Page 34 of The Librarians
Because I was the idiot who, when my cousin told me that Monopoly was developed by a woman, shouted “Not a chance! It says ‘Parker Brothers’ right here on the box.”
She laughed some more.
Would she have tried to create a board game if she’d never heard his gentle exhortation? She doesn’t know—certainly no one else ever lobbed that idea at her. But he did suggest it, and she did give it a shot—and the rest, as they say, is history.
Her first two games did well; the third one took off in a way no one anticipated, least of all her. The trip to Brussels was a celebratory one. But as she sat by herself on that Singapore-to-Frankfurt flight, she wished only that she could have told the lovely young man that his long-ago idea had given her life structure and purpose.
But since she couldn’t, since that ship had sailed, capsized, and sunk ages ago, she chose to smile when Kit sidled up to her.
And never told him that he was the one she’d settled for.
“My real interest in Madeira?” She uncrosses and recrosses her ankles. “I received this apartment as a wedding gift, Detective Chu. I believe I can get my grandfather to splurge on a little divorce present, too. Frankly I didn’t find any appealing properties on Madeira. Maybe a place in Lake Como would be more my speed. Or even Scotland.”
Detective Chu’s lips thin—he believes it.
Hazel exhales, exhaustion rolling over her like a fog.
Her doorbell chimes, the otherwise ordinary sound harsh and ominous under the circumstances. She blinks, her eyes as dry and brittle as glass.
“Your colleagues, Detective?” she asks Chu.
The police look at one another. “No.”
She specifically instructed Carmela and Marisol not to tell her mother—or anyone, for that matter—about the police raid. She has no next-door neighbors—her grandfather’s generous present occupies the top three stories of the building. Who can it be, then, so early in the morning?
The doorbell shrills again.
Hazel rises.Kit.Normally the sound would not make her think of her husband, but two days ago she changed the code and deleted his fingerprints from the authorized list.
For the first time she’s glad of Detective Chu’s presence: She won’t have to explain the lock change to Kit. And then alarm finally spikes through her depleted brain.
Kit has returned home at the worst possible time.
Detective Chu is ahead of her, charging for the door. She picks up her pace. Shit. She owes it to Kit, doesn’t she, to at least shout a warning—Fly, you fool!
But as the intercom comes into view, it is her mother on the screen, raising her hand to ring the doorbell yet again.
She taps on the intercom, intending to tell Lillian Kuang that it’s not a good time.
But before she can even offer a greeting, her mother’s voice blares. “Hazel, are you okay? Why didn’t you answer your phone? I’ve been calling and calling. Your mother-in-law has been trying to reach you for three hours.”
A strange chill pools at the base of Hazel’s spine. “Why is she calling me? Is everything okay?”
Did she find out that her son is now a wanted man?
“No, everything is not okay. And why don’t you open your door? Hurry up!”
Hazel opens the door—at this point her mother might as well learn the whole truth.
Lillian Kuang barges in and enfolds Hazel in a hard embrace. “You have to be strong now, Hazel. Don’t panic.”
Their contact jolts Hazel more than anything else. Fifteen years in theUnited States of America had failed to turn her mother into a hugger. Whatever news she is bringing will be a calamity far worse than mere financial crime.
“What’s the matter?” Hazel croaks.
Her mother pulls back, but now her hands are braced on Hazel’s shoulders, forcing Hazel to look at her.
“Kit’s plane went down over the North Sea,” says she, her eyes full of pity. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m so sorry.”
