Page 56 of Secrets in the Stacks

“Let me get it. There’s a random book-stealing criminal still at large.” He touched her face when she smiled. “If I die, run out the back and over to Terrance’s. I’m pretty sure he has a stash of guns and ammo.”

“It could just be Drew.” Rarity reminded him as she sank back into the chair. She figured her need to run screaming out of the house was between nil and none.

“Drew’s still at the hospital with his dad. I just got a text from him.” Archer looked out the window by the door, then he unlocked it, swinging it open. “Come on in.”

Holly hurried into the house, followed by Malia. “Hey, Archer, sorry if we’re intruding on your night, but I thought Rarity needed to see this.”

Rarity held up a hand as she saw Holly scanning the room. “I’m over here at the table. Do you want something to drink?”

“We’re heading into work. But I found this and thought you’d want to see it.” Holly pulled out some papers from her backpack and laid them on the table. “I found this at the library on the microfilm. I had to get the librarian to make copies for me. It’s a local paper out of Des Moines, Iowa.”

Rarity studied the grainy black-and-white copy. The headline told the story: “Wife and Son of Slain Local Man Missing as of Last Night. Police Suspect Foul Play.” There were pictures of what looked like an older Darby and a teenage boy. How had she missed this the last time she’d been searching? But she’d been looking for anything on Tom’s death, not a missing persons story. “This is Catherine and Jeff?”

Malia nodded. “She disappeared and didn’t tell anyone she was coming here. I called the state’s cold case reporting line, and they say that file is still open. She just up and vanished, reappearing here.”

“Then they just forgot about her.” Holly pointed to the date. “This is the only story about them being missing that year. I went through the entire year. It was like they didn’t exist anymore.”

“Or someone didn’t want their names to be remembered,” Malia added. “Maybe one of the journals had more information, and we just missed it. We should read them all again.”

Rarity sighed and dropped her pen on the table. “We can’t. They were stolen. Well, not all of them, just the ones we had at the book club tonight.”

“What’s going on?” Holly shared a look with Rarity. “The only person those books are valuable to is Darby. And that’s just because of how much she loved her grandmother.”

Archer told them about Jonathon being attacked and how the police station had more men out looking to find the suspect.

Malia stood from the table. “Sorry, we’ve got to go now, or I’ll be late. Keep us in the loop. I think this whole thing has to be about what happened in Iowa.”

Rarity followed them to the door and then went back to the table to study the printout again.

“You know Drew thinks this is about Jeff’s inheritance. Or lack of one.” Archer stood and stirred the soup. “He’s convinced that either Jeff killed his mom or he hired someone to do it.”

“I don’t believe that. I think Jeff and Sara are in as much danger as Catherine was. I just don’t know why.” Suddenly, the weight of everything that had happened that night hit Rarity. All she wanted was to sleep. Instead, she took the article and tucked it in her Doyle investigation notebook that Shirley had made for them.

Archer came back and offered to refill her glass. She nodded, and afterward, he picked up the notebook. “Your book club is very fancy with their investigation tools.”

“Shirley has a lot of time on her hands.” Rarity took the book from him and put it away in her tote. “Let’s stop talking about the elephant in the room and talk about something else. Anything else.”

“Do you want to hear about the hiking trip I’m planning for next month? Maybe you want to come along?”

When Rarity nodded, Archer went into a description of a trip to Moab in Utah and the top fifty arches.

Rarity tried to stop thinking about Catherine’s murder, but even as Archer described the scenery they’d find, she was lost trying to remember the journals she’d read and searching her mind for any more clues to why Catherine had uprooted her life so long ago.

Chapter 23

Wednesday morning, the first thing Rarity did was call Drew. He answered after a few rings. “Hello?”

“How’s your dad?” Rarity tucked another potty pad into Killer’s travel bag as she gathered everything she’d need for work. She was late after sleeping in this morning. No time for a swim or breakfast, so she grabbed the juice and filled a travel mug, tucking that into Killer’s bag as well. She threw in a granola bar and opened another one to eat as she finished getting ready.

“He’s home. They told me to keep him awake last night, so we spent the night going through old pictures that Mom had left in the closet. I really had a thing for black when I was in high school.”

She chuckled. “So he’s feeling better?”

“Good enough that he’s trying to talk Mom into not coming up today. I don’t think he’s going to win. The doc said if he gets through the next twenty-four hours without an incident, he’d be fine. I’m working from home, and Sam’s coming over to sit with Dad while I get a few hours of sleep.” He yawned. “Did you need something before I crash?”

“No, I was just checking in. Tell Jonathon I’m thinking of him.”

Drew laughed. “The EMTs gave him a lot of grief over using a dog training pad to stop the bleeding. I think he wants to talk to you about that.”

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