One Book In The Grave

Chapter 26

Solomon?

“Good lord,” Derek murmured, and rushed over to the bedpost to free the pitiful man’s hands.

“Wait,” I said. Tossing my shoulder bag on the small chair by the window, I walked up to Solomon and stared into his eyes. It wasn’t fear I saw there. It was…defiance? He stared right back and I tried not to flinch. Even bound and gagged, the man had the ability to scare the heck out of me. I turned away.

“Derek, we need to talk in the other room.”

“Let’s get him untied first.”

“No. Talk first, please.” I walked out, down the hall, and into the front room.

He followed me and said quietly, “Brooklyn, that man needs to be released.”

“That man could be a monster,” I whispered so I wouldn’t be overheard. By whom? I had no idea, but I wasn’t taking chances. “This could be a trap.”

“Yes, it could be.” He glanced around and I could tell he’d already considered that possibility. “But we still can’t leave him here.”

I folded my arms tightly across my chest, not yet willing to agree. “Both he and Angelica have calculated every move from the very beginning.”

“That’s true, but he’s right where we want him now.” He took hold of my arms. “We’ll take every precaution. I’ll loosen his wrists from the bedposts, then bind his hands behind his back to transport him down the mountain.”

“Okay.” Maybe I was making too much of Solomon’s power, but I dreaded going back into that bedroom. I hated being in the same vicinity as the man. But more than that, I trusted Derek to take care of Solomon.

“Would you rather wait in the car?” Derek asked, squeezing my shoulder with concern.

“God, no. Well, maybe.” But the thought of traipsing back through the dark woods alone wasn’t appealing. And I knew that waiting by myself in the car would give me the creeps. “No. Let’s get this over with.”

We went back into the bedroom. I grabbed the end of the rope holding Solomon’s right foot to the lower post. The knots were intricate and it was slow going getting them loosened. Somebody knew their Boy Scout knots, for sure.

I glanced up, met Solomon’s cold gaze, and quickly looked away. I stared at the taut rope and got angry. How dared he intimidate me when he was laid out in this ridiculous position? I looked back at him, refusing to show alarm or acknowledge the shivers I got from merely looking at him.

Solomon made muffled sounds through the duct tape and I figured he wanted us to remove it so he could speak. But I didn’t want to hear his voice.

“The duct tape stays,” I said gruffly, trying to ignore his muted grumbling. We still hadn’t found Emily, and I wanted to blame Minka and Solomon for leading us off track. First, stupid Minka had stuck her big nose where it didn’t belong, and now we had to deal with rescuing Solomon, of all people. It wasn’t nice of me and I wasn’t proud of myself, but there it was.

I concentrated on undoing the intricate set of knots trapping the man’s ankles to the bedpost and wondered if this night would ever end.

Solomon continued to moan through the duct tape and I realized it was cruel to leave it on. What if he couldn’t breathe?

“Fine,” I said reluctantly. When Derek glanced up, I asked, “Will you take the duct tape off?”

I didn’t want to get too close to the man on the bed. And I didn’t want to hear what he had to say-unless, of course, he knew where Emily was. But since he was hog-tied, I was guessing he wouldn’t have any worthwhile information. This whole scene was all too grisly and weird.

Derek leaned over and grabbed hold of the tape, then warned Solomon, “This is going to hurt.”

Solomon nodded vigorously and Derek ripped it off.

Solomon screamed liked a banshee, although, to tell the truth, I’d never heard a banshee scream.

“Thank God you came for me,” he cried. “Oh, thank God. It was a nightmare. I couldn’t get away. I thought I was going to die. I-” He took a breath and held it. Silence.

Neither of us bothered to clue him in that we hadn’t come here for his sake.

I was thankful for the silence. Solomon in this grateful mood was jarring to me. I continued working with the rope. Someone had dampened it before tying, so it was even more difficult to get a grip on it. It was slow work and I was getting more and more anxious to leave before whoever tied up Solomon decided to return.

Solomon watched us both work to free him. I looked up and noticed he was frowning at me.

“What?” I said.

“I know you.”

I shook my head. “No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do.” He peered at me; then one side of his mouth curved up. “I never forget a pretty face.”

I tried to mask my shock but I failed. “Seriously? You’re flirting with me? While you’re tied up like a turkey waiting to be roasted? You’re an idiot.” I started to walk out of the room.

“Wait! Come back!” he cried.

“Keep it down, old man,” Derek said sternly. “One more remark like that and I’ll gladly leave you here for your captor to deal with.”

“Oh, God, don’t!” he said, his voice raspy, his eyes wide and wheeling. “Don’t let her get me!”

Her? I met Derek’s gaze.

“Who’s going to get you?” I asked warily.

He had to take a few deep breaths to brace himself before he could whisper, “Nobody.”

“Too late,” I said, moving back to the bedpost and the ropes. “You’ve just admitted a woman did this to you.”

He clamped his lips together and his jaw worked rapidly.

“A woman tied you up and left you to rot,” I taunted. “Isn’t that interesting.”

“She’ll be back. It was just a little game we were playing.”

“Some game,” I said. “You were scared to death when we walked in.”

“Shut up and undo the damn ropes before I-”

In that moment, he lost his ability to frighten me. Sort of. “Are you actually threatening me, Solomon?”

“I knew it,” he said in triumph. “You know who I am. We have met, haven’t we?”

I shook my head. “No, we haven’t.”

“But you look so familiar. Did we ever-”

I recoiled at his suggestive tone, but before I could speak, Derek said in a low, menacing voice, “Enough.”

I blinked at the force of Derek’s anger, and a rush of emotion flooded through me. Gratitude, love, excitement, fear. Derek was rarely moved to anger, but when it happened, look out.

He glared down at Solomon. “Tell us what happened here and who did this to you. Start talking, or we’ll walk out and leave you here to rot.”

Solomon stared up at Derek. He seemed to measure the man’s words and intentions, then swallowed heavily. “A woman I know lured me up here, promising a night of pure fantasy. I was foolish enough to believe her. We had a glass of wine, and she was cooking something in a frying pan. It smelled fantastic and everything was going well. But then I turned away for a minute, and she knocked me out. I guess she used the frying pan. I don’t know, but I have a massive headache. Anyway, when I woke up, I was tied to the bed. She told me that if she couldn’t have me, no woman could.”

“Why would she say that?” I asked. “What did you do to her?”

“I didn’t do anything.” He speared me with a look of pure loathing, but I didn’t care. I just watched him, more curious than anything else. Finally, gritting his teeth, he continued. “She said I wasn’t grateful enough. She had done me a…a big favor, but I guess I didn’t show her enough appreciation.”

“What was the big favor?”

He bared his teeth, obviously resenting my questions. “Look, none of that matters. Just untie the ropes and get me the hell out of here.”

“Oh, because you’re so innocent?” I said. “Whatever she did to you, I know you deserve it all and then some.”

“I didn’t do anything,” he said irately. “She’s in love with me and completely obsessed. She’s a raving- I didn’t ask her to- Look, just let it go.”

I was starting to get a really bad feeling about this whole scene. “We’re not letting anything go, especially not you. The police are waiting down the mountain and you’re going straight to jail.”

“Me?” he said, outraged. “I’m the victim here.”

“You have never been a victim, Solomon.” I shook my head and looked away. I had feared the man and hated him for what he did to Max, but now I couldn’t be bothered to expend that much energy. Now I felt nothing but contempt for him.

But that reminded me of something. “Why did you hate Max Adams so much?”

The immediate change in Solomon was startling. He scowled bitterly. “Max Adams was nothing but a two-bit hack. I have more talent in my little toe than he had in his entire body. But Max had the Midas touch. He got everything he wanted delivered on a golden platter. Women by the dozens, acclaim, money. The institute got him a book contract. They sent him on lecture tours. When Angelica left me for him, I was furious.”

“You were obsessed.”

“So what?” he said on a snarl, then shook his fist. “Max Adams was a pissant. He was supposed to die.”

“He didn’t.”

“I know that now, damn it, but at least he was gone. I no longer had to compete with him for every little crumb the institute threw our way. I didn’t have to look at him.”

“But he’s still lingering. I’ve seen all those banners around the Art Institute campus.”

He shook his head in disgust. “He’s been gone three years and still they flock to see him and his work. It makes me sick.”

“And Angelica was spearheading it,” I added. “How did that make you feel?”

“I wanted to kill her, too,” he muttered, then looked at me. “But I didn’t.”

“And we’re supposed to believe that?”

“Believe whatever you want. I didn’t kill her.”

“Who killed her?” Derek asked.

Solomon turned and studied him for a moment. “Someone to whom I should’ve shown more gratitude.”

I stepped closer. “So you’re saying the woman who tied you to the bed also killed Angelica.”

He whipped around to look at me. “I’m not saying another word.”

“Fine. You can talk to the police.” I pulled the last of the knots loose and threw the rope on the floor. “Max Adams is alive, Solomon, and he’s going to have you charged with kidnapping and criminal harassment and attempted murder. You’re going to prison.”

He glared at me and muttered an expletive, then said, “Don’t hold your breath.”

Derek grabbed hold of Solomon’s arm and yanked him off the bed. “Stand up.”

Solomon wobbled but eventually gained his footing. Derek tossed his clothes at him and Solomon dressed hurriedly. Then Derek took hold of his wrist and spun him around. Using one of the ropes, he tied Solomon’s hands behind his back.

Solomon struggled, but was no match for Derek. “Is that really necessary?”

“Yeah, it really is,” I said.

“Let’s go,” Derek said.

I found my shoulder bag and stayed close to Derek as he led Solomon out of the bedroom. In the front room, Derek leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Gabriel should’ve been here by now.”

“Do you think something happened to him?” He knew how I worried about Gabriel, and given the strange things 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 déjà 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?”

“Yes, I was meant to bring order and calm back to the church. And to accomplish that, I first had to clear the path.”

“Clear what path?”

“The path leading to peace. I had to take care of the obstacle in the path.”

“And that obstacle was…”

“Angelica.”

“You had to kill Angelica?” I said slowly.

“I had to,” she said. “I’m sorry, but Solomon was losing sleep; he was beside himself with anguish. He couldn’t concentrate on his church duties and it was beginning to affect the morale of the congregation, so I took the responsibility upon myself to help him.” She faltered, but then straightened up and kept walking. “It was my honor. He’s my deacon.”

“So you owe him your honor and duty.”

“Yes,” she said, sounding pleased that I’d caught on. “It’s all in the bible, Brooklyn. We can look there for all the answers.”

“Which answer are you referring to?”

“An eye for an eye,” she said.

I dropped another chocolate kiss and hoped for rescue. “What do you mean?”

She stopped to explain. “Max Adams took what Solomon wanted: Angelica. Now I will take what Max wants: Emily. This will cause Max to suffer, which will make Solomon happy. And it all provides blood for Ogun.”

Blood? So she intended to kill Emily? “But Emily is an innocent bystander. She doesn’t deserve to be hurt.”

“Ogun decrees. I obey, honor, and serve.” Crystal refused to talk to me after that, just continued walking me briskly through the darkness. Leaves slapped at my face and thick bushes pulled at my clothes.

I knew Crystal wasn’t crazy; deep down, she was a good person. But between the zealous advocacy for her church and her obsession with Solomon, she had lost her way.

I thought about what she’d said. An eye for an eye. Emily for Angelica. Was she serious about the blood sacrifice? Max had stolen Angelica’s heart from Solomon, so Crystal would…what? Cut Emily’s heart out and give it to Solomon? No, of course not. She wouldn’t really do that. My stomach turned at the very thought.

Still, the name of their church was the True Blood of Ogun. Was that what it meant-human sacrifice? True blood?

I almost laughed at the path my thoughts were taking. I didn’t believe it for a minute. No way was there a band of wacked-out churchgoers sacrificing humans in Dharma.

My imagination was running overtime. I took a deep breath and let it out, then did it again a few more times. I needed to focus my energies, clear my thoughts, and channel my mother. What would Mom do to keep from flipping out? I found my answer.

“If Solomon gets out of jail, do you think he’ll marry you?” I asked, determined to keep talking no matter what. That’s what Mom would do. Mom could talk so much and for so long, she could completely confuse the most clever kidnapper of all time-which Crystal wasn’t. “He might be afraid of you after you bonked him on the head with that frying pan.”

“He’s a man,” Crystal said calmly. “I’ll get him back.”

So she wasn’t denying the frying pan incident. And she was probably right about Solomon coming back to her, but not because he was a man. No, it was because Solomon was an idiot.

“He is weak,” she said, causing me to question whether she could read my thoughts. But we were talking about Solomon, after all. I guess even Crystal needed to keep it real.

“Yes, he’s weak,” I said in agreement.

“He’ll need a strong woman to survive the coming apocalypse,” she said matter-of-factly, then laughed softly. “Does a man really think a fragile flower of a woman can be anything more than a cipher, a worthless drag on his power? He’ll need that power when we all meet in the Battle to End All Days.”

I supposed I could see her point, although I wasn’t familiar with the battle she was talking about. It had to be some Ogunite battle.

I’d known Crystal Byers for years and I continued to hold on to the belief that she wasn’t insane. I was sure her actions sprang from a sincere desire to please her church. But I was beginning to see that what went on in Crystal’s head was far more complicated than any of us had ever guessed.

I’d seen how men had treated her-or, rather, how they didn’t treat her. I don’t think she’d ever had a real boyfriend. She had always been too big and bold for most men. Too strong, and maybe too shrewd. She had never had someone who treated her like she was precious and special. Was she carrying a grudge? Did she have something to prove to all the men who’d ignored her or treated her badly or betrayed her? Maybe she did. Maybe she was determined to prove to them all that she was a survivor.

Good for her. But that didn’t mean I was going to let Emily go down with her.

After another ten minutes and five Hershey’s Kisses, the woods opened up. Clouds moved on the breeze, revealing the moon and stars for the first time.

Crystal pushed me out into the small clearing and I staggered to a stop. In the moonlight I could see from her expression that Crystal was deadly serious.

A massive fallen tree split the clearing in half. Both Minka and Emily were lying on top of the trunk, strapped to it with duct tape and rope. Another strip of duct tape covered each of their mouths. They were stripped down to their underwear. Minka was twisting and grunting and doing everything to escape her bonds, but Emily didn’t stir at all.

“Father Ogun will feast tonight,” Crystal declared with joy in her voice.

I whipped around. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

She smiled coyly. “Figuratively speaking, of course.” Taking the gun from her pocket, she pointed it at me. “Now it’s your turn, Brooklyn. Take off your clothes.”

I glanced around, stalling for time, feeling myself shaking right down to my bones. And wondering, Just how hungry is Big Daddy Ogun, anyway?