I blink back. It sounds as if things are moving in a serious direction—at least for Archie. Lord knows Macy will never surrender to just one man.
“Archie? Have you seen the tribute to Julian?” I point over to the table in the back and he shakes his head at it.
“Nice gesture, that’s for sure. Julian was an upstanding guy. He was full of good gestures himself.” And that’s exactly what got him killed.
Macy knocks back the rest of her drink. “It’s time to refresh my libation.” She nudges Archie in the ribs. “You want to have a good time, don’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He chuckles. “Excuse us, Bizzy.” He glances to Julian’s picture. It’s like he’s following us with his eyes. Creepy.
I squint over at Julian’s picture, and Archie is right.
Creepy, indeed.
I spot Fish’s little tail whipping back and forth from under the buffet table and waste no time in scooping her up.
She lets out a raucous roar. Put me down! I have claws, and I’m not afraid to use them! She turns and gets a good look at me. Oh, it’s just you.
“Nice to see you, too.”
Believe me, I’m thrilled to see you. If it weren’t for Misty roaming around, I’d beg you to take me back to the cottage. Where is that little ball of mischief, anyway?
“Last I saw, Michaela had her. Maybe we should go hunt them down?”
I’m about to head into the café when I spot Zeke standing near that picture of Julian, and if I’m not mistaken, he’s glaring at it.
He shakes his head at the photo. I thought it would be a relief to have you out of the picture—and it turns out I was right.
“Hey, Zeke,” I say, holding Fish tight as the sun begins to set. “Are you okay?”
“I’m great.” He rakes his fingers through his copper hair. “It was nice to see McKenna and my brother finally tie the knot.” He glances out into the crowd. Sure wish it were Bernie and me. But that’s probably just a pipe dream.
“Have you talked to her yet? Bernie is here, you know.” I give a guilty shrug because I didn’t mind riding off the back of his thoughts.
“It’s that obvious, huh?” He takes a deep breath. “Not yet. I was hoping to ask her to dance. And I’m hoping she’ll say yes.”
“There’s something magical about a wedding reception. I think the odds are in your favor.”
“Here’s hoping.”
“You know, the day Julian died, I couldn’t help but notice you were pretty tense. Did you happen to get a word in with him that day?”
He gives a quick look around.
“Yeah.” He shrugs. “I had a quick word with him just before he went on. I told him to leave Bernie alone. Archie was there. And I’m glad about it, too. You know, in the event I need a witness. All I said to Julian was for him to back off from Bernie. And, of course, Julian had to have the last laugh by pulling her on stage with him.”
“Did you say anything else to him? Did you argue?”
He swallows hard. “We did. But it’s not what you think. When I arrived backstage, he and Archie were already going at it.”
“Archie?”
He nods. “They used to be pretty close. Julian took Archie under his wing in more ways than one. Rumor had it, they ran the Collective together.”
Archie ran the Collective with Julian?
I suck in a quick breath. I need to tell Jasper.
“Zeke, do you think Archie is running the Collective now?”
“No way. Archie left it to those meatheads that run the security department at Minty’s. They’ve been using that place as a front for years—recruiting girls who looked desperate enough for dollars.”
“Minty’s?” I give a hard blink. “It all makes sense now.”
Fish yowls. Bizzy, isn’t that where you fell in love with that dress?
I nod her way. And I’d still take it in a hot minute if I could. Some of their clients might be tainted, but that dress was golden in more ways than one.
“If Archie isn’t running the Collective, what do you think they were arguing about?”
Zeke shrugs. “Could have been anything. They haven’t gotten along in years. Julian liked to get under Archie’s skin by calling him a two-bit magician.” I’m not sure this is the place to tell her they were arguing over Michaela. He shakes his head at the memory. Julian threatened Archie well. Said he was taking him straight to the sheriff’s department for even looking at Michaela that way. He said something about not adding another blonde to his garden girls collection.
I’m pretty sure Michaela doesn’t want the fact she’s working for the Collective to be aired out here at her sister’s wedding. And I think Michaela and I need to talk about it first. She’ll have to tell her sister. Lord knows I can’t keep anything like this from my brother for long.
My mouth opens as I try to digest his thoughts.
Garden girls? Why does that sound familiar?
“You know—I think I did hear something myself.” I shrug into the white lie. “I thought I heard Julian and Archie arguing over Michaela. I guess Archie was trying to score a date with her.”
“Oh yeah.” He gives a hard nod. “Archie has a type and Michaela definitely fits the bill. Strangely enough, Julian was asking him to back off.” He shrugs. “And seeing that Archie is flaunting your sister around, I guess he took Julian’s advice.” His eyes widen at something over by the buffet, and I turn to see Bernie loading up a plate.
“Here goes nothing, Bizzy. I’m going in.”
“Good luck,” I say as I watch him take off.
Julian said he was going to the sheriff’s department right after the show that night. He told Zeke that he wasn’t adding another girl to his garden
