One Book In The Grave

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 deja 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?

Five minutes later, the van pulled to a stop and I heard the driver’s door open and slam shut. Seconds later, the back doors were flung open and I sprang forward. Directly into Crystal.

Crystal screamed and threw her hands up. I tackled her and we both fell hard onto the ground. I scrambled to my feet and took off running. But it was pitch-black and there were trees everywhere. We were in the thick woods near the top of a hill and the moon was behind a heavy cloud. I couldn’t see a thing, but I kept running, anyway, my hands out in front of me for protection. I bumped into a tree and careened around another one, but kept going. I wasn’t quick enough, though, and after another thirty feet or so, Crystal grabbed my jacket and yanked me backward and down to the ground.

“I’m really sorry, Brooklyn,” she said. “I hate to hurt you, but you need to stop running away.”

Strangely enough, she sounded sincere.

I had to shake my head to clear it. With one hand Crystal pulled me to my feet, and it took me a few steps to get my equilibrium back. That’s when I noticed the deadly-looking gun she held pointed at me.

“Crystal, why are you doing this?”

“I heard you through the window of the cabin and saw you take Solomon away. I followed your car down to the restaurant to see if I could help him, but the police were already there. So I sent Melody over to distract you.” The gun shook as she spoke and I knew she was nervous. I didn’t know if that was good or bad, but I knew Crystal wasn’t really a bad person. Not like Solomon or Angelica.

“Crystal, let’s talk about this. I can contact the police for you. Don’t get yourself in trouble by kidnapping me.”

“I have to think. Walk that way and let me think.” She nudged the gun in the direction she wanted me to go and I turned and started walking. I stumbled over a tree root but managed to right myself. Feeling achy now, I clutched my jacket closer to me-and remembered my pockets were full of Hershey’s Kisses. I pulled one out and dropped it on the ground, then repeated the same thing every fifty steps or so.

Crystal put the gun in her pocket and pulled me along as though she knew exactly where she was going, probably because she did. I couldn’t see a thing in this deep part of the woods, but Crystal seemed to know her way without the aid of moonlight. She was as good a survivalist as anyone in the Hollow.

I prayed Derek wasn’t too far behind. If he couldn’t follow the chocolate-kisses trail, he wasn’t the man I knew him to be. That thought kept me going as I tried to assimilate everything. “Did you kidnap Emily?”

“I didn’t really kidnap her,” she said. “I’m just doing Solomon a favor. It’s for the greater good. I prayed over it, and I shared my blood with the earth.”

“You shared your blood? How does that work?”

“A bloodletting is considered a sweet sacrifice by the Great Ogun.”

After a pause, I said, “So you cut yourself? Is that what you do in your church?”

“Only in times of uncertainty, when you find yourself at a crossroads.”

“So you cut yourself to find answers?”

She shrugged. “Sometimes Father Ogun requires blood sacrifice in exchange.”

“In exchange for what?”

“Knowledge. Grace. Power. Whatever you’re seeking.”

A sense of dread overwhelmed me. “What did you mean when you said you’re doing a favor for Solomon? Did he tell you to hurt Emily?”

“No, of course not,” she said in surprise. “Solomon wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

She was so wrong, but I said nothing.

“It was my decision to take Emily,” she explained. “I’m using her to lure Max Adams out into the open. And then we’ll see what happens.”

So Emily was still alive. Thank God. But what did she have in mind for Max?

“Why do you want to lure Max into the open?”

“Because Solomon detests Max. Max stole Angelica from Solomon and it made Solomon crazy. I couldn’t figure out why he cared so much about her because we both know she’s a…well, a you-know-what. But after talking to Solomon some more, I realized that his pain wasn’t about losing Angelica. It was because of Max Adams. He really hates that guy.”

“Yeah, I get that.”

“Exactly,” she said with enthusiasm. “Solomon was so unhappy, I began to pray for him. And that’s when Father Ogun revealed my true calling to me.”

“True calling?”