One Book In The Grave

“But why, Max? You died. And now you’re here? What happened? Where did you go? Why did you leave me?” She sniffled and seemed to lose strength. Her eyes closed.

“Bring her into the living room, Max,” Derek suggested. “She can lie down on the couch.”

“And then you can try to explain what happened,” I said to Max.

He gave me a foreboding look, then whisked his fair Emily off to the living room.

Gabriel’s grin grew even wider. “Guess I’ll have that beer, after all.”

When Emily had revived, there were hugs and more tears and kisses. Her smile seemed permanently fixed to her face, and, frankly, I was sort of amazed at how well this reunion was going. If my boyfriend had disappeared on me, then popped up again seemingly from the grave three or six or eight years later, I’m pretty sure I would have been furious first and then maybe I’d think about being happy to see him again. Emily was clearly a much better person than I. Finally she sat up, asked for a glass of water, then went off to use the bathroom.

I went into the kitchen to get her water and carried it back to the living room. I set the glass on the coffee table and sat back down.

Max, meanwhile, had begun to pace the floor. “Is she all right? She’s been gone too long.”

“Chill out,” I said. “She’s been crying, so she’s washing her face and fixing her hair. Give her a minute.”

He started to pace again, then halted when Emily walked back into the room. Instantly, he was at her side, taking hold of her hand. “God, I’m thrilled to see you again. It’s like we were never apart.”

“But we were apart,” she said flatly, her smile finally gone. “For three years, Max. You were dead, remember?”

“It was for a good reason. I promise.”

“I’m sure it was. And so is this.” She wound her arm back and slugged him right in the gut.

Now, that reaction I understood completely.

“Ow. Damn it!” He grabbed his stomach and inched back from her. “If one more woman takes a swing at me, I’ll…”

“You’ll what?” She stepped closer and pressed up against him, jabbing him in his chest with her finger. “What will you do?”

“Never mind,” he muttered, glaring down at her. Even though he towered over her and outweighed her by a hundred pounds or so, she showed no fear.

“Never mind,” she repeated, nodding her head in double time. “That’s what I thought you’d say.”

I choked on a laugh. Max was three for three in the gut-punching sweepstakes. I happened to glance at Gabriel, who was grimacing as he unconsciously patted his own stomach. That’s when I lost it and laughed out loud.

“Stop that,” Max said, pointing an accusing finger at me. “You’re enjoying this too much.” Then he turned on Emily. “And you. You’ve never been a violent person. What was that for?”

“What was tha-? Are you kidding? You drove over a cliff and died! You left me alone for three years!” She pointed her own finger in his direction. “You’re right. I never was violent before, but I’m feeling it now. I thought you were dead. But you weren’t. You just left. I wasn’t worth a call? A note? You couldn’t text me?” She shook all over in anger. “You should be glad I only hit you in the stomach.”

He looked uncomfortable at that, but then stubbornly insisted, “I couldn’t tell you.”

“You didn’t trust me.”

“I was protecting you,” he said hotly. “And if you’d seen that body in the box that showed up here a few hours ago, you’d understand exactly what I was dealing with back then and why I was trying to protect you.”

“Oh, please. What body in the box?” she asked, her voice tinged with sarcasm.

He whipped around and looked straight at me. “Tell her.”

I stared at him for a second or two, then turned to Emily. “Would you like a glass of wine?”

“Yes,” she said irately, and followed me into the 11 kitchen. “A big one.”

I grabbed a glass from the shelf, then turned to her. “Are you okay?”

She scraped her hair off her face, fell back against the refrigerator, and shut her eyes tightly. “Oh, God. I’m… I’m furious.” She opened her eyes and watched as I poured the wine.

“I was furious, too,” I confessed. “And the only reason I was laughing a minute ago was because when I first saw him, I punched him in the stomach, too. And so did my mother.”

“Good,” she said viciously. “God! I don’t think I’ve ever been this down-to-the-bone angry.”

“Well, maybe a few sips of wine will help.”

“Thanks.” She took a sip and placed the glass on the counter. She had to lean against the fridge for another moment. “Oh, God, I’m so mad at him.”

I rubbed her shoulder. “I understand, sweetie.”

“But, Brooklyn, I’m so…so…” She pressed her hand to her mouth and her eyes began to water again. She whispered, “I’m so happy.”

“Oh, Emily.” I wrapped my arms around her. “I’m happy, too.”

An hour later, we all sat in the living room, talking. Max and Emily sat close together at one end of the couch, but I sensed plenty of nervousness from both of them. There were the occasional pats on the knees and shoulders rubbing together, but otherwise they barely made eye contact. When Max snuck a glance, Emily would look away. And vice versa. Essentially, they were strangers. I knew-well, I hoped, anyway-that they would work things out, but it was going to take some time. Unfortunately, there was a killer on the loose, and that could put a damper on any immediate plans of Max’s to rush Emily back into his life.

I sat at the other end of the couch, close to Derek, who’d taken the big red chair. Gabriel had pulled over one of the leather Buster chairs and we all had our feet up on the coffee table and were thinking about ordering pizza.

Because Max had insisted, Derek and I had started the conversation by describing to Emily the gruesome details of what happened when we opened the box I’d thought would contain new bookshelves. I still shivered when I pictured Angelica inside that box, her lips blue, her skin devoid of color, her lifeless body arranged so demurely in a long velvet dress with dying flowers strewn all around her.

“How sick can you get?” Emily said, frowning deeply.

I briefly described how the Covington had obtained the stolen Beauty and the Beast and what happened when I got to Joe Taylor’s bookstore.

Then Max told her everything he’d endured three years ago and why he’d concluded that his only option was to stage his own death.

“I wish you’d trusted me,” she said, rubbing her face wearily. “I don’t understand why you didn’t say anything when little Jake was kidnapped or when my mother was hurt.”

“I was scared to death, Emily,” he said, clutching her hand. “I was on the edge and not thinking straight. I have no other excuses.”

“Well, I hate those people for destroying you that way,” she said fiercely. “I hope I never run into this Solomon character, because he might not survive my wrath.”

“I feel the same way,” I said, fuming all over again after hearing Max repeat the story. “But I just realized that you may be more vulnerable to Solomon now than you ever were before.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Because he’s so much more desperate now,” I said, looking at Derek for backup. “Three years ago, harassing Max might have been a lark for him, something he could well have done to impress Angelica. But now, whether he killed her or not, he’s all alone, with only his twisted imagination to fuel his actions. I’ll bet he’s slowly losing whatever he has left of his rational mind.”

“To do what he did to that woman,” Emily said, shaking her head in disbelief as she considered everything we’d told her. “Not just killing her, but dressing her up and shipping her to you, Brooklyn? I would say he’s completely lost his mind.”

“And that scares me to death,” Max said, glancing at the other two men. “We’ve got to go after this guy.”

Emily gripped Max’s hand tightly. “Maybe I’m lucky I didn’t know all this before. I’m not sure how I would’ve dealt with the threats.”

“I’m glad you understand why I did what I did,” Max said, and laid his head on Emily’s shoulder.

“Oh, I still haven’t forgiven you,” she said quickly. “But I might be willing to accept that I really was in danger all those years ago.”