Serial Bride Read Free Page A

ago.”
    â€œSeven months? That’s a month before I knew her.” Her eyebrow ring dipped in a frown. “She never said anything about it. About him.”
    â€œYou were worried about her. Before I came to the door tonight.”
    She nodded.
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œShe was supposed to be married today. But the wedding never took place.”
    That explained the fancy green dress—a dress,he now realized, marred with brown smudges. “Is that blood?”
    She nodded. “Right before the ceremony, I found Reed—the groom—unconscious and bleeding. Diana was gone.”
    â€œYou called the police?”
    She dropped her hand from her mouth and curled her fingers to fists at her sides. “The police think she did it.”
    In light of what Bryce suspected about Diana Gale, the police were on the right trail. “Do you know for a fact that she didn’t?”
    She glared at the suggestion as if considering leaving Bryce unconscious and bleeding if he didn’t zip it. “Reed is a cop. The detective in charge is out to get him. And now he’s out to get Diana, too.”
    Interesting, though he doubted it was the case. But Sylvie believed it. It had been easy to see through her previous lie. She wasn’t lying now. “So why aren’t the police here? If they really suspect her, I would think they would be searching her apartment.”
    â€œI imagine they’re on their way.” She glanced down the hall.
    â€œAnd that’s why you’re here, isn’t it? To search her apartment before they arrive.”
    She looked down. Her fingers tangled together. Busted. “If there’s something that might tell me what happened to Diana, I have to find it.”
    And he’d like to find it, too. More than she knew. “Then why are we standing around wasting time?”
    She stared at him a long moment, as if trying to decide whether she should trust him or not. Finally the press of time seemed to win out. “I thought I’d start in her office.”
    â€œLead the way.”
    Sylvie marched down the hall, pushed a door open and led him inside.
    The office was a neat but obviously well-used workspace. White walls and desk gave the room a clean, fresh feeling. Papers rose in orderly stacked piles. But it was the splashes of color, the artwork and figurines dedicated to female superheroes, that made Bryce’s lips twist in an ironic smile.
    Too bad Diana herself was no champion of justice.
    Sylvie stepped to the desk, sank into the chair and wheeled in front of the file cabinet. She scanned the stack of student papers on top before gripping the handle of the top drawer and yanking it open.
    Bryce stepped close behind her, reading the files over her shoulder. Together they skimmed the contents. Student evaluations and files dedicated to her dissertation jammed the first two drawers. Sylvie had thumbed through most of the contents of the third drawer when Bryce noticed an unmarked manila folder peeking from the back. “What about that one?”
    Sylvie plucked the unlabeled file folder from the drawer and flipped it open. A photo stared up at them—ice-blue eyes in a face that looked much younger than its years.
    The back of Bryce’s neck prickled at the sight of his former client’s cold, hard eyes.
    â€œWho is this?” Sylvie asked.
    â€œDryden Kane.”
    Her shoulders tensed. “I thought he looked familiar. Except that in this picture he looks so normal. Like the boy next door.”
    Bryce couldn’t argue. Dryden Kane did look more like an average suburban neighbor than the brutal killer he was. Some might even say he was good-looking. And that was exactly what made him so dangerous to the women he’d charmed into trusting him. God knew Kane’s civilized appearance had fooled him . He tried to swallow the bitter taste in his mouth. “What else is in the folder?”
    She turned the photo face