“I mean, she, uh, bought it. In an old used bookstore. They didn’t know what they had, but she recognized its value.”
“Hold on,” I said. “Are you saying—”
“No, you hold on,” he snapped. “Are you accusing Sara of breaking the law behind my back?”
“Calm down, Rod. I don’t know who was breaking the law. It could’ve been the used bookseller.” I was a little affronted that he would instinctively push the blame off on a wife who was no longer here to defend herself. And frankly, I didn’t believe his story that Sara had found it in an old used bookstore. Anyone, especially a bookseller, could see that the book was extremely valuable. “I just know that the book was altered and I’m assuming it was done in order to sell it for a lot more money. And that’s very likely a criminal offense.”
He seemed to mull my words over for a moment, then shook his head numbly. “I’m at a complete loss. I can only surmise that it was Sara who forged the book.”
“Wait. So it wasn’t the bookseller, it was Sara. Was she familiar with the process of forging a book?”
“Of course not. I mean, I don’t know.” His eyes widened with another realization. “Oh no, I’ve got to call her office to let them know. She was the head of the book restoration department. If she did it for one book, she might have done it for others. They need to know.”
I was still angry that he was putting all the blame on Sara. But I had to admit he was right to notify Sara’s college. “That’s a good idea, but can’t Cornelia do it?”
He blinked, apparently surprised that I knew the name of Sara’s boss. “Cornelia is the head librarian but she isn’t in charge of restoration and conservation.”
“I see.”
“I’ll have to take The Three Musketeers back to them,” he said reasonably. “They’ll need to hunt down the original owner and make sure they know exactly what the story is. I’m happy to swing by your place later and pick it up.”
Inspector Lee returned and joined the conversation. “That’s not an option. The book is part of our investigation and will stay in San Francisco until further notice.”
“What?” he demanded. “Why?”
“That’s police business,” she said enigmatically.
I always hated it when she said that to me, but today I rather enjoyed hearing it.
Rod turned to me in confusion as if I might be the one to explain and fix everything.
“The forged book could’ve been the motive.” When my words didn’t seem to register, I added softly, “For Sara’s murder. Remember?”
“Of course,” he said testily, but just as quickly he began to choke back tears. “How can I ever forget she was murdered? I’ll have to live with her loss for the rest of my life.”
“I’m sorry, Rod.” I patted his shoulder. “Look, it’s true that Sara and I didn’t talk to each other for years, but I felt like we were finally starting to connect again. I’ll miss her, too.”
“She would’ve loved to hear you say that.”
“I know. Oh, hey, Heather told me that you two had a drink the other night.”
He gave me a cautious look. “Yeah.”
“She showed me the selfie you took together. That’s a great shot.”
“Thanks.” Rod sighed. “I’m really glad we reconnected, too, Brooklyn.”
“Me, too.” I wasn’t sure that was true, but I didn’t intend to ruin the moment. Rod gave me a quick hug, then eyed Derek and took a few steps back.
“I’d be happy if we could make up for lost time,” he said. “Why don’t I take you and your fiancé out to dinner tomorrow night? We could clear the air and really talk.”
“That’s such a lovely offer, Rod. Thank you. But we’re not available tomorrow night.” I hesitated, then added, “We’re having the rehearsal dinner for our wedding.”
He slapped his forehead. “Of course. My mistake.” He grabbed hold of my hand and clutched it tightly. “I’m so happy for you. Both of you. I wish I could be there to wish you well.”
“Thank you, Rod.”
“Yes, thank you,” Derek said blandly. “Darling, we should go.”
I gazed up at him. I had the feeling he was hoping to get me out of there before I invited Rod to the dinner and wedding. But he didn’t need to worry about that.
“All right, love.” I turned and gave Rod an encouraging smile and a hug. “Take care of yourself, Rod.”
“You, too,” he said, and once again, I caught him glancing anxiously over my shoulder.
Maybe Rod was just one of those people who was always looking for someone more interesting to talk to. Or maybe there was somebody here who scared the bejeezus out of him. I figured that was the more likely scenario because I really got the feeling that he’d been trying to hide behind me earlier. Which was ridiculous since he was several inches taller and at least fifty pounds heavier than me.
As he walked away, I realized that none of it mattered, because I would never see him again. I turned to Derek. “Where did you two dash off to?”
Derek shot a glance at Inspector Lee first, then said, “When Rod burst into tears and grabbed you, I happened to see Roy Mattingly standing by the door on the other side of the auditorium.”
“The FBI guy? I’ll bet that’s who Rod was staring at over my shoulder.”
“Quite possibly,” he said. “But oddly enough, as soon as Mattingly saw me coming, he took off.”
“So you didn’t catch up to him?”
“Not yet,” Inspector Lee said, a dangerous edge to her voice.
I clutched Derek’s arm, feeling a bit shaky. If Derek had recognized the FBI guy, then surely the FBI guy knew who Derek was. So why did he run away from him? The possible answers to that question did not exactly fill me with tranquility.
“Darling,” Derek said. “Why did you tell Rod about our rehearsal dinner tomorrow night?”
“I was just making small talk.”
“So you weren’t inviting him to break into our home and steal the book?”
“What? Me? No.”
He pursed his lips as he considered my evasive gaze. “Just checking.”
“It did sound like an invitation to commit burglary,” Inspector Lee mused. “If he were so inclined.”
I gave an uncertain shrug. “Depends on how desperate he is to get that book.”
“I don’t like the odds on this one,” Inspector Lee said.
I slid my arm through Derek’s. “But wouldn’t he assume that the police have the book? Especially after what you said to him.”
Inspector Lee shrugged. “I didn’t exactly admit that we have it. And he might be desperate enough to try to break in anyway.”
I gazed up at Derek. “Our house is impenetrable, right?”
“Nothing is impenetrable,” he said, so casually that I knew I’d blown it.
“Your place comes close, though,” Inspector Lee pointed out.
But Derek’s tone said it all.
“Shoot,” I grumbled. “I screwed up, right?”
He gave me a comforting squeeze. “We might be able to remedy it.”
I took a moment to rethink the problem. “If I ask nicely, Inspector Lee, would you consider assigning someone to watch our place?”
She laughed. “Brooklyn, you’re so entertaining. But sorry, I can’t justify the man-hours on a hunch.”
Derek smiled. “No need, Inspector. I’ll have one of my men keep an eye on things.”
“That’s handy,” she said, grinning. I had to agree.
“Thank you.” I reached up and kissed his cheek. “And I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. Blame it on wedding jitters.”
But Derek’s attention was diverted elsewhere. I turned to see what he was looking at and saw Rod Martin talking to Cornelia, Sara’s boss. They both looked furious and Rod was jabbing h
is finger at her. She shoved him and he grabbed her arm.
“Whoa, what’s that all about?” I wondered.
“Two angry people blaming each other for a crime?”
“Think I’ll go find out,” Inspector Lee said, and took off across the room.
Derek and I glanced at each other and immediately followed, approaching from behind so Rod wouldn’t see us. The crowd had thinned out, so we could get close enough to hear them clearly.
“She hated you,” Rod was saying. “And I know you hated her, too. You were practically giddy when you sent her down to that basement to get those books.”
“That doesn’t mean I killed her.”
“With Sara out of the way, you stand to—”
“Why would I kill the golden goose?” she hissed.
Inspector Lee strolled up, stopping the conversation. “Everything okay here?”
“Who the hell are you?” Cornelia demanded.
“That’s just rude,” Lee said, grinning.
I almost laughed and whispered to Derek, “This is not going to end well.”
He just shook his head.
Lee flashed her badge and then took Cornelia’s arm. “I’d like you to come with me.”
“What? No! Why aren’t you taking him?”
“I already spoke to Mr. Martin. Now I want to talk to you.”
“I didn’t do anything!” she wailed.
As Inspector Lee passed us, she rolled her eyes. “This day just keeps getting better and better. I’ve got to play the lottery.”
It probably wasn’t funny, but we both laughed all the way home.
* * *
• • •
Back home, we settled down at the kitchen bar. Derek pulled out a bottle of wine, but then stopped. “Darling, do you realize we have neglected to choose our cocktails for the wedding?”
“I didn’t want to say anything,” I said coyly.
He studied me for a moment. “You forgot as well, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” I grinned, then shrugged. “I’m afraid we’ve become slipshod in our wedding preparations.”
“It’s disgraceful.” He opened the cabinet in the dining room and removed a shaker and two martini glasses. “Let’s get this done and try not to be distracted again.”
“You’re right.” I sighed. “If we don’t have a signature cocktail at our wedding, people will talk.”
“I couldn’t live with that,” he said, and began concocting the first drink. “And I don’t want you to lose sleep so I will admit that I emailed the caterers to let them know our two choices.”
“So they’ll be prepared with whatever choice we make?”
“Exactly.”
Derek knew that, besides being delicious, I had only one other requirement of our signature cocktail and that was that it had to contain light-colored liquids. I hated the thought of someone spilling a Tequila Sunrise on my pristine white wedding dress.
“Now this first one is a light amber shade, but I think you’ll find it delicious.” Derek dipped the rims of the two martini glasses in white sugar, poured the liquid into the glasses, and handed one to me.
“It’s pretty. What is it?”
“Essentially it’s a sidecar, but with several twists. We start with a good cognac, add simple syrup made with honey instead of sugar, add in a shot of orange liqueur and a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Then shake vigorously and garnish with a good-sized lemon twist.”
After one sip, I said, “I choose this one. It’s just as delicious as you said it would be. Does it have a name?”
He grinned. “Why don’t you name it?”
I thought for a moment. “Honey, lemon twist, cognac. How about Twisted French Honey?”
“A bit complicated,” he said with a laugh.
“Okay. We can shorten it to Twisted Honey. It’s quirky yet romantic. I like it.”
“Then it’s perfect.”
“Are you going to make the second drink?”
“My second choice starts with a base of ginger syrup that involves a lot of peeling and chopping and then boiling and steeping the ginger root to draw out its rich, peppery flavor. So for the caterers’ and bartenders’ sake, I suggest we stick with the Twisted Honey, if that works for you.”
“It works great for me.” I took another sip and smiled.
He leaned over and kissed me. “I’ll email the caterers to let them know what we’ve decided on.”
“So except for a quick trip to Tiffany tomorrow, we are officially done with all the wedding preparations. Hallelujah.” I took the last sip of my drink and set my glass on the bar. “I think we should have another round, just to be sure.”
* * *
• • •
Despite overindulging on two Twisted Honeys the night before, I woke up without the jitters and that put me in a good mood right from the start. The entire day ran like a well-oiled machine. All my plans fell in line perfectly, a miracle after the last few days of internal chaos and missteps. My sisters and Robin were on time for our mani-pedis at the spa, and Alex, my mom, and Meg joined us, too. We laughed and chatted and had the best time together. Now that my sisters and Robin lived in the wine country, I missed hanging out with all of them, so we vowed to do this more often.
Afterward, I broke away from the group and stopped at Tiffany to pick out gifts for my girls. I found the cutest silver bracelet with one tiny dangling heart and ended up buying six of them. One for me, one for each of my four bridesmaids, and one for Alex, who had been such a great help to me.
The shoe crisis solution alone had made Alex’s gift worth it, but she had also been an awesome self-defense instructor for the past year and had helped me get my arms in shape for my wedding dress. And she did actually save my life at least twice. She was dating my darling, dangerous friend Gabriel, which provided me with good gossip and intrigue. Plus, cupcakes. Alex had become very dear to me and I wanted to make sure she knew it.
I had to admit I was a little anxious as I dressed for our rehearsal dinner. Not because of the dinner, which would be wonderful; and not because of the guests, some of whom I had never met; but because I was worried that our house might be broken into while we were out.
“I never should’ve said anything to Rod,” I muttered to myself in the mirror.
“Meow,” Charlie said in agreement as she took two turns around and then plopped down on top of my feet.
I smiled and lifted her up to snuggle for a minute. “I love you, Charlie Cupcake.”
I had never known a cat to be this affectionate, especially after my experiences babysitting Vinnie and Suzie’s two cats, Pookie and Splinters. Those two had always been properly disdainful of everything I did for them. But Charlie was a sweet creature who seemed to love me as much as I loved her. She made me happy. It helped that she had been a gift from Derek, which meant that I cherished her all the more.
Derek checked his phone as he walked into the room. “Mitch is in place, parked across the street,” he announced. “So along with every high-tech security gadget known to man, our home is being monitored by a real live human who is trained to kill.”
“Wonderful.” I wasn’t sure if he was kidding about the “trained to kill” part, but I was happy to hear that Mitch was on duty.
“Ready, love?” Derek asked.
I set Charlie down and grabbed my small clutch purse. “Whenever you are.”
* * *
• • •
We had rented a private room in our favorite restaurant near the Embarcadero. The cozy terrace offered a view of the Bay Bridge and the Berkeley Hills beyond. The weather was temperate enough to have cocktails outside and that was where I was introduced to the rest of Derek’s family.
Seeing Derek chatting with his four brothers took my breath away. One man was more gorgeous than the next, and
all of them had a dangerous streak that added to their attractiveness. Naturally, the most gorgeous and dangerous of them all was Derek, although any of his brothers’ wives might have argued the point.
I was about to take a sip from my second glass of champagne when Heather walked in.
We gave each other air kisses and I laughed. “I’m so glad you could make it.”
“Thank you so much for inviting me. This is so special.” She looked a little hesitant. “I hope you don’t mind, but I brought a guest.”
“Oh.” I was shocked, but recovered quickly. “That shouldn’t be a problem.”
She was watching the door. “Here he is.”
I was thinking how happy I was that Gus could see her tonight after all. But then I spun around to greet . . .
“Rod?”
Chapter Ten
Derek recognized my distress and instantly alerted the maître d’ that with Rod’s unexpected arrival we would need one more additional place setting. The man handled the news with complete aplomb, which was so much better than the way I was tempted to handle it. I had never been prone to tantrums, but this latest surprise was putting me to the test.
“Rod,” I said tightly. “What a surprise.” Coldly furious, I looked from him to Heather and back again. This was beyond rude. Tonight was about Derek and me and our family and close friends. Rod had no business being here and everyone knew it.
“I know I’m imposing,” he said sheepishly, clearly aware that he never would have been invited if not for Heather. “But I happened to run into Heather and she insisted. I hope you don’t mind.”
He knew I minded, and I seriously doubted that Heather had insisted. I gave Heather a quick glance and her face was a mask of serenity. That was her tell, I realized. Way back when, if Rod was up to something, Heather would maintain a façade of eerie calm, as if mentally distancing herself from the situation. Clearly nothing had changed, so I knew there was more to the story than what Rod had said.
I couldn’t help but wonder if they were sticking together in order to provide another alibi for each other. But then, I couldn’t think of anything going on tonight that would necessitate an alibi. I chalked it all up to my being utterly annoyed with both of them and vowed to ignore them as much as possible.
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