A Novel Death: a Danger Cove Bookshop Mystery (Danger Cove Mysteries Book 10) (15 page)

Though I was facing away from the door, I knew the instant that Gibson Knox walked into the bar. Adam's posture changed in the booth, and he suddenly seemed larger, as if he were blocking me from view. I managed to peer around him and saw the slight, dark-haired man walking across the nearly empty tavern, out of place with his preppy khakis and button-down shirt.

Gibson was still wearing the Mariners cap he'd been wearing when he lied to me about his name. He took the cap off as he sat next to Astra, revealing his shock of tousled dark hair. With his boyish good looks, he didn't look like a threat.

"Gibson, this is Meri Sinclair, the bookshop owner," Astra said. Then she turned toward Adam. "I'm sorry. I didn't get your boyfriend's name."

Oh yikes. I stammered, but before I could get coherent words out, Adam reached forward and gripped Gibson Knox's hand. "Adam Whitaker."

Gibson met my gaze and gave me a sheepish smile. "Hi again."

"You're not Seth Giles," I said, narrowing my eyes.

"No, I'm sorry I lied about that," he said. "I didn't want to give you my real name. I wasn't supposed to be in Danger Cove, and I didn't want Karen Dale to know I was still here."

"The cops think Meri killed Cal," Astra said. Hearing it in her sweet, cultured voice sure didn't make it sound any better. "I figure between all of us here, we can figure out who really did it."

"None of you are detectives," Adam pointed out.

"True. I did play one on TV. Twice," Astra said. "But that was in the nineties."

It wasn't the worst idea I'd heard this week. Gibson, Astra, and I were all at the crime scene before Cal's murder. We may be able to piece together what happened.

"Why are you here?" I asked Gibson.

Adam was still silent next to me, but his body was tense and coiled and ready for action. I probably shouldn't have mentioned my suspicion about Gibson. Or the cops' suspicions about me. But he hadn't run screaming from the bar yet, so that was a promising sign.

"For Cecilia," Gibson said. "I came back up here after Cal fired me because by then I knew that we had something special. But I couldn't tell her about Cal, not without breaching my contract. If I told her, that might cause a rift between her and Cal. And Cal promised to sue me."

"He promised to kill you," I said, then immediately wanted to grab back the words before I had to confess to illegally searching his things in Cecilia's house.

Gibson gave me a puzzled look. "Yes, several times, in fact."

"Why did he fire you?" I asked, hoping it would distract him from my accidental admission about breaking into Cecilia's house and reading his files.

"Because I figured out that Cecilia was his daughter. I suspected it as soon as I met her," he said. "And then I figured out who he had been seeing before Cecilia's birth. It wasn't difficult at all to put the pieces together."

He blew out a deep breath, and I saw the dark smudges under his eyes. The strain from keeping this secret from Cecilia seemed to be wearing on him.

"I went to Cal with my suspicions and told him that it was going to come out eventually and he should be in front of the news," Gibson said. "He blew up. Fired me. Threatened me. Said if he didn't kill me, he'd at least make sure I'd never work in publishing again."

I'd had my suspicions about the ghostwriter, but now that I was talking with him, I didn't get a murderer vibe from him. He'd lied about his name, and he'd been at the scene of the crime, but I couldn't figure out what motive he'd have to kill the man.

And that was the problem with Cal. He was undoubtedly a bastard—but who hated him enough to take his life?

"I didn't know what to do, so I tracked down Astra," he said.

My gaze swiveled to look at the little blonde woman with the big blue eyes. Of all the people Cal screwed over, she might be the one with the most motive. He'd basically tricked her into giving their daughter to his sister and had been able to have a relationship with Cecilia for the last 30-plus years. All without ever taking on the responsibility of being her father. I got the distinct impression that despite Astra's insistence that she and Cal were soul mates, it wasn't a mutual feeling. No matter how much Cal professed in his book that he loved her, he'd treated Astra terribly.

But she didn't look angry with Cal. She didn't look like she could get angry with anyone.

She turned her wide eyes on Gibson and gave him a beaming smile. "He thought I should know that my daughter was happy and healthy and that she loved the theater."

"Did you talk to Cal about it?" I asked Astra. She shook her head.

"I thought about it, but it would have caused trouble for Gibson. Cal would have guessed that Gib told me about his discovery," she said.

Adam leaned forward. "Do you think his murder is related to his attempt at keeping Cecilia's paternity a secret?"

Gibson shook his head. "I can't imagine that anyone but Cal would care about it. And no one but Cal, Astra, and me knew."

I tilted my head and thought about that. Did anyone else know? I remembered Pippa's strident insistence that Cecilia looked nothing like her uncle and cousin because she was adopted.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I mean, David is the only person who would have a motive to kill Cal. He's losing half his father's estate to Cecilia. But he seems so nice. And he was in Los Angeles until just a few days ago."

Gib shrugged. "I don't know David too well, but I did interview him for the book. He's done well for himself in his accounting firm. I don't think he needs the money."

Adam shifted, and I realized that he was really getting into the discussion. "If it's not about money, could it be personal?"

Gib tilted his head and seemed to ponder about that Adam's question. "David was raised by his mother, and they're close, but I didn't see any animosity toward his father."

"What about David's mother?" I asked. "She seems a little too tightly wrapped and like she's holding on to some resentment still."

"Oh, Pippa would not be happy if she knew about Cecilia," Astra said.

"You know her?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, not personally. Just through Cal, and that was a long time ago."

Gibson nodded with a grim smile. "Yeah, she refused to talk to me for the book. But it sounds like she's still as angry as ever."

We were silent for a moment, each staring into our drinks. I didn't feel like we were any closer to finding out who killed Cal or even finding a new direction in which to point the police. Danger Cove was such a friendly town that it just didn't seem like Cal's death could have been a random act of violence, like a robbery gone bad.

"Are you going to tell Cecilia now?" Adam asked.

Astra and Gibson exchanged a glance.

"We want to tell her, but with the shock of Cal's death and then the funeral, it didn't seem like the right time," Gibson said.

I nodded. "It is a lot to take in. But on the other hand, she just lost someone she loved. She's lost both her adoptive parents in the last few years. She might welcome a chance to get to know Astra."

Adam nodded. "You don't look comfortable keeping this secret from her," he said, his eyes on Gibson.

Gibson nodded, his eyes sad. "It's killing me."

Astra put a hand on his arm. "It's time to tell her."

"We could meet tomorrow night, maybe have dinner together," Gibson said.

Astra nodded, her eyes brimming with tears again. "Or tonight. Now. I don't want to wait any longer. It's been more than three decades, and I need to hold my daughter."

Adam squeezed my shoulder, and I interpreted that as our cue to leave.

"I hope that goes well for you," I said, and we started to climb out of the booth.

"You're leaving?"

"Yes?" I said hesitantly. As much as I wanted to know how this went down, I really didn't want to horn in on a family reunion. And there was certainly no reason for me to be there. Or to bring a date.

"Yes, we're leaving," Adam's tone was more definite than mine.

I nodded in agreement. "But please call and let me know how it goes."

Gibson slipped out of the booth, his phone in his hand, and walked to a quiet corner to make a call. I turned back to Astra.

"It was nice meeting you. I'm sorry I chased you," I said.

She laughed. "That's okay. I'm glad you caught me."

I gave her my card, and she promised to get in touch. Then Adam gently steered me out of the bar. He was quiet as we walked toward the car, and I was mentally kicking myself for blowing things so early. I didn't even get a good-night kiss out of this date. And when was I going to find another charming and handsome veterinarian who was a former hockey player and a kitten expert?

"Why do the police think you killed Cal?" he asked. He didn't sound concerned, just genuinely puzzled.

"Cal was a jerk, and he threatened to walk out of the event and get me blacklisted from other publicists," I said.

"That is not very strong motive," Adam said, pausing by the passenger side of the car. He didn't move to unlock the door for me, just leaned against it and looked at me.

"I agree. I'm sure if I knew Cal better or longer, I'd eventually have more reasons to want to kill him. But I knew him for less than an hour."

"Was there anything else?"

I sighed. "I guess the fact that I owned a similar gun to the one they think killed him didn't help."

"A gun?" His eyebrows rose.

"It was my grandmother's handgun. She mostly used it for target practice at the range. It was in the safe in the office."

"So you owned a gun that was at the scene of a shooting?"

I nodded and took a step back so he could more easily flee the date. Instead, he smiled and took my hand.

"Did you give it to them?"

"Yes. They're testing it," I said. "I don't know when it was fired last. Burt thinks maybe five years ago."

Adam's warm hand wrapped around mine distracted me from my defense.

"And, ah, they checked my hands for gunshot residue. But they might think I wore gloves," I said.

Adam ran his thumb across the back of my hand, leaving a trail of tingles in its wake.

"You're very interesting, Meri Sinclair," he said, his voice low.

"You mean crazy, don't you?"

His lips quirked up, and my heart skipped. He leaned closer and then shook his head. "No, not crazy. A little impulsive, maybe," he said. "But this was the most interesting night I've had in Danger Cove since I moved here. Thank you for asking me out to dinner."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that, but he seemed to like impulsive. And God knew, I could do impulsive.

So I rose up on my toes and pressed my lips against his. They were warm and wine scented, and after a split second of shock, his arm was around my waist, and he pulled me closer. Then he kissed me in a way that made my toes curl in my boots and made me completely forget the bracing offshore breeze swirling around us.

A buzz against my hip slowly brought me back to earth, and I realized it was my phone.

"Do you need to get that?"

The only person I was expecting a call from was Detective Marshall, and the thought of his scowling mug ruined the moment. I pulled away reluctantly and answered the phone.

"Miss Sinclair? This is Officer Donatello Stallone. We just got a message from the crime lab and—oh, hold on."

My heart dropped to the ground as he put me on hold. They wouldn't be calling to tell me that I was going to be arrested, right? Before I had time to think about any other reasons why the police would be calling me about crime lab results, Officer Stallone was back.

"Sorry about that. Can you meet Detective Marshall at your business in about twenty minutes? He's on his way there now."

"Why?" My heart was in my throat, so my voice came out strangled and strained.

"I'm not sure, but it has something to do with Mr. Montague's cell phone being tracked to your bookstore."

"His cell phone?"

"Yes, the crime lab's computer experts know what they're doing."

That wasn't what I was expecting, and a rush of relief flooded through me. At least it wasn't that the crime lab had found my gun had fired the shot that killed Cal. Not that it could. But there was a margin of error on scientific tests. I had looked it up. It was small, but it was enough to make me nervous.

"Yes, of course. I'll be there."

The call disconnected, and the cold finally penetrated my coat and left me chilled.

"What's going on?" Adam asked.

"I have to go to the bookstore. The detective is going to meet me there. He says Cal's phone is inside."

Adam nodded. "I'll come with you."

Just when I thought this date couldn't get weirder. At least I got a toe-curling kiss out of it. I tried to console myself with that as Adam drove me across town to Dangerous Reads. Either he liked me, or he had an appetite for gossip that rivaled mine.