One Book in the Grave: A Bibliophile Mystery

glittering in his eyes. “I know, but earlier she was talking about hiking down to the stream.” He opened the sliding-glass door.
     
    A woman’s piercing scream echoed through the canyon.
     
    “That’s her. Emily!” Max shouted, and dashed out the door. He crossed the small terrace in two strides and raced toward the top of the narrow footpath we’d found the other day. Within seconds, he disappeared down the steep hill.
     
    I sprinted back into the house and down the hall to my room, where I grabbed my cell phone. Then I bolted outside and over to the edge of the canyon to watch Max’s progress as he hurtled dangerously down the treacherous dirt path. I cringed as a miniature rock slide caused his feet to wobble and he had to stop a few times to regain his balance.
     
    “Be careful,” I shouted. Okay, that wasn’t helpful advice at this point, so I did the only other useful thing I could think of. I wanted to call Derek, but Gabriel was closer, so I pressed his number on speed dial.
     
    He answered on the first ring and I’d never been so happy to hear his voice.
     
    “Emily’s been kidnapped,” I said in a breathless rush. I didn’t know that for sure, but why else would she scream? Why else would she be gone? “Please come quickly. And can you call Derek and ask him to get up here? Hurry, Gabriel. I’m going into the canyon with Max to look for her.”
     
    “Damn it, Brook—”
     
    “Can’t wait, Gabriel. I have to go.”
     
    “Br—”
     
    I ended the call before he could start shouting. And if I didn’t want to hear Gabriel’s shouts, I
really
didn’t want to hear Derek’s. I hated knowing he would worry for the next hour, all the way over from San Francisco. But I couldn’t think about that right now. I shoved the phone into my pocket and followed Max down into the canyon.
     
    I was halfway down the canyon when I skidded on a patch of loose rock. I fell on my ass, but managed to grab hold of a small, prickly bush. My hand was stinging and my butt ached, but I couldn’t complain. The little bush had kept me from plummeting headfirst down the steep, rocky hill.
    I pushed myself up off the ground, then jolted at the sound of car tires screeching in the distance. A plume of dust and dirt rose into the air from the bottom of the canyon a few hundred yards away.
     
    “Son of a bitch!” Max shouted, his voice echoing against the solid rock walls. And I knew without a doubt that Emily was gone.
     
    I sat down in the dirt and called Gabriel back.
     

Chapter 24
     
    “This ends right here and now,” Max said, stalking the living room like a caged lion. “I’m not hiding anymore. They’ve managed to find out where we are within days, anyway, so why bother?”
    “You’re right,” Derek said, his tone deadly serious. “There’s no use being discreet now that they’ve taken Emily.”
     
    He’d broken world speed records getting back to Dharma by two o’clock and had quickly run back to our room to change from his expensive, navy pin-striped suit into dark jeans, a black T-shirt, and black leather jacket. When he walked back into the living room, I took one look at him and had to remember to breathe. The man looked damn good in black—that’s all I can say.
     
    “I got a glimpse of the car,” Max said, pounding his fist against his palm as he circled the room. “I couldn’t see the exact make or model and it was too muddy to read the license plate, but I could tell it was a dark burgundy van.”
     
    “Late model?”
     
    “No. Sort of boxy, so it’s got to be a few years old. I drew a picture of it and also sketched the tire tracks.” He pulled a folded sheet of paper from his pocket and smoothed it out on the dining table.
     
    “Are you sure these are the tracks of the same van?”
     
    “Hell, yeah. I went running after it when they took off with Emily, so I know which tracks were theirs.”
     
    “Brilliant, Max,” Derek said, patting him on the back. “The police should be able to match this drawing to one of the survivalists’ vehicles. Smart of you to think of it.”
     
    Max shrugged. “I had nothing better to do once you talked me off the ledge.”
     
    Earlier, I could barely get Max to come up from the canyon floor. When he did finally hike back up to the house, he was enraged, out of his mind with fear, and frantic to go after Emily. He was threatening to take out his rifle and shoot someone—and I couldn’t blame him. But I also