The community foundation fund was a worthwhile charity. They donated money for various programs in Garden Cove, including grants for schools, beautification projects around town, and low-interest loans for small businesses. Still, I understood and mirrored Ezra’s frustration.
“The best we can do is cordon off the building and keep everyone outside until we finish our search.”
“It’s something,” I told him. I honked at a car that tried to skirt past me for my spot as the other vehicle, a compact pickup, finally pulled out. The guy honked back and flipped me off before moving on.
I whipped into the spot before anyone else got any ideas about trying to take it from me. We were running out of time. If we didn’t find the bomb by eight, it would go off. As I parked, a gnawing worry tugged at me. The Book Nook didn’t feel quite right to all the clues. What if we were going down the wrong trail? With less than an hour until the deadline, I wasn’t sure we had any choices left.
“I’m worried that this isn’t right,” I told him. “Auctioneers talk fast, and yes, this place has books, but it doesn’t fit the rest.”
Reese knocked on the window, and I jumped. She opened the back door and crawled inside. “What are we doing?” she asked. “What did the chief say?”
“He said the same thing. Mayor says no to shutting down and evacuating the auction.”
“Broyles and his team are going over the building, but there is a lot of stuff in there left over from when it was a swap shop. A lot of things that look like can bombs. It’s hard to tell what’s what. A lot of false alarms so far.”
“Let’s go over the poem from Nora’s vision again,” Ezra suggested. “Break it down, line by line. Maybe we jumped too fast to the wrong conclusion.”
I took a breath and tried to recite it as exactly as I could remember. “Gather quickly where secrets are told....”
Reese leaned forward from the backseat. “Secrets aren’t told here.”
Ezra shrugged. “Unless were talking about secrets kept in books from the characters.”
“Maybe.” I nodded. “And past sins running hot and cold?”
“Historical books?” he suggested.
“Friends gathering, strong and few,” I continued.
“Friends might be gathering here, but this is way more than a few people.”
“Maybe the guy didn’t know there would be a big thing going on tonight when he planned this.” Ezra scratched his chin with his thumb. “How long has this auction been on the books?”
“A few months,” Reese answered. “She got the permits approved back in February.”
Broyles got into the backseat on the other side. “The building is clear,” he said. “We’ve gone over it with the sniffer and got nada.” His tone sounded unsurprised. “This has been, no offense to the consultant, but a colossal waste of time.”
“It’s not a waste of time as long as the threat is out there,” Ezra said.
“If,” Broyles countered. “If the threat is out there.”
Ezra heaved a noisy sigh, and I could feel his exasperation. “You can help, or you can get the hell out.”
The ex-military thorn in Ezra’s side responded by easing back into the seat and keeping his mouth shut. Small victories, I thought.
Ezra put his hand on my arm. “What’s the next line?”
“Twelve rules to rule them all,” I told him.
“The numbers wrong, if it’s a Tolkien reference,” Reese said. “There are twenty rings in the ‘Lord of the Rings.’”
“One rules them all,” Broyles contributed with a grunt.
“What else?” Ezra asked.
I continued, “The last part is to seek them out before they fall, their Tolkiens of victory in their palms won’t protect them against the bomb.”
“Tolkiens?” Broyles mused. “As in more than one?”
