She lowered it immediately, muttering curses under her breath. “I thought… I was afraid you were someone else,” Lacy said, obviously flustered as she practically shoved the gun into my hands and moved toward me, shivering in her silk pajamas.
“Like who?” I asked, as I passed the gun to Charlie. Within seconds, he’d disarmed the weapon. I suddenly understood the fear he’d felt when he’d entered Todd Anderson’s room earlier this evening to find Mr. Swanson with a gun held high.
“Oh my goodness,” Lacy said, moving toward the gas fireplace. “I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.” As she grabbed the remote from the mantel, I noticed that her hands were shaking.
I went and put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.
“It’s like I need aBride’s Guide to Happiness and Homicidejust to get through this weekend,” Lacy said, her voice shaking.Then, she stared at me. “A gun, Dakota. I was holding agun. I’ve never done that before.”
“It’s okay, you’re safe,” I said softly, before pulling back and meeting her gaze. “But where in the world did you get a weapon?” I thought of Bella’s pink bag of deadly tricks. Surely Lacy hadn’t confiscated it from there?
Lacy huffed out a long breath and her shoulders shivered one more time as she moved closer to the fireplace, stretching her hands toward the warmth. “Anton gave it to me,” she admitted quietly.
“What is it with his family and guns?” I asked, as Charlie closed the door to the balcony, keeping more chill from stealing into the room.
“Anton was here tonight when I got back.”
I nodded, knowing I’d been right.
“He gave it to me then… just in case,” Lacy continued. “I didn’t want it, told him I’d never even fired a gun, but he said his dad had been blabbering on about something going down this weekend and he would feel better if I kept this in the room.”
Anton must’ve come straight here from the Billiards Room, where he and his father had been “talking business.” His first thought had been of Lacy. I was glad for that at least.
“Do you know where Anton went after he left you here?” I asked. “With a loaded gun,” I added.
“I assumed he went back to his room.” Lacy considered. “But actually, I have no idea. He said he only came here to make sure I was safe.”
“Did Anton give you anything else?”
Lacy thought for a moment and then went to the end table between our queen beds and picked up a stack of pamphlets. “He left these. Said the last thing his dad needed was an invitation.”
I came to her side, took one of the pamphlets from her hand, and turned on the nearest lamp.
Words showcasing the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts—the same museum I’d seen a link to moments earlier—were splayedacross the front in tall, blockish font, each letter a different color. Inside was information on their permanent exhibits: a mixture of Native American, African American, and Asian, as well as modern and contemporary art. There were several pictures of the art as well, including one that looked very familiar. I held it close to my face, studying the image: a winter road with two travelers set against a dusky sky. I’d seen a similar one before—here at The Rose. I was sure.
I closed my eyes, mentally traveling the rooms that I’d been trying to get to know since discovering I was half-owner of the place.
“You all right?” Charlie asked.
I put up a finger and told him to hush for a minute. I went floor by floor, room by room. My eyes popped open. I knew where we needed to go.
“Come with me,” I said, hurrying to the door with one of the pamphlets in my hand. “And Charlie, bring the gun.”
Lacy’s and Charlie’s expressions were hesitant, but they’d both learned that when I was on a mission, I would not be thwarted.
We made our way past other guest rooms, down dark hallways, and down a flight of stairs to the Salon, where I’d found Bella earlier that evening. The lights were dimmed to a low yellow glow at this time of night, so when we entered, I told them to be careful around the overturned Christmas tree and the glass ornaments on the floor. Still, I heard the crunching of glass behind me as they followed me.
I headed straight toward Lacy’s tulle and satin wedding dress, pulling the swath of fabric I’d found earlier that evening from my pocket.
“Help me move the dress,” I told Lacy and Charlie: the train was too long for one person to do it properly on their own.
“Are you sure?” Lacy asked. “Aunt DeeDee’s friend is fixing it tomorrow. We don’t want to mess it up even more.”
I nodded, even though I wasn’t sure of anything atthis late hour. Still, I was fairly confident the dress was covering something important on the wall.
With a bit of hefting and tugging, we transported the bridal apparel from hangers to couch without further damage. And as soon as the wall was visible, we saw the real crime that had been committed here: An ornate gold frame hung on the wall, empty.
Someone had stolen a piece of art from The Rose. My guess was that this someone was none other than Bella Rivera, and I’d unwittingly caught her in the act much earlier this evening.
