends of all those terrible things. At least I hadn’t shared my darker suspicions with Sydney.

“Is everyone ready?” Bo called out, clapping his hands. “If so, would the bride and groom please take your places….”

“Wait, you mean you’re doing the ceremony?” George asked him.

Bo grinned. “Sure. I got a certificate from one of those online places.” He thumped his broad chest with both fists. “I’m fully accredited!”

“Come on, girls.” Sydney grabbed Bess’s hand with one of her own and mine with the other. “Time to be bridesmaids.”

George groaned. “Again?”

Sydney laughed. “At least you don’t have to wear pink this time,” she teased. Then she glanced at Akinyi, dropping our hands to grab both of hers. “And at least
this time I get to have the maid of honor I wanted.”

Akinyi squeezed her hands. “I can’t wait.”

All traces of my headache gone, I watched as Sydney and Vic stood hand in hand in front of Bo. Sydney looked beautiful and radiantly happy as she gazed up at the man of her dreams. And Vic looked handsome and adoring as he drank in the sight of his beautiful bride as if he never wanted to look away.

The ceremony was simple, short, and perfect. At the end, as bride and groom kissed, I clapped along with everyone else.

“This is great,” Bess whispered, beaming at the happy couple. “Sydney finally got the sweet, intimate wedding she always wanted.”

George nodded. “And the
Daredevils
viewing audience will never be the wiser.”

I smiled as Vic dipped Sydney almost to the sand, making her laugh with delight. “Right,” I agreed. “Sometimes secrets can be a
good
thing!“