Page 75 of Piece By Piece

So he pulled back, locked the door, and canceled his plans.

He did what he’d always done when the world got too close.

He disappeared.

On Saturday morning, Liza’s phone rang.

She didn’t recognize the number.

She was sitting at the bookstore counter, helping a customer find a birthday gift, so she let it go to voicemail.

When the customer left, she listened to the message.

“Hi, this is Rachel Dalton. I’m a reporter with Puzzling Games Weekly, working on a story about the Meridian Games acquisition of the W. Elliott brand, and I understand the creator has been living on Seagrove Island. I’d love to chat with you if you have a few minutes. My number is…”

Liza lowered the phone.

Acquisition.

She replayed the message over and over, listening to the words again.

Meridian Games, acquisition of the W. Elliott brand.

She heard the creator has been living on Seagrove Island.

She set the phone on the counter and pressed her palms flat against it the same way she had the time she figured out Grant was W. Elliott.

But that day had been a wonder.

This was something else.

This was the sickening drop of understanding that he had been keeping something from her.

She picked up the phone and called the reporter back.

The conversation was brief.

Rachel was polite and thorough.

She explained that Meridian Games, a Seattle-based publisher, had made a formal offer to acquire the W. Elliott intellectual property.

The deal included a two-year creative residency in Seattle.

The board was expecting a response very soon, by the end of the month.

“We think the creator might be a man named Grant Whitmore,” Rachel said. “We know he’s operating a puzzle shop on Seagrove. Can you confirm?”

Liza’s voice was steady, surprising her, because nothing else in her body was.

“I’m not going to confirm or deny anything about someone else’s private life. That’s his business.”

“Of course, but if you have any comment about this acquisition…”

“I don’t.”

She hung up and sat behind the counter of the empty bookstore.

The room felt so very still.