The Marriage of Nathan West

The Hiding Place

After poking through a set of rooms in one wing and finding nothing but perfectly made up guest rooms, Maxie shifted direction and tip toed across the stairway landing ready to search the other wing. She paused long enough to catch sight of Josh and Detective Marinelli standing near the entrance. Her breath caught in her throat as Josh's eyes trained upwards for a brief moment, landing squarely on her. He scowled at her but shifted his position to block Marinelli's view of the stairs long enough for her to turn a corner out of sight.

Exhaling sharply, she tried the handle of the first door. Locked. She crept to the next one, leaning against it and listening for any sound from within. Hearing nothing, she held her breath and turned the doorknob. She peeked inside the room and was rewarded with a full view of a wedding dress spread out on the bed. Stepping inside, she closed the door behind her. This had to be Chelsea's room.

Without thinking, she stepped over to the wedding dress. It was from a very popular wedding dress designer who specialized in large, lacy dresses. Maxie remembered it distinctly because of the over use of heavy beading on the bodice and the ridiculous lace train.

"This woman has no taste," she murmured under her breath. She picked up the dress and lost herself in inspecting its construction. She almost missed the voices approaching the door because she was so caught up in the dress. She froze for a split second before dropping to the floor and rolling under the bed just as the door opened, Chelsea's wedding dress falling to the floor in a heap.

"Honestly," she heard Chelsea snap. "All you had to do was get him here. Was that so hard?"

"I'm telling you," a male voice responded. "He was already leaving with that cop friend and the other detective when I got there. The best I could do was follow until I figured out where they were going."

"It's a wonder you arrived before they did."

"Are you kidding? I drove like a bat out of hell to get here first. What does it matter? He's here and he's going through with it."

"Are you sure?"

"I just talked to him. Of course I'm sure. He's not happy about it but he's doing it to protect Maxie from you and your treacherous ways," the man said with a laugh.

"Did he actually say treacherous? No of course he didn't. Stop being ridiculous." There was sharp hiss from Chelsea. "What the hell is my dress doing on the floor? I swear, the help here are completely incompetent!"

Maxie watched as the dress was swept up from the floor. She had a horrifying moment thinking Chelsea would bend down and see her hiding under the bed. But she didn't. Instead, Chelsea moved away from the bed and continued to scold her partner in crime.

"I don't know what you're doing here now anyway. Aren't you supposed to keep James occupied for me? That was part of the deal."

"James. He hates that name you know."

"I don't care."

"Whatever, look, I'm only here to tell you that he's here and getting ready," the man snapped.

"That's it? The only reason?"

"No. There was something else. Nathan said the cops were looking for Maxie. They think she might show up here and try and stop the wedding. You haven't seen her anywhere have you?"

"Of course not! There's no way she could even get in the front door. Don't worry about James' pathetic little girlfriend. Nothing is going to stop this wedding today."

"It better not," the man warned. "You and I have too much riding on it."

"Stop worrying. Hold up your end of this deal, Eric. Go back to James. Make sure he's ready."

"Fine. I'll hold up my end, if you hold up yours," Eric Holt snapped back before slamming the door. Maxie squeezed her eyes shut in disbelief. This was far more complicated than she was ready for.