“It sounds interesting.” Autumn thanked them again for including her in the group, slowly walked out of the store and stepped onto the sidewalk. She was no closer to helping her friend figure out who might have set her up than when she’d walked in.
Autumn hopped on her Segway and sped to the end of the street. She paused when she reached the corner, teetering to keep her balance as she adjusted her backpack when she caught a glimpse of someone coming up behind her. She shifted to the side to get a better look, and the person stepped into a doorway and out of sight. Stop with the paranoia Autumn, she scolded herself.
She tightened the straps and, after making sure her cell phone was secure, turned onto Mercedes’ side street and steered her Segway into the alley behind the apartment before she hopped off. She spotted a movement up on the balcony. It was Mercedes. “How’d it go?”
Autumn shook her head. “I’ll tell ya in a minute.”
She parked the Segway near the stoop and waited for Mercedes to open the door.
“It was a bust,” she blurted out. Autumn repeated the conversation and how not one single person divulged their publisher’s name.
“Are you sure Austin said he was indie all the way?” Mercedes asked. “He told me he once had a publisher.”
“That’s what he said, unless I misunderstood him.”
“And Stephanie said she’s an indie author except for her romance books?”
“Those are published by Harlequin,” Autumn nodded. “Tom said his wasn’t good and Cricket said hers publishes mostly non-fiction, but she wouldn’t give me their name.”
“Maybe they’re lying,” Mercedes said. “Maybe their publishers are awesome and they want to keep them to themselves. I guess it would be smart for me to double check online, too.”
“I did think one thing was interesting,” Autumn said. “Didn’t you say Stephanie moved to Savannah not long ago?”
“Right.”
“The others, they’ve all lived in the area for a while.”
“Yep,” Mercedes confirmed.
“What if Stephanie writes romance as a cover? What if she followed Jon Luis to Savannah?”
“Maybe,” Mercedes wrinkled her nose. “I gotta find out which one of these people published with The Batton Group.”
“What if Jon Luis / JL Cordele published with more than one publisher?”
“It could be.” Mercedes sighed heavily. “It appears I need to do a little more background research into Jon Luis / JL Cordele’s writing career.”
Mercedes thanked her friend for trying and watched as she hopped on her Segway and headed out onto the sidewalk. She was close to figuring out who had murdered Jon Luis, who had set her up, so close and yet so far.
She needed to find someone in the author group she could trust, someone she was certain had not been the one to set her up.
Chapter 18
Mercedes strode into The Book Nook and made her way to the counter in the back. “Is Cricket here?”
“Not yet.” The young man behind the counter shook his head. “She should be in around one this afternoon. Is there something I can help you with?”
“No, I need to talk to her. Could you please leave her a message, tell her Mercedes stopped by and I’ll be back later this afternoon?”
“Sure.” The man reached for a pen and scribbled on a Post-it before peeling it off and sticking it on the back of the counter. “She’s popular this morning. I got a whole list of people trying to track her down.”
“If you talk to her, tell her it’s not an emergency,” Mercedes said. “I just wanted to run something by her.” She thanked the man, exited the bookstore and climbed into the car.
She was almost home when her cell phone rang. It was Cricket.
“Hello?”
“Hello Mercedes. I guess I just missed you. I have a note here that you stopped by to see me,” Cricket said. “I didn’t know you were back in town.”
“I’m home,” Mercedes said. “The man working at the bookstore said you wouldn’t be in until early afternoon.”
“I’m not scheduled to work until one. I stopped downstairs to pick up a couple of packages I need to mail and saw you were one of the people looking for me. I thought I would call you first since you took the time to come all the way over here.”
“I…I wanted to run something by you,” Mercedes said. “You sound busy.”
Cricket cut her off. “I’ve taken care of most of my errands. I have to return a couple more phone calls but if you’re in the area why don’t you come back by? I’ll make a pot of tea.”
“Okay. I’ll head back your way.”
“Great. If you’re standing in front of the bookstore, walk through the courtyard gate on the left-hand side and you’ll see a set of steps. My apartment is at the top of the stairs.”
“Thanks, Cricket.” Mercedes turned the car around and headed back to the bookstore. When she reached The Book Nook, she parked the car out front, made her way into the courtyard, up the steps and knocked on the door at the top of the stairs.
Cricket opened the door and smiled at Mercedes. “Come in. It’s nice to see you, Mercedes. I had no idea you were back in town.”
A twinge of guilt filled Mercedes for fibbing to her friends. “I never left town,” she confessed. “I didn’t know what to say and didn’t want to meet with the others these last few days.”
Mercedes didn’t elaborate and Cricket didn’t ask. “We hope you’ll join us again. We’ve missed you.”
“Thanks. I’ve missed all of you, too.”
“Would you care for a cup of tea? I just brewed it,” Cricket said. “It’s honey lavender and good for stress relief.”
“Yes. Thank you. I could use some stress relief.”
“Please. Have a seat.” Cricket poured two
