“Mary Poppins and certain titles from the Baby-Sitters Club and Redwall series.” Nora pursed her lips as she tried to remember the rest. “Also The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Strega Nona, and A Wrinkle in Time. We sold out of those on Halloween, and the reorders haven’t arrived yet.”
“Is it too late to add a book I’m thankful for?”
Nora came around from behind the counter. “We can do it right now.”
“But how do I choose?” The woman gazed down at the books in her arms. “The Borrowers? Or The Story of Ferdinand?”
“I’ll make room for both,” Nora said, smiling at the young woman. She added the books to the display, knowing that Sheldon would rearrange them first thing Monday morning, and rang up the three picture books the teacher was buying for her classroom.
Nora handed her the bag of books and said, “One day, your students will stand in front of a window display like this and think of you.”
The young woman’s eyes shone with happiness. She thanked Nora and left the shop.
Minutes later, Deputies Wiggins and Perkins entered.
Nora was especially grateful for her customers that Saturday evening. Any interaction that kept her focus on books instead of her upcoming meeting with a murderer was appreciated.
With her last customer browsing the first part of the Fiction section in the front of the shop, Nora decided to check in with the sheriff.
McCabe was waiting for her at the readers’ circle.
“Is anyone in the store?” he whispered.
“One customer in the front.” Nora gestured at the box on the coffee table. “The book?”
At McCabe’s nod, Nora raised the lid. Celeste’s book sat in a nest of white tissue paper.
Suddenly, McCabe’s phone was in his hand. After reading the text, he met Nora’s anxious gaze. “Beck just parked in the lot by the playground. He’s in a rental car. He appears to be watching the shop.”
Nora went cold all over. She crossed her arms over her chest, her bravado abandoning her.
McCabe gripped her by the shoulders. “I won’t let anything happen to you, do you hear me? Your job is to show him the book. That’s it. Don’t put yourself in danger by trying to force a confession. Do not provoke him.”
“Thank you!” Nora’s last customer called out.
Nora was still looking at McCabe when she shouted back, “Have a nice night!”
Seconds later, they heard the clanging of the sleigh bells.
For some reason, the sound gave Nora a boost of confidence. She mustered a smile and said, “Time to flip the sign.”
The sheriff lowered his arms and glanced at his phone. “He’s coming.”
The words sent a ripple of fear through Nora’s body, but she managed to walk to the front of the store and begin her closing tasks as if this were any other night. She flipped the sign, printed a register receipt of the day’s sales, and turned off the lights over the checkout counter. She straightened a few books in the Fiction section before moving into the ticket agent’s office, where she transferred mugs from the drying rack to empty hooks on the pegboard.
She waited, her muscles taut and her pulse thundering in her ears, for the sleigh bells. As soon as they rang out, she’d have roughly thirty seconds before Wolf Beck entered the readers’ circle.
So when a man said, “Nice place,” in a deep, train-rumble voice, Nora was so startled that she dropped the mug she was holding.
It struck the sink faucet, cracked like an egg, and landed in the basin in pieces.
The mug had been embellished with the text NEVER UNDERESTIMATE A WELL-READ WOMAN. To Nora, its destruction was a bad omen.
As if to confirm her suspicion, the space above her pinkie knuckle began to tingle.
Wolf Beck leaned in through the serving window and let out a dry laugh. “Oopsie. Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Nora looked into his dark eyes and knew this was a lie. He’d absolutely meant to scare her. He’d slowly eased open the front door, keeping the bells from ringing, because he wanted to catch her off guard. He wanted to startle her. To see how high she’d jump.
But Beck’s plan to establish dominance had failed. Instead of stirring Nora’s fear, he’d ignited her anger. It burned in her chest, fueling her courage to the point of recklessness.
“No need to apologize. It takes more than that to scare me,” she said breezily. “Are you ready to see the book? Or do I need to lock up first?”
“I took care of that. I didn’t want us to be interrupted.”