Veiled (A Short Story) by Kendra Elliot

C HAPTER O NE
    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.”

    Jack had been too late, and Lacey could see on his face that
he was taking it hard. A former cop, he had a driving desire to save the world.
But this woman had been long past saving. Lacey and Jack stood back from the
scene at the hot tub, watching the two local policemen decide what to do with the
dead bride on the flagstones. The woman’s legs were partially covered by her
wedding dress, and a veil trailed from her hair back into the tub.
    Seaport was a small town. Extremely small. The two cops
seemed stunned to have a body on their hands. Lacey eyed the bruising around
the dead woman’s neck; this was a possible homicide.
    Where was the