Wilmington, NC 04 - Murder At Wrightsville Beach

mimicked Valentine perfectly.
    So that was it. The signature? Something was wrong with the signature. All of a sudden I understood. The signature was a forgery. And he thought I knew. That somehow I had found him out or maybe that Valentine had told me before she died. That had to be it.
    He had turned away while he was talking, so distracted by his anger, so outraged that someone had the gall to question the great J.C. Lauder that he dropped his defenses. Jon chose that moment to swing his cuffed hands at the back of J.C.'s neck. J.C. stumbled forward.
    Quickly I jumped out from behind Jon and with my cobbled hands making a solid fist, I swung them so that the handcuffs clipped J.C. in the Adam's apple. He stumbled back, coughing, clawing at his neck. But he still held the gun in a solid grip and he raised his arm, pointed, got ready to shoot.
    Suddenly, a third pair of hands intervened. A solo fist came flying from out of nowhere to hit J.C. squarely under the chin and send him flying. He staggered back but regained his balance and raised the gun to his assailant. But Mickey was ready for him. He lunged at J.C. from the side, shoving him hard against the section of railing that bowed out over the ocean. The railing snapped like a matchstick. J.C. teetered for a second then fell off the pier with a loud scream. There was a thud sound and the pier shook badly as his body struck a pile directly beneath us.
    Cautiously the three of us edged to the broken rail to look down. There was no sign of J.C. Then his body surfaced, buoyed by a wave. He was not struggling, not swimming, not moving. High tide carried him away from the pier. A huge wave rolled in, picked up his limp body and swept it out to sea.
    "Undertow," Mickey said nastily. "Isn't that what he said caused Devin's drowning? Undertow."

27

    The next day I slept into the afternoon. We'd been up until dawn, while Officer Meriweather and a team of Wrightsville Beach's finest removed the handcuffs and listened to our story. A search for J.C. would commence at daybreak but there wasn't much hope of finding his body unless or until the ocean returned him to shore. My injured foot was treated and Jon and I were driven home.
    Just as I was thinking it was time to get up -- I was hungry; hadn't eaten in twenty-four hours -- there was a tap on my door. "Ashley, come on out," Melanie called.
    I forced myself to get up off the bed and open the door. Melanie looked so worried. "You've got to hang in there, shug ," she said and reached out a hand to rub my upper arm.
    "Listen," she continued, "Babe and Ted are here. So comb your hair and fix your face and come out and say hello. You'll want to hear what they have to say."
    "They know something about what happened last night?"
    "They have all the answers. Wait till you hear."
    Hurriedly I splashed cold water on my face. Even so, my eyes were still red. Well, that was too bad! The world would just have to accept that I was in mourning. I ran a brush through my hair, impossible, but what could I do? Forget it, I told myself. This is the way you look. You've got the Wilkes family curls.
    More tears flowed. I splashed more cold water. Managed a hit or miss with some lip gloss. Changed into a fresh colorful tee shirt. Then went upstairs to the greatroom . Melanie met me and handed me a mug of hot coffee.
    "Is it decaf?" I asked.
    When she said yes, I took it gratefully.
    Babe and Ted sat side by side at the end of one of the immense white sofas. They got up when they saw me, crossed the room to my side, and enfolded me in their arms.
    "We're so sorry, Ashley," they said together. They were so definitely a couple. A sting, like an arrow, pierced my heart. This is what I missed, this couple thing. Yet had I ever really had that with Nick? I wondered. Only for moments at a time.
    Melanie took me by the hand and led me to the other sofa. "Come on, let's all sit down. Mickey's fixing drinks. It's too hot to sit outside on the deck so we'll have our visit in here where it's cool. Come on, shug , over here next to me."
    I settled onto the sectional where Melanie patted and sipped the hot coffee. "Where's Aunt Ruby?" I asked.
    " Binkie came and got her and took her to see his house," Melanie replied and grinned. "I think there's romance in the air for those two."
    Kelly came in from the kitchen with a tray of crackers and cheeses and sweet rolls for me, set them on the coffee table, then squeezed in between her parents. Absently, Babe