Page 6 of Dying to Read

“I don’t know who it belongs to. I thought I’d wait until the owner shows up.” She watched him turn the pages with the pen. “I guess I shouldn’t have touched it?”

He looked up at her. “It’s an old cop habit. I didn’t want to leave fingerprints, but I don’t know if you should be touching this or not. I know someone who might be able to tell you more. He might be in town still. Let me do some digging and see if I can get in touchwith Arthur.”

“I’ll keep it in the safe. Hopefully, someone claims it.” She waited for Jonathon to step back before returning the book to the bag. “So I might get a call from an Arthur?”

“Arthur Wellings. He used to own a rare bookstore here in Sedona with his wife, Frieda. I think he moved the store a few years ago after she passed.” He stood there, staring. “This is weird. Have you asked Archer about the book?”

“Why would I ask Archer about an old copy ofAlice in Wonderland?” Rarity didn’t want to mention their recent troubles. Rumors flew quickly in Sedona, and she didn’t know what their statuswas right now.

“His grandmother used to collect old books. In fact, she worked for Arthur and his wife. She was their buyer. She’d go to used bookstores, garage sales, consignment shops, and even estate sales to check for old books. She found several that were worth a pretty penny.” Jonathon smiled at the memory. “Marilyn loved the hunt. After her husband died, she went to work full-time with the bookstore. She said it gave her something to do.”

“So this might be from her collection?” She tapped her fingers near the book. “But Archer’s folks moved, didn’t they? Wait, no, he said his mom moved to California. Where’s his dad?”

Jonathon studied her for a minute before answering. “Archer’s parents divorced and June sold the house. Caleb moved to Flagstaff after that. I haven’t talked tohim in years.”

“Archer doesn’t talk about his dad at all.” Rarity was trying to follow what Jonathon was saying. Archer’s dad couldn’t be more than sixty—sixty-five at the most.

Jonathon nodded. “Caleb never forgave me for not finding out who killed his mother, Marilyn. He took on the case after I moved to New York. He kept trying to put pieces together that didn’t fit. So any lead or partial lead, he went down the rabbit hole. Finally, June divorced him and started a new life. The kids were out of the house by then. She deserved to have something besides Caleb’s obsession.”

“No wonder Archer doesn’t talk about his folks.” Rarity put the book in the safe. “I’ll ask him about the book.”

“I haven’t seen Archer since I’ve been back. Is he walking you home tonight?” Jonathon returned to his laptop, focusing on hisnext sentence.

“I’m not sure.”Leave it to an ex-cop to see a trend.Rarity tried to brush it off, but she saw Jonathon’s head turn toward her, concern in his eyes. So she lied. “He said something abouta new client.”

Chapter 3

Archer hadn’t come to walk her home Thursday night. So Friday morning after her swim, Rarity called him. When she got voice mail, she quickly left a message about their joint commitment to the pets and people event that night at the nursing home. She asked if he wanted to meet for dinner before the event at the Garnet. Then she told him she had a question about his grandmother. When she hung up, she hoped the guilt over possibly not escorting her to the event and the curiosity about why she was asking about his grandmother would overcome whatever secret he’d been hiding from her.

At least she hoped. Killer was watching her. “I know, you miss Archer too.”

Rarity decided to focus on the day ahead rather than pine for a man who might not be in her life anymore. Both Katie and Shirley were scheduled to work that day. Katie had her high school group tomorrow, which meant she’d be busy setting up and planning for the nextmonth’s event.

When Shirley came in, Rarity could see the stress and lack of sleep on her friend’s face. Katie had stopped for coffee and donuts at Annie’s, and the three of them headed to the fireplace to plan for theupcoming week.

Katie set her coffee cup down and turned to Shirley. “Okay, spill. You look like you haven’t slept and you haven’t said more than ten words since I arrived. What’s going on?”

Shirley sank farther into the couch. “Rarity knows this, but George has been threatening violence at the nursing home. He hasn’t done anything yet, so that’s the one thing keeping them from kickinghim out. Jully exaggerated the attack yesterday, but Sally, she’s the administrator,is concerned.”

“Oh, no.” Katie sat straighter. “Is he getting more confused?”

Shirley laughed, but the sound was harsh. “I think he’s falling into another world. He thinks that this guy who works in administration is paying too much attention to Lizzy. George thinks he and Lizzy are going steady. Or, I guess, he and Lizzy are going steady.Thathe remembers.”

“Oh, Shirley. I’m so sorry.” Rarity knew that George’s new reality was killing her friend. “What happened when you went over to the nursing home yesterday?”

“I talked to George. He thought I was a social worker or something. He kept telling me all about Lizzy and what a wonderful woman she was.” Shirley closed her eyes for a minute. “Then I asked about William Jully and he got angry. George said that William is stealing from the patients and going into their rooms at night. He hates that man.”

Rarity sipped her coffee. “How long has this William guy been there?”

Shirley opened her eyes and looked up. “What?”

“Let’s say George is right. Maybe the problem isn’t George. Maybe it’s this William guy.” Rarity set her cup down. “From what you told me, George was always watching out for other people before he got sick. Maybehe still is.”

Shirley sat up. “I’ve been so focused on George’s new girlfriend, I didn’t think about that angle. I know this William Jully hasn’t been there long. He was the one who told me I couldn’t come to the nursing home as much last year.”

“What do you think about him?”Rarity asked.

“He’s all surface.” Shirley nodded as she seemed to be processing her thoughts. “Like you know he’s thinking something behind what he’s saying. I assumed he thought I was an idiot for still wanting George to remember our marriage. But maybe it was something else.”

---