Read It and Weep (A Library Lover's Mystery) (8 page)

As Robbie was illuminated by the light, a scream sounded and the entire room erupted into chaos. Lindsey rushed forward and clambered up onto the stage, reaching Robbie first. Violet knelt beside her.

“Robbie, are you all right?” Lindsey asked. Her hands were shaking and she blinked. “Ugh, sorry. Clearly, you’re not.”

He glanced up at her from where he lay. “No, no, it’s just a flesh wound in my arm, but I was afraid to move lest I meet my adversary’s knife point again.”

“What are you saying?” Violet asked.

“Someone stabbed me, love,” he said. His voice was low so that only the two of them and the person next to Violet with the flashlight could hear him. “Shortly after the lights went out the knife went in.”

“S
hine the light here, please,” Lindsey said.

The person holding the flashlight knelt down, and she saw that it was Sully. He shined the light onto the gash on Robbie’s arm. It looked like a messy stabbing. Robbie’s shirtsleeve was ripped and soaked in blood. When Lindsey pulled back the edge of the fabric, she could see that the cut was a deep slice made by a very sharp knife.

She glanced up and met Sully’s gaze in the glow of the light. Her own concern was mirrored in his eyes.

“It’s still bleeding,” she said. “I need something to tie it off.”

“There’s a first aid kit out on the loading dock,” Sully said. “I’ll go get it.”

He handed the flashlight to Violet and disappeared.

“Moves like a shadow, he does,” Robbie said as they watched Sully leave. “Impressive for such a big man.”

Lindsey frowned at him. Surely he was not implying that Sully had been the one with the knife?

“I think your shirt is beyond repair,” she said. “Do you mind if I use it to stop the blood flow?”

“Be my guest,” he said.

Lindsey tore the sleeve off where the fabric had been slashed by the knife. She folded it into a pad and pressed it onto the cut. She hoped the pressure would slow the bleeding.

“I don’t understand,” Violet said. “How could this happen?”

“Really, Violet?” Robbie asked. “I know you don’t cook, but surely the purpose of a knife hasn’t escaped you.”

“You know what I mean—” Violet began but she was cut off as a body came tripping toward them out of the dark.

“Robbie!” Lola crouched down on his other side and hugged him close. “Are you all right? What happened? Did you fall?”

“I’m fine,” he said. He spoke through gritted teeth, and Lindsey realized the jostling Lola was giving him was causing him severe pain.

“How about the lights?” Violet turned and yelled up toward the balcony. “Ian, any luck?”

Another beam of light shone down from the balcony for a second before it vanished again.

“I’m working on it,” Ian yelled. There was the sound of banging and some cursing.

“Here, let me help you up,” Lola said. Her long, brown hair was tied back and she wore a low-cut blouse, which gave Lindsey an eyeful of cleavage when she bent over to lift Robbie up by the underarms.

Robbie let out a hiss when Lola tried to drag him to his feet. Lindsey moved with them to keep the pressure on his arm. She looked at the wadded-up shirtsleeve and noted it was saturated in blood.

“Lola, get off of him,” Violet snapped. “In fact, back up and move away. Everyone else sit ti—”

In a flash, light filled the theater again. Lindsey blinked and glanced around the stage. She caught a glimpse of Milton and Ms. Cole holding hands just before Ms. Cole snatched her hand away. Beth was huddled in a corner with Dylan, Perry and Heather, while several crew members were stranded on the piece of set they’d been painting at the back.

“Robbie, your arm. Oh, my god, you’ve been cut!” Lola said. She looked closely at the blood-soaked rag and then slumped on top of him in a dead faint.

“Oh, good grief,” Violet said. “Someone check her, please.”

Sully wound his way back to Lindsey and handed her the first aid kit. Without a word, he rolled Lola off of Robbie’s chest. Her face was pale, but she was breathing.

“Fainted,” Sully said. “Luckily, Vine broke her fall.”

“Can you take her to get some air?” Violet asked. “In fact, everyone go out front for a few minutes and get some fresh air. We’ll call you when we’re ready to rehearse again.”

The voices of the cast and crew rose and fell as they scattered from the stage. Lindsey watched as Sully lifted Lola up into his arms as if she weighed no more than a child and carried her out front with the others. She felt a twinge of what she suspected was jealousy but she refused to acknowledge it. Sully was just helping the woman; besides, whatever Sully did was no business of hers.

She turned back to Robbie. “Can you sit up?”

“Sure,” he said. She and Violet spotted him while he pushed himself up into a sitting position. Gently, they shifted him so that he was leaning against a piece of the set designed to look like a cave.

“I’m going to get some rags for that blood,” Violet said. “Be right back.”

“Hold this,” Lindsey said to Robbie. He put his hand over the shirtsleeve still pressed to his cut.

Lindsey popped open the metal first aid kit. It had disinfectant wipes, rolls of gauze and assorted bandages. It would do until Robbie got the wound dressed by a professional.

She glanced at his arm. What remained of his sleeve needed to be rolled up, so she tentatively began to fold back the shirt.

The bottom of a tattoo appeared, and curious, Lindsey pushed the fabric up a bit more so she could see it. It was a stylized sun done in reds and yellows with a blue outline. In the center of the sun was a date: 10-23-95.

“Nice tattoo,” she said.

“It marks the most significant day of my life,” he said, “although I didn’t know it at the time.”

Lindsey remembered Nancy’s lighthouse tattoo and she felt her throat get tight. What was it Charlie had said? A person’s tattoos could give insight into the most important events of his life?

“Sometimes dates are like that,” she said. “You don’t know it’s important until later.”

“Indeed,” Robbie agreed. “Sort of like September fourteenth of this year.”

Lindsey looked at him. “What happened on that day?”

“I met you.”

His gaze met and held hers, and Lindsey felt her pulse pound in her ears. She wasn’t ready. She couldn’t feel that way about someone yet. And he was so far out of her league. Her thoughts chased each other around in her head until she couldn’t think.

She glanced down at his cut, breaking the moment.

“Let me know if I hurt you,” she said.

He didn’t answer, and she glanced up to make certain he heard her. Their faces were just inches apart.

“You won’t,” he said.

Lindsey blew out a breath and took the wadded-up fabric off of his cut. She then reached into the kit and took out the alcohol wipes.

“This is probably going to sting,” she said.

The cut was a clean slice and probably it was going to require stitches, but the worst of the bleeding seemed to be over.

Lindsey shook out one of the wipes and gently dabbed at the cut. Robbie sucked in a breath through his teeth and she cringed, knowing it was going to get worse before it got better.

She held his arm still with one hand and ran the cloth over the cut with the other. She felt his muscles bunch beneath her fingers, and he let loose a string of mild curses while he kicked at the floor with one of his feet.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Lindsey said. “I know it hurts. Just one more pass and it’ll be good, I think.”

She swabbed the cut one last time and Robbie let out a shout.

“Are you all right?” she asked. “Is there anything I can do?”

“One thing,” he said through gritted teeth. And before Lindsey realized his intent, Robbie cupped the back of her head and kissed her.

Lindsey was too surprised to move and the kiss was over before she could even register what had happened. In fact, the only thing that convinced her of what had actually just happened was the fact that her lips were still tingling. Well, that and the fact that Sully had returned to the stage and was glaring at them.

“Okay, then, let’s get that bandaged up, shall we?” she asked.

Robbie grinned at her. It was a wicked grin, the sort that bespoke all sorts of trouble for the person on the receiving end of it. Lindsey found herself grinning back, although she knew if she’d had any sense of self-preservation she wouldn’t have.

While she wrapped Robbie’s arm, she was increasingly aware of Sully, who had been joined by Ian and Violet. The three of them were having a low, murmured conversation, but she couldn’t make out what was being said.

“You seem to be having a lot of bad luck on the stage lately,” she said to Robbie.

“Agreed.” He sighed. “I’m getting the feeling that someone is not interested in seeing me play Puck.”

“Well, you are—” Lindsey stopped before she finished her sentence.

“I am what?” he asked.

Lindsey paused while wrapping the gauze around his arm and met his gaze.

“You are a bit of a polarizing personality,” she said.

“Me?” he asked. He looked so surprised at this that Lindsey had to laugh.

“Surely you’ve noticed,” she said. “You seem to bring out either the absolute best in people or the worst.”

Robbie watched her while she fastened a strip of adhesive tape around his arm to keep the gauze in place.

“I hadn’t thought of it like that,” he said. “I guess my only question now is—”

“Who do you bring out the worst in and why would they want to harm you?” she asked.

“No, actually,” he said. Lindsey glanced at him in surprise and again she was overly aware of their close proximity. Up close, the green in his eyes was as vibrant as a new leaf, and she noted that his eyelashes were blond on the tips.

His voice was lower when he continued, “My question is what do I bring out in you, Lindsey? The best or the worst?”

Lindsey felt her throat go dry. She swallowed hard, trying to think of a way to answer that didn’t encourage him, but then she wondered if that was really what she wanted.

“Time to go see a doctor, Vine,” a voice said from behind them.

Lindsey snapped her head up and saw Sully standing behind Robbie with his arms crossed over his chest and an annoyed look on his face.

“Oh, I think Lindsey has patched me up just fine,” Robbie said. His eyes were still on Lindsey and he made no move to rise.

“Sorry, Violet’s orders. Here let me help you,” Sully said. He didn’t wait for Robbie to stand but hooked him under the arms and hauled him to his feet.

“Thanks, mate,” Robbie said, although Lindsey noted that he sounded more annoyed than grateful.

“You should have a doctor look at it, just to be on the safe side,” she said. She stood beside them, clutching the first aid kit to her chest.

“After you,” Sully said. He nudged Robbie in the direction of the stairs—and he was none too gentle about it.

“Well, I see what you mean about the worst,” Robbie muttered to Lindsey as he passed her. He made a mock horrified look at Sully, and Lindsey smiled.

“Thanks for taking care of me,” he said. Then he blew her a kiss and Lindsey felt her face get hot.

She watched as he walked up the aisle and pushed through the door to the lobby. She barely caught a glimpse of Lola as she pounced on Robbie once he stepped outside. She knew it shouldn’t bother her, but still she turned away from the sight.

Sully was standing there watching her, and Lindsey felt inexplicably irritated with him. “Go ahead and say it.”

“Say what?” he asked. His voice was mild as if he had no idea what she was talking about. This made her even more annoyed.

“Go ahead and tell me that Robbie is bad news and I should stay away—you know, the whole spiel. Get it off of your chest,” she said.

“I wasn’t going to say that,” he said. He looked genuinely hurt and Lindsey felt her annoyance slip away.

“No?” she asked.

“No,” he said. He shoved his hands into his pants pockets and blew out a breath. “You should do whatever makes you happy. You deserve to be happy.”

Lindsey stared at him. All she could think when she studied his handsome face was,
you make me happy
. But of course she didn’t say it. Instead, she said, “Thanks for taking him to the doctor. That’s very good of you.”

Sully stepped close to her, and she could smell that particular scent that was his: a citrusy, sea air–soaked smell that filled her senses and made her dizzy.

“Just be careful, Lindsey,” he said. “Like I said, you deserve to be happy, but I’d hate to see you get hurt.”

She watched as he left through the doors to the lobby.

“Do you think it’s safe enough to have everyone come back in?” Violet asked Ian.

They were walking across the stage toward Lindsey, and she turned to see Ian run a hand over his bald head.

“I think so,” he said. “But Violet, whoever tampered with the circuit breaker meant business. We need to call Chief Plewicki and tell her what happened.”

“Do you think whoever damaged the circuit breaker did it to get to Robbie?” Lindsey asked. The coincidence was just too much.

Violet and Ian both looked worried and Lindsey knew that was her answer.

“But why would someone want to stab him?” Lindsey said. “I mean I understand that he puts some people off, but to cut him, I mean, that’s . . . well . . . scary.”

“It’s worse than that, I’m afraid,” Violet said.

“What do you mean?” Lindsey asked.

“We don’t think they meant to just stab him,” Ian said. “We think they planned to murder him.”

“M
urder?” Lindsey gasped. “Surely it was just a warning of some sort, maybe, from someone who wants to stop the show?”

“Lindsey, you dressed the wound,” Ian said. “If it had been over just a few more inches, it would have been his heart.”

“And the attack wasn’t made using a prop sword, either,” Violet added.

“No,” Lindsey agreed. “That cut was most definitely made by a very sharp blade.”

Violet let out a deep sigh. She crossed one arm over her middle and rested her head on the fingertips of her other hand.

“This is a nightmare,” she said. “I suppose I should call Chief Plewicki.”

“She’ll definitely want to know what’s happening,” Lindsey said. “And Robbie should file a report.”

“Speaking of our favorite thespian, someone should keep an eye on him,” Ian said. He glanced at Lindsey. “Shall I volunteer Sully for the task?”

“Oh, I don’t see that going well,” she said.

“Hey, where did everyone go?” Nancy asked as she and Mary arrived from the hallway with costumes draped over their shoulders. “We were hoping to do some fittings.”

“There was an incident,” Ian said as he moved to stand beside his wife. He put his hand on her shoulder as if to reassure himself that she was okay. “Robbie was cut with a knife.”

“On purpose?” Nancy asked. Her blue eyes were wide as she looked at Violet in horror.

“We suspect so,” Violet said with a nod of her head. “Between the stabbing tonight and the set falling on him the other day, I’d say someone is not too happy with him. Still, I can’t imagine who would—”

“Oh, can’t you?” Ian asked. “How about his wife, Kitty?”

“Or his girlfriend, Lola,” Mary added.

“Harvey Wargus certainly is not a fan,” Nancy said.

“Or Brian Loeb, who seems to think that Robbie slept with his wife,” Lindsey added.

“Yes, Robbie does have a few jealous males with him in their sights, doesn’t he?” Ian asked. He was looking at Lindsey, but she refused to acknowledge his thinly veiled reference to Sully. If there was one thing she was certain of, it was that Sully had nothing to do with Robbie’s injury. Sully was much too honest and direct for that.

“Well, I guess I’ll send everyone home for the night and call the police in to investigate,” Violet said. “I know Robbie can be . . . well, a handful, but he’s one of my closest friends and I will not let any harm come to him when he’s been good enough to help me stage this production.”

The others nodded, but then Lindsey paused.

“Violet, I hate to suggest this, but do you think it could be your ex-husband, Sterling Buchanan?” Lindsey asked. “Do you think he’d go after Robbie to hurt you?”

Violet paled. “I don’t . . . that’s a very good question. It seems I have several calls to make. If you will excuse me?”

“I’ll come with you,” Nancy said. “I can make a pot of tea and sit with you while you make your calls.”

Violet looked at her friend and squeezed her arm. “Thank you.”

“Do you want me to close up the theater for the night?” Ian asked.

“Leave the stage lights on,” Violet said. “I’ll be in the office and I want to show the police where everything happened. But please send everyone home and go ahead and lock up the rest of the rooms.”

“Will do,” Ian said.

“Do you want a lift home?” Mary asked Lindsey.

“Oh, thanks, but Beth and I rode our bikes,” Lindsey said. “I’m going to go outside and see if I can find her.”

“Lindsey, be careful,” Ian said. “If someone does have it in for Robbie Vine, they might not like that he seems to have taken a shine to you.”

Lindsey nodded and Mary gave her a quick hug. She could only hope that Ian was wrong. She went back to the wardrobe room to retrieve her things. She wondered what Emma Plewicki would make of the situation and if she would recommend closing the show.

A few of the cast and crew were still loitering about outside. She saw Beth standing with Dylan and Heather and made her way over to them. She assumed Perry must have already left.

Dylan was the first to spot her. “Ms. Norris, will Mr. Vine be all right?”

He looked pale and shaky, and she realized it was probably the first time these teens had seen anything like this.

“I think so,” she said. “The wound wasn’t deep and the bleeding had pretty much stopped.”

“Is it true that he was stabbed on purpose?” Heather asked. “Did someone try to kill Mr. Vine?”

Lindsey blew out a breath. She didn’t want to scare them but she didn’t want to give them false platitudes, either.

“I honestly don’t know,” she said. “The police have been called and I’m sure they’re going to check into it.”

Just then an SUV pulled up. Lindsey saw that it was Joanie, Dylan’s mother. Under the streetlight that shined through the window, she looked decidedly unhappy, and Lindsey wondered if word of what had happened in the theater had already spread through the small community.

“My mom is here,” Dylan said. “I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

He opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat. Lindsey and Beth both waved to Joanie, but she immediately began speaking to Dylan and didn’t see them. Judging from the expression on her face, she was not happy.

“I think it’s safe to say that Dylan does not get his charm from his mother,” Beth said.

“He’s adopted,” Heather said. Lindsey and Beth both looked at her. “He told me the other night after his mom yelled at him for being backstage when he was supposed to be out front.”

“I wonder if she’ll make him quit the show,” Beth said.

“She can’t!” Heather cried. “He loves it and he’s a really, really good actor.”

“He is very naturally talented,” Beth agreed. “But I didn’t get the sense from his mother that she approves of his desire to be on stage.”

Another car pulled up; Heather’s mom. Unlike Dylan’s mother, she rolled down her window and chatted with Lindsey and Beth before they left.

“So, now that they’re gone,” Beth said as they walked toward the bike rack, “tell me what you really think. Did someone try to harm Robbie on purpose?”

Lindsey bent over to unlock her bike. She put the lock in the back basket and lifted the bike out of the rack. She waited while Beth did the same. As they walked their bikes to the curb, she pondered Beth’s question.

“It looks like it, but I honestly don’t know,” she said. “There are a lot of people who have reason to dislike Robbie, but murder? That’s pretty harsh for the merry wanderer of the night.”

• • •

L
indsey was in her office at the library the next morning when the Chief Plewicki stopped by. Emma was a dark-haired beauty with a heart-shaped face and a wide, warm smile.

When Chief Daniels had retired over the summer, Emma had applied for his position and been hired as the new Briar Creek chief of police. She also had the distinction of being the town’s first female chief of police. Lindsey had noted that during Emma’s first few months, she had been quick to enforce the rules that had gone a bit lax under the former chief’s watch. Lindsey wondered if the pressure of being the first female made Emma more strict or if it was just because she was new.

As a native Creeker, Emma knew most everyone in town and knew how to work the small-town politics to her advantage. Lindsey liked having one more woman in the town department head meetings, as it evened out the boardroom.

“Hi, Lindsey, do you have minute?”

“For the chief of police?” Lindsey asked. “Always.”

“That never gets old,” Emma said. She grinned at Lindsey as she came in and sat down.

“Chief Plewicki does have a nice ring to it,” Lindsey said. “What can I do for you?”

“I went to see Robbie Vine today,” Emma said. “He’s quite a charmer.”

“Agreed,” Lindsey said. She felt her face get warm at the memory of his kiss but she pushed the thought aside. He had been teasing her, she was sure of it. Okay, mostly sure of it.

“What’s your take on what happened last night?” Emma asked.

Lindsey blew out a breath. “It was scary. The lights went out. Everyone was stranded in their spot, and then Robbie was stabbed.”

“So you don’t think it was an accident?” Emma asked. “Maybe he jabbed himself on a piece of set in the dark? Maybe one of the set builders jabbed him with a tool by mistake?”

Lindsey looked at Emma and considered what she said. Could the whole thing have been a freak accident? Then she remembered the gash on Robbie’s arm.

“No,” Lindsey said. “Admittedly, I know nothing about wounds, but it looked too clean to me.”

“The doctor who stitched up his arm agrees with your assessment,” Emma said. “Definitely a knife.”

“Then why are you asking if it was a piece of set?”

“Because I wanted your impression, and I’d really have liked for it to have been an accident,” Emma said.

“So someone is trying to harm Robbie?” she asked.

“Quite possibly,” Emma said. “It could also be that they are trying to ruin the show, given that Robbie’s the star, and hurting him would be an effective way to shut it down.”

“Oh dear, poor Violet,” Lindsey said. “Will she cancel the show?”

“She thought about it,” Emma said. “But Robbie insisted that the show must go on.”

Lindsey could see him doing that. He was so very passionate about the stage.

“I don’t think that’s the wisest choice,” Lindsey said.

“Agreed.” Emma nodded. “Listen, Lindsey, I don’t want to put you in an awkward position, but Robbie seems particularly fond of you, so I was hoping you would be willing to keep an eye on him.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, he managed to work you into the conversation when I talked to him last night and again this morning.”

Lindsey felt the heat of embarrassment creep into her face but decided to ignore it and hoped that Emma would do the same. “No, I meant how do you want me to keep an eye on him?”

“Don’t do anything that would put you in harm’s way. Just if you see anyone in the theater who seems angry with him, talks bad about him or threatens him, or seems to want to cause him harm, could you let me know?”

“I can start you out with a few names right now.” Lindsey recounted her conversation with Violet, Nancy, Mary, and Ian from the evening before. After naming Kitty, Lola, Brian the jealous actor, and droopy Harvey Wargus, Lindsey felt better.

“Violet gave me the same names,” Emma said. “I’ve got some officers out talking to them already, and I’ll follow up by questioning them myself. It sounds like it could be any one of the four of them. But I don’t want to fixate on them and miss someone else. If you see anyone approach Robbie in a threatening manner, will you report it to me immediately?”

“Absolutely,” Lindsey said. “Is there anything else I can do?”

“Not yet, but I’ll let you know,” Emma said as she rose from her seat. “I’m really hoping this was just a person acting out and that it doesn’t get any more serious. My officers and I will be taking shifts at the theater, so that might prove to be enough of a deterrent.”

“Let’s hope,” Lindsey agreed.

Emma rose from her seat and walked to the door. She turned and looked at Lindsey.

“There was one thing I wanted to know,” Emma said.

“Yes?”

“Do you know where Sully was at the time that Robbie was stabbed?”

“What?”

“You heard me,” Emma said.

Her face wore a mild expression, but Lindsey knew the other woman well enough to know that she was cataloging Lindsey’s every reaction.

“Emma, if you think Sully would ever harm anyone—” Lindsey began, feeling indignant on Sully’s behalf.

“No, I don’t,” Emma interrupted. “But I had to be sure, and as his former girlfriend, I figured you’d know if he might be having turf issues because of Robbie.”

“No,” Lindsey said. “As far as I know, there are no turf issues. In fact, when we spoke the other night, Sully was very clear that I should do whatever made me happy.”

The words were harder to get out than Lindsey would have thought. Emma pressed her lips together in understanding.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“No need,” Lindsey said. “I know you’re just doing your job.”

Emma nodded and left the office, leaving Lindsey feeling sad. She hadn’t thought much about her conversation with Sully because it depressed her, but now, at least it made him look free and clear of the incidents with Robbie.

Now that Emma and her officers were going to be at the theater, Lindsey couldn’t help but wonder what tonight’s rehearsal would bring. She hoped a whole lot of nothing.

• • •

T
hree nights later, the tension level in the theater had diminished and once again everyone was beginning to feel at ease. There had been no further incidents involving falling scenery, the lights going out or actors suffering knife wounds.

Lindsey had finally gotten her papier-mâché donkey head to look like a donkey and was happily painting it gray while she watched the cast rehearse on stage under Violet’s watchful eye.

She had seen Sully earlier, and while he had greeted her as if everything was fine, she couldn’t help but feel like there was a growing chasm of distance between them. She missed him. She missed what they’d been together and she missed him as her friend. She didn’t see how she could change things; maybe it was only something time could manage.

Robbie, on the other hand, had been constantly underfoot when he wasn’t on stage. He was funny and charming and Lindsey couldn’t help but like him. He never mentioned their kiss from the other evening, and he didn’t try to kiss her again, either.

Instead, he asked her what books she liked to read and what movies she liked to watch. He asked her about her childhood and what her favorite flowers were. Being on the receiving end of his attention was very flattering, but Lindsey couldn’t help but think that she was just a passing distraction for him.

They talked about the actors he had worked with and the experiences he’d had. Lindsey was particularly enthralled when he told about being presented to the queen of England. Robbie, of course, made a joke about it, but she could tell he was proud.

As she capped her paint, she looked up from her donkey’s head to watch Robbie on stage as he delivered his lines. He didn’t just say the lines; he made them come to life.