Peril in Paperback: A Bibliophile Mystery

or sliding paneled walls to trip me up. I was breathing easier by the time I entered the cheery informal dining room. And I was thrilled to see a familiar face at the table, gripping a coffee cup.
    “Babe,” Gabriel said without smiling.
    I took in his stern expression, then noticed Madge sitting next to him. She kept scooting her chair closer and eyeing him with a look of hunger that had nothing to do with breakfast. Madge was hungry for Gabriel.
    No wonder he stared at me with such complete focus. I knew I had to rescue him.
    “I’ll be ready to go in just a minute,” I said.
    “Good.” He looked at Madge. “Excuse me.” Then he shoved back his chair and stood. He looked at me and jerked his head toward the door, grabbed his coffee mug, and walked out of the room.
    I got the message that I was to follow him. He probably had some vitally important news to tell me. Perhaps it had to do with Kiki. I really wanted to hear what he had to say, but I wasn’t going to go anywhere until I got some food. I’d been wandering the halls for the past twenty minutes and I was peckish, to say the least.
    If Madge’s eyes had been laser beams, I would be dead by now. She was glaring at me as though I’d stolen her favorite teddy bear. But I managed to ignore her completely. She was pathetic if she thought that Gabriel would give her the time of day, but hope springs eternal, I suppose.
    I grabbed one doughnut and a cup of coffee. Then I heard murmurings and knew that the big glazed monsteron the end was calling my name. I couldn’t ignore it. Nor could I ignore the chocolate-covered buttermilk beauty crooning at me.
    And just in case, I went back and snagged an apple fritter. Because they contained apples, a good source of essential minerals. Yeah.
    Dear Lord, I walked out of there with four doughnuts. It was too insane, so I ran back and returned the fritter to its platter. Taking a big bite of the glazed doughnut, I strolled out of the dining room and spied Gabriel standing halfway down the hall, staring out a window.
    “What’s up?” I asked as soon as I spotted him. “How’s Kiki doing?”
    He turned and his dark eyes studied me for a few long seconds. I stared back, momentarily captivated. I’m not sure how I could forget, but sometimes it slipped my mind that Gabriel was so gorgeous that some women would probably kill to get this close to him. His intensity seemed to grow as the silence lingered.
    “Gabriel?” I said, mentally shaking myself. “What is it?”
    The intensity passed and one side of his mouth quirked up. “You’ve got glazed sugar on your chin.”
    I raised my eyebrows. “That’s it? That’s what you wanted to tell me?”
    “No, babe,” he murmured, “but I can’t talk to you without doing this first.”
    I held my breath as he took hold of my chin and brushed his paper napkin across that part of my face. Then he dabbed it on the corners of my mouth. “There. All gone.”
    “Um, thank you?” I touched my chin to make sure the crumbs were gone. There were possibly several hundred million women on this earth who would’ve been tingling with excitement if a man like Gabriel had touched them in that innocent, intimate way. I, on the other hand, was unfazed by his charms.
    Oh, who was I kidding? I wasn’t completely immune.You could count me in with those gazillion women, too. But while it was a total thrill to be standing up close and personal with Gabriel, Derek Stone was my guy. He was the one man who made me completely happy. So why wasn’t he here right now? Why wasn’t he investigating this gnarly murder case with me? Why wasn’t he brushing crumbs off my chin? I missed my partner in crime.
    Gabriel touched my arm. “Hey, are you crying?”
    I jerked my arm away. “What? No. Of course not.”
    “Oh, hell. You are. Come here.” He held both my elbows firmly while he stared at me. “What is it? What happened? Did somebody say something to you? Are you hurt? Damn it, Brooklyn, tell me what’s wrong.”
    “Jeez, Gabriel. Chill out.” I laughed but it sounded more like a wheeze. Something tickled my cheek and I took a swipe at it. My fingers came away damp. How annoying! I shook my head, sniffled, then smiled up at him. “I’m fine. I’m okay. Maybe I’m catching a cold. I just…oh, God.”
    He yanked me into his arms and hugged me tightly. After a minute, he whispered in my ear, “Where’s the Brit?”
    He meant Derek Stone, of course.
    “On assignment in