Chapter 37
The screams intensified as they neared the lobby, and Sean reached the chaos first. The lobby had transformed into a boxing ring, with the wedding party and a few others circling the groom and best man who were locked together like a pair of steers battling it out during mating season.
“Let him go, Ben!” Julie shouted.
Neither the groom nor the best man was listening; the pair were grappling with one another on the floor, smearing blood along the carpet. This wasn’t just a tussle between men; this was a full-blown brawl.
Sean considered his options. He didn’t want to draw his weapon, knowing it would only increase the risk of more violence. But he couldn’t let the fight continue. He didn’t have any other non-lethal devices on him, so the only choice was to break up the fight himself.
Sean wedged himself between the two and, using all his strength, pulled them apart like a father separating a pair of bickering sons.
Even after Sean separated them, the groom remained on the attack, but the best man retreated to lick his wounds.
“I trusted you!” Ben shouted, spit and blood dribbling from his chin, and Sean wrapped him up in a bear hug and pinned him against the wall. “You betraying piece of shit!”
Ben tried to escape Sean’s grip, but Sean was too strong, and the groom was too tired from the fight. Ben finally calmed down, and Sean released him. Ben scurried away, sulking. Sean looked back at the best man and told him to stay put.
Sean followed the groom down the hallway near the staff’s sleeping quarters. He swayed a minute, then leaned his back against the wall and slid to the floor. Then he cried.
It was obvious Ben had learned the truth about who his bride had been sleeping with. It was a truth made harder by Karla’s death.
“I think I always knew,” Ben finally said, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. “I think from the moment I heard her on that phone call last week… I knew.”
“I’m sorry you had to find out this way,” Sean said. “Did he tell you?”
“It was Julie,” he answered. “Because we’d been fooling around, I guess… I guess she wanted to try to make herself feel better for what we did.” He shook his head and then stood up, turning around. “But I don’t feel better.”
Sean found it interesting that the maid of honor had been the one to break the news, and Sean wasn’t sure if it was just clearing her conscience or if there was something more.
But either way, Sean now had confirmation that the best man was sleeping with the now-deceased bride.
It was a motive, especially if the bride no longer felt the same way for the best man.
Now, Sean just had to prove it.