Yet sometimes, when she and Amelia walked down the street and Amelia linked arms with her, Laura’s arm accidentally brushed Amelia’s breast and neither woman would pull away, not immediately. Even after, the ghost of the sensation lingered.
Maybe her jealousy was simply a reaction to being thrust into a new, dangerous, and exciting world. How could life in a library even come close?
She peered back around the corner as Jessie and Amelia kissed again, long and deep. She thought of Pearl and Harry, what would happen to them if she ever acted on her own desires. Women like her weren’t tolerated north of Fourteenth Street. This could not be.
Amelia was her friend; that was all.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
New York City, 1993
Ihave to go with him, in order to identify the stolen goods.”
Sadie sat next to Mr. Adriano in Dr. Hooper’s office, where the antique grandfather clock had just rung nine thirty. To Sadie, the logic couldn’t be clearer. Time was of the essence. They had to case the downtown bookstores as soon as possible, at the very least to rule them out.
“And that’s why you’re all dressed up? Like normal, I mean,” Dr. Hooper asked.
She fingered the pearls at her neck, momentarily embarrassed. “I have to come across as a wealthy book buyer, I figured.”
“I see.” He didn’t seem convinced. He turned to Mr. Adriano. “You’re all right with this?”
“It makes sense. I couldn’t pull it off alone. And I’ll be there every step of the way.”
Sadie caught a glance between them, a knowing look. This was a setup, possibly, to catch her in the act. No doubt Mr. Adriano would be watching her closely, but that was fine. She had nothing to hide.
Other than her family’s past. Valentina’s comment in the park about the “tambourine” had been whirling around in Sadie’s head since yesterday.
“I suppose it’s worth a shot,” Dr. Hooper finally said.
The downtown train reeked of sweat and greasy metal, the passengers packed together with a physical intimacy that would have been overbearing if they didn’t all refuse to look each other in the eye, an unspoken agreement that made city living possible. A pole separated Sadie from Mr. Adriano, their hands grasping it a few inches apart. This close, she realized he was taller than her by several inches, taller than she’d first thought. She didn’t look at him, instead focusing on the small ketchup stain on one sleeve of his raincoat.
“What’s the plan for today?” she asked. “How do you want to play it?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Quite the lingo. We go in, you say you’re looking for rare books for your collection, that you’re willing to pay for items that are truly valuable. I’ll hang back, pretending to be a random browser, and listen in.” He paused. “We’ll see what they offer up.” He stifled a yawn.
“Out gallivanting last night?”
“Gallivanting.” He seemed to be considering the idea, the word. Maybe he didn’t understand what it meant.
“Out with the boys.”
“I know what ‘gallivanting’ means. No. I was up all night with a sick kid.”
She glanced at his left hand—no ring—and he followed her gaze. “Divorced. My kids live in Westchester. I went up last night to cover the night shift so my ex could get some sleep.”
Something about being three inches away from each other with only one more stop to go made Sadie bold. “How long were you married?”
“Fifteen years. Long enough.”
His answer was so matter-of-fact. “What happened?”
“The usual. What about you?”
“Divorced as well. A while ago.” The train screeched to a halt. “This is our stop.”
Together, they made their way to two of the three downtown bookstores from Mr. Babenko’s list. Both times, Sadie stumbled through her inquiry, nerves getting the best of her. If the bookstore owners had the stolen items hidden away, they didn’t show their hand. The volumes they did offer lacked the distinction of the Hawthorne and the Woolf diary. Sadie hoped she wasn’t blowing it.
The last stop, before they headed north to case the uptown shops, was called J&M Books, one of the remaining stores on the former Book Row on Fourth Avenue. The place was empty of customers, and Sadie strode to the clerk’s desk at the back of the shop. This time, she’d try a different tack. “Hello, is the owner available?”
She affected an English accent this time, which was met by a muffled guffaw from Mr. Adriano, who stood somewhere behind her, doing his browsing thing. The clerk, a tall, thin man wearing a bolo tie, sat behind the counter.
“I’m the owner, name’s Chuck.” He held out his hand, which was manicured and smooth. “How can I help you?”
She shook it. “I’m looking for something valuable, something rare, as a gift to my husband. It’s his birthday in a month, and I promised him something whopping.”
“Whopping?”
“I want to give him a gift that will knock his socks off.” She lifted her heels slightly at the end of the sentence. She needed to appear foolish enough to not understand the trade, and wealthy enough to afford the best. “It’s his fiftieth, so the sky’s the limit. Although I probably shouldn’t tell you that.”
The man loosened the tie around his neck. “I see.”
“For his fortieth, I purchased an antique globe by Blaeu, from the early 1600s.” She made a point of looking down at the counter, where a couple of letters from famous authors were kept under glass, so as to give Chuck time to size her up. “Paid forty grand, but was worth every penny to see the look of surprise on Cyril’s face.” She pointed to one of the letters. “Is this really from Dorothy Parker?”
“Sure is. Would you like to see it?”
“No. That’s not what I want.” She looked up, fixing him with a steady gaze. “I want something fabulous, that no one else has. Do you have anything like that?”
“Right. I think there’s something here, just in.” He disappeared behind a door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY. Sadie looked around at Mr. Adriano, who raised his eyebrows before turning away as the man returned, clutching an oversized, ragged atlas.
“There’s this.” He laid it down on the counter. “An antique atlas, from the seventeenth century. Quite an addition to any collection.”
Sadie lifted the cover and examined it. She could tell already that the binding had been replaced. Some of the maps had suspicious markings, where an identifying mark had been either removed or painted over. How horrible, to mutilate what had been intact. Then again, it said something about the shop, that they would try to fob this off on an unsuspecting buyer.