Free There Goes the Groom by Rita Herron Page A

Marci Turner had spunk and fire.
    She was obviously more upset about the fact that her sister was in trouble than the fact that she was.
    Interesting.
    He hated to admit it, but…admirable.
    So if she loved her sister so much, and she thought she was about to come into a boatload of cash, wouldn’t she have let her sister in on the deal?
    Although they were identical twins, just being around the two of them together for a few minutes told him how different they were.
    And that Kim and her husband wouldn’t have gone along with the scheme.
    Maybe Marci had protected her sister by not telling her about the con she and Paul were running.
    Or maybe she’s innocent.
    Then again, she might be in the bathroom now talking to Pendergrass and planning their getaway.
    The crime techs continued dusting for prints while he stepped onto the stoop and phoned Georgia.  “I’m at Marci Turner’s place. It’s been trashed.”
    “So someone else besides us wants Pendergrass?”
    “Yeah, enough to kill him.” And maybe kill Marci to get him.  “Did forensics find anything on Marci’s laptop.”
    “A lot of stuff,” Georgia said dryly. “But nothing helpful. She has tons of wedding info on there, cake designer sites, hairstyles; hell, her browser history looks like an ad for the home shopping channel.”
    Cade remembered the dozens of sexy shoes on the floor of her bedroom and fought a reaction. An image of Marci wearing those red stilettos and that black lacey teddy taunted him.
    He shifted, battling a hard-on.
    “No hidden accounts?”
    “Nada. Judging from her bank statements she lived paycheck to paycheck. Right now, the only thing we could pin on her is not reporting all her tips at the restaurant. And there’s no proof of that.  Hell, she does at least list some of them.”
    Jesus. Maybe they were wrong about her.
    “Keep looking.  And Georgia, check out her sister and her husband’s financials.”
    “You think they were in on the scheme?”
    No, he didn’t. “I’m just covering all the bases. Kimberly Turner received a call from some investors who believe she is, so we have to check it out. Hell, maybe Marci hid some money in an account in her sister’s name to cover her own butt in case they got caught.”
    “Smart thinking,” Georgia said. “They look alike, she could easily have forged her signature or set up a safety deposit box.”
    His gut knotted. He hoped she hadn’t, but he wouldn’t be doing his job if he didn’t investigate the possibility.
    Although up close they looked nothing alike. Kimberly was quiet, neatly dressed, conservative.
    Marci was just plain…sexy.
    A word he could no t keep associating with a suspect.
    “I’ll let you know if I find anything,” Georgia said.
    “Thanks. I’ll keep an eye on Marci tonight.”
    “What’s she doing now?” Georgia asked.
    “I don’t know, she’s in the bedroom.”
    “Hmm,” Georgia muttered.  “Is the door closed or open?”
    “Closed. The crime techs are here,” Cade said through clenched teeth.
    “You’d better watch out. She could sweet talk them and make them miss something.”
    He stepped to the door and saw them taking pictures and fingerprinting the place. “No problems. We’re all professionals here.”
    “Sure you are. But every man in pants would be attracted to that woman,” Georgia said with a sardonic laugh.  “Hell, half the women in Atlanta would be attracted to her. She has that kind of --”
    Power over a man, he almost said.
    “Body that’s distracting,” Georgia finished.
    He didn’t need a reminder about her body. “Go look up those accounts,” Cade said, irritated as he hung up.
    One of the crime techs turned to him, his case in hand. “We’re finished.”
    Cade gave a clipped nod. “Let me know if you find anything.”
    They agreed and left, and he turned and stared at the bathroom door. What in the hell was Marci doing? There wasn’t a window in there, was there?
    No, he would have remembered