A Novel Death at The Book Emporium

Chapter 1

Chapter One

The crisp morning air practically sparkled with possibilities as I sat in the park shelter, waiting for my friends to arrive. My cat, Millie, sat at my feet, eyes focused on the trees beyond. I breathed in the sweet smell of those pines and sent a prayer heavenward, thankful for spring.

“What do you see, Millie? A bird?”

She shot a green-eyed glance my way before returning to her stare-down with the pine forest.

“No. Something is in there,” she said.

I straightened, peering into the shadowy woods, but my human eyes failed to come up with anything interesting. It was probably a squirrel.

“Olivia! Yoo-hoo!”

I turned to see four women walking my way.

Naomi was in the lead, her arms pumping furiously.

It had been her idea to meet for a morning walk as part of her campaign to get the quilting ladies into fit and fighting shape.

Jo strode next to her, her long legs keeping effortless time with Naomi’s shorter steps.

Emma and Sandy dawdled behind, heads together.

It took my brain a second to catch up and compute what I was seeing. All four women were wearing 1980s-style windbreakers with matching pants. It was a visual assault of neon colors, rioting together.

“Millie, I don’t think the wind stands a chance today.”

My cat chirped as she tore her eyes away from the trees.

“Oh. Oh my.”

“Indeed.”

Naomi came to a breathless stop next to me while Jo put her hands on her hips, checking the new smartwatch on her wrist with great ceremony.

“One hundred and twenty-eight beats per minute. Not too shabby,” Jo said. “Morning, Olivia. And there’s our precious girl.”

She bent to stroke Millie’s head while the other ladies caught up. Emma was sporting a neon yellow headband that kept her white curls off her face.

“Good morning! Oh, I’m so glad you brought her. I was hoping you would. What a novel thing to take a cat for a walk,” Emma said, joining Jo in the mutual Millie admiration society.

“We’ve walked here a few times,” I said, standing. “So far it’s been safe. Everyone with dogs keeps them on leashes.”

Naomi frowned, shading her eyes as she gazed around the empty park.

“They’d better not think about hurting our little girl. I love dogs, but I won’t stand for that.”

Jo stood and began making wide circles with her arms, forcing Sandy to duck. Sandy rolled her eyes and fiddled with the end of her braid.

“Careful, Jo. You’ll take someone’s head off.”

“Gotta keep the old ticker going. What are we waiting for? Let’s walk!”

Sandy shot me a soft smile as Millie stretched.

“Isn’t it a glorious morning?” Sandy asked as we began walking.

Naomi and Jo zoomed ahead, leaving us in the dust. Emma clicked her tongue, shaking her head.

“They’re both going to pay for that later. My hip is already letting me know what it thinks about this whole idea.”

“It’s good to move, though,” Sandy said. “Motion is lotion, right?”

Emma made a face before laughing.

“Gosh, that just sounds terrible. You’re right, though, Sandy. I need to walk more. So, Olivia, are you all set for the big event?”

My bookstore, The Timber Falls Book Emporium, was set to host an event that made me positively giddy. I still wasn’t quite sure how it had lined up.

“I am. I’ve rearranged everything at least three times. Rob was helping me move the chairs for the fifth time last night until late. I think I’ve got everything perfect. But...”

“Oh, Olivia,” Emma said, swatting my arm. “It’s going to be amazing. You’ve spent the last three weeks getting ready. Jackson Moorhead is going to be so impressed. Just you wait.”

If only the qualm in my stomach would listen to her. It, unfortunately, decided this was a great time to serve as a training flight strip for the butterflies who’d moved in since I’d received the call letting me know about their plans.

“I hope so. I still don’t know why a best-selling author like him wants to do a book signing in Timber Falls. Don’t get me wrong, the town is amazing, but he skipped Denver to come here.”

“Well, I call that an honor,” Sandy said, tossing her braid over her shoulder. “I can’t wait to meet him. I’ve read every single one of his books. That last one kept me up well past my bedtime. I just couldn’t stop turning the pages.”

Moorhead wrote thrillers based in the wilds of Montana, and while he wasn’t a favorite of mine, I appreciated his skill. I also appreciated the fact that he’d decided to grace my bookstore with his presence, even if I still wasn’t sure why.

“Have you talked to him?” Emma asked, puffing a little as we picked up speed.

Millie didn’t seem to mind moving faster. She trotted along, tail held high. I knew she couldn’t keep this pace for long, and I’d likely be carrying her for a while, which was just fine with me.

“No. Just his publicist, Natalie Adams. She’s the nicest woman. I wish she were coming, but she had another client with an event today.”

“Well, it’s exciting. I’ve got three copies of his books all ready for his signature. I can’t wait,” Sandy said, cheeks pinking.

Naomi and Jo were so far in front of us on the trail that I could only make out two neon smudges ahead. Millie froze, fur fluffed, her eyes trained on the trees behind us. I tightened my grip on her lead.

“What is it, girl?” I asked without thinking about the two people standing next to me who definitely didn’t know I could talk to my cat.

Millie didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. Something rushed out of those trees, running so fast its legs were a blur. My brain processed only the fact that it was a dog. It was incredibly large, and worse, it was barking up a storm as it headed straight for us.

“Millie!”

I lunged toward her as the dog closed the distance almost preternaturally fast, reaching for her as my heart pounded in my ears. She took on a golden glow that radiated outward, visible even in the sunshine. The dog dropped like a stone, suddenly flat on the ground, just two feet away.

Emma and Sandy let out twin cries of dismay while I heard shouts from Jo and Naomi. The dog had stopped growling, but its eyes, a pale brown, were full of malevolence as it stared at my cat.

I hurried over, scooping her into my arms as Emma shouted at the dog. Everything felt fuzzy, like I was underwater.

“Shoo! Go away!”

Her voice had ratcheted up a few octaves. Sandy grabbed my arm, trying to shield my cat as the dog continued to stare, ignoring us completely.

“Get out of here,” Jo roared as she approached at a full run.

Even faced with Jo, who was nearly six feet tall, the dog didn’t move. I wasn’t sure if Millie’s magic was holding it in place, or if it was determined to hunt her down. All I knew was that this dog was a terrifying mix of mastiff and something else, and I didn’t stand a chance if it lunged at me.

“Fang! You quit that!”

A man’s voice echoed through the park. The dog stilled, still keeping its awful gaze on me and my cat. Jo moved to stand in front of me, while Naomi fluttered toward us, breathing so hard I was worried she was about to have an asthma attack.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh,” she kept repeating, wringing her hands together.

The man jogged toward us, holding a studded leash with a spiked collar dangling down.

I put him in his mid-thirties, but he had one of those faces that made it hard to tell.

He might be thirty-two; he might be fifty.

His brown hair was shaggy, peeking out from his beanie hat in all sorts of directions.

His eyes were a startling light green against his tanned face.

“So sorry about that, ladies. He got away from me. Don’t worry about Fang. He’s harmless.”

There was a lilting accent to his voice that I couldn’t place.

“He doesn’t look harmless to me,” Jo said, raising her chin. “Who are you? You’re not from here.”

“No, ma’am,” he said, putting on a charming grin. Lines webbed out from the corners of his eyes. “I’m Declan Fairmont. Charmed to make the acquaintance of such lovely ladies.”

Naomi let out a sigh, and I caught Sandy elbowing her in the side out of the corner of my eye.

“Hmph.”

I tried to find my tongue, but it seemed my mouth was glued shut. My heart raced, still not certain we were safe, even though Declan slipped the monstrous-looking collar over the dog’s thick neck.

“My apologies,” he said, giving me a strange look. “You all right?”

I finally got enough of my brain cells together to form a coherent statement.

“Yes.”

Millie turned in my arms, never taking her eyes off the dog. It growled, an ominous sound that rumbled out of its massive chest.

“Well, as I said. Sorry about that. Fang’s a good boy. He doesn’t usually slip his lead like that. Of course, most people don’t walk cats, so I’m sure he’s just not used to seeing them. Ole Fang’s never been a fan of them.”

“Don’t you try to gaslight us,” Jo said, eyes narrowing. “It’s perfectly fine to walk a cat in the park. This is a public space. At least she’s on a leash, unlike your brute.”

Declan unleashed another one of his smiles, and I’m pretty sure Naomi melted a little more. He was handsome; there was no denying that. But there was something about him that got under my skin, and I was pretty sure it had nothing to do with the dog sitting at his feet.

“Please be more careful,” I said, hating how tremulous my voice sounded.

“Of course, ma’am. You have a good day now.”

He yanked on the leash, and the dog slowly obeyed, eyes still trained on my poor cat. I tightened my grip as Millie growled, low and dark. I turned away, shielding her with my body.

“I don’t like him,” Jo said, not bothering to lower her voice as the man walked away.

“Jo!”

“Well, I don’t. You heard him. He blamed Olivia for walking her cat instead of taking responsibility for his awful mutt. Did you see that thing? I thought it was a monster. I was sure we were going to be too late.”

Naomi nodded, pulling her eyes away from Declan’s back as he disappeared into the trees.

“What a shame. Such a lovely voice.”

Sandy rolled her eyes.

“You’re a sucker for an accent.”

Emma heaved a sigh and ran a hand through her cloud of curls.

“I don’t know about you, but I think that counts as all the heart rate raising I needed today. How about breakfast at Meg’s?”

My friend, Meg, ran a cafe right next to the building I called home and work. She’d been my first friend and advocate in Timber Falls, and I loved her dearly.

“That sounds wonderful. I need some tea after that.”

Jo frowned, but looked at Emma, who was obviously still upset, and nodded.

“I agree. Let’s go. Olivia, we’ll meet you there. Are you going to be okay with driving by yourself after that?”

I waved off her concern.

“I’m fine. Just a little shaken. See you there.”

I headed toward the parking lot, still gripping my cat, jumping at every crackle from the trees and chirp of a bird. This was not how I wanted to start my morning, that’s for sure.

“I knew he was there,” Millie said, her voice soft in my ear. “I could feel his intent even before I saw him.”

“The dog or the man?”

“Both. We need to be careful, Olivia. I have a bad feeling about them.”

Well, that didn’t help my heart rate recover.

I nodded, biting my lip as I hurried to my car.

I wouldn’t feel safe until I had Millie safely locked within it.

I got in, locked the doors, and gripped the steering wheel, willing myself to calm.

It didn’t work, but at least I tried. I pulled out of my parking spot, eyes still on the trees where Declan and Fang had disappeared.