Or maybe she was just back there gossiping without being overheard by anyone else.
I turned back to watch the action on stage, just as Annie walked out and began to sing. “Oh goodie, I think this is where she dies.”
Derek leaned over and whispered, “She has a lovely voice.”
I grinned, ridiculously proud. “She really does.”
When the song ended and Annie lay down on the couch, pulled the thick blanket up, and fell asleep—and died?—I couldn’t help but applaud loudly. I was so impressed!
Annie sat up in her death bed and grinned.
From the back of the theater, London said, “Brooklyn, stop disrupting the actors.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I could tell she wasn’t really angry with me. At least I hoped not. My baby sister had a tyrannical streak—which probably made her an excellent director.
“That sounded good from back here, Annie,” London yelled as she walked down the aisle toward the stage. “Let’s take five, everybody.”
I stood up as London approached. She looked beautiful, as always. She wasn’t capable of looking bad. It was an impossibility. She wore her hair in silly pigtails and she still looked amazing. She had always been adorable, which made her the perfect foil for our jokes and ridicule growing up. It was for a good cause, my sisters and I had argued, because we’d helped her develop a spine. And a sense of humor.
I loved her to death.
Halfway down the aisle she took off running and grabbed me in a powerful hug.
“It’s so good to see you,” she whispered, then turned and gave Derek a hug. “Hi, Derek.”
“Hello, London,” he said. “Everything looks fantastic.”
“Thanks. It’s amazing how much talent we have around here.”
I watched the two men from the back row amble over to the stage. “Who are those two guys you were sitting with?”
“Sound and lighting. We’re checking the view and the sound from different spots in the audience.”
“You’re so smart,” I said. “It’s always a shock.”
“Very funny. A bookbinder comedian.” She grabbed my hands and squeezed. “So how are you, really? We were so worried when your college friend was killed. And then those horrible people showed up at your wedding.”
I waved off her concerns. “We haven’t thought about that in months.” I wasn’t about to fill her in on the three murders we’d dealt with since then. “We’re doing fine and we’re so happy, aren’t we, Derek?”
Derek kissed my hand. “Blissfully happy, my love.”
“That’s so sweet,” London said, pressing her hands to her heart. But then she frowned. “Oh, we heard about that person who was killing Derek’s friends.”
“That’s old news, and we weren’t in any danger,” I lied. Patting her cheeks, I changed the subject, saying, “You look awful, as usual.”
She laughed, automatically assuming I was kidding. I was, of course, but it was so annoying that she knew how beautiful she was. But then, London was beautiful on the inside, too, and thought the same of all her sisters and brothers. But she was still fun to tease.
“How are the twins?” I asked. More proof that London was an overachiever was the fact that she’d given birth to beautiful twins, Chloe and Connor. We had to give her grief for that, of course.
“They’re adorable,” she said softly. “They’re learning Japanese.”
“But they’re only four years old.”
“That’s the best time to learn. Anyway, I’m going to miss them terribly because I’ll be staying at Mom and Dad’s for the next few days so I don’t have to drive back and forth from Calistoga every night. Trevor’s bringing the kids into Dharma on Friday for the festival.”
“They’ll love that. So how’s the play going?” I asked. “Annie sounds great. And the costumes are fabulous.”
“Everyone’s doing so well, and it’s so much fun working with Shandi. She’s such a pro.”
“Really?” I asked, and glanced up at Derek. “Well, that’s good to hear. I’m glad.”
“You sound surprised. Why would you doubt it?”
“You hear stories.” I shrugged. “You know, the Diva throwing her weight around. Stuff like that.”
“Oh, no. She’s a pussycat.”
“Okay. Good to know.” I glanced around. “Have you met Ryan?”
She practically cooed with pleasure. “Isn’t he a cutie-pie? So attentive to Shandi. She was super lucky to find that one.”
I smiled. “You make it sound like he’s her boyfriend.”
She laughed. “Oh, gosh no, he’s much too young for her. I just mean that he’s a really good assistant.”
“I think so, too. We’ve seen him at Mom’s committee meetings.”
“He’s a true advocate for Shandi,” Derek said.
I nodded, then glanced around some more. “I thought we’d see him here tonight.”
“Oh, he’s around here somewhere. Probably in Shandi’s dressing room. He’s always taking notes and making lists for her.”
“Is Shandi here?” I asked. “We would love to meet her.”
“She’ll be here later. She had to run out to meet someone. Apparently it was important because she’s never missed a rehearsal.”
“That’s too bad.” I lowered my voice. “I don’t know if Mom told you, but Ryan asked Mom to try and talk you into recasting Shandi in the role of Jo.”
“Oh, that would never happen,” London insisted. “Shandi’s perfect as Marmee. It’s like she was made for that role.”
“Really? Ryan said that Shandi felt the character was too old for her. He said it’s not a big enough role for her fans. And, you know, she doesn’t like playing the mother of four girls.”
“I have no clue where Ryan got that idea.”
Probably from Shandi, I thought, but didn’t say so.
London looked around to make sure they weren’t overheard. “I’m sure Shandi’s vanity would prefer that she play a younger character, but she’s just right to play the mother. And honestly, she’s never said a word to me about it.”
“Maybe she didn’t want to complain to the director so she asked Ryan to work out the problem without getting her involved.”
“Maybe.” London shook her head. “But aside from all that, I don’t see why she would want to change roles at this point. Everyone’s comfortable with each other and, honestly, it’s a really great role. She gets to sing the most beautiful, heartbreaking song in the show. And she looks gorgeous in her costumes.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” I touched her arm. “And I’m sorry if I worried you.”
“Hey, no worries.” She grinned. “Besides, what would I do at this point? I’m not going to switch things around less than a week before the performance.”
I smiled. “That’s what I figured.” I glanced around again. “Really, everything looks so fabulous. Who knew you could pull off something like this?”
“It’s a shocker to me, too.”
We both laughed. It was fun to hear her goof on herself.
“We’re looking forward to opening night,” Derek said.
She grinned. “Me, too.”
“I know you need to get back to work,” I said. “We’ll just sit and enjoy the show for a few more minutes, if that’s okay.”
“Stay as long as you want,” she said, and gave us both hugs. “Hey, I can’t wait to hear your wine and book pairings this weekend.”
“I’m pretty excited about that, too.” Before she left us, I asked, “If you’re staying with Mom and Dad, I guess you heard about their accident.”
“Yes. But it doesn’t sound like an accident, does it?”
I frowned. “No.”
She sighed. “They seem to be doing pretty well in spite of their bumps and bruises. But I’ll
keep an eye on them.”
“Good. I’m glad you’re staying there.”
“Me, too. Ciao,” she said with a smile, and hurried away, up the steps to the stage, where she disappeared behind the side curtain.
A minute later, China appeared from behind the curtain and shielded her eyes from the bright stage lights. “Brooks?”
“Here we are,” I said, and waved.
My siblings and I had all been named for the various towns and places where my dedicated Deadhead parents had conceived or given birth to each of us. China was named after China Lake, where my parents attended a protest march at the Naval Air Weapons Station.
China walked downstage and took the steps. “I’m glad you guys made it.”
“We wouldn’t miss it.” We jumped up and met her halfway, and there were hugs all around.
“The costumes are lovely, China,” Derek said.
“Aw, thanks, Derek.” She squeezed his arm affectionately. “I can’t take all the credit. I’ve got some of my most talented customers helping me with them.”
“That was smart of you,” I said. “It must mean that you’re pretty talented yourself.”
She smiled and fanned herself. “I do try.”
I laughed, then changed the subject. “Have you seen Mom and Dad?”
“I talked to Mom on the phone and I went to see Dad.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “He’s feeling much better about Mom’s prognosis.”
“Yeah, she’s pretty tough.” I gazed at her. “So, Derek and I signed up to take some classes with Keith at the Dharma Dojo.”
Her eyes widened. “You met Keith? Did you know he’s my teacher?”
“Not until he told us.” I narrowed my eyes on her and China grinned. “How long have you been studying there? And why didn’t you ever tell me you were a green belt?”
She shrugged. “I’ve been studying for about five years and got my green belt in May. It wasn’t a secret or anything,” she said. “It just never came up, you know?”
Whoa. Five years. I had some catching up to do.
“I had no idea,” I said. “And I’m really jealous. So I’m warning you, I’m going to beef up my training and one day I’ll come after you and take you down.”
She snorted. “You can try.” Then she laughed and grabbed both of my arms. “Seriously, I hope you do it. There’s no better feeling than knowing that you can protect yourself. It’s a huge confidence builder. That’s why I started taking the classes in the first place.”
“What do you mean?” I frowned. “Did someone try to hurt you?”
“Oh, it was nothing,” She waved her hand dismissively. “Happened years ago. I was walking to my car one night and someone came out of the shadows and tried to rob me.” She grimaced. “Well, more than just rob me, but I don’t want to go into that.”
“That’s not nothing,” I whispered. It didn’t matter how many times I’d been in danger myself. This was my sister and someone had tried to hurt her. And I’d never even known about it.
“Did they find the person?” Derek asked immediately.
“Yes.” She looked at both of us. “And he’s still in jail.”
“Good,” I said. “Oh my God, China. I never knew that.”
She took a deep breath. “I didn’t talk about it for a long time.”
“So what happened, exactly?”
“Well, like I said, the guy came out of nowhere.” She crossed her arms over her chest in a self-protective move. “He grabbed me and I fought back, but he was too strong. But luckily, I was parked right by the dojo and Keith walked out at that very moment and took care of the guy. You know, Keith doesn’t look that big, so the jerk thought he could beat him up, too.” China actually chuckled at the memory. “Let’s just say that Keith changed his mind. Forcefully.”
“I hope he sent him to the hospital,” I said through clenched teeth.
“He sent him to the hospital and I helped send him to jail. Turns out I wasn’t the only one he’d attacked.” China shook her head. “There was a whole string of victims in San Francisco ready to testify against him. Apparently he was just in Dharma for the weekend and saw me as an easy victim. Some of the others were hurt pretty badly so I guess I got off easy. But it didn’t feel that way at the time. I was never so scared in my entire life.”
I had to take in a breath and let it out slowly. Nothing about her story was good, but I had to admit I was glad the guy hadn’t been stalking the streets of Dharma all that time. “I’m so grateful that Keith walked out when he did.”
“You and me both.” She smiled determinedly. “Anyway, the next day I walked into the dojo and asked Keith to teach me everything he’d done to that guy the night before. And I’ve been studying with him ever since.”
I threw my arms around her in a fierce hug. “I’m so incredibly proud of you.”
“Thanks, Brooks.”
“And so am I,” Derek said, and joined the hug.
China laughed. “I love you guys.”
“We love you, too.” I gave her arm another squeeze. “But I’m still going to kick your butt someday.”
She laughed again. “I notice you aren’t willing to give it a try right now.”
“No, because right now you could knock me over with a feather.” I bunched up my fists. “But someday, watch out.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She was still laughing. “I’m so scared.”
* * *
• • •
We stayed and watched the rehearsal for another half hour, then took off. We had talked about having dinner at Umbria, but changed our minds. After such a long day, I didn’t want to sit in an elegant restaurant and behave myself. Derek agreed, so we ordered a pizza and salad to take home.
Walking over to the Lane, we ran into Clyde who was just coming out of El Diablo, the best Mexican restaurant in town.
“Hey, Clyde,” I said. “Are you on your way home?”
“Not yet. I’m going back to the store for a few minutes, just to clean up. We’re having a very special author visit tomorrow night and I need to get everything ready.”
My ears perked up. “Author visit? I would love to come to that. Is there still room?”
“I’ll put your name on the list. Your mother will be there, too.”
“Oh.” I exchanged a look with Derek. “Then that settles it. I’ll definitely be there.” No way would I let her walk around town at night while Jacob Banyan was still out there looking to gun her down.
Clyde glanced at Derek. “Your mother’s coming, too.”
Derek frowned. “My mother?”
He nodded. “Her name’s on the reservation list. She and Becky are tight, you know.”
“I’m aware,” Derek murmured. “And who’s your featured author?”
“You might find this line-up interesting,” Clyde said. “We’ve got an outstanding trio of British authors.”
Derek looked mildly impressed. “I might enjoy that, indeed. Who are they?”
“Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, and Dorothy L. Sayers. They’ll be discussing the ‘Golden Age of Detective Fiction.’”
Derek did a double take. “Beg your pardon?”
I laughed. “Derek, Clyde only has author signings with dead authors.”
“Fascinating,” Derek muttered.
I almost giggled at his droll tone. “I guess the proper term for the event would be a séance.”
“Hey,” Clyde grumbled. “I had authors coming out here for years and finally I said, ‘No more.’ I couldn’t stand all that snooty author crap. So I changed my speaker format.”
“I see,” Derek said.
“Love their books,” Clyde admitted. “Hate their egos.”
I wondered if Derek was rolling his eyes.
We walked in amiable silence until we reache
d the door of the Good Book.
“We’ll wait until you’re safely inside,” I said.
“That’s nice of you,” he said, as he pulled out his keys to unlock the door. “Huh. Weird.”
“What is it?” Derek asked, always alert.
Clyde looked at me and grimaced. “I must’ve forgotten to lock it.”
“I don’t believe that.” For as long as I’d known Clyde, he had been super security conscious. Both his front and back doors had two dead bolts each and he was also hooked up to the local alarm company.
“Do you forget to lock the door often?” Derek asked.
“Never.” He frowned. “This is the first time.”
“Were you distracted when you left earlier?”
“No. In fact, I distinctly remember locking the door.” He started to push the door open.
“Don’t step inside,” Derek cautioned.
“What do you mean? I’ve gotta see if anything’s been stolen.”
“Wait.” Derek’s tone caused Clyde to stop instantly. “I’ll go in first, if you don’t mind.”
“Derek owns his own security firm,” I explained quickly. “He’s an expert at this stuff and he’s really strong.” And he usually carries a gun, too, I thought, but didn’t mention it.
“Okay, okay.” Clyde stepped aside to let Derek take the lead. “You go ahead.”
My first thought was that maybe someone had broken into Clyde’s shop to search for the Little Women book. But then, nobody knew that Clyde had it. Or that he’d given it to me, I hoped. So who would break into the bookshop and risk being caught and arrested?
Who was I kidding? I’d worked with rare books long enough to know that there was always someone willing to break the law or kill for them. I wondered again if the book was the reason Lawson was murdered.
Unless, of course, Clyde had simply forgotten to lock the front door. It was unheard of in the past, but then, Clyde wasn’t getting any younger.
I felt immediately guilty for having that thought. He might’ve been getting older, but he still had all his faculties and he was still a fighter.
But as soon as Derek pushed the door open, all of those thoughts melted away to nothing.
In the dim light cast by the desk lamp at the far end of the shop, I could tell that the bookshelves were untouched. Everything was neat and tidy, as always. Nothing was disturbed, at least as far as we could tell. Except that there, on the carpeted floor, was a body.
The Grim Reader Page 21
