The Book Stops Here (20 page)

Yes, please!
I thought, but I couldn’t ask them to do it. “He hasn’t actually done anything yet,” I admitted, glancing back at the hulk retreating from sight. “He was just trying to frighten me.”

“If you want to file a restraining order, you can get the forms online and file them at the McAllister Street courthouse over at the Civic Center.”

“Okay, thanks,” I said, smiling tightly. I knew I could probably file some kind of protective order against him, but he looked too vicious to care. To him, it would just be a piece of paper, no matter how legal it was. Besides, I didn’t even know his name! So how was I supposed to keep this guy from coming near me?

With the path cleared, I scurried across the street and raced up the stairs. A woman was exiting the building as I approached, so I grabbed the door and slipped inside.

I stared out at the street and was shocked to see that the Lug Nut twin had already reappeared. The police stare-down hadn’t frightened him away. He was on the other side of the street now, just standing there as plain as day, studying the trio of massive glass doors leading to the Hall of Justice. As he stood there, he lit up a cigarette and lazily blew out a lungful of smoke. His calmness unnerved me.

Watching him carefully, I could detect subtle differences between him and his brother—or twin, or whatever his relationship was with Lug Nut. This guy’s head was bullet-shaped instead of round. He looked slightly older, more hardened, and more in control of his emotions, if barely.

The hazy sky cast enough light to reflect off the glazed windows of the glass doors, blocking any outsider’s view inside. I knew he couldn’t see me, but it still freaked me out to see him staring my way.

He was waiting for me. There had to be a back exit somewhere. I wasn’t about to give him a chance to hurt me like his brother had.

My whole body shook with fear. I needed to find Inspector Lee and tell her about this new threat. But first I pulled out my phone and snapped a few photos through the glass. I zoomed in for a close-up but the shot came out a little blurry because the big jerk kept moving back and forth along the sidewalk, watching and waiting. So instead of a photograph, I switched the camera to
video and recorded his moves for about fifteen seconds. This was something I could show Inspector Lee.

My phone buzzed in my hand, causing me to jolt before I came to my senses and answered the call.

“Derek,” I said. “Thank goodness it’s you.”

“What’s wrong?” he said. “Where are you?”

“I’m still at the Hall of Justice. I identified the attacker from the lineup and he’s in jail now, so that’s done. But . . .” How could I explain this? “Derek, the guy who attacked me must have a twin brother.” I briefly explained how I had been followed to my car by yet another big, mean-looking guy and how I had managed to evade him—for the moment.

“You’re inside the Hall of Justice right now?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’re safe.”

“Are you kidding?” I whispered. “I’m surrounded by criminals and scoundrels, and those are just the lawyers.”

“I’m pleased to see the experience hasn’t affected your sense of humor.”

“Trust me, it’s a defense mechanism,” I said. “I’m scared to death. I was on my way to find Inspector Lee when you called.”

“I want you to ask her for a police escort to walk you back to your car. Or, better yet, have someone drive you home. I’ll meet you there. We can come back for your car later.”

“I can’t,” I murmured. “I’ve got to go to work.”

He swore under his breath. “Then get a cop to walk with you to your car. Drive straight to the studio and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Okay.” I hated dragging him away from his own work to babysit me, but I wasn’t about to turn down his offer.

“Until the police investigate this brother or whoever he is,” he continued, “I don’t want you going anywhere alone.”

“Did I mention I’m scared?” I hated to sound so helpless.

“So am I, love,” he said softly.

“I’m sorry it’s all happening again.”

“Just stay safe. Don’t go anywhere without a police escort. I’ll see you at the studio in less than two hours. Call me if there’s anything you need.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said, then whispered it again to convince myself. “I’ll be fine.”

“Of course you will,” he said calmly, for my benefit, no doubt. “Because once I get there, I’m not letting you out of my sight again.”

“Thank you. I love you.”

“I adore you.”

I ended the call before realizing that my eyes were damp with tears. “Idiot,” I muttered, and brushed them away. I hated crying as much as I hated feeling powerless and afraid.

I glanced outside and my heart literally jumped in my chest. The big guy stood leaning against the stair railing, less than twenty feet away.

I managed to make it through the long security line without screaming and ran to the elevator, pounding on the button until the door opened.

Inspector Lee was standing there, holding a bag in one hand and waving her cell phone in the other. “I can’t let you out of my sight for one minute without you causing more trouble.”

“Lug Nut has a brother,” I said. “They could be twins.”

“I know. Derek already called me. Come on,” she said, leading the way to another elevator that had just arrived. “I’ll drive you to your car. Oh, here. These are your shoes.”

“Thanks.” I took the bag from her. “I’ve got some video of the guy if you need it. He’s standing outside on the front steps.”

“Yeah, e-mail it to me. It might come in handy.”

We rode the elevator to the basement garage and Lee climbed into the driver’s seat of a black-and-white police car. I jumped into
the passenger’s seat, and she drove up the narrow driveway, then out to the street and once around the block to see if the brother was still waiting for me.

He was no longer standing out front, but we saw him farther down the block, jogging toward a parking lot.

“Jeez, they really could be twins,” Lee said.

“If I hadn’t seen him with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it,” I muttered. I didn’t bother to add that if Derek hadn’t called Inspector Lee, I wasn’t sure she would’ve believed me, either.

As I turned in my seat to get one last look at the man, I silently calculated the length of time it would take me to earn a black belt in some kick-ass martial arts discipline. Too many years, unfortunately. But, anxious to get back some of my old self-confidence, I couldn’t wait to start Alex’s self-defense class next Saturday. I was tired of feeling like a weakling.

Inspector Lee dropped me at my car and then followed me to the studio. I hated to inconvenience her, but I was pitifully grateful for her presence. Once she saw that I was inside the studio gate and parked safely, she waved and drove off.

It was starting to rain, so I was glad once again that I had my new red raincoat with me. It was a gift from Derek, who had brought it back from the Burberry store in London a month earlier. I was a little hesitant to wear it in the rain, even though it was made for the rain. Duh.

I jumped out of my car, quickly draped the coat over my shoulders and pulled up the hood, then locked the door and ran across the lot to the studio door.

I was still nervous at the thought of Lug Nut’s brother watching and waiting for me outside police headquarters. I knew he hadn’t seen me in Inspector Lee’s car, but if Lug Nut had told him about me, he probably knew that I worked here at the studio every day. He could’ve jumped in his car and driven over here. He might’ve been watching me at that very moment.

Shivering, I yanked open the stage door and took one last look behind me before rushing inside to safety.

•   •   •

A
lmost two hours later, I had taped my first segment and was back in my dressing room, studying up on my second book, a small, charming, slightly shabby leather-bound copy entitled
The Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius.
He was an early Roman emperor who was said to be wise and relatively kind—for an early Roman emperor.

A sudden knock on the door caused me to jump again.

“Stop it,” I said to myself. I was still so agitated, I was driving myself nuts. Standing up, I shook my hands and shoulders loose as I crossed the room to get the door. I whipped it open and almost leaped into Derek’s arms.

“The door was locked.”

“Sorry,” I whispered. “Thank you for coming. I really appreciate it.”

“You’d better get used to seeing me around here,” he murmured, his breath ruffling the strands of hair near my ear. “Because I’m not leaving your side until the danger is over.”

“I’m so glad.” I didn’t care how wimpy that sounded. After a few minutes of catching up with Derek and retelling my story of being followed and taunted by Lug Nut’s doppelganger, I went back to my research. Derek sat down on the couch and opened his briefcase to finish up some work before starting in on two conference calls. In between the business calls, he telephoned Inspector Lee for a quick update on Lug Nut’s brother.

Clearly, Inspector Lee had plenty of information for him, because Derek began to jot down notes. I was glad Derek was the one who’d called her, because I knew she would be willing to give him much more scoop than she would ever give me.

“What did she say?” I asked as soon as he hung up the phone.

He scanned the notes he’d taken. “The man who followed you this morning is Larry Jones’s brother, Gary.”

“Gary,” I repeated in disbelief. “That’s so . . . normal.”

He glanced at his notes. “Better known by his street name, Grizzly.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.” I almost laughed, but nothing about this situation was funny. “It suits him, though. Lug Nut and his brother, Grizzly. What a charming family.” I couldn’t believe their real names were Larry and Gary Jones. Such ordinary, down-to-earth names for two extraordinarily vicious creeps.

“The brothers grew up in the Tenderloin, and according to the authorities in that area, Grizzly is reputed to be even more dangerous than his little brother.”

“He looked it.” I rubbed my arms to calm down the goose bumps that sprang to life at the memory of my brief confrontation with Grizzly.

Inspector Lee had told Derek that the two men weren’t twins, but looked enough alike to have caused plenty of grief for their parents, teachers, and local law enforcement throughout their teenage years. They had both landed in the prison system and had been in and out of jail for years. They were known to be major screwups and mean sons of bitches.

“Do they still live in the Tenderloin?” I asked, wondering how in the world Lug Nut could’ve held a garage sale. The Tenderloin was mostly filled with seedy hotels and disreputable apartment buildings. There were plenty of bars and pawnshops, but I couldn’t picture any houses in the area suitable for a garage sale.

The neighborhood was located a few blocks west of upscale Union Square and had long been known as one of the most seamy, dangerous parts of town. That reputation was changing slowly, though, as the area became marginally safer, thanks to an influx of immigrant families. But it was still said to have the highest concentration of parolees in the city.

It was also home to some of the best Indian restaurants in town, but that was beside the point.

The point
was
: how in the world had a no-good lowlife loser like Larry “Lug Nut” Jones gotten his hands on an exquisite and rare copy of
The Secret Garden
? Had he stolen it? But if he’d stolen it and knew its value, why would he ever sell it in a garage sale? Of course, he had denied selling it to Vera, but he would’ve said anything to get his hands on the book. It was clear from the short conversation I’d had with him the day he attacked me that he’d discovered the book’s value only on the night he saw our short segment on the evening news.

Maybe his brother, Grizzly, had stolen it. Maybe Lug Nut had discovered it among his brother’s belongings and sold it at the garage sale for a few bucks, not realizing how much it was worth.

If that scenario was true and Grizzly had found out that Lug Nut sold the book, he might have threatened his little brother with severe bodily harm unless he got it back. Under those circumstances, Lug Nut might have been willing to do whatever it took to retrieve the book—even commit murder.

My mind was spinning off in ten different directions.

“They moved out of the Tenderloin last year,” Derek explained, “after they came into some money. Found a small house in the Sunset District, close to the beach.”

“
Came into some money?
Is that code for robbing a bank?”

Derek shot me a half smile. “Perhaps.”

Regardless of where their money had come from, their move to the small house answered my question about where the garage sale had been held.

Derek continued. “Inspector Lee drove out to their place a little while ago to talk to Grizzly, but he wasn’t home. She’ll check back tonight and again tomorrow.”

“I hope she’s taking someone with her,” I said with some concern. “Inspector Jaglom is on another assignment, so she’s been working this case alone.”

Derek frowned at the news and was about to say something
when Angie knocked and yelled through the door. “You’re wanted on the set, Brooklyn. Five minutes to taping.”

I grabbed the door and swung it open. “Thanks, Angie. Be right there.”

As she hustled back down the hall, I turned to Derek. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, if you want to stay here and work.”

He shut his briefcase and flashed me a purposeful grin. “What part of
I’m not letting you out of my sight
do you not understand?”

Chapter Twelve

“Two thousand dollars?” Mitchell whispered reverently.

“Yes,” I said, holding the Marcus Aurelius book up for the camera. “Your thrift-shop bargain was a little more valuable than you thought.”

“That’s fantastic.”

I was so relieved by his reaction. While it was probably interesting for the audience to see the owners burst into tears or hyperventilate or nearly faint, I was really starting to appreciate the more sedate responses, like Mitchell’s.