One Book in the Grave: A Bibliophile Mystery

this.”
     
    He let me go and we both collapsed on the couch. We really were like brother and sister. It was amazing that we’d fallen back into the same old behavior patterns so quickly.
     
    After a minute, I pushed myself off the couch. “I’vegot something to show you.” I found my bag, pulled out
Beauty and the Beast
and handed it to him.
     
    Max unwrapped the tissue paper and stared at the book for a long time. Opening it, he ran his fingers over the dedication he’d written to Emily a little more than three years ago.
     
    “I’m just going to say this once,” I murmured, standing next to the couch. “You should’ve had more faith in her.”
     
    He looked up at me and smiled crookedly. “You said it once already, so that makes twice.”
     
    “Okay, smart-ass,” I said, smiling. “That’s the last time I’ll say it.”
     
    He studied the book, his slow breaths in and out the only sounds he made. A minute later, the smile was gone as he gazed at me again. “I lost faith in everyone, Brooklyn. I was thirty-two years old, but in a lot of ways, I was still a kid and scared to death. I couldn’t deal with the insanity, so I ran. Maybe that was a mistake, but I couldn’t see any other way out. And I’d do the same thing again in a heartbeat to keep Emily safe.”
     
    “Oh, Max.” I sat and wrapped him up in a bear hug, then used his shirt to wipe the sappy tears from my eyes.
     
    Derek and I drove back to my parents’ house later that night and managed to get a good night’s sleep in my luxuriously decorated bedroom.
    When I woke up the next morning, I had a plan fully formed in my mind. I knew how we could find the answers to our biggest questions from last night.
     
    The plan was simple. The Art Institute was close to Dharma, barely eight miles away in nearby Sonoma. The students and professors all lived in the area. Some were in my own family. Why not enlist their help?
     
    “It’s not only simple and easy, it’s also subtle,” I announced, as Mom placed a platter of eggs, bacon, potatoes, and fruit in front of me. She’d insisted on waiting on all of us this morning. There was a smaller plate of toast, butter, and several different jams. Enough to feeda medium-sized country, as usual. “Are we expecting company?”
     
    “Are we?” Mom said cryptically.
     
    “Okay,” I said, letting that go. People had b     
    Mom’s ears perked up. “I can be subtle. What’s the plan?”
     
    Derek walked into the dining room just then and shot me a look of incredulity. No, Mom wasn’t known for her subtlety and Derek knew it, but I figured we could work on it. Derek’s eyes narrowed on me. “What plan is she referring to?”
     
    I took a good, long gander at Derek and had to smile. The man looked way too dapper for someone who had awakened in a strange house at the crack of seven o’clock in the morning.
How does he do it?
I wondered. He appeared ready to sit down at a baccarat table in Monaco and ante up two million dollars or so, then parachute over a cliff into shark-infested waters to rescue an errant nuclear device.
     
    And he wasn’t even wearing a tuxedo, just jeans with a thick, forest green flannel shirt. So it had to be the British vibe. He’d been born dapper. He’d probably worn dapper diapers. Now, that was a weird image.
     
    I chuckled at the direction of my reverie, then realized he was still watching me as he poured his coffee. He took a sip, then shook his head. “What goes on in that mind of yours?”
     
    His voice was still a bit gravelly, so maybe he did have a tiny chink in his all-too-perfect armor. Good to know.
     
    “You don’t want to know,” I murmured, taking a bite of toast.
     
    “You’re probably right.” He sat down next to me, caught my chin, and angled my face so he could kiss me soundly. “Good morning, love.”
     
    “Good morning,” I whispered.
     
    Mom walked back into the room and set another plate in front of Derek.
     
    “You don’t have to cook for us, Rebecca,” he said.
     
    “Don’t be silly. I love cooking for you.” She sat down across from us and sipped from a cup of tea. “Let’s hear the plan.”
     
    “Yes, let’s do hear all about it,” Derek said with a touch of sarcasm.
     
    Flipping him a supercilious look, I said, “The thing is, Dharma’s a small town. Small-town people pay