One Book in the Grave (34 page)

I tried to ignore her migraine-inducing snarls and sputterings as I closed my eyes to conduct a mental checkup of my physical condition. Every muscle in my body groaned in pain. My neck ached and my head was pounding like I’d gone ten rounds with the champ. I guess I had, sort of.

Apparently my face was also bloody and bruised. Saving Emily made it all worth it, but why did the events of this horrific night also involve my saving two people who didn’t deserve it—Minka and Solomon?

That whole Nemesis thing Guru Bob had talked about was highly overrated. Right now, all I wanted to be was the mild-mannered bookbinder I’d always been.

“Darling Brooklyn.” Derek knelt on the tarp and took hold of my hand.

I told him what had happened in the parking lot with Melody, then blurted out, “I should have stayed inside the restaurant.”

“Yes, you should have.” He ran his knuckles gently along my hairline. “But by going outside and talking to her, you helped lead us straight to Emily. You saved her.”

“What took you so long to get here?”

He paused, then said, “Gabriel ran into Melody.”

“He ran into her?”

His mouth twisted in a sardonic grin. “To be accurate, Melody ran into him. She tried to run him down with her burgundy van.”

“Is he all right?” I whispered. “Those women are formidable. And crazy to boot.”

“He’s fit as a fiddle. He shot out her tire and she ran the van into a tree.”

“Good,” I said darkly. “I thought I saw him wrestle Crystal to the ground.”

“You did indeed. You’ve no need to worry about Gabriel any longer.”

“I’m glad,” I muttered. But I was going to hold a grudge against both sisters for a long time to come.

Derek stretched out on his side next to me and wrapped his arm over me. My anger faded and I was warm and safe for the first time in a few hours.

“Darling,” he murmured. “It was brave and ingenious of you to leave a chocolate trail. How did you ever think of it?”

I smiled, then moaned from the stinging pain around my eye. I figured I must look like a black-and-blue hag, but Derek didn’t seem to mind.

“Chocolate saves lives,” I whispered.

He laughed. “
You
saved lives. You did a fantastic job of keeping Crystal from killing all of you, even if you had to put your pretty face in harm’s way to do so. I’m very
proud of you.” He leaned over and barely touched his lips to my cheek.

“I love you,” I said.

His smile was radiant. “You said it first,” he whispered, playing with my hair.

“I did.” I laughed softly. “Well, then, it must be true.”

“I hope so. I love you, too, my darling.”

I smiled and closed my eyes. For a guy like Derek, I might even be willing to play Nemesis one more time.

There was the little matter of traipsing back to civilization through the dark woods. We were a merry band of cops, EMTs, heroes, and walking wounded. Derek offered to carry me, but while I was proud of my relatively low body-mass index, I wasn’t about to test our relationship by letting him stagger through the forest with me in his arms.

Emily, however, was in no condition to walk a half mile through the dark, rough woods in the middle of the night, so Max carried her. Emily was sunburned and bruised and a bit traumatized, but she insisted that she would be fine as long as she was with Max.

Despite my aches and bumps and bruises, the walk might have been tolerable if it weren’t for Minka. She bitched and ranted and shrieked at every brush of a tree branch against her, every root she lurched over, every bush she bumped against. All I could hear was her angry voice as she seethed and fumed, mainly about me. She refused to take responsibility for her own paranoid actions that led to her being kidnapped by Crystal Byers. No, it was all my fault. I was the Death Zone. Disaster loomed all around me. Beware to anyone who stepped within my Circle of Doom.

Derek hugged me close as Minka vowed loudly and repeatedly never to come within a thousand yards of me again.

Oh, if only she meant it. Honestly, what had I done to deserve being stalked by bloodletting survivalists and Minka LaBoeuf?

Two weeks later, my living room was cleansed and purified of all lingering dead-body vibes and their associated cooties. My bookshelves arrived and we assembled them during a party that I’d actually planned. We all had much more fun than at the previous impromptu gathering, the one ruined by that party-crashing zombie Angelica.

Mom reported that the dust had finally settled in Dharma and the survivalists had crawled back into their Hollow. Of course, the whole town would be dining on the gossip stirred up by Solomon and the Byers sisters for the next two years.

Emily had recovered fully from her kidnapping ordeal. She and Max had traveled back and forth to the Cleveland Clinic, where her father was responding positively to the latest round of drug therapy. Emily was hopeful that he would be able to come home in the next month or so, in time for the wedding.

Crystal and Melody Byers were in jail. And if there was a God in heaven, the sisters would be wearing matching orange jumpsuits for a long, long time.

At the farmers’ market in Dharma, all the local Ogunites were out in force, collecting money for the Byers Sisters Defense Fund. All of them, that was, except Mary Ellen Prescott, the manicurist who was only now
proclaiming loudly that she always suspected that the sisters had murderous intentions.

Solomon had been held for questioning in Joe Taylor’s murder, but a clue emerged that proved Angelica had been there on the day Joe was killed. Two of her long, curly hairs were found, one trapped in the screen door leading to the alley behind the store, and one on the back of the blue chair in the antiquarian room.

Solomon and his lawyer did everything they could to blame Angelica in the harassment and attempted-murder charges Max had pressed. The he said/she said strategy appeared to be working, and Solomon was eventually released.

I was no longer certain that Solomon was a psychopath, but he was a ruthless bully and a manipulator. The one bright light was that Inspector Lee had taken such an instant dislike to Solomon that she was determined to work like a bloodhound tracking down enough evidence to send him to prison. Several weeks later, Lee’s efforts came to fruition when she found an eyewitness who had seen Solomon rigging Max’s staircase a few hours before Emily’s mother arrived and was hurt so badly. With any luck, more witnesses would be found and Solomon would end up spending a few years behind bars after all.

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon when Derek and I traveled back to Dharma for the official reengagement party for Max and Emily.

I’d invited everyone who had anything to do with the odd adventure we’d been through recently. Gabriel, Ian, all my neighbors. Even Mary Ellen Prescott, but only because she’d seen right through the Byers sisters’ perky-blond facade.

The party was held on my parents’ terrace and even Guru Bob was in attendance. We’d had a little talk beforehand that had left me with more questions than answers. But I would think about that later. Now it was time to party. The champagne was flowing and Savannah had catered the affair, so the food was spectacular.

I left Derek talking with Dad and Austin, and went to find Emily. She looked adorable in a pink dress with striped white and green piping around the waist, neck, and cuffs.

After we greeted each other with a tight hug, I said, “Emily, you look so beautiful.”

“Thanks.” She blushed and moved closer to whisper, “Your mother suggested a quick trip to the Laughing Goat sweat lodge and I think it worked wonders.”

I tried not to roll my eyes as I backed away to scrutinize her more intently. “Mom swears by their fifteen-point detoxification program, and I have to admit it’s definitely working for you.”

I didn’t care how refreshed Emily appeared; I wasn’t about to slather myself in curried ghee and huddle inside a sweat lodge for a week. Mom swore by a lot of things I wouldn’t dream of taking her up on, including cosmic bilocation, espresso enemas, and gandoosha. Don’t ask.

I was all for a healthy complexion, but I was just as happy to leave the purging and gargling to Mom.

Emily told me she’d already found a new job teaching second graders in Marin County. She would start after the winter break, when she would move into Max’s farmhouse in the hills above Point Reyes Station.

“I’m there every weekend now,” she said.

“So you and Clyde?”

“We’re like this,” she said, holding up her crossed fingers. We both laughed.

“And how do you like the goats?”

“I love them,” she gushed. “And Max has created a new goat-cheese blend in my honor.”

“Ooh, what’s in it?”

“It’s a blend of sweet goat cheese, chocolate, and raspberries. It sold out the first day he took it into town.”

“Mm. I hope I can taste it someday soon.”

“You will.” She gave me a bashful look and added, “He calls the concoction Beauty and the Beast.”

“Aww,” we said in unison, then laughed together.

I hugged her once more, promised that Derek and I
would come to Point Reyes for a weekend soon, and left her to mingle.

There were so many people I wanted to talk to, but none more than my best pal, Robin, who was currently negotiating to sell her Noe Valley flat in the city in anticipation of moving back to Dharma to live with my brother Austin.

We hugged, then stood yakking excitedly with our arms around each other. I’d known her since the first day my family arrived in Dharma, and we were still inseparable whenever possible.

She let me know how happy she was with Austin, and I gave her the quickie version of the Max Adams scandal. Then she laughed when I told her that Guru Bob had suggested I was destined to remain a Nemesis, seeking vengeance and justice for the dead.

“Why are you laughing?” I whined. “It isn’t funny.”

“I’m laughing
with
you,” she assured me, and squeezed my arm. “Look, I never would have survived the murder in my apartment if not for you and Derek. And then I found Austin, and my life is so full now. I’m happy, Brooklyn, and it’s all your fault.”

“Okay, I’ll gladly take responsibility for you being happy.” Robin had been in love with Austin since we were in third grade.

“Good,” she said with an affectionate bump of her head against mine. “And now that you’ve worked your magic for Max and Emily, you can’t quit now.”

“That’s what I was afraid of.”

Robin chuckled again, and I let it go. I was fine with the happily-ever-after part of the equation. It was just the part about tripping over dead bodies—or having them delivered to my door—that tended to get me down.

We both used up another tissue as we watched Austin and Max in close conversation. They had reunited briefly the night Emily was kidnapped, but this was the first chance they’d had to talk. The two had been best friends growing up and Austin had mourned Max’s death as deeply as any of us. I held my breath when it looked like
Austin might punch Max in the stomach, but instead he punched his arm, then grabbed him in a tight bear hug that had everyone sniffling a little.

I mingle<>d some more, then spied Derek prowling the perimeter of the terrace. I smiled, reminded of the first time I ever saw him at the Covington Library. He’d been prowling and stalking then, too. Little did I realize at the time that it was me he’d been watching so intently.

That thought brought back something Derek had said to me a few weeks back, so I circled and met him halfway. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and held me close.

I looked up at him. “Do you remember, before all the craziness happened with Max, you said we needed to talk? What was that about?”

He nodded, then glanced around at the crowd. “It’s nothing that can’t wait until we’re alone.”

“Now you’ve got me curious. Can you give me a hint?”

He touched his forehead to mine. “I think it’s time we discussed our current living arrangement.”

Concerned, I stared into his eyes, trying to gauge his feelings. “Are you unhappy with it?”

His eyes narrowed, causing mine to widen anxiously. Then he laughed. “Not at all. But I do think we need more room.”

“You want to move?”

“And leave Vinnie and Suzie?” he said, his tone teasing. “Never. No, I simply thought I might buy the unit next door to yours and open up the wall between the two. If you’re amenable, that is.”

“If I’m amenable?” I blinked, then swallowed. “Yes, I believe I am.”

He grinned, then kissed me. “Good. We can talk about the details later.”

“Okay.” I breathed deeply, relieved and scared and still a little shocked all at the same time. This was so unexpected. I mean, we were living together, but we weren’t
living together
. And of course I was crazy about him, but
I still wasn’t sure what to think. I decided to try to relax and enjoy the party. I’d be doing a lot of thinking about things later.

Derek gazed across the terrace. “This might be the perfect moment to give the guests of honor their gift.”

I turned and saw Emily and Max talking quietly by themselves. “Yes, let’s go.”

Emily had insisted that none of the partygoers bring gifts, but mine was an exception to the rule. Derek and I walked up to them, followed by some of the friends and family who knew about the surprise.

I handed them the newly restored
Beauty and the Beast.
Emily started to protest, until she saw what it was.

“Oh, Brooklyn,” Emily said, holding her breath as she opened the crimson outer case and saw the book inside. “Oh, it’s stunning.”

I rushed to explain, “I know you originally wanted to keep the book all scruffy and tattered like my friend Max here.”

Emily giggled and Max smiled indulgently.

“But I just couldn’t deal with all the negative energy inside the pages. Those were some nasty hooves holding on to this book for too many years.”

There were a few chuckles, and I took advantage of the moment to breathe. Then I continued to talk, trying to justify my decision and rationalize why I hadn’t consulted with them on the final design. “Anyway, I went ahead and restored its timeless beauty. I hope you love the new version and find it beautiful. As new and beautiful and timeless as your love for each other.”