Veiled (A Short Story) by Elliot, Kendra
CHAPTER ONE
Lacey Campbell gazed out at the Pacific Ocean from the little deck of her hotel suite, took a sip of her early morning coffee, and sighed in pleasure. It was going to be a gorgeous, warm day. Not a cloud in sight at the crack of dawn. Almost unheard of at the Oregon Coast. Today, the blue of the water rivaled Hawaii. She could almost forget that she’d been inspecting the cracked mandible of a murder victim at the medical examiner’s yesterday.
The hotel was perched on a cliff fifty feet above the crashing waves, giving a spectacular coastline view. Did she want this site for her wedding?
Jack’s sister, Melody, had booked them a weekend at the luxury resort, hoping to convince them to hold their wedding at the venue next summer. The location was remote, hard to reach, and extremely exclusive. It was going to put a serious dent in someone’s wallet.
Two hundred guests were on the preliminary list, and Melody was already chomping at the bit to lengthen the list. She felt that her brother had an image to keep up in Portland—that as the owner of the city’s biggest development corporation, Jack Harper should flaunt the “wedding of the year.”
The term made Lacey’s stomach churn. She was ready to run away to Vegas. Or Reno.
She hated to disappoint her father, but she wasn’t a party girl. She was an only child. Her mother had passed many years ago. Running away with Jack to get married on a beach in Hawaii was sounding better every day. Sun, surf, warm breezes, and declaring her love to her man before God.
No one else needed to be there.
Right?
A wedding should be personal. Not a big party for everyone else. Maybe some girls wanted the big dress and big day with all eyes on them. Not her. She only needed one person’s attention.
That person’s hands slipped around her waist, and he pressed his chest against her back, enveloping her in a hug. She’d known the second Jack had stepped onto the deck from their hotel suite. A peace had swept over her from his presence. He’d rescued her from a burning hell last winter. Literally. When Bobby DeCosta had decided that Lacey needed to pay for her role in convicting his serial-killer brother, Jack had come face-to-face with a murderer. And won.
They hadn’t been separated since that day except to go to work. She worked at the medical examiner’s office as a forensic odontologist, and Jack ran Harper Developing, a huge company with projects all over the Pacific Northwest.
Jack’s scruffy cheek brushed her face, and she steadied her cup of coffee.
“Good morning.” Jack’s voice was full of sleep.
She nestled against him. “Good morning. Can you believe this view today?”
“Outstanding. Makes me consider taking up cliff diving.”
“That icy ocean water would kill you.”
“Then how about a jump in the pool? Or some time in the hot tub?”
Lacey followed Jack’s gaze to the artistically landscaped pool and hot tub. “I can’t believe someone is in the hot tub this early,” she said.
Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the woman in the hot tub. “Jack?” Her voice cracked as Lacey stared at the body floating facedown in the hot water, yards of white fabric swirling around her.
“I see her.” Jack was already running back through their room. “You call 911. I’m getting down there.”