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“I thought so too, but I can’t disagree with their sentiment. If awards were given for the worst groomsmen, he’d easily make the top ten.”
“Top three,” Ariana said.
He nodded. “I’m going to start putting away the games. Rita wanted to keep those, right?”
“Yeah. I have the original boxes out in the hallway.” She led him out of the room and around the corner where she’d stored them.
As soon as they started putting things away, Emerson, Olivia, and Maya joined in. The other guests made their way out with pink teeth and their colored crowns. The hotel staff arrived and shooed them out of the room, saying they would clean the rest.
Ariana made one last pass around the room to make sure they didn’t leave anything Rita wanted to keep. She picked up a few crowns and was ready to carry boxes up to the bride and groom’s suite when she noticed a dark red piece of paper on one of the tables.
She didn’t recognize it, so she flipped it over. What she saw made her knees turn to rubber.
Someone had drawn a stick figure of a pregnant woman with a black permanent marker. A knife protruded from the rounded belly. Blood dripped and pooled at the woman’s feet.
Ariana’s cake threatened to come back up.
One of the hotel’s staff came over to her. “Do you need any help?”
She hid the drawing behind her back, not wanting the guy to think she had drawn it. “I was just leaving, thanks.”
Ari raced from the room, stomach lurching and mind racing. Who would draw such a horrible picture? Worse, who would leave it there to be found?
Was the artist planning on acting out the image?
She stuffed the paper in a box as she hurried up the stairs. On the way to Rita’s room, she passed her dad.
He was a policeman — he’d know what to do.
Ariana waved him over.
“Want some help with the box?” He reached for it.
“Something else.” She put it down then showed him the drawing.
His eyes widened. “What’s this?”
“I found it in the banquet hall.”
“Who drew it?”
“No idea, but I should report this. Shouldn’t I?”
He took the paper and studied it. “Do you think it’s a threat?”
“How is it not? It was left at the gender reveal party!”
“It could just be a child’s drawing.”
“You think a kid made it?” she exclaimed.
“Potentially.”
Her stomach knotted. “We have to dosomething.”
“Okay.” Dad looked deep in thought. “I’ll show it to the hotel staff. They likely have a protocol in place for something like this. If nothing else, they can keep a closer eye on Rita.”
“We need to report it to the police!”
