Murder by the Bookend Read online

  “Pfffffff.” The woman snorted. “Puh-lease. That woman has treated you like dirt for years. There is no way you actually love her. She sucks you dry financially. But I have money for us. Almost a million dollars I’ve been saving from the book sales.”

  “Book sales?” Douglas placed a hand on the counter. “What book sales?”

  “That’s the best part, darling. I stole them from your dumb library. Linus almost ruined everything. He was about to figure it all out. I couldn’t let that happen. Not when we’re so close to having a life together. And since I burned down the library, now no one will ever know I stole the books, and you’ll have a perfect reason to move away.” She clapped her hands behind me.

  Douglas’s brow furrowed and he hesitated. “You burned the library? The books?” His voice trembled as if in mourning for the lost history.

  “Darling, keep up. Of course I burned it. Miss Nosy Pants”—another shove to my shoulder from behind—“figured it all out. I saw her at the library with you when you were telling her all about how books were safe there.” The woman giggled again. “I also overheard her at the store, talking to someone about watching the library to catch me. But I got away again. I did think to take a few more of the really rare books to sell. We’ll have all the money we need to start our lives together once we’re married.”

  Douglas clenched his fists. “I. Love. My. Wife. I won’t let you kill her. Or Jenna either.”

  The woman stepped over me, striding to Douglas, placing a hand on his chest, her back to me. “Darling, stop saying that. I know you don’t mean it, but it still stings.”

  Douglas gripped her wrists and pushed her away. “I do mean it. Now get out of my house. I’m calling the police.” He turned and grabbed his phone from the counter.

  If she would just turn. She was familiar, but my addled brain wouldn’t pull up a name or a face. The woman stepped to the counter and picked up a frying pan from the dishrack.

  I tried to yell a warning to Douglas, who had raised his phone to his ear, his back to the crazed woman with a skillet. Nothing came out but a squeak as I watched her raise it and slam it down on Douglas’s head. He crumpled to the floor, and the woman reached for the phone, pressing the screen, probably to disconnect the nine-one-one call.

  She stood and stepped across Douglas’s inert form, turning to kneel by his side and place a hand to his chest. Alice King. Sweet, sad Alice King. And now psycho Alice King. “You’ll be okay, darling. I’ll nurse you back to health.”

  Alice stood and looked at me. “Now see what I’ve had to do?” She shook her head. “The things we do for the men we love.”

  I tried to speak and coughed instead, wheezing past the burn in my throat from throwing up. I swallowed a few times and tried again. “You can’t do this.”

  “Oh, honey, I can, and I will. I’ve hated Selina for how she’s treated poor Douglas. The man has been a saint, putting up with her. I finally get to kill her, but I had to wait so it would all be perfect. I’ve been following Selina around since Linus died, making sure it all points to her.” She stepped across me and returned with an umbrella, which she fed through my bent elbows behind my back. “I saw this in a movie once. This’ll keep you in place while I set up Selina’s suicide. She’s going to be so filled with remorse for killing Linus, she’s taking a bunch of pills and will accidentally”—she waved her fingers in the air as air quotes—“knock a candle over and set her own house on fire. I had to improvise a bit to include you, though. You’re going to die trying to rescue her. Then you’ll both be out of Douglas’s and my way, and he won’t even have this stupid house holding him back.” She patted me on the head. “I really am sorry you got involved in all of this.”

  When her footsteps faded toward another part of the house, I grappled with the umbrella. I couldn’t roll. I couldn’t hook it through anything to shove it out of my elbows. I was unbalanced enough from the knock on the head, there was no way I was going to stand up without help. My hands brushed my back pockets, my fingers connecting with something hard. My phone! Alice hadn’t seen it stuck under my sweater.

  I inched it out with my fingertips, hoping it was on. “Siri, call Keith.” Please let my voice be strong enough for it to understand.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

  I swore and cleared my throat. “Siri, call Keith.”

  I’d never heard a sweeter sound than my phone saying, “Calling Keith Logan, mobile.”

  I couldn’t see the screen, so I couldn’t risk hitting the end icon trying to fumble for the speakerphone icon. I could hear the faint ringing. Please, please pick up. A strangled cry rose up when I heard his voice.

  “Hi, sweetheart. What’s up?”

  I shifted my hands to the side as much as I could, trying to stick my phone toward my hip, giving a better chance of being heard. Keeping my voice to a loud whisper, so Alice wouldn’t hear, I said, “Keith, help me. Alice has me—”

  “Hello? Jenna? You there?”

  He couldn’t hear me. Footsteps sounded again, and they were getting closer. No help for it. I opened my mouth and shouted at the phone. “Keith! Help! It’s Alice! She has us all at Douglas and Selina’s—”

  Alice yanked the phone out of my hand and pressed the screen, fury in her eyes. “How did you get this?” She threw the phone across the room. “You’re going to spoil everything.”

  “They know where I am, Alice. They’re coming.” I struggled against the umbrella, desperate to move away from the woman.

  “It won’t matter. They’ll be too late.” Alice grasped my heels and began to drag me, my head grinding against the floor.

  Pain blinded me again, but my sense of self-preservation pushed through, and I kicked at my captor, breaking one foot free. I needed time for Keith to get there.

  “Stop it!” Alice grabbed at my loose foot.

  I continued to swing it wildly until she dropped the other foot. I was free. I tried to shift but caught her kick in my stomach, the pain doubling me into a fetal position.

  “Now see what happens?” Alice calmly picked up my feet again and began to drag.

  At the doorway to the hall, I shifted and jammed the umbrella across the opening.

  Alice sighed deeply. “You know you’re just delaying the inevitable.” She dropped my feet and moved to step around me. “I guess I can understand, though.”

  As she stepped across me to get through the doorway, I flipped to my side, tripping her on the umbrella. Alice screeched as she hit the floor, and I gave myself an internal fist pump.

  I tilted my head back to see where she was and watched as she dragged herself to the cabinets and pulled herself up using the counter. Another cry escaped as she stood, and she instantly rubbed her knee.

  Alice reached for something on the counter and her hand came away holding the skillet she’d used on Douglas. “I’ll solve this right here.” She limped toward me.

  Desperately, I wriggled, trying to put more distance between me and the crazy woman waving the large piece of metal with a handle. The umbrella hung on a corner of the rug and I was stuck, my stomach sinking at the look of glee that crossed Alice’s face. I couldn’t even raise my arms to deflect part of the blow.

  Alice limped at a half jog, awkwardly trotting toward me, swinging the skillet high over her head.

  “Drop it!”

  I tilted my head back to see Keith and Tish rushing into the room.

  Alice screeched, all of the hurt, rage, anger, and betrayal she’d ever felt seeming to pour out in that horrible sound. She raised the skillet higher and began a downward swing.

  A blur flew across me as Keith tackled her, taking her backward. When he connected, the skillet flew from her hand, and I watched in slow motion as it fell toward my face, connecting with my forehead, blacking out the world.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  A strange beeping sounded in my ears, and I slowly cracked my eyes open.

  A whisper hissed to my left. “She’s
awake. Go get Keith.”

  I shifted, moving my arms across a soft sheet, startled at the tube extending from my elbow. I opened my eyes wider.

  Another voice. “Miss Quinn? Jenna? Can you hear me?”

  “Yes.” My voice came out a soft rasp.

  “That’s good. I’m Doctor Callum. Can you open your eyes a little wider?” A man in a white coat leaned over me, his dark hair a contrast to his pale skin, even in my blurry vision.

  I struggled to open my eyes.

  “That’s great. Now I need to check your pupils, okay?” Without warning, he swung a light across my eyes, blinding me and sending shafts of pain into my brain.

  I clenched my eyes shut and tried to turn my head. Something pulled at my forehead. I raised a hand and felt bandages.

  A soft hand grasped mine. “It’s okay, Jenna. We’re here. Let the doctor do his job. He’s just making sure you’re okay.”

  I heard the tremble in Rita’s voice. What was wrong with me? I opened my eyes again, my vision clearer, and tried to sit up, but the doctor pushed me back down.

  “Let’s be still a bit longer, okay?” He motioned to Rita.

  Rita squeezed my hand. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to talk to the doctor a moment.”

  A nurse in white scrubs with pink kittens on them bustled into the room and busied herself checking my IV tube and the monitor readouts. Behind her, I could see the doctor in the hallway, speaking to Keith and Rita.

  After a few moments, Rita returned to the room without Keith. I looked around her, searching for him. Why wasn’t he here? I needed him. I wanted him here.

  Rita pulled a chair close and sat, picking up my hand again. “You’re going to be okay.” She squeezed my fingers. “The doctor says your eyes are fine, and you’re responsive.”

  I raised a hand to my forehead again, touching the bandages. “And this?” I rasped out.

  “You had a nasty gash on your head, and they had to stitch it up.” She pulled my free hand away from my face. “Don’t mess with it yet.”

  “She hit me with something.” I searched my fuzzy memory. “Twice.” I hesitated. “Once. The skillet was dropped. Why does she keep hitting me in the head?”

  The nurse shifted behind Rita. “She needs to rest now.”

  Rita squeezed my fingers again. “I have to go, but I’ll be just outside. I promise.”

  As she left the room, the questions pushing through my head faded, and darkness took me again.

  * * *

  I opened my eyes again, this time to a darkened room, the same soft beeping emanating from the machines beside my bed. A solid snore rattled from my left, and I looked for its source in the dim light.

  A nurse bustled in, checking the monitors. “Oh, good, you’re awake. Are you feeling better?”

  Mason shifted in the chair in the corner and sat up. “Hey, you’re awake.”

  Why was this so surprising? “How long?” My dry throat wouldn’t form any more words.

  The nurse picked up a cup from the bedside table and spooned a few ice chips into my dry mouth. “Three days since you last opened those peepers. It’s Monday morning.” She changed my IV bag. “I’ll let the doctor know you’re awake.”

  “I’ll go get Rita.” Mason rushed from the room, almost colliding with the nurse in his haste.

  Moments later, Rita, her clothes rumpled and hair a frizzy mess, strode to my bedside and picked up my hand. “Good morning, Rip Van Winkle.”

  I chuckled and instantly regretted it, as the action caused my head to pound. “Where’s Keith?”

  Mason shook his head. “Fine. Rita and I are here, sleeping at your bedside, but all you want is the hot cop.”

  Rita elbowed him. “Stop it. Don’t make her laugh.” She turned her gaze to meet mine. “He had to leave about fifteen minutes ago. It’s almost seven AM. The District Attorney is questioning him in preparation for Alice’s trial.”

  After only four days? “Isn’t that awfully soon?” I tried to reach for the ice chip cup and missed.

  Rita slid another spoonful of ice chips into my mouth. “It’s an election year. The DA wants things to happen fast, so it looks good for him in three weeks. I think the actual trial starts next week. Her attorney isn’t happy, but he got overruled. It’s a pretty open-and-shut case, since Keith and Tish caught her in the act of trying to kill you.”

  “And Douglas?” Guilt washed through me at having assumed he was capable of murder or of poisoning my dog.

  “He’s fine and home.” Rita sat in the chair next to the bed. “Selina’s okay too. She was only passed out from drinking. Alice had left the pills in her car and was on her way to get them when you called me. Selina’s mothering instincts have finally come out, especially after she found out Douglas was injured trying to save her.”

  “Where did the money come from for Selina’s habits if Douglas wasn’t stealing the books?” How had I been so wrong?

  “When his father died, he left half of his estate to the library and half of it to Douglas.” Mason sat on the foot of my bed, jumping up when I winced at the movement. “Sorry. Anyway, he told Selina it had all gone to the library because he knew she’d blow their share if she knew. He’s been coving her major buys and trying to rein her in as much as he can so they don’t end up broke by retirement.”

  The nurse bustled in with a tray and set it on the foot of the bed. She rolled a bed table from the side of the bed, positioned it across me, and placed the tray on top. “You can’t have a full meal, but the doctor says you can have some Jell-O.” She lifted the cover from the plate and revealed two Jell-O cups, both lime, before leaving the room. My stomach rolled in protest.

  “Hey, Jell-O.” Mason leaned over and looked. “I love lime. Can I have one?”

  “Sure. Knock yourself out.” I grinned when he shot me an odd look.

  I slid my gaze to Rita. “Where’s Eddy?”

  “Phillie Hokes is puppy sitting.” Rita pulled out her phone and opened her photo app, flipping through pictures of Eddy and Phillie in her yard, standing proudly by a sapling. “Seems Eddy is helping her garden. He keeps digging holes in odd places, and for fun, she’s sticking plants in them. So far, I think she has two new trees and an odd, zig-zag row of rose bushes from where he tried to catch a mole.”

  I repressed the laugh that wanted to come up, raising my fingers to touch the picture of Eddy and Phillie. “Tell her thank you for me.”

  “I’m sure she’ll be by now that you’re awake.” Rita dropped her phone back into her purse.

  My eyelids drooped, and I fought to keep them open. “How’s the store doing?”

  Mason grinned. “We’re selling like gangbusters. Everyone wants to come by and hear the latest news on how you’re doing. I’m managing to sell a lot of books to them once they’re there.”

  I smiled, struggling against the sleep that tugged at me. “Sounds like you have things in hand.”

  Rita stood and motioned to Mason. “We both need to go home and shower. I need to check in at work, and Mason needs to get the store open for the day. Those books won’t sell themselves.”

  I nodded a tiny bit. “I understand. I’ll be here when you get back.” My eyes were closed before they got out of the room.

  * * *

  When I opened my eyes again, late afternoon sun streamed in the window. Keith sat in the chair across the room, eyes on his phone, tapping away at the screen as if sending a text.

  I watched him for a moment, drinking him in and remembering the way he’d dived across me to rescue me. “Hey.” I smiled a sleepy smile at him.

  Keith’s head snapped up. “Hey, yourself.” His voice was tight, the set of his jaw tense.

  My smile slipped. “Everything okay?”

  His brow furrowed, and he tipped his head to one side briefly. “Sure. Everything’s fine. Why wouldn’t it be?”

  Wow, okay. Change of subject. “How’s the case against Alice?”

  Keith sighed. “Her trial starts
next Monday.”

  “Will she go to jail?” I shifted and reached for the bed buttons, tilting my bed up a tiny bit so I could see him more easily.

  Keith shook his head. “Not likely. Her attorney is already prepping an insanity defense. In light of her crazy ramblings, the DA’s office isn’t going to disagree. I figure it’ll end up with a plea deal before it even gets to court, and she’ll end up in an institution.”

  “At least she’ll get help.” I lifted the bed a bit more. “Why did she think Douglas loved her?”

  “Seems he’d been nice to her when Linus broke her heart. He’d told her she was a nice lady, and any man would be proud to be with her. She took that to mean that he wanted to be with her himself.” Keith let out another sigh. “I honestly feel sorry for her. She stole all the books to get money so she and Douglas could run away together.”

  “You guys must have had some inkling it was her, right?” I still couldn’t believe how much she had fooled me.

  “We suspected.” Keith nodded. “Once Tish looked at the library’s inventory printouts, she set up a couple of the new recruits on computers, digging for any crumb of information about the missing books. It took time, but a few collectors posting about their new acquisitions led us to a bookseller in Raleigh. His reputation was impeccable, so no one questioned when he came up with very rare manuscripts for sale to his high-end buyers.”

  “Weren’t the books marked by the library, though?” I winced when I furrowed my brow, and I concentrated on relaxing.

  “He had made a stamp like the one the library uses when they remove a book from circulation, and he was marking them, so buyers wouldn’t suspect. And he was careful not to sell more than one to any single buyer too.” Keith leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees. “Fortunately, he kept very careful sales records, so we should be able to recover most of the stolen books. Since neither of them spent much of the money, we can refund the clients a lot of what they paid.”

  “That’s great.” I was running out of things to ask about the case. “So she sold the book she bought from me under her own name …” I hoped he’d fill in the blanks for me.