“Vicki!” Stella said. “What are you doing here? I thought you went home for the evening.” How had Vicki returned without Stella knowing? Had she been that absorbed in Jack?
“I did, but I forgot I needed a book from the archives for a research paper I’m working on,” Vicki said quickly. “Arnie lets me take some of the historic books home. When I went down there tonight, that man wasstilltied up.”
“There was a man tied up in the archives?” Ariel interrupted, looking at Stella in disbelief.
Vicki continued, “You said someone was going to come pick him up, so why was he still down there? He begged me to help him, and he was so pitiful. I couldn’t just leave him there. It’swrong, Stella. But once I untied him, he knocked me out of the way and ran off. I tried to follow him, and then I heard a lot of commotion coming from up here. I think he’s still intoxicated. Should I call the police?”
“There’s a drunk in here?” Ariel asked, her eyes continually widening.
Stella’s body felt blasted by an arctic freeze. “Hook,” she whispered. She pried Vicki’s fingers from her arm. “Give me a second, okay? Try to calm everyone down. See if anyone needs assistance.”
“Hook what?” Ariel asked. “Stella, this is out of control. What in heaven’s name is happening? This place feels like chaos, fear, and deception have fused.”
“We’ll explain later,” Jack said to Ariel.
The only man in the book club stared down an aisle with his closed umbrella in his hand, pointing it at someone just out of sight. Thunder boomed.
“Let her go,” the man demanded.
“I don’t think so, mate,” another man responded in a thick accent.
“Hook,” Stella repeated with dread.
Hook continued, “I’m not holding her against her will. It’s obvious she needs a bit of fun.”
“She’s mywife,” the man argued. “Marsha, get back here.”
“Tim,” Marsha answered from down the aisle, her voice pinched and nasally. “You see thehook, right?”
Tim’s hand squeezed on the umbrella handle, and he lifted it higher. “Don’t make me use this.”
“Planning to teach me a lesson with that useless weapon, are you?” Hook’s laugh raised the hairs on Stella’s arms.
“Ariel, stay here,” Stella said. “Help Vicki if you can. I promise we’ll explain everything.”
Stella and Jack hurried over to the end of the aisle to stand beside Tim. Hook stood with one arm looped around Marsha, who appeared somehow less frightened than she should have been. The way she gazed up at Hook made Stella worry that Marsha wasn’t interested in fighting her way out of the pirate’s embrace. Hook tilted back a plastic water bottle and gulped down the contents. Hegrimaced and dropped the bottle on the floor. Water spilled out in an arc across the tiles.
“Couldn’t afford the good stuff, mate?” Hook asked. He squeezed Marsha closer to him and buried his face in her teased, oversprayed hair. “I only have the best on my ship.”
“Is there reallygood stuffwhen it comes to bottled water?” Stella asked.
“That’s not water,” Tim said. “It’s rum. Or it was. And it’s not cheap.”
Stella gaped at Tim. “You brought alcohol into the library? That’s against the rules.”
“Are you seriously reprimanding me about library rules when a psychopath has my wife?” Tim asked.
“She doesn’t exactly look like a damsel in distress,” Stella said.
“Love,” Hook called, turning his sly-eyed gaze on Stella, “there’s no reason to fight over me. There’s room enough for both of you.” Using his hook, he motioned Stella toward him.
A cannon blast of thunder sounded, rattling books on the shelves, followed by a streak of lightning that illuminated Hook from behind.
“What should we—” Stella asked Jack, but when she turned to look at him, he wasn’t beside her. “Jack?”
The woman sitting in the chair pointed down the next aisle, and Stella’s eyes widened. Thunder boomed again as the storm approached, and Stella returned her attention to Hook. A shadow stretched behind him as Jack appeared around the bookshelf.
“Let her go, Hook,” Jack demanded.
