“I worked for the FBI, remember? I’ll be here at ten-fifty.”

He took her face in his hands and kissed her mouth.

“I will be here on time,” he promised.

He started out of the room, when the phone began to ring. On his way down the steps he heard Vanessa say, “Good morning, Hal. Yes, I’m fine. Well, we didn’t want to disturb you… yes, I really am fine…”

By the time he’d showered, dressed, and returned for Vanessa, and arrived at Let’s Do Brunch, it seemed that everyone had already heard about the break-in and the vandalism to Grady’s rented car. The discussion of last night’s crimes even threatened to overshadow the rehash of the wedding.

“Did you call your rental company yet?” Andy asked Grady.

“I called this morning before I left the Inn,” Grady replied. “They need a copy of the police report, and they want to come for the car as soon as the police release it. In the meantime, they’ll give me another car. I just have to go pick it up at someplace right outside of St. Dennis. Vanessa said she’d drive me out.”

Hal came into the room two steps behind Maggie. Grady glanced around for Vanessa, to see if she’d noticed, but she was conferring with the hostess and had her back to the group.

“I can fax the police report to your car company if you give me the info.” Hal had apparently overheard Grady. “Speed things up a bit for you.”

“I’d appreciate that.” Grady nodded. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” Hal lowered his voice. “I hear you kept an eye on my girl last night.”

Grady nodded, wondering what else Hal might have heard.

“Thank you.” Hal folded his arms across his chest. “Anyone hurts Vanessa, he’ll bring down the wrath of God. I guess you know what I mean.”

Grady nodded again. He was pretty sure he knew exactly what Hal meant.

“Yeah, when we get this guy who broke into her shop, tossed her place, there will be hell to pay. Like I said, no one hurts our girl.” Hal slapped Grady on the back and went for the coffee.

Vanessa’s mother had helped herself to coffee from the large carafe that stood on the buffet table, and had strolled over to the doorway to look out upon the passing cars. Grady grabbed a cup for himself and joined her.

“So did you enjoy the wedding, Mrs. Turner?” he asked.

She turned and looked up at him as if surprised that he’d sought her out, but she smiled and said, “It was just beautiful. I’m so glad I came, even if my son wasn’t happy about it. I must say, though, that your sister made me feel welcome.”

“She’s a welcoming kind of person.”

“I hope Beck appreciates her.”

“I’m sure he does.” Grady toyed with an idea for a moment, then asked, “Mrs. Turner, whatever happened to Vanessa’s first husband?”

“Craig?” She shrugged her shoulders. “Last I heard, he was remarried and the father of three little ones and living in New Mexico. Why?”

“Just wondering.” He took a sip from the cup. “And the one she sent to prison…”

Maggie wrinkled her nose to show her displeasure. “Gene. The bastard.”

“Do you know for a fact that he’s still in prison?”

She nodded. “He was, last I heard, maybe six, seven months ago.”

“Has anyone in his family ever contacted you to find out where she is?”

Maggie shook her head. “Nope. Not a one. Fact is, no one has ever even asked about her.” She paused. “Well, except for that girl a week or two ago.”

“What girl?”

“A girl Ness went to high school with was sending out notices about their upcoming reunion and wanted Ness’s address.”

“Now, which reunion would this be?” he asked.

“Well, let’s see now.” Maggie thought it over. “She graduated in 1998… that would make it her twelfth reunion.”

“That’s odd, don’t you think?” Grady said. “Usually reunions are the tenth, or the fifteenth. Did anyone notify her about the tenth reunion?”

Maggie shook her head. “No. Nothing before this.”

Vanessa walked over, a mimosa in her hand. She eyed Maggie suspiciously.

“I was just telling Grady about Shannon calling about your upcoming reunion,” Maggie explained.

“I still have no idea who she is,” Vanessa said.

“You didn’t have a friend named Shannon?” Grady asked.

“I had no friends at all back then,” Vanessa told him.

Maggie frowned. “That is simply not true, Vanessa. Don’t make this nice young man think you were a social outcast.”

Vanessa turned to Grady. “I was.”

“I guess you wouldn’t have a copy of your high school yearbook handy?” he asked.

“I never got one. There wasn’t anything I wanted to remember. Why? You want to see how weird I was back then?”

“Maybe if you looked at Shannon’s picture, you’d remember her.”

“There was no Shannon in my class,” Vanessa insisted.

He was staring, prompting her to ask, “What?”

“I’m going to have someone track down this ex of yours. I want to confirm that he is in fact still in prison.”

“I told you, the D.A. promised to let me know if he was going to get out.” She sighed, exasperated.

“Did you provide the police back in Wisconsin with a forwarding address?”

“Well, no. But I’m sure they’d contact Maggie.”

“How many times has Maggie moved since the trial?”

“Twice,” she told him.

“Maggie”-Grady turned to Vanessa’s mother, who’d fallen silent-“have you given the D.A. your new address?”

“Ahhh… well, actually, now that you ask, I didn’t.” Maggie appeared slightly embarrassed to admit it.

“So the D.A.’s office would find you, how?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” Maggie shrugged her shoulders. “I guess the same way Shannon did.”

“And how was that?” he persisted.

Maggie tilted her head, as if considering the question. Finally, she said, “I don’t know. I guess she could have asked around the neighborhood where I was living during the trial. I still have friends there.”

“You moved to Indiana after that,” Vanessa reminded her, “and from there, you went to North Dakota.”

“Yes, but Shelley always knows where I am. We’ve kept in close touch.” Maggie turned to Grady. “I suppose someone could have come around asking about me. My upstairs neighbor from those days knows where I live.”

“Would you mind giving her a call and asking if someone’s done that lately?” Grady couldn’t believe how easy it would have been for anyone looking for Vanessa to have found her.

“I gave that girl your address and your phone number.” Maggie was shaken.

Vanessa frowned. “You think that Shannon was someone of Gene’s?”

“How many high schools have twelfth reunions?” he asked.

“You think maybe he’s out and no one told us?” Vanessa’s face drained of color.

“Someone has you targeted for something that is not good. If your ex was released early on parole, he could be that someone. He’d certainly be the prime suspect.”

“You think he could be here, in St. Dennis?” Vanessa blanched. “You think he could have broken into my shop?”

“It’s possible. Look, maybe you should go stay with Steffie until this thing is figured out.”

Vanessa shook her head. “I’m not going to make her a target.”

“Then Hal.”

“No. If anything happened to him because of me, I’d kill myself.”

“Hal can probably take care of himself.”

“No.” She shook her head again.

“Do you have a gun?” He suspected she did not, but wanted to be sure.

“A gun?” She stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. “A gun? No, I don’t have a gun. What would I do with a gun? Guns can hurt people.”

Grady’s phone began to ring. He glanced at the caller ID, excused himself, and walked outside to take the call.

“Grady, it’s Will Fletcher,” the voice on the other end said. “John called this morning and asked me to run something down ASAP. He said it was for you.”

“Yeah, thanks for getting right on it.”

“How’ve you been, man? We all miss you,” Will told him.

“I occasionally miss a few of you, too. How’s that fiancée of yours?” Grady asked.