Copper Beach

information.”

    “Why not?”

    “Because currently he’s my competition. He’s after the lab book, too. Knowing Nick, by now he’ll have lined up a client.”

    “Knox.”

    “It’s possible, but I think it’s unlikely,” Abby said.

    “Why?”

    “The clients in the deep end are more dangerous than the ones I usually work with, but Nick is not stupid. He takes precautions. Lander Knox is an unknown in the underground market. He’s not a regular collector. Nick wouldn’t want to take him on as a client, especially if he’s got options.”

    “Hah. Options like Hank Barrett or his son.”

    “The owners of Helicon Stone?” Abby picked up the coffeepot. “That’s a much more likely possibility. Can I pour you a cup?”

    “Yeah, sure.”

    “You’re so very welcome,” she murmured, going for excruciatingly gracious.

    Elias was oblivious to the sarcasm. He started to pace the kitchen. “Maybe I’ve been too focused on Lander Knox. No question that he’s after the lab book. But if Hank Barrett has heard the rumors, he or his son will be trying to find it as well. They might be a bigger problem than Knox, if for no other reason than that they have the money to pay top dollar.”

    Abby handed him a full mug as he stomped past her. “There are other problems with auctions like this. I think that Milton is reliable, but we have to allow for the possibility that the book he is going to auction off is a forgery.”

    Elias’s face worked in outrage. “Are you telling me that someone might try to pass off a fake?”

    “A shocking notion, isn’t it?” Abby smiled wryly. “I regret to tell you that forgeries are actually quite common in the rare-book business.”

    “If someone thinks he can scam me, he’d better start running now.”

    “Mmm.”

    “What?” Elias stopped to glare at her. “You don’t think I know how to deal with con men and scammers?”

    “I’m sure you would be a very dangerous man to cross, Mr. Coppersmith,” she said politely.

    Elias finally appeared to notice that he was missing something in the conversation.

    “Are you laughing at me?” he said with a growl.

    “Wouldn’t dream of it. As I told your wife, I accept the fact that tolerating difficult, eccentric, obsessive clients is a necessary aspect of my work, but I should warn you that I have some limits.”

    For a couple seconds, Elias looked bewildered. Then comprehension lit his fierce eyes. “Are you calling me difficult, eccentric and obsessive?”

    Sam appeared in the doorway. “Take it easy, Dad. You get used to her after a while.” He looked at Abby. “Bill, the lawyer, tracked down the name and address of the psychiatric hospital where Grady Hastings is undergoing observation. We have to go into Seattle tonight for your father’s book-launch event. We’ll stay the night at your place and interview Hastings first thing in the morning.”

    “Sounds like a plan,” Abby said.

    “Any coffee left?”

    “Yep,” Abby said. She picked up the pot.

    Elias rounded on Sam. “She thinks we’re both wackos.”

    “I never said anything of the kind.” Abby frowned. “If I thought you were both out-and-out crazies, I would not have taken you on as clients. And I definitely would not have hired Sam to protect me.”

    “What’s the difference between Sam and me and a couple of crazies?” Elias roared.

    Abby nearly choked on her laughter. She looked at Sam and knew that he was having a hard time biting back a grin. She cleared her throat.

    “An interesting question,” she said. She turned around to pour the coffee. “Let’s just say I know it when I see it.”

    “Are you sure you got the right Abigail Radwell?” Elias asked Sam.

    “Oh, yeah,” Sam said, with deep feeling. “No way there could be two of them, trust me.”

    The wicked, intimate certainty in his words thrilled Abby’s senses. The pot in her hand trembled ever so slightly when she poured the coffee.

    “I don’t get it,” Elias grumbled. “If you think Sam and I are such difficult clients, why did you agree to work for us?”

    “You and your son certainly top my personal list of demanding clients,” Abby said. She put the pot back on the burner and turned around to face the men. “Furthermore, I am convinced that either one of you would cheerfully commit murder if you felt the circumstances warranted it.”

    “What circumstances?” Elias thundered.

    “If you thought it was necessary to protect