Hitched

You have no idea, Regan thought. At this very moment Tracy is probably having another meltdown in Co

“Alfred, do you know how they are coping with this?” Jea

Alfred started to stammer. Charisse cut him off. “Of the five April Brides, Regan and Bria

“Good luck,” Patrick said. He turned full face to the camera. “We want to help catch these guys. And you viewers out there, watching from coast to coast, often make the difference. If you see anything or have any information, please call our hotline. Help our April Brides, Regan Reilly, Bria

Jea

Patrick held up the copy of the New York Post for the camera. WEDDING DRESS BLUES. He sighed dramatically, then shook his head and smiled. “I can tell you right now my wife wouldn’t have been happy if this had happened a week before our wedding. Folks, we’ll be right back.”

The segment was over.

Patrick pulled off his mike. “Thank you all for coming in this morning. I’m sure there will be quite a reaction to this story.”

I have no doubt about that, Regan thought.

“Thanks so much,” Jea

Jack and Pauly were inside the studio. They’d been invited to watch the segment live instead of waiting in the greenroom and seeing it on the monitor.

Regan walked up to Jack and smiled. “Sorry, Batman.”

Jack put his arm around her and whispered in her ear. “We make a great duo. And not just as crime fighters.”

The phone lines of Tiger News were already lighting up.

Jack and Regan, Pauly and Bria

They were exiting the building together when an assistant came ru

38

In the large and tasteful guest room of the Neys’ apartment, Tyler and Shauna were just waking up. Tyler picked up the remote control, as he did on most mornings, and flicked on the television. As usual, he constantly changed the cha

He almost missed the segment on the April Brides. Almost, but not quite. He had already started to push the remote when Regan Reilly’s face appeared onscreen.

“Shauna,” he said, tapping her back. “Look at this!”

“What?” Shauna asked drowsily.

“Look!”

They both watched the segment. When the news anchor read Shauna’s name they slowly looked at each other. Shauna threw back the covers and got out of bed. She looked at the clock. “Pamela should be getting ready for church right now. I’m going to go in and see if I can help her.”

“That’s a great idea,” Tyler said quietly.

39

Pamela and Arnold could always be found in the front row of St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church on Park Avenue at the nine o’clock service on Sunday mornings. But today they had gotten there a little late and were seated toward the back.

So already things felt a little off.

After all the excitement last night, they got off to a slower start this morning. Pamela had prepared Arnold his oatmeal and coffee, grateful that Shauna and Tyler were late sleepers. It was wonderful having them stay at the apartment, but sometimes she felt the need for more elbow room.

Now they were going to have a child. And it will be named after one of us, Pamela thought as Father Tully preached to the congregation about God’s grace. It would be wonderful to hold a baby in her arms. So why was she feeling so unsettled? It should be a happy day.

Pamela smoothed back her hair with her left hand and realized that her earring was missing. Quickly she felt her other ear. That earring was in place. It was one of her favorite pairs, the large diamonds in a gold setting that Arnold had given her on their wedding a

I hope I find it when I get home.

Pamela sat back in her seat. She thought about the di

If she’s pregnant.

Pamela’s hand went back up to her left ear. This morning when I was getting ready, Shauna came into the bedroom. I had the safe open. Arnie was calling for me to hurry. Shauna was going on and on about the baby. I didn’t want to be rude so I tried to listen, but it was so distracting. I left the bedroom before Shauna, mostly to get away from her constant chatter.

But I don’t remember closing the safe.

Pamela’s heart started to beat faster. She felt light-headed. All my jewels are in there, she thought. They’re worth several hundred thousand dollars. Was Shauna distracting her on purpose? All of a sudden the story of Shauna’s pregnancy didn’t ring true. Pamela tried to calm herself. But she couldn’t. She was starting to feel physically ill. She tapped on her husband’s arm. God will forgive me, she thought. “ Arnold, I don’t feel well. I have to get home.”

Shauna and Tyler were throwing their things together as fast as they could.

“A bird in the hand,” Tyler crowed as he held up the bag they’d swiped from Pamela’s closet and filled with her jewelry. “I thought we’d have a bigger payday from Pammy and Arnold but we’ll have to make do with these gems.”

“I should have used a different name,” Shauna said. “But when we met them I had no idea it would come to this.”

They zipped up their suitcases.

Regan and Jack followed the assistant up to the newsroom at Tiger News Network. They were ushered into a private office. The news producer, a woman in her forties, was waiting for them. Her glasses were resting on top of her head, a large cup of coffee was next to the stack of papers on her desk. She got up quickly and introduced herself.

“My name is Dana Mansley. We’re getting a lot of calls about the piece on the missing dresses,” she said. “Most of them probably won’t amount to anything. But this guy sounded like someone you’d want to talk to.” She picked up her phone, pressed a button, and handed it to Regan.

“Hello, this is Regan Reilly.”

“Hello there, Regan. This is Horace Banks. How are you?”

“Good. How are you?”

“Most things are good, but I’m still legally married to a Shauna Nickles who disappeared a couple years ago. I want to get a divorce because I have a little lady I’d like to marry. By the way, she thinks that dress they showed today was really pretty.”

“I’ll tell the designers,” Regan assured him.

“Anyway, it takes a while before you can declare someone legally dead, you know what I mean?”

“Yes, I do.”

“If this is my wife, Shauna Nickles, I’d like to get in touch with her. I heard she’d taken up with a younger guy. She shouldn’t be getting married anyway if she’s still married to me.”

“No, she shouldn’t. Let’s see if we have the right Shauna Nickles. Can you describe her to me?”