Chapter 4
Chapter Four
As my mind tried to sort through what just happened, it kept going back to the fact that my window needed to be replaced.
Again. It felt like someone had wrapped a heavy wool scarf around my ears, muting everything.
I knew people were screaming. I could see their mouths moving.
But I felt frozen in place, almost as if someone had hit pause and I simply could not move.
Someone gripped my arm, snapping me back to reality, and I turned to see Meg.
“Olivia?”
It sounded like she was at the bottom of a very small tin can. I scanned her face as Drew vaulted over the counter, rushing to help the people who’d been closest to the window.
“I’m okay,” I said. “Oh my gosh, is anyone hurt?”
“I don’t know. Olivia, what happened?”
I realized I was gripping Millie so hard that it must have hurt her little bones. I gently put her on the counter and reached for my phone.
“Rob. I need to call Rob.”
My fingers weren’t working correctly as I tried to punch in his number. Dark smoke hung heavily in the store, and the smell of burned metal and plastic was overwhelming.
“We need to get everyone out of here,” I said, as my mind finally, blessedly, started to work again. “Where’s Ruthie? The girls? Henry?”
My phone rang, startling me so badly that I dropped it on the counter. Rob’s name blazed on the screen. My hands shook as I answered it.
“Olivia! Are you alright? We just had a call about an explosion at your shop. I’m on the way.”
I had to turn up the volume to the max, and I still couldn’t hear him properly.
“What? Rob, something blew up at the store. The window is broken and I...”
My voice broke as I surveyed the scene inside my shop. Drew was leading people outside, away from the smoke. He needed help. I couldn’t just stand here and watch.
“I’ve got to go, Rob. We’ve got tons of people in here.”
I put the phone back down, forgetting to end the call, and reached for Millie. Luckily, she’d been smart and stayed put, even though I could tell she was itching to help people.
“Come on, girl, let’s go.”
Ruthie appeared, hobbling a little and resting heavily on Henry’s arm. I whipped around the counter and reached for her.
“Ruthie?”
She didn’t react. I almost panicked until I realized she was likely suffering the same hearing loss that I was. As soon as I gripped her arm, she jumped and put a hand on her chest.
“Olivia! What happened?”
She seemed okay. Just shaken. No cuts on her face. I nodded toward the door.
“We need to get everyone out. Thank you, Henry.”
He shuffled ahead with the librarian, and I kept moving. Meg went to the left, closer to the window, while I headed for the shelves. Suddenly, it hit me: Jackson Moorehead. Where was he?
I found him talking on his phone near the back of the shop. He looked... elated? No, that couldn’t be right.
“This is intense,” he said into his phone. “If this doesn’t help kick-start sales, I don’t know what will.”
He was talking so loudly that even I could hear him. Shock rooted me to the spot for the second time in just ten minutes.
“Get out,” I said, probably louder than I needed to.
He reeled back, putting the phone against his chest.
“What?”
“We need everyone to get out,” I said, mastering my emotions. “Please head outside.”
He rolled his eyes and put his phone back to his ear.
“Sorry, Natalie. Hold on a sec. I’ll send over the video footage of the aftermath so you can get it on all my socials. Oh! I should be able to get a good angle from outside. I’ll send that too. See if you can get the major networks to cover it.”
He brushed past me and headed outside, cutting off Jo in his haste. The tall woman glared at him. Her bun hadn’t survived the blast. It lay in a long ponytail that grazed her mid-back.
“Olivia,” she boomed, making me jump. “Thank God you’re okay.”
I hustled over and patted each of my friends down, searching for injuries. Naomi’s face was speckled with blood. She must have been too close to the window when the blast happened.
“Oh my gosh, Naomi. Are you okay?”
“What?”
Like all of us, it appeared she’d been deafened by the blast too. I shook my head as Jo tugged on her arm.
“Come on, Naomi. I hear the sirens. The paramedics are on their way.”
Sandy was nearly as ashen as her gray hair as she helped Jo usher the tiny Naomi outside. Emma’s face was streaked with tears.
“I can’t believe it. Why would someone do something like this?”
I raised my head so I could see Jackson filming everything, a delighted smile on his face.
Rage lit within me so quickly it took my breath away.
Why was he so happy about this? My friends were injured, and he was so focused on getting publicity that he hadn’t even bothered to check to see if everyone was okay.
“I don’t know, Emma. I need to check and make sure everyone got out. Go ahead. I’ll be outside shortly. Here, can you take Millie? I don’t want her to breathe in all this smoke.”
She opened her arms and cooed over my cat as I passed her over. Millie’s green eyes stayed trained on me as Emma walked toward the door. There would be hell to pay for pawning her off on my friend, but I would worry about that later.
“Hello? Is anyone else back here?”
The acrid smoke hung heavily between the shelves as I made my way through the store.
I checked the bathroom, poked my head into my office and the storeroom before glancing at the door that led to my apartment above.
I’d locked it earlier, so no one would be up there.
I turned, fanning the smoke away as I made my way toward the door. It was straight this way, right?
I coughed as the smoke grew thicker, and my eyes watered, making it hard to see where I was going. I was certain I’d been heading toward the door, but somehow, I was back near the storeroom again. I’d gotten turned around.
“Olivia!”
Rob’s shout, his voice holding a note of panic I’d never heard before, pierced the heavy stillness.
“Here!”
He burst through the smoke and crushed me against his chest before pushing me back so he could look at me. I didn’t know which direction to go in, but with him here, I suddenly realized I didn’t need to worry about that.
“You’re okay. Let’s get you out here.”
He wrapped an arm around my waist and led me to safety.
Outside, the brick walls of my building were painted with flashing blue and red lights.
Three ambulances sat outside, and people were lined up, waiting their turn.
A stream of water from the pump truck gushed onto a hulking pile of twisted metal.
It took me a few moments to realize it was the remains of Moorehead’s car.
“Rob, what on earth?”
He brushed my hair back from my face, his eyes searching mine.
“I just had to make sure you’re okay. Anyone else inside?”
“No, I was just checking when I got turned around. Oh, Rob, Naomi is hurt. I think Ruthie might be too.”
“She’s right over there,” Rob said, pointing toward one of the ambulances. “I think I lost ten years off my life when Emma said you were still inside. You’re sure it’s empty?”
“I didn’t check the apartment, but the door is locked. Oh, Rob, this is terrible.”
He gave me another hard squeeze.
“Stay there. I’ll be back.”
Emma appeared, carrying an incensed Millie, and handed her over.
“It took everything I had to keep her from racing back in there to get to you. I had no idea she was so fierce. She really loves you, Olivia. I’ve never seen a cat act like that.”
I looked at Millie’s ivory fur, now tinged with black soot, and fought back tears. My precious little cat.
“Shhh, Millie. It’s okay. I’m okay.”
I scanned the scene until I spotted Moorehead. He was still filming. A bitter taste that had nothing to do with the smoke filled my mouth.
“He’s a terrible man. I wish I’d never agreed to this.”
Emma raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Someone gripped my right arm, and I turned to see Evelyn standing behind me. She had little bandaids peppered all over her face.
“Oh, Evelyn. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
“Just superficial cuts. Dorcie took the worst of it. They’re still working on her over there. Olivia, we need to do something about this. Someone blew up that man’s car. Here! In Timber Falls, of all places.”
The pieces finally fell into place. I was embarrassed to realize it took me this long to figure it out.
“Blew it up? But... why?”
Evelyn threw her hands wide, her eyes a little wild.
“Who knows! But we can’t let it happen again. That man needs to leave this town and take his crazy stalker with him.”
“Wait, what did you just say?”
“Stalker. Marcie was saying she heard about that. I guess he’s been in the news before about a restraining order from an overzealous fan. I’m surprised you didn’t know.”
A little of the old haughty Evelyn peeked through her eyes, and I felt myself flush.
“I didn’t... I didn’t know, Evelyn. I just...”
Her expression changed, and she patted my arm.
“It’s not your fault. But you should tell Rob. I’m guessing it will be pertinent. I would, but...”
She trailed off, and I grimaced. Her husband’s trial was due to start soon. He’d murdered a woman decades ago and used his office as the former chief of police to cover up the crime.
“I’ll tell him. Thank you, Evelyn. If you hear anything else...”
“I’ll let you know. I should see how Dorcie is doing. Poor lamb. She got sliced up pretty badly.”
My heart hurt as I watched her walk away. Emma sniffed.
“She sure has changed. I think.”
I knew exactly what she meant, but decided it was better not to comment on it.
“I need to check on everyone,” I said, repositioning my cat onto my hip. “I feel terrible that this happened.”
“It’s not your fault, dear. This is the work of a madman.”
But who was the madman and where was he? Timber Falls was small. Too small for someone new to hide and not be spotted. My blood ran cold as I remembered our run-in from just this morning. It felt like ages ago, somehow.
“That man. Declan. What if...”
Emma raised a snowy brow, and a speculative look came over her face.
“Well, I’m guessing Naomi would say he’s the top suspect if this was a murder mystery novel. Or maybe not. She thought he was charming.”
“What are you two whispering about?” Jo said, her voice splitting through the cotton-wool feeling in my ears.
“Just speculating,” I said, biting my tongue before I could spill out my suspicions.
Jo was not known for her subtlety. If I told her I thought Declan was the man behind the car explosion, she’d toss the entire town until she found him.
“How’s Naomi?” I asked, cutting off whatever she was going to say next.
“One of the cuts was pretty deep. It might scar. But she’s okay. She’s already talking about how it’s going to improve her street cred at defense class.”
Emma tsked and scanned the crowd.
“We should go to her. She might just be putting on a brave face. Olivia, will you be okay?”
“Yes, fine,” I said, paying half-attention. I was too busy staring at Moorehead. “Go ahead.”
I left them and headed straight for the author. He was busy typing on his phone, still wearing that grin. I wasn’t usually a violent person, but the urge to punch him right in the mouth was almost overwhelming, especially when he noticed me and clapped me hard on the back.
“Well, you can’t ask for better publicity for your little shop, Miss Sutton. We’re going to put the Timber Falls Book Shop on the map. When are we going to redo the talk? Maybe he’ll escalate and we’ll really have some fireworks.”
“Emporium,” I said through gritted teeth. “It’s the Timber Falls Book Emporium, and this is not the kind of publicity we want. If you haven’t noticed, people were injured. There are literally older women bleeding right over there and you’re talking about publicity? How dare you?”
He reeled back, a look of shock on his face.
“Hey, that’s not...”
“I’m not done,” I said, practically spitting my words. “You are not welcome here, Jackson Moorehead. You brought trouble to this town, and I can’t wait to see the back of you. If I never see you again, that will be just fine with me.”
A few people in the crowd that ringed around us gasped, but I didn’t care. All I could think about was my friends and the damage that had been done.