Missing Bridegroom

By Breanna Cone

The community center reception hall was ablaze with a hundred tiny candles. The wedding rehearsal members were milling around waiting for the bridegroom to return. Josie checked her watch surreptitiously, once again. It had been ten minutes since Brian excused himself to take a phone call. Her fianc was supposed to be on personal leave not taking FBI calls in the middle of their rehearsal dinner.

Slipping out the side door, Josie went to remind Brian Miller that their guests were waiting. The playground area beside the center was empty except for the colored chalk blocks of a hopscotch pattern on the concrete. A pair of car keys was lying on the ground at the roots of a rosebush next to the corner of the recreation hall.

Where on earth could he be?

The PI strolled briskly around the corner to the parking lot but there was no Federal Agent Miller anywhere in sight and his car was still in the parking lot. Taking her cell phone from her jacket pocket, Josie hit #1 on her speed dial and waited. And waited. After the tenth ring with no answer, a knot began to form in her stomach. This was not Brians usual behavior. If he was getting cold feet, he would have just told her, which meant something bad could be going down.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: May 30, 2012
• ISBN: 9781475927207

Breanna Cone

Breanna Cone has been writing since 2001. Her Spencer City Series characters are portrayed as small town citizens who live life to the fullest and truly care about the rest of the townspeople.

Book preview

Copyright © 2012 by Breanna Cone.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4759-2719-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-2720-7 (ebk)

iUniverse rev. date: 05/22/2012

Contents

PROLOGUE

CLUE # 1 Into Thin Air

CLUE # 2 Scraps of Evidence

CLUE # 3 The Search Begins

CLUE # 4 A Cold, Dark, Damp Place

CLUE # 5 ESP on the Fritz

CLUE # 6 Warring Factions

CLUE # 7 Lone Suspect Interview

CLUE # 8 Heart Despair

CLUE # 9 Glimmer in the Darkness

CLUE # 10 Lost in the Mist

CLUE # 11 Scenes from the Past

CLUE # 12 Epiphany Revealed

CLUE # 13 Yellow Brick Road

CLUE # 14 End of the Rainbow

CLUE # 15 G-Man Found

CLUE # 16 ER Stop

CLUE #17 Debrief

CLUE # 18 A Labor of Love

CLUE # 19 A Case of Nerves

CLUE # 20 Resumed Nuptials

CLUE #21 With This Ring

EXCERPT FROM:

THE RETURN TO SPENCER CITY SERIES

Dedicated to Carl

His love makes my world

Amazing every minute

Of every day

PROLOGUE

After the bridal shop excursion, the bride and her two bridesmaids headed to Luigi’s for a large supreme pizza. When the waiter had placed it in the middle of the red-checked tablecloth and slices placed on their plates, Josie and her two closest friends reminisced about teenaged adventures they had survived as they munched on the spicy meat and cheese pie. Soon it was time for the lawyer to return to the courthouse and the tour guide to her night excursion on the ocean liner moored at the pier. Josie dropped Camille Henderson and Alice Watkins off at their vehicles and drove home pleased with the results of her shopping trip. She had something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. Now, all she needed was the groom.

Turning the key in the lock, she shifted her packages and nudged the door open with one hip. Instead of silence, the sound of water running in the shower greeted her as she opened her apartment door. The PI draped the garment bag over the back of a kitchen chair, tossed her bags on the table then walked into the bedroom to see a naked man emerge from the bathroom.

Oh, my! Are you the infamous shower bandit? Josie pressed a hand to her chest with an exaggerated sigh.

Not exactly, the man replied as he walked toward her. But I wouldn’t mind stealing a kiss or two, sweetheart.

A quick step forward and the private investigator flung her arms around the man’s neck and breathed in the clean soap smell as she held him close before raising her face for a proper greeting from her fiancé. Soon her clothing was scattered across the bedroom floor. Bare skin on bare skin provided all the incentive the engaged couple needed for an afternoon romp.

Lying beside the FBI agent later, Josie caressed the strong muscles of his chest.

You made it back in time.

I made you a promise and I didn’t want to break it, Brian replied.

Case closed?

Yes. Did you find your dream woman in time?

With a little help from one local LEO in Philadelphia, we rescued the damsel in distress and put the scumbags in jail.

Josie gave him a thumbnail sketch of the sting to free Mirabel Cook from her fraudulent half-brother.

Is it ‘I Do’ time now? Brian quizzed.

Absolutely. The details are almost complete, so you need to take your tux to the cleaners.

Later, he told her as he kissed his way from her shoulder to her earlobe.

CLUE # 1

Into Thin Air

FRIDAY: 8:30 p.m.

The community center reception hall was ablaze with a hundred tiny candles instead of the incandescent overhead lights. The wedding rehearsal members were milling around waiting for the bridegroom-to-be to return. Josie checked her watch surreptitiously, once again. It had been ten minutes since Brian excused himself to take a phone call. This was ridiculous. Her fiancé was supposed to be on personal leave not taking FBI calls in the middle