Bride Interrupted Read Online Free PDF Page B

and shivering. “I…it’s…” She jumped at the sound of the doorbell ringing. “That must be the cops.”
    “Cops. What the hell?”
    Kayla opened the door to two men. One dressed in police blues, the other in plain clothes. Plain clothes’ eyes bore into Kayla, a sinister smile formed on his lips. She instantly disliked him. His deep voice sent a chill down her spine. “Ms. Boudreaux, we need to ask you some questions about Marcy Firwood. May we come in?”
    “Certainly.” She moved aside.
    “Thank you,” police blues said. “I am Officer Banks, and this is…”
    “Detective Hayden Sawyer.” The ice in Colton’s voice sent shivers down Kayla’s spine. She looked between Colton and the stony face of the detective. The men faced off with each other. The tension between them was thick as the muddy water of the Louisiana swamps.
    “Colton Ford.” The name rolled off the detective’s lips with fire.
    Kayla instinctively moved closer to Colton. For all of her unanswered questions about him, she felt safer beside him rather than next to the detective.
    “Excuse me,” Banks interrupted. “We need to get some information from you, Ms. Boudreaux. Mr. Smith said you have something to show us.”
    Thankful for the distraction, she led the three men to the kitchen counter and pointed to the ring and note in the seashell. She indicated the man sitting at the bar. “Jerry said this ring belongs to his fiancée, Marcy. Is she okay?”
    “Why don’t you tell us how you came to have possession of these items?” Detective Sawyer’s gruff voice startled her. She didn’t miss the unspoken accusation either.
    “Last night, I had a headache from the loud music in the bar so I came up here to take some aspirin and rest for a while. I found a wrapped package taped to my back door. There was no name tag, so I opened it to find this ring and note.”
    “Why didn’t you call the police?” Sawyer eyed her.
    Two more uniformed officers entered her house. They nodded to the detective and escorted Jerry outside. Before the door shut, Jerry looked at Kayla, his eyes pleading for a positive outcome.
    Colton moved to stand behind her. His hand at the small of her back was comforting, but the gesture filled her with confusion. She didn’t expect the protective touch from Colton to be so pleasurable. “I am a wedding coordinator. It’s not unusual for men and women to leave their rings with me until time for the wedding.” Granted, they usually delivered them to her in person, not as an unexplained gift. She kept that to herself.
    “But this is obviously an engagement ring and not a wedding band. Again, why didn’t you call the police?” Sawyer’s voice dropped a notch.
    “Dammit man, tell us what this is all about,” Colton barked. He tensed next to Kayla. Heat and anger radiated off his body.
    The hairs on the back of her neck raised. Without him speaking the words, Kayla felt like the detective was accusing her of something. “I didn’t think I needed to.”
    Colton leaned over to take a closer look at the ring. Kayla noticed he didn’t touch it. Fingerprints. Hers were all over it. As well as Jerry’s. “So after you found the note, what did you do?” The question coming from Colton startled her.
    “I…umm. I wasn’t sure what to think of it. I figured one of my clients sent it for some reason or another. It was too late to call any of them and ask, so I left it here and went back to the bar. It sat there all night until a while ago when Jerry identified it.”
    Detective Sawyer made a hand motion to Banks. The officer pulled out a plastic bag and placed the ring and the note inside. Then Sawyer turned his steely eyes back to Kayla. “What do you think the note means?” He recited the words from notes he made in a small notebook. “Here comes the bride dressed all in white. Radiant and lovely she shines in his sight. Ms. Boudreaux, what does that mean?”
    “Look, I don’t know. I just found it.