“I loved that Marianna had to choose between Nathan and Gerard.” Tami Sellers took the lead, as Liddy had asked her to do. “I personally could not have made that decision. I’d have wanted them both.”
Light laughter followed.
“I guess they never heard of a threesome,” someone said, and more laughter followed.
“They don’t know what they’re missing,” another voice popped up.
“Stick to the book, ladies.” Liddy laughed as she returned to the front of the store.
“Where’s the fun in that?” one of the ladies asked, sending a fresh wave of laughter around the group.
Someone from Ground Me delivered a box holding everything they needed for a coffee station. Liddy set it up on the table she normally reserved for the new children’s books so the readers could help themselves.
“It’s a rough crowd tonight, Dylan,” Liddy told him when he came in a little after eight and appeared momentarily befuddled to find someone sitting in “his” chair and a group of women sitting around in a circle drinking coffee, eating cookies, and talking about a particularly hot sex scene. “You might want to cover your ears.”
He turned red and headed to the front of the store, where he found a corner to sit in while he did what appeared to be homework. She wondered if his teachers wouldn’t expect whatever he was writing to be typed and printed out. Where did kids go if there was no computer in their homes? She knew the library had only so many stations available, because last year she’d headed the fundraising drive to purchase eight desktops.
Since Grace had seen Dylan in the library one night after he’d left here, Liddy figured it might be his routine to go to the library after he’d left the bookshop at a time when someone might reasonably assume he’d gone home for dinner. If what she suspected was true, there’d been no dinner, just as there was no home and no grandmother named Margaret Linden. She had called Neva to double-check the name Dylan had given the school, and she’d called around to everyone she knew. She had not found one person in Wyndham Beach who’d ever heard the name.
It had taken Liddy a while to figure out her next step, even to the bait she’d use. Deciding what to do once the trap was sprung wasn’t as easy.
She stepped outside the shop and made a phone call, completing her plan for the following night.
At eight thirty on Friday night, Liddy called to Grace, “If I call over to Ray’s and order a large pepperoni-and-mushroom pizza, would you pick it up for me?” Liddy spoke just loudly enough for Dylan, who was in his usual place, to overhear.
“Sure. But pepperoni and mushrooms? You don’t like pepperoni,” Grace said as if she thought Liddy needed reminding.
“It’s been a while since I had it, so I thought I’d give it another try. It always smells so good.”
“Okay.” Grace shrugged. “Just let me know when you want me to go.”
Liddy waited until eight thirty to call in the order, so it wouldn’t be ready until almost nine, which played into her plan. She walked the last customer to the door a little before nine and sent Grace to Ray’s. She stood outside for several minutes and waited for Grace’s return, giving Dylan time to dash upstairs.
“What are you doing out here?” Grace asked after she crossed the street, the large white box in her hands.
“Just getting a little fresh air,” Liddy told her. “It’s nice after being inside all day.”
They went inside the shop, and Liddy locked the front door behind them and placed the CLOSED sign in the window.
“Your office?” Grace asked, and Liddy nodded.
The closer to the back steps the better. Liddy wanted that tantalizing smell of pepperoni and cheese to waft up the stairwell. In her world, pizza equaled bait.
“My sister’s coming home for a few days next week.” Grace helped herself to a slice and let it drop onto the paper plate Liddy handed her from the stash she kept in the bottom drawer of her desk. “Mom said Nat called this morning and asked if it was okay for her and Daisy to drive up for a long weekend. Duh.” Grace rolled her eyes. “Mom’s been having grandbaby withdrawal since the summer. She misses them both, of course, but she said she’s had thirty years of Natalie and only four years of Daisy.”
“You have to bring Daisy to story time on Saturday.”
“She’s already pumped. Mom told her all about it.”
Liddy took a bite of her pizza and tried not to make a face. She really did not like pepperoni. She gave in and removed all the rounds of meat from her slice.
“No better this time around, eh?” Grace asked.
“No, sadly. I wanted to like it, but I guess I’ll never develop a taste for it.”
“What are you going to do with the rest of the pizza?”
“I’ll wrap it up and put it in the fridge for tomorrow in case anyone wants it.”
“Good thinking.” Grace wiped the corners of her mouth, then her hands, with napkins. “Thanks, Liddy. Want me to help you lock up?”
“No, no. You go on home. I’m going to catch up on a little paperwork.”
“Are you sure? This was supposed to be my night to close.”
“Positive. It was a pretty quiet night, so there’s not much to do.”
Liddy stood in the doorway and watched Grace gather her bags.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Grace called.
“Good night, Grace.” Liddy watched her leave, then relocked the door. As soon as Grace was out of sight, Liddy sprang into action.
She placed the pizza box in the middle of her desk; then she unlocked the back door.
Ten minutes later, she turned off the lights in her office and those in the rest of the shop. Then she sat in the dark and waited.
She didn’t have to wait very long.
Liddy figured the boy assumed there was no one left in the shop, but he came down the steps quietly and cautiously, just in case. Once in the hallway, he peered around the corner and into the darkened shop. From across the room, she heard his footsteps on the wooden floor as he made his way into her office and the rustling of the pizza box lid as he opened it.
She gave him a few minutes—after all, the kid had to be hungry—before she slipped into the hall and into her office and turned on the overhead light.
“Hello, Dylan.”
He froze, the slice of pizza suspended halfway to his mouth, his eyes wide with surprise. Then he dropped the pizza onto the desk and bolted past her and swung open the unlocked back door.
“Ah, not so fast, son. Dylan, is it? Let’s go back inside and talk to Mrs. Bryant, shall we?”
Brett marched Dylan into the office and gestured to him to sit in the chair facing the desk, where Liddy now sat.
“I didn’t steal anything. I swear, I wasn’t going to take anything. I just needed . . .” Dylan’s eyes were wide and frightened, his voice shaky with fear at having to face not only his unwitting hostess but the chief of police as well.
“I’m pretty sure that’s true, Dylan,” Liddy said softly. She looked at Brett. “Nothing’s been missing.”
“Good to know.” Brett stood blocking the doorway, his hands on his hips.
“Dylan, have you met Chief Crawford?” Liddy asked.