Read It and Weep (A Library Lover's Mystery)

by Jenn McKinlay

  “First, they murdered Robbie,” she said. Violet’s voice shook with outrage. “But we refused to let our fallen thespian down and we persevered.”

  She paced around the mattress where Sully and Lindsey stood, still holding one another close, as the adrenaline rush of the near-death experience hadn’t diminished quite yet.

  “But this evil person will not rest until they have destroyed our show. Now they are attacking our crew. You must each ask yourself if you are willing to put yourself at risk for our show. I cannot tell you what to do, and I will respect your decision whatever you choose. For my part, I will not be bullied or terrorized into quitting even if I have to play all the parts myself.”

  There was a beat of silence.

  “I’m in,” Ian said with a raised fist. He was wearing his donkey head mask, so it took a little away from the moment, but it was heartfelt nonetheless.

  “Oberon stands with you,” Milton said. He looked at Ms. Cole and she gave him a regal nod. “As does my queen.”

  Sully gave Lindsey a bemused look and she shrugged.

  One by one, the cast and crew vowed to give the show their all. Not one of them bowed out. Lindsey thought it spoke well of Violet and her considerable talent that they were all willing to risk bodily harm and possible death to put on the show.

  “Excellent. Shall we all resume our places, then?” Violet asked. Everyone started to move away when Violet turned to Sully. “Except you two. I want you to take her to the police station and file a report with Emma.”

  Sully nodded as if he’d been thinking the same thing. Lindsey blew out a breath. She knew they were right, but oh, she couldn’t help but feel as if somehow she was responsible.

  “I’m so sorry, Violet,” she said.

  “Whatever for?” Violet asked.

  “I’m the one who told Emma that Dylan could be Robbie’s son,” she said. “And now, I was pushed off of the balcony and I just feel like I’m messing up your show.”

  “You listen to me,” Violet said. She cupped Lindsey’s face with her hands. “Dylan is going to be fine. Whoever pushed you, it is probably the same person who poisoned Robbie, which makes it quite clear that it wasn’t Dylan. So, see? You did him a favor by having him go with Emma and not be on the premises.”

  “Violet, who do you think is doing this?” Sully asked. His voice was gruff, and Lindsey knew that meant he was fighting to keep his temper in check.

  “I wish I knew,” Violet said. “But whoever it is, they have no reason that I can think of to go after Lindsey, unless she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Another death would shut the show down for sure, so I have to think that’s the motive. Unfortunately, I know several people who would be oh so happy to see the show close before it even opens.”

  “Buchanan?” Sully asked.

  Lindsey studied his face. His jaw was set. His blue eyes were snapping with anger. She was surprised he didn’t start cracking his knuckles.

  “Now, you listen to me, Michael Sullivan,” Violet said as she wagged her finger at him. “Don’t you even think about approaching that man in anger. You can’t fight him. He is protected by layers of lawyers and weaselly minions, whom you will never get through. He is one of the most powerful men in the country and he’s not afraid to use that power. If he decides to make your life a misery, he will. Believe me, I know.”

  Lindsey looked at her friend and noticed the worry lines that creased the corners of her eyes seemed deeper than they had a few weeks ago. She wondered how many of those wrinkles had been put there by Buchanan, and she suddenly had to fight the urge to crack her own knuckles.

  “Do you think he murdered Robbie?” Lindsey asked. The thought that they were all just targets because some billionaire was mad made her a little queasy.

  “I hate to think that the father of my baby is a killer,” Violet said. “But I can’t think of anyone else who would try to cause trouble just because he can.”

  “You know, if I just happened to run into him, say, on the pier, it could be a total coincidence that he falls into the water,” Sully said.

  “And he will sue you and you will lose your business,” Violet said. “You’ll be lucky if they leave you with an oar to a rowboat when his lawyers are through with you.”

  Sully glowered, and Violet patted his arm.

  “Go,” she said. “Emma needs to know what happened.”

  Not waiting for their answer, Violet turned back to the stage, where the cast and crew were doing a mad scramble to begin the dress rehearsal again.

  “You ready?” Sully asked her.

  “As I’ll ever be.”

  They cut through the lobby and out the front doors. The ticket takers and ushers stared as they passed and Lindsey felt her face get warm. She felt like an idiot, like she was some sort of bad-juju magnet.

  How could she not have known someone was up there with her? And who was it? Was it one of these people? They had all been in the lobby when she went into the balcony to look for the headpiece. The thought sent a shiver of fear down her back.

  Sully pushed open the door for her and she stepped back out into the brisk evening air. They crossed the courtyard to the sidewalk and then turned left toward the police station.

  “Didn’t we just get here?” she asked. “It feels like we just arrived and now we’re leaving.”

  “I disagree,” Sully said. “In fact, I think I’ve aged five years since I saw you clinging to the edge of the balcony.”

  “There is that,” she said. They passed under a streetlight. “I really thought I was going to go splat.”

  He leaned close so that his mouth was near her ear and he said, “I would never let that happen.”

  Lindsey glanced at him and gave him a small smile. “You saved my life—again.”

  They were both silent. The last time Sully had saved her life, he had also saved her ex-fiancé. It had caused the end of their brief relationship because Sully believed there was unfinished business between Lindsey and her ex. There wasn’t, but he had refused to believe her when she told him that.

  “It is becoming a habit,” he said. His tone was light but there was so much unsaid between them that Lindsey felt as if each of his words was weighted with the heft of their unspoken expectations.

  She pressed her arm against his as they walked. There was so much she wished she could say, but she didn’t know how.

  “‘Thank you’ seems awfully unsubstantial,” she said.

  They were in front of the police station now and she paused. She turned to face him. The desire to throw herself at him and plant a kiss of gratitude on him that would make his knees buckle was almost more temptation than she could resist.

  “Well, what did you have in mind?” he asked. As if he was reading her thoughts, Sully raised his eyebrows at her.

  Lindsey was pretty sure he was offering up a dare. The only question now was whether she was brave enough to take it. She took a half step toward him and he hit her with his patent-worthy grin. Oh, how she had missed this man!

  She took another half step toward him and was just about to grab him by the front of his jacket and pull him close when the front door to the police station banged open and out stormed Dylan Peet. He looked furious.

  Lindsey took a hasty step back. She had no doubt that Dylan had a few harsh words for her, and she knew she had to accept responsibility for talking to Emma about him.

  She felt Sully step up behind her as if to give her backup and she appreciated the gesture but knew that this was her problem.

  To her surprise, Dylan didn’t even slow down and appeared to be planning to blast right past her.

  “Hey, Dylan.” Lindsey reached out and grabbed his arm. “Are you all right?”

  Dylan glanced up as if seeing them for the first time. He looked as if he was visibly trying to get hims
elf under control.

  “Hi, Ms. Norris, Captain Sully,” he said. “Sorry, I didn’t see you.”

  “So I gathered. Are you all right?” she asked him again.

  Before he could answer, the door to the station opened and his mother came out. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked just as angry as Dylan.

  “Dylan Thomas Peet, you will not walk out on me when I am talking to you. Am I clear?” Joanie asked—although it was pretty obvious that there was only one acceptable answer to her question.

  Joanie’s eyes widened as she noticed Lindsey and Sully standing there, and then her gaze went to where Lindsey’s hand was still on Dylan’s arm. Lindsey removed her hand, knowing that it looked awkward as she did so.

  “Why should I stay and listen to you when you don’t care what I want, Mom?” Dylan asked.

  Joanie walked toward them. She put a fake smile on as if she wasn’t having a scorching fight with her son.

  “That’s enough,” she said in a clipped tone. “We’ll finish this discussion in the car.”

  “What’s to discuss?” Dylan snapped. “You told me I have to quit the play. What more do you want to take from me?”

  “Dylan, I said we’d discuss it in the car,” Joanie said. Her cheeks were bright red and her mouth was clamped in a thin, tight line.

  “There’s nothing to discuss!” Dylan exploded. His arms went flying up into the air in a gesture of perturbed exasperation that Lindsey had never before seen from the usually low-key teen. “And do you want to know why?”

  Joanie looked as if her eyes were about to pop out of her head. Lindsey was sure Dylan had never spoken to his mother like that—ever.

  “Because I’m not going to quit!” Dylan yelled. “I’m doing this for Robbie Vine, and nothing you can say or do is going to stop me!”

  26

  Dylan spun on his heel and took off running. Joanie looked as if she’d just been slapped. Clearly embarrassed, she cleared her throat.

  “You probably think I’m too harsh, but I had to draw the line. It is just too dangerous at the theater. Look what happened to you. As his mother, it’s my job to protect him even if he doesn’t like it,” Joanie said.

  “It’s okay, Joanie,” Lindsey said. “Of course you just want him to be safe.”

  “He’s my baby,” Joanie said. Her voice sounded strained. She sniffed and then seemed to pull herself together. She gave them a brisk nod and strode toward the parking lot.

  “Wow,” Lindsey said. “That was tense.”

  “Dylan is seventeen, almost eighteen,” Sully said. “She’s going to need to loosen her grip or lose him forever.”

  “Do you think Emma told him?” Lindsey asked. “Do you think he knows that Robbie might be his father? For that matter, do you think Joanie knows?”

  Sully shrugged. “There’s only one way to find out.”

  Together they made their way into the police station.

  Emma was pacing in the front lobby when they entered. She didn’t look happy.

  “Hi, Emma,” Lindsey said. “Is everything all right?”

  Emma looked at her, and Lindsey could tell she was still deep in thought. It was almost as if she didn’t recognize them. She shook her head as if to clear it.

  “Yeah,” she said. “Things are coming together.”

  “How did it go with Dylan?” she asked.

  “Well, his mother arrived and she clarified a few things. Dylan isn’t Robbie’s son. She said there is no father listed on his birth certificate.”

  “So, then it could still be Robbie?” Lindsey asked.

  “No,” Emma said. “Apparently the mother did not list the father’s name on the adoption papers, but she did put down his nationality. He was an American from California.”

  The phone on the counter started to ring and an officer hurried from the back to answer it.

  He spoke a few sentences and then put the receiver to his chest. “It’s that same reporter from the London Times. Do you want to talk to him?”

  “Aw, hell no,” Emma said. “Tell him the same thing I said yesterday: no comment.”

  The officer nodded and went back to the phone.

  “If I could just get the press off of my back, I might be able to do some real investigating,” Emma said. “I have new appreciation for what Chief Daniels went through when he was in charge.”

  Lindsey had seen the hordes of reporters swarming the town since Robbie’s death. Violet had years of experience dealing with the media, but for Emma it had to be overwhelming to have the mayor breathing down her neck as well as the international media, all wanting to know who had poisoned Robbie Vine.

  “I’m sorry,” Lindsey said.

  “No, it’s all right,” Emma said. “It comes with the job. So, what brings you two here other than an update on Dylan?”

  She glanced between them, and Lindsey felt the same speculation that had been in the eyes of the cast and crew when she and Sully had landed on the mattress.

  “There was an accident at the theater,” she began.

  “It wasn’t an accident,” Sully corrected her. “Someone pushed Lindsey off of the balcony.”

  “What?” Emma cried. “Are you all right? Did you see the person? When did this happen, exactly?”

  “I’m fine,” Lindsey said. “Sully’s quick thinking saved me. I didn’t see the person. I was hit from behind and I went sailing over the rail but managed to catch myself with a hand and a leg on the edge. I’d say it happened about ten to fifteen minutes after you left with Dylan.”

  “So, whoever did it knew that I wasn’t there,” Emma said. She looked at Lindsey and frowned. “Why you?”

  “I don’t know,” Lindsey said. “Violet seems to think it was someone who wants to shut the show down. That whoever it is went after Robbie first and then when that didn’t work, he looked for an opportunity to cause another accident that would stop the show.”

  “She’s thinking it might be Buchanan,” Sully said.

  Emma nodded as if she’d already been thinking the same thing.

  “Billionaire CEOs don’t take the word no very well,” Emma said. “And I gather that Violet and Charlene have shut him out of their lives pretty effectively.”

  “Would he be that vicious because he didn’t get his way?” Lindsey asked. “It seems counterproductive if he really wants a relationship with them.”

  “It does, but you’re talking about a guy who moved his manufacturing business to a third world country where the average age of his workers is eleven,” Emma said. “I think he pays them a whopping twenty-five cents a day. From what I gather, he’s not exactly a touchy-feely kind of guy.”

  “No wonder Charlene wants nothing to do with him,” Lindsey said. “Still, he must realize that if he wants his daughter in his life, this is the wrong way to go about getting her attention.”

  “Some people respond very badly to rejection,” Sully said. “If he’s a bully, he might think that this is the way to get her to respond to him.”

  “Through fear?” Lindsey asked. “Obviously he doesn’t realize that Violet and Charlene are made of tougher stuff.”

  “If it’s him,” Emma said. “And I can see why Violet suspects him, but there are a lot of people who had it in for Robbie. Despite his brilliance as an actor, his personal life was a train wreck. And as for you being a target, he does have a wife and an ex-girlfriend who might not have been thrilled with his interest in you.”

  “Maybe,” Lindsey said. She refused to look at Sully to see what he thought of this statement.

  “I’m going to have you fill out a report,” Emma said. “I want it on file in case anything else comes up. I have to be honest: I’m going to be really happy when this play is over.”

  Lindsey and Sully exchanged a look. Neither said anything but both felt the same.
<
br />   • • •

  When she finished her report, Lindsey and Sully went back to the theater. The dress rehearsal ran late and no one left until after midnight. Lindsey was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open.

  The sounds of a guitar strumming and a dog howling greeted Lindsey and Nancy as they entered the house. Heathcliff liked to sing along while Charlie played his acoustic guitar. They were all quite sure that Heathcliff fancied himself a rock star. As soon as Nancy turned the key in the lock, however, a black bundle of fur broke off in mid-howl and launched himself at the door. Lindsey knelt down in the foyer and hugged her puppy close. Nothing made the world quite so right as puppy kisses.

  Charlie strode out of Nancy’s downstairs apartment, carrying his guitar by the neck.

  “He’s getting pretty good,” he said. “He’s definitely better than my last lead singer.”

  “Thanks for watching him, Charlie,” Lindsey said.

  “No worries,” Charlie said. He held up crossed fingers. “Me and the Heathster are like this.”

  “Heathster?” Nancy asked with a frown.

  “Yeah, check this.” Charlie knelt down in front of the dog and held up one hand. “Give me five, Heathster, my man.”

  Heathcliff patted Charlie’s hand with his paw and they both looked at Lindsey for praise.

  “You taught him to high-five?” she asked. “I love it.”

  Both she and Nancy tried it and Heathcliff patted their hands with his paw.

  “That dog is a genius,” Nancy declared. “Now, I am going to pass out. Good grief, I am done in.”

  “Good night,” Lindsey said.

  “Good night, Naners,” Charlie said.

  He led the way up the stairs, and Lindsey and Heathcliff followed. Charlie went into his apartment on the second-floor landing while Lindsey kept going to her place on the third. As she entered her apartment, she felt the tension in her shoulders ease. She was exhausted but the activity of the night, well, that and her near-death experience had her brain in high gear.

  Someone had tried to kill her, or at the very least, cause her some serious bodily harm. Why? To stop the show? Because she had angered someone? She thought about Kitty and Lola. Was Emma right? Could it have been one of them because they didn’t like the attention Robbie had been paying to Lindsey?