Bones of the Demon King

Chapter 3

~SEVEN DAYS EARLIER~

 It had been the rehearsal dinner for Kevin Landers and Samantha Lake's wedding. As the best man, Tom McDaniels was obligated to attend. He had been feeling antsy as he had two business deals that needed to be dealt with but couldn't because he was busy at the rehearsal. When Kevin had asked Tom to be his best man, he had immediately accepted for two reasons. The first reason was that Kevin was like a brother to him. The second reason was Paula Masterson being one of the bridesmaids.

Tom glanced at the blonde woman who was currently pretending she hadn't just spilled red wine on the white tablecloth in front of her. He laughed to himself. She had always been a little clumsy. He found it endearing. As she looked in his direction, he smiled at her. She seemed surprised but nodded and smiled back.

Tom had picked up one of his plates and moved it as a way to signal for her to copy his actions. She smiled and looked around before nonchalantly picking up her plate and covering the red stain with her dinner plate. She looked back at Tom and winked.

Tom had gone to school with Paula but never really talked with her. It wasn't a surprise that she didn't remember him. Growing up, she was part of the popular group and he wasn't. Back then he was too young and scared to approach her. It wasn't until after he graduated, that he missed seeing the larger than life blonde that was always a little clumsy, always helping others, and never afraid to stand up for her friends.

He remembered their senior prom when she had been asked to attend by Johnny Joe Garcia, a kid with Down syndrome. Johnny Joe had asked her months in advance before anyone else could. Paula accepted his invitation and didn't seem the slightest bit embarrassed to have him as her date. When asked why she didn't go with her boyfriend to prom, she responded, "Johnny Joe asked me first." Tom wished that he had asked her before Johnny Joe.

Tom also remembered when she was a freshman and had missed school for over a week. Later he found out that was when her family had died in a car accident while she had been visiting her aunt. He thought for sure she would have turned into some kind of basket case but she was the same old Paula. She continued to smile and stay friendly with everyone. He remembered walking in on her crying one day in the choir room. She was all alone and he had intended to pick up some sheet music for an upcoming recital.

Paula was weeping and if Tom had been a braver man, he would've consoled her. Instead he watched for a moment and then silently left the room to give her some privacy. Tom understood what it felt like to lose family. He wanted to reach out to her but during those years, the social divide was too great and he was just some geek that she didn't even know existed. At that time he was content to just watch her from afar.

During his college years, he still knew how Paula was doing through Samantha Lake, Kevin's soon-to-be wife. It was like Samantha knew that Tom had a crush on Paula. So Samantha always told him how Paula was doing. So when he was told that Paula was going to be part of the wedding ceremony, Tom was ecstatic.

Tom had been waiting for this moment. It had been years in the making. He was rich, handsome, successful, and now all he needed was Paula, the girl he could never get out of his mind. He knew that she was now an elementary school teacher and most importantly...still single. If things worked out with Paula maybe they would be the ones having a June wedding next year.

Still at the police station, Tom McDaniels shook off his thoughts of the past week and stared at the pretty brunette next to him. She shook his hand and introduced herself, "Eva. Eva Lewis. I'm sorry did you say your friend was missing?"

"Is missing," Tom corrected.

Eva touched the locket she wore around her neck and mentally asked for forgiveness for what she was about to do but she had a strong feeling this man's friend and the lady at the murder scene were one and the same and she wanted the scoop. "Yes, of course. I'm sorry. How long has she been missing?"