Peril in Paperback: A Bibliophile Mystery

time, around the clock, creating new video and arcade games for the company. And why did he do it? Because he was addicted to money. He was a greedy bastard. He made a ton of money but it was never enough.”
    Marko said nothing to defend himself. He just kept staring at Nathan with a half smile on his face, almost as if he were
proud
of him. Bizarre.
    Nathan stopped and glared at his father. “It was never enough. Was it, Marko? You could never have enough to satisfy your own greed. You always wanted more. And what did you do with all that money, Marko? Did you buy your family a nice home? Did you take your wife out to dinner once in a while? Buy her pretty clothes to wear? What about your six-year-old son? Did you buy him a toy now and then? Take him to see a movie?”
    Nathan had worked himself up until his face was contorted with anger. He seemed to realize it and took amoment to straighten his posture and calm himself. He glanced briefly at Merrilee and her soft smile seemed to instill in him a sort of peace. His shoulders relaxed; the lines around his mouth and eyes smoothed. He began to stroll back and forth again, one hand in his pocket as though he didn’t have a care in the world.
    Just when I thought he wasn’t going to say another word, Nathan whirled around and shouted at Marko, “No!”
    I jolted. Nathan was a regular Perry Mason with Marko on the witness stand, about to go down in flames.
    “He hoarded the money. We saw none of it.” Nathan continued aiming an accusing finger at his father. “You never gave us a single dime more than what it took to feed us scraps. You socked your ill-gotten fortune away in some offshore bank. You were a miser, a skinflint, a miserable jerk who made his money by stealing other people’s ideas and selling them to the competition. You disgust me.”
    Silence reigned.
    Wow. Impressive. Nathan had been living in this house with this man all week and I hadn’t had an inkling of his feelings or an inkling of the kind of man Marko really was.
    This might’ve explained Nathan’s bad mood last night, but I had a sneaking feeling that the grumpiness had more to do with Merrilee than with him having to deal with his father.
    But it must have been difficult all week. Had he known how he was going to reveal the truth? Or had he been coasting, waiting for the exact right moment? How could he have socialized all week with the man who had ruined his and his mother’s lives all those years ago?
    I glanced at Derek to get his reaction. He looked back at me with one eyebrow raised as if to say,
Interesting people you’ve been hanging out with.
    Oh, he had no idea. I couldn’t wait to tell him everything.
    Merrilee walked over to Nathan and wrapped her arms around his waist. For a moment he stood rigid; then he almost collapsed into her arms.
    Grace finally spoke up. “Well, Marko, what do you have to say for yourself?”
    Marko’s jaw shifted and his eyes zeroed down to squinty pinholes. Was he thinking up some lame excuses? With his face scrunched up, he looked sort of like a tall, spiky-haired, trapped rat.
    But suddenly he threw his hands up and began to laugh. “Damn, you got me! I’m busted.”
    The room was completely quiet as we all stared at him in amazement.
    “That’s it?” Grace said finally. “That’s all you’ve got to say for yourself?”
    He shrugged. “What am I supposed to say? The boy’s right. I know you won’t believe me, Marky, but I’m proud of you, son. You’ve made something of yourself.”
    “You’re proud of me?” Nathan shook his head in disgust. “This isn’t a family reunion, Pop. I intend to make sure you fry in jail for what you did.”
    Marko snickered nervously. “Pretty sure there’s a statute of limitations out there somewhere, boy. But good luck with that.” He turned to Grace. “I’ll pay back the company if that’ll help.”
    “It will,” she said. “Tell me, Marko: did Bella know that you stole our ideas and sold them to the highest bidder?”
    He hesitated, then frowned. “I couldn’t tell her. I wanted to, but she was too damned honest. I didn’t think she could keep the secret.”
    “Good. I’m glad she had nothing to do with it. I can’t believe she ever had anything to do with you at all.”
    “She never did,” he admitted, scowling. “Not yet, anyway. I was hoping to close the deal this week, but she kept putting me off.”
    “Then she was even smarter than I gave her credit for.” Grace