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guilty, she’d go to jail, too, and he’d be done with both of them.
     
    *~*~*~*
     
    “Stay strong!” Dottie yelled as the officer opened the cell and gestured for Marci to follow him.
    She gave Dottie a big hug.   “Hang in there. If I’m not back in a little bit, I’ll come back and check on you tomorrow.”
    Dottie sniffled and wiped at her eyes.
    “Don’t tell them anything,” Layla warned her in a low voice.
    “You’ve got rights, sister,” the other hooker shouted.
    Marci hiked her wedding gown to her knees to keep from tripping over it, and held her head up as she left the cell.
    Really, everything was going to be all right.
    All she had to do was tell the truth and she’d be out of here in no time.
    At least she’d made some friends while she was here. That was even better. They might not be society girls, but they were real and caring, and a girl like her needed all the friends she could get.
    Especially since she was pretty sure she would be ostracized from the country club. She might even lose her waitressing job which she was going to need to pay a lawyer if she didn’t convince this detective she was innocent.
    Thank heavens Paul had already paid off her tuition for cosmetology school so at least she didn’t have to worry about that.
    The sumo guy banged on the bars. “Don’t forget to ask for your phone call, Marci.”
    “Yeah, sugar,” the drunk said in a slurred voice. “Call my boy. He’s a lawyer.”
    She made a mental note to come back and check on each one of them when she was released. Just because they were in trouble didn’t mean she’d turn her back on them.
    After all, once she received her license to do hair, she’d need customers. And those little women from the club she’d expected to line up at the door for her services might decide to take their business to a stylist without a rap sheet.
     
    *~*~*~*
     
    Cade steeled himself as the guard escorted Marci into the interrogation room. She offered him a saccharine sweet smile, her breasts rising as she inhaled a deep breath.
    His cool look shouted a warning. Your flirting won’t work on me, sweetheart .
    She must have read his mind because her eyes flickered with concern for a moment, then she settled into the hard folding chair at the table, that damn dress crinkling around her as she spread out the yards of lace and crinoline.
    He gave her time to adjust, gritting his teeth at the sight of those bare red toes. They should have forced her to change into an orange jumpsuit when she’d come in.
    She looked ridiculous in that gown with her tear-stained eyes and tattered veil.  Like a helpless innocent woman who’d been jilted at the altar.
    Well, technically she had been jilted at the altar.
    But helpless and innocent? He didn’t think so.
    “Detective, can we please get this over with so I can go home and change.”
    She scratched at the telltale signs of a rash on her neck.
    So she hadn’t been lying about that.  
    “Certainly,” Cade said, adopting his professional demeanor. He mentally contemplated the best way to handle her. Good cop or bad cop?
    He propped his butt against the table. “In fact, why don’t you start by telling us where your fiancé is?”
    Marci winced, then picked at a thread that had come loose on her veil.  “I don’t know. Probably on his way to Tahiti.”
    Cade arched a brow. “Is that where you planned your get away?”
    Marci lifted her chin in defiance.  “That’s where we planned our honeymoon. ”
    He knew Georgia was watching through the two-way mirror and that she was rushing to check it out.
    “Do you have a house there or is that just a stopover?”
    Marci continued to pick at the loose thread, the veil unraveling in her hands.  “It was an all inclusive seven day package.” Her voice cracked slightly.  “Then we were moving into the house in Buckhead.”
    “Ahh, the mansion.”
    She nodded, a tiny smile lighting her eyes. “Frankly I thought it was a little