The Puzzle (16 page)

That was it. Nothing more. Not even a smile.

Interesting.

He turned back to me. “What are you doing here? Ever been here before?”

“No, but I need to replenish my stock, and when Martha suggested I had to be here, I came.”

Jack turned back to Martha. “Well, I’m glad you included her, Martha. I guess you assumed there might be items here that would interest her. How clever of you! I never would have thought to invite Sam. It should be an interesting evening.”

“You know me,” replied Martha. “I try to keep things lively. And I know exactly how you feel. I can hardly wait myself.”

I looked from one to the other, trying to figure out the strange undercurrents that passed between them. Then he smiled at both of us. “Enjoy yourselves, ladies. Now, I do believe I will head to the snack bar. See you all later.”

Martha watched him suspiciously as he crossed the room. “I guess when you come to a country auction like this, you never know who they will let slip in those doors,” she said testily.

Ouch!
No love lost there.
That was something new.
Never one to miss an opportunity, I grabbed hold of it as we moved on. “Martha, aren’t you and Jack getting along lately? I couldn’t help but notice a little animosity back there. Is this something I should know about? I certainly wouldn’t want anything to interfere with our friendship.”

“Don’t worry about it. Once in a while, Jack and I see things differently. Now, go scoot, and take a look.” She gently nudged me away. “…I’m heading for refreshments, and then I want to make sure we have good seats up front because I don’t want to miss any item put up for bid. Go on and check out the merchandise.”

Now, that… was a brush off!

I hustled up and down the rows of tables, soaking it all in, but not seeing anything in particular until I came to a piece of electronic equipment on a table in the corner. I would have walked right by, but something made me walk back and take another look.

It was a laptop computer. Funny, it looked exactly like Stephen’s; the one they never found. I bent down to check it out.
Coincidence?
It had to be. I asked the man standing guard over everything if I could pick it up and take a closer look at it.

“Sure, just be careful not to drop it. That might bring in a pretty penny tonight.” He slowly walked over to straighten up a few items that had been misplaced by people for the preview, but all the while had one eye trained on me. I felt butterflies in my stomach as I picked it up. It was identical to Stephen’s. My intuition knew what I would find inside just below the screen. Paranoid and possessive, Stephen always marked his territory.

I gingerly opened the laptop as the guard glanced away, making sure no one else was watching me examine the inside.
There they were! I would recognize them anywhere, Stephen’s roughly scratched initials. I let out a small whimper as I stood their barely breathing.

The guard approached. “Is something wrong, Miss?”

“…No.” I carefully closed the computer and laid it back down on the table. My hands were shaking, so I stuffed them in my jacket pockets. “No. …I’m fine. Nice laptop. Like you said, it must have cost a lot.”

“Yup. A lot of people are showing real interest tonight. I’ll tell you something for sure. That thing won’t last long once it goes up for auction.” He then sauntered away, but not very far, still watching me closely.

“Well, look who’s here!”

I nearly jumped out of my skin. I spun around to find myself confronted by Clay!

“What is this?” I asked. “A town reunion?” My heart was pounding away.
Now,
why was he here?
I did a quick mental tally of all the mounting cast of characters who were present and accounted for at the auction.

He stared at me, and then I swear, he quickly stole a glance at that laptop. I edged over, trying to block his view. I wasn’t tall enough! His eyes quickly darted back to me. “I gather…” he asked slowly, “…
you
’re here for the …antiques?”

“Huh?” I said, stalling, as normal repartee suddenly deserted me. “No… I mean…yeah…I came because Martha saw some antiques earlier and thought they might make a nice addition to my shop inventory.” I sounded like an idiot. “Some are very interesting. I’m glad she brought them to my attention. I am definitely bidding tonight.”

“I’m bidding, too,” he verbally challenged, winking.

“…Well, Martha’s waiting,” I said, as I started to back away. “…Good luck.”

“You too. You’re going to need it,” he replied, laughing.

Did he just say what I thought he said?

I walked back to the main room and started looking for Martha among the throng of people, as I gently shoved and pushed my way up to the front. What would I say once I found her?
Nothing.
I spotted Martha after a few minutes. As I approached, she turned toward me, agitated.

“There you are! Gosh, I thought you might not make it back in time. They’re getting ready to start. What in the world took you so long? See anything interesting?” She held eye contact with me a little bit too long for my comfort.

I turned away, looking straight toward the auctioneer up front, keeping my eyes locked on him. “…As a matter of fact, I did. One item in particular, too.”

She leaned over, and I could have sworn, looked around to see if anyone was listening to our conversation. “What caught your fancy, Samantha?” she whispered, just as the lights abruptly went out and the room was thrown into total darkness. Suddenly, people started talking at once.

“What the heck?” Martha asked.

I sniffed the air. “Martha, I smell smoke!”

Someone yelled. “Fire!”

Then someone else shrieked, chairs were pushed back and knocked over. Within minutes utter chaos reigned. The room erupted in people shoving, yelling and running around in the dark.

“God almighty! What’s next?” Martha hollered to me, so I could hear her above all the commotion. She flicked on a miniature flashlight on her key chain.

I grabbed it from her. This whole thing had to be a ruse. I had to get back to that room to get that laptop before someone else did.

“Are you crazy?” she asked. “What the heck are you doing that for? Give that back!”

“I need to check on something first,” I yelled to her, determined to get through the boisterous crowd before someone else did. I made an effort, but was roughly pushed back and finally gave up. “We have to get out of here.”

She wrestled the light out of my hand and aimed it back down on the floor. “You got that right sister.” She grabbed my arm in a vise grip and pulled me toward the auctioneer’s platform. “Come on, let’s go.” She led me up a few steps behind a partition. People were still yelling and running all over as the smoke spread. In the distance, I heard sirens. “Step on it,” Martha yelled.

She finally located an illuminated exit sign with the door below it slightly ajar. We dashed out, finding ourselves in the parking lot.

“Come on. Get a move on!” Martha ordered.

We ran, dodging cars and people running in all directions. Then we plowed smack into Jack, who stood with
there
, his arms crossed, calmly watching all the action, cool as could be.

Martha turned to face me. “Damn!”

“Whoa, there girls!” said Jack. “The flames are already out. It was a small trashcan fire. An extinguisher made quick work of it.” He put his cell phone back in his pocket. “And look over there,” Jack said, pointing.

Martha and I turned to look at the auction house.

“See, the lights are back on. Even the fire trucks are turning around. Seems people are filing back in too. Come on.” Then he proceeded to take our arms and guided us back inside.

Why, I guess we were going to an auction!

We walked through the doors with the crowd, who were laughing and making comments.

“Best excitement I’ve had in years,” one guy said.

Others joined in the unexpected carnival-like atmosphere with similar comments.

The auctioneer was off to the side, talking to the man who was previously guarding the merchandise. They were gesturing back and forth heatedly. I only caught the tail end of their conversation. “And I suppose you know where that laptop went?” the red faced auctioneer asked.

I ripped myself out of Jack’s grip and pushed my way over to the tables.

It was gone.

“Lose something?” Clay asked, magically appearing beside me.

“Maybe.” My eyes darted everywhere, but that vacant space now conspicuously empty.

“What’s up?” he insisted. “Something missing?”

I was too upset to trust him–or anyone. Stephen’s laptop was gone! And I had actually held it–touched it.

I wanted to cry. I had been so close, I was sure, to solving at least some part of the puzzle.

I smiled at Clay. “No… I thought, I left my umbrella on one of the tables when I was in here earlier.” It was a stupid excuse, and both of us knew it. I didn’t care.

“Now, why would you bring an umbrella into the auction?” he asked, sarcastically.

As though in answer to his question, the sprinkling system came on. Chaos reigned again.

“Maybe that’s why!” I replied.

That got him.

“That darn system has malfunctioned again,” the auctioneer yelled in frustration, then hollered to the crowd, “Sorry folks, I guess the auction wasn’t meant to be and is officially cancelled. Don’t forget to come again next time.” Then he angrily yelled to his men, “Get that merchandise covered up right quick.”

Everyone was running to avoid getting soaked, but I calmly searched my purse.

“Oh, well, look at that,” I smiled at Clay. “Here it is!” I pulled it from my purse, popped it open to shield myself, spun around, and then exited dramatically.

I was actually enjoying myself for the first time that night. I didn’t get what I wanted, but I did find out that Clay, Jack, and Ben were all interested in that laptop. How did they even know about it? And how had it ended up at an auction?

Even though it had vanished, I felt I was much closer to revealing its secrets.

Why, I do believe I was smiling too.

Auctions! I love
them!

Chapter 31

The Book Worm

I decided I needed another look at Clay’s so-called bookshop in town. Martha had informed me that Clay employed two elderly women. It seemed they both had worked there for quite a while. She also said the two originally started with his Aunt Jenny when she first opened the shop. I never took much notice during the busy season, but had to pay closer attention this time around.

I pushed the door open and heard the jingle of a bell overhead, announcing my arrival. The shop was small and quaint, long and narrow, and in spite of its size, held quite a few books. They stacked right up to the ceiling with a sliding ladder on a runner that ran the length of the store. A symphony was playing melodiously somewhere in the background, which appropriately matched the rich dark wooden décor.

An older woman looked up from behind the counter. “Well, how do you do, young lady?” she greeted me, checking me out from head to toe, apparently giving her stamp of approval, because she was smiling and nodding at the same time.

The teenager I had seen behind the counter months before was most likely summer help. This woman appeared alone at the moment, which was a good opportunity for me to get acquainted and chat. I scanned the shop just to make sure
.

Perfect.

“I’m just fine, thank you. My, what a charming bookshop! And how about yourself?” I inquired sweetly, giving her my best smile.

She brightened considerably with my friendly inquiry. “Oh, I can’t complain. Are you visiting or just passing through our lovely town?”

Now,
who
was she kidding?
No one was in town for six months, let alone one week without the local grapevine knowing about it. I knew she was well aware I owned the antique shop and I was pretty sure she also knew about Stephen. She probably even knew my shoe size.

“Why, no, I moved here several months ago, but haven’t gotten around to exploring, too busy. I own that little shop around the corner, about a half a block in, the little antique cottage. I’ve been getting settled and with the tourist season so hectic this year, I missed meeting a few nice people in town like you.” I was making myself sick with the sugar dripping from my lips, thinking there was a good chance I might absentmindedly swipe my hand across my mouth, or worse yet, gag.

But she seemed to like it.

“Well, isn’t that just wonderful! I might have seen you around, now that you mention it. Maybe I didn’t pay much attention with all the tourists that visit and rent houses and all. I’m so glad you stopped in so we could meet. I’m Betty.”

We shook hands across the counter. “And I’m Samantha. Thank you for the welcome. I appreciate it. How about yourself? Have you worked here very long?”