Missing Mark Read Online Free PDF Page B

as a Halloween costume.
    “So I wasn’t too worried when he was late to the wedding,” he said. “I figured he’d show up in a gorilla suit or something.”
    When the ceremony didn’t start on time, the guests began to pick up on the drama. First they whispered. Then they pointed. Then they snickered. It was a relief when the minister finally told everyone to take their wedding gifts and go home.
    “I halfway expected Mark to be waiting at my house or at least show up when all the commotion died down,” Gabe said. “But I never heard a word from him again. Even if he decided he wasn’t ready to get married, why would he write off his friends?”
    The situation made no sense. But neither had the engagement. Mark was his buddy, but even Gabe couldn’t see what Madeline saw in him.
    I questioned him about his take on the couple’s relationship. Solid? Steamy? Stormy?
    “That’s the funny thing,” he said, “they didn’t really have a relationship. They lacked history.”
    The pair had met in a downtown Minneapolis bar near a comedy club where Mark and other wannabes did stand-up routines. She’d seen his act that night and raved about it to him. Strange, according to Gabe, because while Mark’s humor made men laugh, snort, and hoot, most women considered his antics stupid.
    But the joke was on them because exactly two months after they first met, Madeline Post, the only daughter of one of Minnesota’s wealthiest families, was engaged to Mark Lefevre and due to be married the following month. The pair picked a Saturday afternoon in early October to forsake all others. Not bad for a guy whose day job was working in a downtown parking garage.
    “How did Madeline’s family like him?” I asked.
    “Well enough. Her brother was friendly. Madeline’s mother started off a little aloof, but Madeline told him she’s like that with everyone. Takes a little while to warm up.”
    All Gabe could figure was something happened to his friend after he left the rehearsal dinner. The party was held at Rudy’s Redeye Grill, a popular upscale restaurant known for its steaks and coconut shrimp. It was connected to the White Bear Country Inn where many of the wedding guests were staying. The party videotape showed dark wood, red walls, rich atmosphere.
    “Did you guys do anything later?” I asked. “One last night on the town, perhaps? Throw back a few drinks? Check out some babes?”
    “Actually my wife and I were among the first to leave,” Gabe answered stiffly. I wasn’t sure whether he felt sheepish that he cut out early or offended by my suggestion that he might be a party boy.
    Gabe mentioned that he lost his coat that night, a distinctive black leather jacket with a loon stitched on the back. He hoped he’d left it in his car. Nope. He returned to look at the restaurant. No luck. Please let it be at home, he thought. Not there. He concluded that someone had stolen it, not a huge problem except his wallet was in the inside pocket.
    “I was rushed the next morning because I had to call my bank and cancel all my credit cards. Otherwise I probably would have checked in on Mark, razzed him about his last hours of freedom and given him shit about paying me back.”
    “He owed you money?” I asked.
    “Two thousand dollars. Not enough to disappear with and not enough to disappear over. He was going to pay it back right after the wedding.”
    “Did he say what the money was for?”
    “He didn’t have to. I trusted him. We had a don’t ask, don’t tell policy. Later he mentioned wanting to wow a girl.”
    “A courting allowance?”
    “Who knows? It started out just a couple of hundred bucks, but before long it was adding up to a couple of thousand.”
    “Are you sore at him?” After all, two grand is two grand.
    “I’m worried about him, not the cash.”
    Gabe said it like the subject was now closed, and because I didn’t want him hanging up on me, I respected that.
    So what kind of person was Mark? The