Peril in Paperback: A Bibliophile Mystery

it at each of us. “Stay back, all of you.”
    “God.” Peter groaned. “Don’t do this, Sybil.”
    “Who’s going to stop me?” She laughed. “You? That would take balls and you don’t have any.”
    Ouch. I felt bad for Peter, but worse for Grace. I needed to do something to get that gun away from Sybil.
    “I know you killed Bella,” I said.
    Derek’s arm tightened around my waist and he whispered, “Don’t do this.”
    “Why, Sybil?” Grace asked.
    “I hate you,” Sybil said. “I’ve always hated you. You and Peter were the perfect little partners, weren’t you? Always in your own little world, with no room for anyone else. It didn’t matter what we were doing. If you called, Peter dropped everything and ran off to be with you.”
    “It was just business,” Grace whispered.
    “Oh, really?” Sybil said, her voice dripping with scorn. “I know what kind of
business
you had in mind. I read that vile manuscript of yours. And I want you dead more than I want to take my next breath.”
    “Sybil, don’t,” Peter said.
    “Oh, stop talking, Peter,” she said wearily, then turned back to Grace. “I’ve tried to kill you three times now. But you’re like that damn cat of yours.” Her voice was deadly calm as her finger pushed against the trigger. “But that doesn’t matter anymore because this time I won’t miss.”
    “You pushed me down the stairs,” Kiki snapped.
    Sybil glanced at her sideways, then shrugged. “I was trying to get to Grace and you got in my way.”
    Blinking at the woman’s callousness, Kiki said, “I hope you go straight to hell.”
    Go Kiki,
I thought, admiring her spunk.
    “I’ll see all of you there first,” Sybil said silkily.
    Kiki had managed to distract Sybil for a few seconds,anyway. We would all have to keep doing that until someone could get that gun from her.
    “How did you get Ruth to take the poisoned tea to Grace?” I asked, ignoring Derek’s tug in favor of keeping Sybil talking. The more the woman talked, the less chance any of us had of being shot. That was my theory, anyway.
    Sybil sneered at me, but was willing to share her secret. “There’s only one person who drinks that vile crap in this house. They keep a pitcher of it behind the bar. I just filled a glass, added a dollop of weed killer, and set it on top of the bar. It’s not my fault that the old crow grabbed it.” She waved her hand in Ruth’s direction.
    Ruth’s face went pale. “Oh, my God. Oh, my God.” She clutched Grace’s hand. “I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault that Bella’s dead.”
    “No, it’s not, Ruth,” I insisted. “It’s all Sybil’s fault. She used you to get to Grace, but Bella got in the way.”
    Sybil sent me a withering look. “Oh, so high and mighty. Whatever.”
    I was sick of that word
whatever
. It was so dismissive. But I refused to be stopped from seeking answers. “You sent me the dead bird and the tarot card.”
    She gazed at me, her face now devoid of expression. “I’d forgotten about that. The tarot card was for spite, because you think you know so much.”
    I tried not to react. “What about the bird?”
    “That bird was a good find,” she said, nodding as she reminisced. “I saw Ruth burying something bloody in the snow, and when she went back to her house, I dug it up.”
    “You dug up that poor bird?” Ruth asked, shaking her head. “What’s wrong with you?”
    Sybil ignored her in favor of me. “I thought it would warn you off, but you’re quite the stubborn wench. Aren’t you?”
    “Yeah, I am.”
    “Won’t do you any good. And I’m through talking.”She twisted around and pointed the gun at Grace again. “Bye, bitch.”
    “No!” Suzie shouted. “Gabriel, get the gun!”
    Sybil swung and aimed the gun at Gabriel. “I don’t think so.”
    Gabriel raised both hands slowly and stepped back.
    But Suzie had caught Sybil’s attention and now she pointed the gun right at her.
    I heard Vinnie’s soft shriek behind me.
    Suzie clutched Lily tighter in her arms as Sybil considered her for a moment. She took a few steps closer. “Hand over the baby.”
    Suzie swallowed, then clenched her jaw. “Lady, you won’t get this baby out of my arms in a million years.”
    “Just give me the kid.”
    “No.”
    “Hello? Gun?” Sybil waved the gun at her, but Suzie didn’t budge, so she added, “I’m not going to hurt her. I just need her as a shield until I get far enough away from here.”
    An unearthly roar