One Book in the Grave: A Bibliophile Mystery

I prayed, unsure if he heard.
     
    But when we got inside, Max was waiting in the living room, holding his rifle pointed at the door.
     
    Gabriel stood nearby, drinking a beer. “You can put the rifle down now, Quick Draw.”
     
    Max lowered the gun. I sucked in a long breath and let it go. So all was right and safe inside my brother’s house for the moment.
     
    But Max insisted he hadn’t left the mallet outside. He hadn’t even seen that particular tool in years.
     
    His enemies had discovered his hiding place. He was no longer safe in Dharma.
     

Chapter 18
     
    Late that night, Derek and I spirited Max back to San Francisco. I’d offered my loft as the most secure place to stay, at least for a short period of time. Since my home had been broken into a while back, the building security had been upgraded. The parking garage had a shiny new security gate now, and the front door required a more intricate digital code to enter. I had lots of living space and an extra bedroom and bathroom Max could use. Not to mention the fact that Derek, supersecurity guy, was living with me.
    Gabriel decided to remain in Dharma and keep track of Angelica’s and Solomon’s movements during the day. The nights were a different plan altogether. I confess it made my stomach a little queasy to know that Gabriel intended to stay at Jackson’s house during the nights, in hopes of luring the bad guys into a trap.
     
    Of course, after seeing that papermaker’s mallet on the doormat, I wasn’t sure if my stomach would ever be right again.
     
    “I want you to call one of us every four hours,” I demanded before I would give Gabriel the key to Jackson’s place. “I swear I’ll get in the car and drive up here if I don’t hear from you. Then you’ll really be sorry, mister.”
     
    I was channeling my mother again.
     
    “Babe, I’ll be fine,” Gabriel said. “But thanks for worryingabout me. It’s sweet.” Then he kissed me solidly on the lips and grinned as I blinked in dazed surprise.
     
    “Must be time to go,” Derek said wryly.
     
    “Definitely,” I mumbled when I was able to speak again.
     
    I was happy to be home.
    Derek and I showed Max around the house; then I got him set up in the guest bedroom. Once we were all situated, we met at the dining room table, where Derek called Gabriel and put him on speakerphone so we could discuss what we’d all found out over the last two days.
     
    I recounted everything Mrs. Plumley told me about Emily being on a leave of absence. I told them what her parents’ neighbor had said. It wasn’t much information, but it gave Max some hope that Emily and her family were probably out of town and hadn’t met with foul play, as we’d feared.
     
    I also braved Derek’s ire and confessed to everything I’d seen at the Art Institute. I showed Max the retrospective poster and watched the mix of emotions that crossed his face. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it, ultimately. From one angle, it was a huge honor, but, unfortunately, with Angelica putting the whole show together, it was just plain inexplicable.
     
    When I mentioned that Mom and I had gone to Solomon’s classroom, Derek’s eyes turned dark with fury.
     
    “We were in the back,” I said. “He couldn’t see me. And we only stayed a few seconds.” But I knew that was a lie, and gazing at Derek’s face, I could tell he didn’t quite believe me, either.
     
    Derek reported he was looking into Bennie’s criminal record and was also checking into the weapons-arsenal issue. Specifically, he was interested in the buying and selling of guns in the area. If there were more criminals among the Ogunites and other survivalists living in the Hollow, Derek would track them down.
     
    I studied Derek as he spoke and realized he looked exhausted. “Are you all right?”
     
    “You mean besides my irritation with you and your mother for taking chances with your lives?” I gulped as he shook his head and turned to Max. “I apologize for being distracted. We’ve been having a bit of trouble with a new client. Everyone in the office is in a foul mood, and there’s no end in sight.”
     
    That was the problem with having extremely wealthy clients who were used to getting their own way. But this was the first I’d heard of a troublesome client. I guess we’d all been distracted lately.
     
    “That’s okay,” Max said. “I appreciate everything you’re doing.”
     
    Gabriel spoke up from the speakerphone.