One Book In The Grave

“I can see you’re struggling with this, love, so I propose a compromise. We’ll call the police after we begin the search.”

I thought about it for half a second. “Okay. I’ll make the calls.”

The others agreed. The key would be in the timing of the phone calls. Our San Francisco detectives would need at least an hour to get up here, so I would alert them sooner. The sheriff was close enough to get here quickly, so I would make the call to him later.

With any luck, they would all descend on Dharma at precisely the right time to arrest and drag off to jail the vicious creeps who’d snatched Emily.

“Are you ready?” Derek asked as the sun set over the canyon ridge. He pulled his gun from the holster beneath his arm, slid the magazine back to double-check that it was fully loaded, then slipped the gun back into its holster.

Abject fear began to dance a jig on my nerve endings as I watched him. But I was just going to have to get over that.

“I’m ready,” I said, breathing deeply as I zipped up my Windbreaker.

“Hell, yeah.” Max nodded brusquely and raised his rifle to prove he was all set.

I grabbed a few handfuls of Hershey’s Kisses and shoved them into both of my pockets.

Gabriel grinned. “Ready to roll.”

“Let’s go.”

It was dusk as we drove into the parking lot behind Savannah’s restaurant. The place was closed, but she was in there, as always, working in the kitchen, preparing stocks and sauces for the week.

After a brief but emotional reunion between Max and my brother Austin, who, thank goodness, didn’t slug his old friend in the stomach, we all got down to business. There were twenty of us gathered in Savannah’s private dining room. It was odd to be sitting at this table, discussing what was essentially a covert operation, with my father and brother in the same room. I figured it had to be even stranger for them than it was for me.

This space also served as the wine cellar for the restaurant, so I was pleased to see that we were surrounded by thousands of dollars’ worth of excellent wines. Somehow that comforted me.

As a few of the men talked quietly, Derek pulled me close and said under his breath, “You’ll call Inspector Jaglom once the meeting starts.”

“Yes.”

“And the Sheriff’s Department once we’ve finished.”

“We went over this,” I said gently. “I know what to do.” Funny how he seemed more nervous about my making two measly phone calls than he was about a group of armed men traipsing in the woods, out to trap a killer.

Gabriel passed around the maps he’d copied to each two-person team in the room. Most of the locals knew their way around the Hollow, but it was still good to have Gabriel’s directions so they could all stay out of one another’s way.

Derek took his place at the head of the table and outlined the mission. He emphasized that no weapons were to be fired unless one of the teams found Emily and was met with resistance. The survivalists had trained themselves to attack first and ask questions later. Vigilance was essential.

The most likely place they would find Emily was somewhere near or inside Bennie and Stefan’s dwelling. Derek and Gabriel were the point men there. Max would be with them.

Solomon had disappeared but we knew he was the power behind it all. Wherever he was hiding, we intended to smoke him out.

My heart was pounding like a bass drum on speed. My muscles were stiff from clenching the sides of my chair. I was both scared spitless and so damn energized, I didn’t know whether to crawl in a hole or go bowling. My brain was spinning as I took it all in.

We were going to war.

After listening to Max describe the burgundy van he’d seen in the canyon that morning, Austin shook his head. “Sorry to be the wet blanket, but half the survivalists in the Hollow drive vans like that. Dark paint, nondescript. Some are camper conversions.”

Ray, another commune member, piped up. “That’s been the car of choice for the Ogunites for the past fifteen years or so. Most of them still drive ’em around. They’re used for everything from hauling lumber to clearing trees to taking their kids on vacations.”

“That’s good to know,” Derek said. “Narrows the search down to a few hundred suspects.”

There was general chuckling around the table from everyone but Max, whose patience appeared to be holding by one frayed thread. Derek noticed it, too. So after advising everyone in the room to turn their cell phones on vibrate, he gave me the heads-up to call the sheriff, signaling that the meeting was almost over.

Earlier, I’d called Inspector Lee, who, after grousing at me about staying out of police business, promised to get on the road with Jaglom immediately. I was hoping my call to the Sonoma sheriff would go better.

I got up and left the room, closing the door behind me. I walked down the short, dark hall toward the back of the restaurant to use the bathroom and make the phone call.

It was a warm night so the back door leading to the parking lot was open, but the screen door was locked. I’d checked it myself earlier.

As I neared the bathroom, a woman came up and peeked through the screen door, trying to see inside. She was outlined in silhouette by the light over the parking lot.

“Can I help you?” I said, and yeah, I was a little freaked-out.

She ducked back quickly out of the doorway.

“Hello?” I said, but nobody answered. Well, that was weird. Was she just checking to see if the restaurant was open or did she have something more sinister in mind? Was I being paranoid?

Probably. But I snuck over to the screen door to see if she was still out there.

“Help!” a woman cried, then let out an ear-piercing scream that filled the night air. A high-pitched shrieking sound that could have come from only one person.

“Minka?”

Oh, dear God. How? Why? What was she doing here?

I whipped open the door in time to see someone fifty yards away dragging a squirming, leopard-leggings-clad woman by the neck. That was Minka, all right.

“Hey!” I yelled. “Stop that.” I tore off running down the blacktop, shouting for the guy to stop.

Her hooded assailant continued lugging her toward a waiting car at the far end of the parking lot. Minka was not going quietly. She squirmed and screeched the whole way. But her captor was too big and strong and mean for Minka to fight off.

“Drop her,” I shouted, but I was too far away to do anything except watch as Minka’s attacker physically overpowered her, punching her in the stomach and tossing her into the car trunk.

The thug jumped into the driver’s seat and peeled rubber out of the parking lot.

I dashed back to the restaurant door just as Derek and Gabriel and some of the men came running out.

Derek grabbed me. “Was that you screaming? What happened?”

“He’s taken Minka,” I cried.

“Minka?” Derek looked as stunned as I felt.

“This can’t be a coincidence,” I insisted. “It has to be connected to Emily’s disappearance. That guy was following us and Minka got in the way.”

“But what is Minka doing here?”

I shook my head, still flabbergasted. “I don’t know. She probably thinks I’m up here working on some special bookbinding project that should’ve been hers.”

“What about her assailant?” Gabriel asked. “Was it Solomon?”

“I couldn’t tell. He was tall and wore a ski mask or some kind of hood.”

Gabriel took off sprinting all the way to the far end of the lot, then ran back. “I know where they’re going,” he said, then darted over to his black BMW and started the engine. He backed out of the space and shouted, “Get in.”

I hopped into the passenger’s side. Derek opened the back door but stopped when someone called out his name.

Austin came running over “What’s the story, man?”