Page 119 of Winning Bid

I lean up, smiling. “I love you, husband.”

He smiles down at me. “I love you, too, wife.” He kisses me just like I wanted, and like him, it’s perfect. Everything about today is?—

Charles dashes into the tent, coming toward us. Breathlessly, he pants, “I tried to stop them.”

“Who?” Anderson asks.

But then the tent flaps are held back by uniformed police officers. Detectives Banks and Wachowski stroll in like they own the place. At first, my brain doesn’t register what’s happening or that I’m really seeing them. I blink a lot, trying to figure it all out. “Is that?—"

“Yes,” he says hoarsely. Then, louder, he asks, “What are you two doing here?”

But we know, don’t we? They’re here to ruin everything.

Banks says, “We have a warrant for your arrest, Mr. West, on suspicion of the murder of Neil Johnson. Turn around, please.”

Anderson closes his eyes as he turns around. “Is this really necessary? Where am I going to go? We’re at my wedding reception.”

Wachowski puts on shiny handcuffs on my husband’s wrists and sneers, “No, it’s not necessary.” He closes in next to Anderson’s ear. “It’s just fun.”

Detective Banks turns to me. “Congratulations on your nuptials, Mrs. West.”

“What is the meaning of this?” Elliot barks as he joins us on the dancefloor.

“Pretty sure you know all about it, West,” Wachowski snaps. “Don’t think your son is the only one going down for this.”

Elliot is undeterred. He snarls at the detectives, “I will have your badge for this. Yours too, and anyone else who helped plan this embarrassment!”

“You’re welcome to try,” Detective Banks says. “But when a case is this solid, it’s in your best interest to let bygones be bygones. Come along, Mr. West.” He gives Anderson a nudge toward the exit. He’s being taken away from me, and there’s nothing I can do.

I’m speechless. What can I possibly say to make any of this better? There’s nothing … except, “I love you, Anderson. We will get this figured out!”

“I love you, June!” he shouts as they take him outside.

Elliot turns to me. “We are getting him back.”

All I can do is nod. I can’t even see him anymore. He’s blurry behind the wall of tears in my eyes.

But then I hear Kitty and Dad joining us. She has the microphone. “Thank you all for coming. As you have witnessed, we are experiencing a family emergency. We appreciate your understanding at this time. Please drive home safe.” After that, she comes to me, throwing her arms around me.

I’m not even sure if I’m hugging her back. I don’t feel like I’m in my body right now.

Kitty releases me, and it’s Dad’s turn to hug me. “Junebug, I’m so sorry.”

I blink at him.

“The first arrest is always the worst.”

My voice scrapes out of my throat. “First?”

He realizes what he just said and apologetically says, “Given the charges, hopefully, it’ll be the only arrest.”

I gulp, and something in me breaks. I don’t know what it is exactly, but sobs burst out of me. I can’t even catch my breath until Kitty rubs my back. The world presses into me from all directions, and I’m not strong enough to hold it back. My strength was just arrested and taken away from me.

The crowd isn’t disbursing like Kitty told them to, either, and that does not help. Instead, their murmurs fill my head. “Did I hear that right? Murder?”

“Neil Johnson … wasn’t that the poor boy beaten to death we heard about on the news? Surely that wasn’t Anderson!”

“He’s always been a hothead, but beating someone to death? I don’t think he’s capable of something like that.”

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