Kate Carlisle - One Book In The Grave

“Oh, because you’re so innocent?” I said. “Whatever she did to you, I know you deserve it all and then some.”

“I didn’t do anything,” he said irately. “She’s in love with me and completely obsessed. She’s a raving- I didn’t ask her to- Look, just let it go.”

I was starting to get a really bad feeling about this whole scene. “We’re not letting anything go, especially not you. The police are waiting down the mountain and you’re going straight to jail.”

“Me?” he said, outraged. “I’m the victim here.”

“You have never been a victim, Solomon.” I shook my head and looked away. I had feared the man and hated him for what he did to Max, but now I couldn’t be bothered to expend that much energy. Now I felt nothing but contempt for him.

But that reminded me of something. “Why did you hate Max Adams so much?”

The immediate change in Solomon was startling. He scowled bitterly. “Max Adams was nothing but a two-bit hack. I have more talent in my little toe than he had in his entire body. But Max had the Midas touch. He got everything he wanted delivered on a golden platter. Women by the dozens, acclaim, money. The institute got him a book contract. They sent him on lecture tours. When Angelica left me for him, I was furious.”

“You were obsessed.”

“So what?” he said on a snarl, then shook his fist. “Max Adams was a pissant. He was supposed to die.”

“He didn’t.”

“I know that now, damn it, but at least he was gone. I no longer had to compete with him for every little crumb the institute threw our way. I didn’t have to look at him.”

“But he’s still lingering. I’ve seen all those banners around the Art Institute campus.”

He shook his head in disgust. “He’s been gone three years and still they flock to see him and his work. It makes me sick.”

“And Angelica was spearheading it,” I added. “How did that make you feel?”

“I wanted to kill her, too,” he muttered, then looked at me. “But I didn’t.”

“And we’re supposed to believe that?”

“Believe whatever you want. I didn’t kill her.”

“Who killed her?” Derek asked.

Solomon turned and studied him for a moment. “Someone to whom I should’ve shown more gratitude.”

I stepped closer. “So you’re saying the woman who tied you to the bed also killed Angelica.”

He whipped around to look at me. “I’m not saying another word.”

“Fine. You can talk to the police.” I pulled the last of the knots loose and threw the rope on the floor. “Max Adams is alive, Solomon, and he’s going to have you charged with kidnapping and criminal harassment and attempted murder. You’re going to prison.”

He glared at me and muttered an expletive, then said, “Don’t hold your breath.”

Derek grabbed hold of Solomon’s arm and yanked him off the bed. “Stand up.”

Solomon wobbled but eventually gained his footing. Derek tossed his clothes at him and Solomon dressed hurriedly. Then Derek took hold of his wrist and spun him around. Using one of the ropes, he tied Solomon’s hands behind his back.

Solomon struggled, but was no match for Derek. “Is that really necessary?”

“Yeah, it really is,” I said.

“Let’s go,” Derek said.

I found my shoulder bag and stayed close to Derek as he led Solomon out of the bedroom. In the front room, Derek leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Gabriel should’ve been here by now.”

“Do you think something happened to him?” He knew how I worried about Gabriel, and given the strange things that had been happening lately, I was scared to death he might become the latest victim.

Derek pulled out his phone and checked it for text messages. “I don’t know. Let’s go find him.”

An hour later, we were back inside Savannah’s restaurant. The Sonoma sheriff’s deputy had come and gone after the San Francisco detectives claimed first dibs on questioning Solomon in connection to Joe Taylor’s murder.

I just about fainted in relief when, within ten minutes of the cops taking Solomon away, Gabriel showed up. He’d been investigating another mountain cabin farther down the road, but had turned up nothing.

Gabriel, Derek, and I met quickly in Savannah’s back room to figure out our next move. The other men were still out hunting for Minka and Emily. Derek thought we ought to return to the area around the secluded cabin where we had found Solomon, but Gabriel had somewhere else in mind. While they debated, I ran to the ladies’ room. Walking out of the bathroom, I noticed someone in the parking lot and had a momentary rush of déjà vu. But it wasn’t Minka.

“Brooklyn? Is that you?”

I peered through the screen door. “Melody?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” She shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket. “I saw them take Solomon away.”

“Melody,” I said sympathetically, “I know Crystal likes Solomon, but I think he’s done some bad things.”

She smiled sadly. “He’s better than you think, Brooklyn. He’s done so much good for our church.”

I didn’t have the energy to argue with her. “I hope you’re right.”

“The Ogunites are setting up a defense fund for him, and Crystal and I will testify or do whatever it takes to exonerate him. He’s been so important to our church and it’s our honor and duty to serve him.”

I felt sorry for her so I pushed open the door and went outside. “Do you really believe that?”

“Well, yes, and I really like him, too. My sister loves him. She can’t help it.”

I couldn’t take any more about Crystal’s love for Solomon, and that really bad feeling I’d felt up in the cabin was sinking in again. But I had to be wrong. “I hope things work out, Melody. I’ve got to get back inside.”

“Brooklyn, thanks for listening.” All of a sudden she smiled. “Hey-we made some more fruit jewelry using your mother’s Fuji apples. They’re really pretty. You should come to the farmers’ market tomorrow.”

“I’ll try to come by. See you, Melody.” I turned to leave, but something sharp and painful slammed against my head and I went flying forward. And that’s the last thing I remembered.

I woke up in darkness, completely disoriented and with a blinding headache. I was covered up and lying on something cold and bumpy and moving so much that I kept sliding. After another few seconds, I realized I was on the floor of a truck or a van and someone was driving it around curves and up a hill.

Because of the tarp covering me, I couldn’t see who was driving. But I knew it had to be Melody.

So now what? I hadn’t even screamed to alert Derek and Gabriel, so I was on my own. Or was I? Maybe they had heard the screen door slam shut when I walked outside to talk to Melody. Maybe they were following us. I had to cling to that small possibility if I was going to survive with my wits intact.

Melody would arrive at her destination eventually, so I had to come up with a plan, fast. I maneuvered myself around under the tarp until I was facing the back doors of the van. Then I got up on my hands and knees. And waited.

I replayed my conversation with Crystal at the farmers’ market the other day. She had been gushing over Solomon, to the point where I was slightly revolted. But I never thought it meant she loved him in the worst way, which was what that scene in the cabin bedroom clearly suggested.

Crystal must have been the woman who lured Solomon to the cabin with promises of sex and God knows what else. Solomon had confessed that he hadn’t been grateful enough for some big favor she had done for him. Had Crystal killed Angelica as a favor to Solomon? As the van lumbered around another curve and I skidded across the cold steel flooring, I had my answer. It had to have been Crystal. With help from her sister, Melody?