It was petty, but I internally squealed with delight at her forlorn and rejected expression. As we walked back through the shop and out to the front parking lot, I gave Ezra a nudge with my shoulder.
He grinned. “You okay with how I handled that?”
“Absolutely.” I gave him another nudge. “It was kind of hot.”
“Kind of?” He raised his brows.
I barked a laugh. “What? You want a cookie?”
“Only if they’re your cookies.” Ezra’s phone rang before I could respond. “Detective Holden,” he said when he answered. “What you got for me?” After several grunts and uh-huhs, he finally said, “You couldn’t find anything?” He paused as the person on the other side of the call spoke again. “Okay, good idea. Head over there and check it out but leave a patrol car outside the library tonight. Don’t let anyone back inside. Not until tomorrow, just in case.”
“No bomb at the library?” I asked when he disconnected the call.
“No bomb,” he confirmed. “A lot of angry families, though.”
I grimaced. “This is going to be a tough one to explain.”
“It would’ve been tougher explaining mass casualties if there had been a bomb and we’d done nothing.”
“Good point,” I told him. Gah. My guilt meter rose. I’d ruined an entire event because I couldn’t figure out the clues in my vision. “What do we do now? Should we see if Bellmore Parker still has the cash?” I was grasping at straws now.
“I’m not sure how that will lead us to the suspect.” Parker sighed. “Why don’t I take you home?”
“What about you?”
“Reese suggested a used bookstore, Good Time’s Book Nook.”
“I’ve heard of that place,” I said. “It’s not in town.” The Book Nook was out past the resorts in a building that used to be a square dance barn. It had been a swap shop for a while and a flea market before this latest venture. “Do they have something going on tonight?”
“Apparently, they’re having an auction,” Ezra said.
Adrenaline sped my pulse.
“You think of something?” he asked.
“The EZ Reader clue. He said he hoped I was a speed reader. Auctioneers talk with a lot of speed...” I shook my head. “It’s dumb. I’m grasping for a connection.”
“It’s something.” He opened the car door for me. “You want to come along?”
I raised my brows at him. “You know I do.” I’d go stir-crazy at home. Besides, the bomber might be methodical with the memories he had revealed to me, but he couldn’t guard against all his memories. He’d make a mistake, and when he did, we would catch him.
ChapterNine
The lake was a hub of activity. Fishing boats, houseboats, and pontoons trolled up and down the water. Families with small children, groups of teenagers, and young adults all enjoyed the warm weather and the low-hanging sun. It was almost seven now, and the sun wouldn’t completely set until eight-forty-five. There was still time to enjoy the day. Portman’s on the Lake was sponsoring a raft race tomorrow, a tradition for over two decades, where contestants had to build their own rafts by hand and traverse three miles from Portman’s to the dam and back without their rafts falling apart. Mason, Ari, and a few of their friends had decided to enter this year.
I’d been looking forward to cheering them on, but after the letter to the paper and the guy playing games with people’s lives because of me, I wasn’t sure what I’d be doing.
Good Time’s Book Nook was two miles past the last of the resorts on Highway 44 west of town. I’d driven past the place many times before, but I’d never seen it with so many cars out front. Auctions were a draw for rural areas, but I was betting half the people here were city tourists looking for a different kind of adventure. The Good Time’s Book Nook itself looked like a large metal outbuilding, with a parking lot big enough for swap meets.
“Why haven’t they evacuated the area?” Ezra asked, pulling out his phone. I assumed he was calling Reese. “I just arrived,” he barked. “Why are there a hundred or more people still here?”
I shuttled us around the large but full parking lot, searching for an empty space and having no luck. I saw Reese, her arm gesticulating wildly as she spoke on the phone. Broyles was at another vehicle talking with Levi and someone else.
“You’ve got to be crappin’ bricks,” Ezra said scathingly. “I’ll call him. Just get in there and see if you can find anything that looks like it might blow up.” He punched the disconnect button with his index finger, then dialed another number. “Chief,” he said. “Why aren’t we evacuating the auction? What? The mayor? She can’t...” He shook his head. “This is a bunch of nonsense. If someone gets hurt, she will have more to deal with than an election. Fine,” he conceded. “I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it.”
I spotted the backup lights of a vehicle getting ready to leave and pulled up close enough to claim the spot when they pulled out. Other cars were also looking for parking, and I wasn’t about to let them take this one from me.
“The mayor is here,” Ezra groused as he got off the phone. “She’s one of the sponsors for this auction. It’s a freaking charity event to raise money and awareness for the community foundation.” He shook his head. “More like an event to raise awareness for her campaign.”
