One Book in the Grave: A Bibliophile Mystery

All of a sudden she smiled. “Hey—we made some more fruit jewelry using your mother’s Fuji apples. They’re really pretty. You should come to the farmers’ market tomorrow.”
     
    “I’ll try to come by. See you, Melody.” I turned to leave, but something sharp and painful slammed against my head and I went flying forward. And that’s the last thing I remembered.
     
    I woke up in darkness, completely disoriented and with a blinding headache. I was covered up and lying on something cold and bumpy and moving so much that I kept sliding. After another few seconds, I realized I was on the floor of a truck or a van and someone was driving it around curves and up a hill.
    Because of the tarp covering me, I couldn’t see who was driving. But I knew it had to be Melody.
     
    So now what?
I hadn’t even screamed to alert Derekand Gabriel, so I was on my own. Or was I? Maybe they had heard the screen door slam shut when I walked outside to talk to Melody. Maybe they were following us. I had to cling to that small possibility if I was going to survive with my wits intact.
     
    Melody would arrive at her destination eventually, so I had to come up with a plan, fast. I maneuvered myself around under the tarp until I was facing the back doors of the van. Then I got up on my hands and knees. And waited.
     
    I replayed my conversation with Crystal at the farmers’ market the other day. She had been gushing over Solomon, to the point where I was slightly revolted. But I never thought it meant she loved him in the worst way, which was what that scene in the cabin bedroom clearly suggested.
     
    Crystal must have been the woman who lured Solomon to the cabin with promises of sex and God knows what else. Solomon had confessed that he hadn’t been grateful enough for some big favor she had done for him. Had Crystal killed Angelica as a favor to Solomon? As the van lumbered around another curve and I skidded across the cold steel flooring, I had my answer. It had to have been Crystal. With help from her sister, Melody?
     
    Five minutes later, the van pulled to a stop and I heard the driver’s door open and slam shut. Seconds later, the back doors were flung open and I sprang forward. Directly into Crystal.
     
    Crystal screamed and threw her hands up. I tackled her and we both fell hard onto the ground. I scrambled to my feet and took off running. But it was pitch-black and there were trees everywhere. We were in the thick woods near the top of a hill and the moon was behind a heavy cloud. I couldn’t see a thing, but I kept running, anyway, my hands out in front of me for protection. I bumped into a tree and careened around another one, but kept going. I wasn’t quick enough, though, and after another thirty feet or so, Crystal grabbed my jacket and yanked me backward and down to the ground.
     
    “I’m really sorry, Brooklyn,” she said. “I hate to hurt you, but you need to stop running away.”
     
    Strangely enough, she sounded sincere.
     
    I had to shake my head to clear it. With one hand Crystal pulled me to my feet, and it took me a few steps to get my equilibrium back. That’s when I noticed the deadly-looking gun she held pointed at me.
     
    “Crystal, why are you doing this?”
     
    “I heard you through the window of the cabin and saw you take Solomon away. I followed your car down to the restaurant to see if I could help him, but the police were already there. So I sent Melody over to distract you.” The gun shook as she spoke and I knew she was nervous. I didn’t know if that was good or bad, but I knew Crystal wasn’t really a bad person. Not like Solomon or Angelica.
     
    “Crystal, let’s talk about this. I can contact the police for you. Don’t get yourself in trouble by kidnapping me.”
     
    “I have to think. Walk that way and let me think.” She nudged the gun in the direction she wanted me to go and I turned and started walking. I stumbled over a tree root but managed to right myself. Feeling achy now, I clutched my jacket closer to me—and remembered my pockets were full of Hershey’s Kisses. I pulled one out and dropped it on the ground, then repeated the same thing every fifty steps or so.
     
    Crystal put the gun in her pocket and pulled me along as though she knew exactly where she was going, probably because she did. I couldn’t see a thing in this deep part of the woods, but Crystal seemed to know her way without the aid of moonlight. She was as good a survivalist as