Free Sky High (A Nicki Valentine Mystery Book 2) by Susan O'Brien Page B

called them. Mia’s on her way there with her parents. I couldn’t talk her out of it.”
    I didn’t want Lydia to be alone, but I couldn’t ask Frank to comfort his ex-wife.
    “How can we help?” I asked.
    He handed me a slip of paper with a detective’s name, number, and email address on it.
    “This guy’s in charge,” he said. “Call him when you’re done and fill him in. But finish with these guys first, because some of them are leaving town. I’m going to talk with hotel security about the surveillance footage from that night. With all the money I’ve spent here, they better give me copies. I’ll keep you posted.”
    He shook his head, and I couldn’t imagine what was going through it.
    “Please let Lydia know we’re doing our best. And that I’m thinking about her and Mia and Bruce.”
    “Actually,” he said, “Lydia mentioned you. We’re not close, but she has good instincts, and she wants you and Dean to stay on this. Especially you.”
    I didn’t know what to say, but a question occurred to me that I had to ask.
    “Who’s going to tell the groomsmen?”
    “You are. I don’t even want to talk to them. In my opinion, they’re the ones who lost Bruce. It was their job to get him to the wedding. How hard could that be?”
    “I’ll talk to Dean and touch base with Detective…” I looked down at the hotel stationery. “…Allen.”
    “That’s fine. Just figure out what happened. I need my son back.”
    He accompanied me back to the lobby and straightened his jacket before approaching the front desk. I nodded goodbye, took a deep breath, and kept moving.

      
    After Dean finished questioning the best man, Todd, I closed the door and shared the update privately.
    “I don’t have a good feeling about this,” he said.
    “Me either.”
    My cell vibrated, and I looked down to see a message from Mia.
    They found Bruce’s car on the Jones Falls Park access road. It’s empty.
    I tapped the message to expand it and noticed something I didn’t like. It had been sent to a group, which included Todd. That meant he was probably in the next room breaking the news to everyone else. That wasn’t how Frank wanted it to go.
    I alerted Dean, who grabbed his cell phone and led the way next door, where the room was silent.
    “I can’t believe it,” Todd mumbled to himself or everyone. I couldn’t tell which. “Jones Falls Park? Why there?”
    “How far away is that?” someone asked.
    “A couple miles,” Dean said when no one else answered. “It’s wooded, so I’m not surprised no one noticed the car right away. Plus, it’s cold out. Not good park weather.”
    To me, that made the location even odder. Unless Bruce liked the cold, he wouldn’t have gone there to blow off steam or take a walk. Even if he had, why on a maintenance road?
    There was a lot of murmuring and exchanging of glances.
    “Look, I gotta be honest,” the youngest-looking guy, Ashton, said. He shifted in his seat and avoided eye contact. Then he looked at another groomsman. “Sorry, Scott. This is too freakin’ serious.”
    “What do you mean?” Dean asked. “Now’s the time to speak up.”
    Actually, yesterday was the time , I thought. But better late than never.
    Scott covered his eyes in what looked like embarrassment. “Whatever, dude,” he said. “You’re right. We gotta say something.”
    “After we left Bruce’s room,” Ashton said, “Scott and I wanted to keep the party going, so we went down to the bar, but it was closed, so we hit the first-floor vending machines for soda to mix with stuff from the minibar. Bruce walked by heading for the lobby, and we asked him what was up.”
    Scott nodded in agreement.
    “He said he couldn’t tell us, and that he just had to go. He told us not to say anything. We didn’t know if he was ditching Mia or what, but we could tell he meant business.”
    “You’re just speaking up now?” Todd said. “And you let him drive? What the hell is wrong with you