It wasn’t that he had fallen in love with someone else—that happened, and graceful and considerate uncouplings were possible. No, it was that he wanted her to leave with nothing. No money, no friends, no security. She was to just pack a bag and leave their home, her home of twenty years, and go start over in some old-lady condo that he refused to give her enough money to buy. He felt she was overdue to get a job. Yeah, because women in their mid-fifties with no job skills were in such high demand in the job market. Mel was seething on Elise’s behalf.
She looked at her phone and tried to focus on the number. The display read Cassie’s name. She frowned and picked it up. She hadn’t expected to hear from Cassie so early.
“Hey, Cassie, oh my god, I’m reading the book,” Mel said. “I can’t believe Elise didn’t—”
“Mel!” Cassie interrupted. Her voice was shrill and Mel stopped talking immediately. Something was very, very wrong. “Oh, Mel, Elise is dead.”
Twelve
“What?” Mel cried. “How? When?”
“This morning, early, from complications.” Cassie’s voice was quiet, as if she could hardly push enough air through her grief to form the words.
“Where are you?” Mel asked. “Are you all right?”
“No,” Cassie said. “Mel, they’ve arrested me for her murder.”
“But that’s crazy!” Mel said. “Are you at the station? Does Steve know?”
“Yes, he’s on his way,” Cassie said. “Mel, I wanted to call you and tell you I was arrested because I don’t want you to believe I killed Elise. No matter what they say, you know me. Please don’t believe this about me.”
“I don’t, Cassie,” Mel said. “I know you didn’t do it. I believe that. I really do. Listen, Tate and Angie’s wedding is this weekend and I have no time, but I’ll do everything I can to talk to Joe about the charges against you and see if I can convince him to drop them.”
“He won’t,” Cassie said.
“You don’t know that,” Mel protested.
“My fingerprints were on the pen they pulled out of Elise’s back,” Cassie said.
“Oh, no.”
“Because of that and the fact that I stand to inherit everything, they think there’s enough proof and motive that it was me.” Cassie’s voice broke and she started to cry. “This is a nightmare.”
“Don’t give up, Cassie,” Mel said. “Steve is the best and I’ll do what I can, too. How about the bookstore? Is it okay, can your people manage without you?”
“Yes, it’s all set,” Cassie said. “Thank goodness I hired a couple of retired librarians to run the show. I know they’ll stand by me until the bitter end.”
“I will, too,” Mel promised. “Try not to worry.”
“Thanks, Mel,” Cassie said. “I just can’t believe she’s gone. I just can’t.”
She ended the call and Mel lowered her phone and stared at it. How could Uncle Stan have arrested Cassie? She knew he wouldn’t talk to her about it over the phone. She was going to have to go down to the station to confront him in person. She could only hope he was alone and that Tara wasn’t there to run interference.
She dropped the book on her desk and grabbed her bag. Angie was pacing around the kitchen on her phone when Mel came into the room. Mel gestured that she was going out and Angie raised one finger for Mel to wait.
“Can you hold on?” Angie asked the person on the other end of her call. Then she glanced at Mel and asked, “What gives?”
Mel blew out a breath. “Elise passed away and they’ve arrested Cassie for her murder. I’m going to talk to Stan.”
Angie’s jaw dropped. She lifted up her phone and said, “I have to go. I’ll call you back.”
“No!” Mel shook her head. “Your wedding. You have stuff to do.”
“No, I don’t,” Angie said. “Everything is a go. That was my cousin Denise insisting that I not put her at the same table with our other cousin Mindy. Of course, I already have them at the same table and I am not changing it!”
Mel studied her. “Looking to get away?”
“Please.” Angie put her hands together in a pleading gesture.
“Is Oz back?”
“He’s working out front with Marty,” Angie said.
“Excellent,” Mel said. “This shouldn’t take long, but I’ll let them know where we’re going just in case.”
Once Marty and Oz were up to speed, Mel and Angie took Mel’s Mini Cooper over to the police station, which was only three blocks away.
Mel scored a parking spot on the street and they hustled into the station. Officer Lopez, who was on desk duty, glanced up and then frowned.
“No cupcakes?” he asked.
“No time, Lopez,” Mel said. She blew past him, down the hall, where she knew Uncle Stan’s office was. She rounded the corner at top speed and slammed into a solid wall of man muscle. She would have landed on her butt except the solid wall reached out and grabbed her.
“Mel!” Manny Martinez lifted her up and hugged her close. He set her back on her feet and then held his arms wide for Angie.
“And the bride,” he said. He hugged Angie and she hugged him back with a big grin.
“You’re here!” Angie said. She glanced around him and asked, “Where are Holly and Sidney?”
“Still in Vegas,” he said. “They’re flying down the day before the wedding. I took a few extra days off so I could join Tate’s bachelor party and visit my family.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s tonight,” Angie said. A look of concern flashed over her face and Manny shook his head at her.
“Ange, I’m a
