The Lush Life (Samantha Jamison Mystery Book 8) (16 page)

Chapter 47

Giving Up & Packing Up

The sun had set. Scarlett went upstairs to pack since our interview was postponed. I tired easily and promised we’d continue it via phone when I was feeling better. Mona was packing up too. Since we never found the book, Teddy was still missing, Tony had vanished, and his mother never materialized, Mona would be chasing down leads to round them all up. It was a total bust. Nothing looked promising.

Martha replaced the last book. “That’s it.”

Betty turned to me. “I’m really disappointed.”

Hazel sat in the nearest chair. “I was sure it was here.”

We had worked hard, but never found that book.

“Looks like someone else found it first,” I said.

“No need for the thieves to hang around,” added Martha.

Betty agreed. “The art of confusion for sure.”

“Deception,” I said. “Look what this hand is doing, not the other one. We were concentrating on
Tony’s
mother, while Tony and possibly Teddy walked through here freely. Scarlett’s presence and that interview distracted us too.”

“This whole con and book theft was perfectly timed and executed,” said Martha.

“Those three sure fooled me,” griped Mona, walking in.

“Don’t feel bad. They fooled me too,” said Martha.

“From one pro to another, Martha, we did our best.”

Betty, Hazel and I were witnessing a rarity: Martha and Mona complimenting each other.

A ding caught our attention. Mona read her phone.

“I’ve got a lead. I’m taking my bags. Staying in Jersey for a day or two to see what I can round up. Later, guys.”

And after quick hugs, just like that, she was gone.

“Since Scarlett isn’t leaving until later and we all need to eat, how about I pick up takeout for dinner,” suggested Martha, smoothly changing topics to ease the situation.

“Great idea,” said Hazel. “Betty and I can help.”

Betty turned to me. “Do you want me to stay instead?”

I shook my head. “No, I’m fine. Scarlett is just upstairs and Lucas will be in shortly to bring in some firewood. It’s getting chilly out. I’m going into the great room to lay down on the sofa. I’ve got to elevate my foot. The fireplace in there should be crackling by the time you get back.”

“You have your cell phone?” asked Martha, eyeing me.

I held it up, smiling. “Right here.”

As they walked away, I could hear them arguing.

“Let’s go for sushi,” said Hazel.

“I don’t do raw,” scoffed Martha.

“We could do pizza,” suggested Betty.

“How about spaghetti Bolognese or...”

Whatever they brought would be tasty. I wheeled into the great room, looking around the shelves of leather-bound books for a few minutes feeling disheartened. All that work we’d done. And now Tony and Teddy were missing along with that book.

I wheeled up to the glass-topped curio coffee table we had passed so often and stopped. I couldn’t get by it with my wheelchair. I’d have to hop around it to get to the sofa. I stood up on my good leg, hopped a few times, but then my balance faltered when my foot hit uneven stone. I teetered...
The fireplace!

Chapter 48

Stepping & Stumbling

Transitioning from the wooden floor to the uneven stone at the fireplace, I suddenly began to sway back and forth precariously. I desperately tried to balance myself. With no mantel to grab onto, I fell hard, my ribs striking the sharp wooden edge of the glass-topped curio coffee table then smacked into the stone facing of the fireplace.

I crashed to the floor in a heap.

I lay there a moment, catching my breath, gasping from the pain in my ribs and casted leg. My toes sticking out of it were bent backward in the fall and now they hurt like hell.

“Shit! What next?” I cried out, gasping for breath.

I’m sorry, but there’s only so much pain I can suck up.

I tried to assess the damage: not to the coffee table, but to my casted leg and swollen, purple toes.

Oh, the pain...

“If I was a horse, they’d shoot me right now.”

“Maybe I could arrange that,” said a voice behind me.

I turned my head and looked up.

My wheelchair was roughly shoved away. “Forget that.”

Though trapped between the fireplace and coffee table, I was more concerned with the gun that was aimed at me.

“Lucas,” I managed to choke out in shock.

Scarlett was packing upstairs...

“Don’t even think of calling out for help.”

Okay, so he had fooled me and was a mind reader too.

“Holding that gun, makes you the likely candidate for who pushed me the other night.”

“I grew tired of playing cat and mouse. It gave me more time to find that book the
Worths
’ kept talking about but never mentioned by name. After ten years of service here, I deserved that book, but then your crew found it first.”

He walked over to the oversized wing chair facing me and the fireplace, his back now to the great room doors.

What’s he doing, sitting down?

“We didn’t find it. What makes you think we did?”

“Because Scarlett’s packing, everyone else is gone, including Mona.”

Lucas smiled when I winced in pain.

Bastard.

“I swear,” I said, “we never found it. That’s the truth.”

“I’m in no rush. There are ways to get you talking.”

Voices arguing, echoed down the hall. We both turned.

“My leverage approaches,” laughed Lucas.

The ladies were back with takeout.

“Lucas, you wouldn’t do anything rash, would you?”

“Make like you’re looking at the curio items in the coffee table.”

He was hidden from view in that oversized wing chair.

“Promise me no shooting!” I pleaded.

“We’ll see. I make no promises.”

Martha then Betty and Hazel stopped cold after entering.

“Why’s your wheelchair over there?” asked Martha.

Before I could warn them they rushed to my side.

“Why are you on the floor?” asked Betty, reaching out.

“You look a little pale,” said Hazel leaning over me.

“I...”

Chapter 49

Company & More

Lucas cleared his throat. Startled, the trio turned.

“I see you have company,” said Martha, smoothly.

Hazel stared at his hand. “Ah, a thirty-eight special.”

“I thought your specialty was gardening,” said Betty.

“Not anymore,” said Lucas. “This is more lucrative.”

“And that’s because...?” asked Martha, acting confused.

Lucas waved his gun. “I want the book. Now, ladies.”

Martha tried to stall. “What book?”

He reddened. “Don’t take me for a simpleton!”

Martha turned back to me and winked, still stalling.

“I told you it’s the quiet ones you should watch.”

I wasn’t sure what she was up to, but played along.

“And all this time we thought it was
Tony’s
mother.”

Lucas looked confused. “What about his mother?”

“She escaped,” said Betty.

He hesitated before asking, “...From where?”

“A sanatorium,” added Hazel, grinning.

“So what does she have to do with the book?” he asked.

“You didn’t hear that part? ...She’s after it too,” I said.

“Then all you have to do is give it to me first,” he said.

“That’s easy for you to say, because we don’t have...”

Racing footsteps... Clay and Tony burst into the room.

“We found her!” shouted Tony, running over to us.

Seeing me on the floor, Clay moved in. “What hap...”

“All right gentlemen. Hands up,” interrupted Lucas.

Upset, Martha said, “Didn’t you see him sitting there?”

Clay turned to face Lucas, his hands raised. “No...”

“Now, what have we here?” asked an annoyed Tony.

Lucas pulled the hammer back. “Your guns please.”

“Okay,” said Clay easing over to block me from view.

This couldn’t get much worse. I briefly closed my eyes, leaning my elbows on the glass curio coffee table with my hands on my forehead. When I opened them, everyone had closed ranks to protect the invalid, me. I stared down at the encased items to think of a way out.

Something. Anything.

I’d always admired Alicia’s prized bookmark collection from Italy, France, Spain, etc., personal keepsakes, costume jewelry, old pearls, pill case, two pipes, a worn and chipped beach silver dollar crafted into an ornament, old glass magnifiers with ornate handles, letter openers, a pocket watch, wire-rim glasses, hand-painted stationary, a child’s small bracelet, a cracked child’s book, antique rings...

My eyes stopped on an embroidered cloth bookmark.

I gasped then looked up to see if anyone heard me. They were still arguing, stalling for time. I stared back down.

Could it be?

There was no way...

Chapter 50

Way & More

Disbelieving, I asked myself that same question again.

Could it be?

I had reread Alicia’s bizarre text she’d sent me so much that it was now committed to memory word for word:

When you reed the manuscript,

Make sure you have the right one, the other is lethal.

I trust you’ll get it write and no the difference in thyme.

I had racked my brain, but nothing had registered until now. I was staring down at one of the clues right in front of me: a cloth bookmark with embroidered stems and leaves of the herb
thyme
. On each side of it, partially obscured by bookmarks and two carved pipes were two very old books: one a book of poems by
Bu...
the other,
Shakes...

I glanced up. Now hidden, I was forgotten by Lucas.

Should I try it?

I gently tugged at the knobs to the curio drawer. It gave.

I pulled harder, inching away my body then snuck my hand in, sliding the bookmarks and pipes aside. I strained to reach the first book:
Burns.
I lifted its cover to check the publication date through the glass top. I couldn’t. It was hollow. Inside was a gun.
What the...?

I reached for the other:
Shakespeare!
I lifted its cover, still staring through the glass of the coffee table.
First folio 1623, a collection of William Shakespeare’s 36 plays.

My breath caught as I stared at the rare book. Martha had read to us it sold for $6.1 million dollars in 2001. Was this it? Were two of them out there? No one considered the cluttered contents of this table. It was hidden in plain sight.

Now, this book was something to kill over!

I felt like I had been sitting on the floor for hours when in reality mere minutes ticked by while the others distracted Lucas, who was undoubtedly reveling in the fact he was now the center of attention. I caught the tail end of his last exchange.

“...While Alicia and Chris Worth gallivanted all over the world collecting this or that, I spent ten years breaking my back maintaining this place. So I threatened to leave if they didn’t give me a big raise. I deserved it.”

“Did you ever steal one of their books?” Hazel asked.

“I was tempted, but thought it wasn’t worth it.”

“What happened next?” asked Martha.

“When they refused to cough up a raise, I had no choice but to leave. They had called my bluff. Later on I thought it over. I always thought books weren’t all that valuable, but then recalled a previous conversation I’d overheard and dismissed. They’d mentioned a super-valuable one they had bought. I could get rich and get back at them by stealing it. Unfortunately they never mentioned the title, just its value. So I called them up a few weeks later. All I had to do was get back inside to find it. Of course, they took me back because...”

“No one knew their property like you did,” said Clay.

“Everyone thinks I’m not listening and am stupid. Other than gardening and automotive, I’m computer literate too.”

“As in hacking and wire-tapping?” said a familiar voice.

Mona! She
must have snuck up behind him!

“Drop it, Lucas,” she ordered.

Lucas’s gun dropped to the floor with a thud.

An unexpected voice said, “I knew there’d be trouble.”

Hidden on the floor by a sea of legs that kept shifting as each one spoke, I caught glimpses of what was going on. I moved to see Scarlett had entered holding her own gun.

Scarlett was Lucas’s partner?

“I think you better drop that gun, Mona,” said Lucas.

Although Mona dropped her gun, she spoke forcefully.

“By the way, I caught up with Teddy. He was conned like us. Said he lied about
Tony’s
mother being his aunt who hired him. He made up her nickname. He also took advantage of Sam, assuming he was related to Tony and his mother. Teddy overheard us constantly referring to her as a nut and how everyone was looking for her and took it from there. We all fell for it.”

Mona then focused on Scarlett. “When Teddy saw you leave Lucas’s apartment he smelled trouble and got antsy. Then when Teddy caught you again the night you claimed you had a headache, he decided he had to leave. He’d seen enough. It could get dangerous.”

Lucas kicked Mona’s gun away. “That was stupid of you getting spotted, Scarlett.”

Scarlett swung her gun to Lucas. “Who’s stupid now?”

Something was wrong.

If they teamed in a scam to steal that valuable book, and the two of them manipulated us all, then why was her gun now trained directly on Lucas?