“Thanks, Autumn.” Mercedes gave her a thumbs-up. “You’re the best.”
Chapter 16
As soon as Mercedes and Tony arrived home, Mercedes headed to her computer to start researching JL Cordele. She settled into her chair, clicked on the search bar and typed in Jon Luis Cordele, but found nothing.
“Maybe it’s JL Cordele,” she whispered. She typed in JL Cordele and several book images popped up on the screen.
Mercedes reached for her cell phone, clicked on the camera icon and scrolled through the pictures she’d taken inside the storage unit. The book names were the same.
She set her phone on the desk and then clicked on JL Cordele’s biography. The biography was a goldmine of information. JL Cordele was born and raised in Augusta, Georgia. After graduating from Augusta University, with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, he moved to Savannah, Georgia to start his career as a fraud investigator.
JL Cordele became bored and after working on a case involving a group of Savannah area businessmen, he discovered that he enjoyed writing about criminals more than investigating them. The men had overinflated their company’s profit numbers to shareholders and fudged the company’s expense reports.
The biography stated Cordele was intrigued with the minds of individuals who committed such crimes and penned his first novel, Crime in Corporate America. After the first book published and received critically acclaimed reviews, he began to delve deeper into the prominent and powerful families of Savannah and wrote the book, The Death Club.
By the time JL Cordele penned his third book, Savannah’s Mysteries Revealed, he was receiving death threats, left the area and went into hiding.
Mercedes stared blankly at the screen. Although the information never stated JL was “Jon Luis,” she was convinced they were the same person. Had Jon Luis returned to Savannah and the people who threatened to kill him years ago found out? She thought about her lunch date with Zachary and him telling her that Jon Luis’ apartment had been ransacked.
Her author group knew Jon Luis was in Savannah. If they knew about it, others must, as well. A chill ran down her spine. That meant there was also a good chance they knew Mercedes planned to meet with Jon Luis. Was the killer’s goal to end Jon Luis’ book research? Was she the next target?
Jon Luis must’ve known the background of George Delmario, which meant if he’d dug around enough he knew, or at least suspected, the Garlucci family had ties to “the family.”
Mercedes opened another browser screen and Amazon to see if she could purchase an e-book copy of The Death Club and found it was only available in paperback. It was the same for Savannah’s Mysteries Revealed. She didn’t have time to wait for paperback copies to ship. She could be dead by the time they arrived.
Unless…Mercedes logged onto the Savannah District Library’s website and began searching for books by JL Cordele. Crime in Corporate America wasn’t listed in the system. She found Savannah’s Mysteries Revealed was checked out, so she began searching for The Death Club. The book showed it was available.
Mercedes grabbed her phone and purse and headed into the living room where her mother sat watching television. “I’m going to the library to pick up a book by JL Cordele. Do you want to go with me?”
Carlita set the remote in her lap. “I have to hang around here in case Shelby needs help with the kids.”
“PJ, Noel and Gracie are next door?”
“Yes, Shelby offered to let them come play with Violet while Paulie and Gina spend time alone together.”
“Is everything okay? I heard loud voices coming from Tony’s place earlier and he told me Gina and Paulie were fighting like cats and dogs.”
“I think they’re finally starting to work through their disagreements, with a little motherly and mother-in-law butting in, as much as I didn’t wanna do it,” Carlita said. “Let’s just say they’re trying to hammer out a compromise and they better work it out or I’m gonna knock a couple heads together.”
Mercedes grinned. “I’m sure you will. Remind me to never fight with my husband in front of you - if I ever get married, that is.”
***
The library was only a few squares away, so Mercedes decided to walk. It was a beautiful day and the fresh air gave her time to mull over the clues. If she could only figure out a way to confirm JL Cordele and Jon Luis were the same person.
After JL Cordele started receiving death threats, he must have decided to start writing under the name Jon Luis. Still, writing about unsolved murder mysteries under the name Jon Luis would potentially make him a target, and Mercedes suspected that was why his public biography and personal information for author Jon Luis were vague.
JL or Jon Luis’ killer could’ve been any number of people. It would take Mercedes time to study his books and search for clues, and even if she did, there was still no guarantee she would be able to figure out who murdered Jon Luis.
She thought about the people in her author group, trying to remember who had first mentioned Jon Luis’ name. When she reached the library, Mercedes still couldn’t recall who had brought his name up.
She stopped in front of the magnificent historic building. Mercedes had passed by the library many times, but never stopped. She knew it was old and had seen a blurb online that the library, built in 1916, recently celebrated its one-hundredth birthday.
After restoring the library to its former glory and doubling the original size to an impressive 66,000 square feet, the city changed the name from the Bull Street Library to the Live Oak Public Library. Mercedes suspected it had something to do with the towering live oak trees surrounding it.
She ascended
