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He shook his head. “I’m pretty sure Miss Johnson’s next appointment was with my son. Maybe he should hear it from the horse’s mouth. But it does shine a bigger light on the sister, doesn’t it?”
“Except she has an alibi,” Rarity reminded him.
Jonathon shook his head. “Sometimes alibis aren’t airtight.”
Rarity put the murder notebook away and tried to focus on getting stuff done. When the third call to Caleb went unanswered, she called Shirley. “Sorry to bother you, but are you planning on coming to the bookclub tomorrow?”
“With bells on. I just finished reading this week’s book. Is Caleb running the discussion, or am I?”
“I’m thinking it’s you. Caleb called in sick yesterday, and today I can’t reach him to ask about Saturday. If you feel up to it, that would be a godsend for you to run the event.” A weight dropped off Rarity’s shoulders. Shirley was going to handle it. Unless he decided to follow through, and he showed up. Rarity wasn’t sure if he could. She thanked Shirley and made a note when she’d be at the store.
Jonathon was up, pacing the bookstore. “Everything all right?”
“Fine. Shirley will be here from open to close tomorrow, so if you want a day off, that would be the best day.” She watched him walk back and forth. “Are you stuck?”
“What? No, I’m just stretching my legs. I get up every hour and walk for a few minutes. It keeps my mind fresh along with keeping my body from rusting up.” He put his hands on the counter and did a few back stretches. “Shirley’s really enjoying her new role here, isn’t she?”
Rarity nodded. “I think she was so lonely when George went into the home. I would have asked her sooner, but I didn’t think she’d want to spend so much time away from home or George.”
“Home can get lonely when no one’s there. I’m sure Edith is spending a fair amount of time with the grandkids. She loves those little buggers.” Jonathon turned to go sit down. “Let me know when you’re hungry, and I’ll go getus some lunch.”
“Better yet, I’ll order and pay for both of our lunches when we’re ready, and then you can go pick it up. And I’ll even close the shop while you’re gone.” Rarity gave up. If so many people were intent on keeping her safe, she wouldn’t be the one who made their work useless and put herselfin harm’s way.
“You’re learning.” He smiled and went back to writing.
Rarity went into the back to start some coffee.
Caleb sat at the table. He had a gun in front of him. He looked up and blushed when she came in. “I didn’t think you’d bein this early.”
“Caleb, what are you doing?” Rarity stayed in the doorway, frozen. She didn’t want to get shot.
“I came here to end my life. This was the last place Janey and I laughed together. I know she was dating your friend’s brother, but I’ve been in love with her for years. She’s always seen me in the friend zone. But here, we had projects together. We worked together. I thought if I left this world here, maybe I’d see her in the next life. Stupid, I know.”
“Caleb, you can’t kill yourself.” Rarity tried to keep her voice level and just loud enough that Jonathon would hear her. But she couldn’t risk turning her head to see if he was listening. “Janey wouldn’t want that.”
He sank deeper into his chair. “I’m not sure she’d even care. I used to call her, time and time again. Once she said hello, I knew everything was fine, and I’d hang up. But here, I needed to be here to beclose to her.”
Well, that explained one mystery. Who had been her stalker. The calls had been from Caleb. The attention that Rarity had seen between Caleb and Janey had been one-sided. And now, a very disturbed man had a gun in her back room. She glanced at the window. “It was you the other night peering in the back windows, wasn’t it?”
He nodded, then wiped tears away. “I couldn’t stop thinking that maybe somehow she had gotten stuck here, in the bookstore. I didn’t meanto scare you.”
“Caleb, Janey is dead. She’s not here in the bookstore.” She tried to keep her voice calm and reasonable. She didn’t think Caleb had those parts of his personality anymore.
“I know. We were just happy here. Was that so bad?” He started crying, and Rarity moved closer. She took the gun and put it behind her on the counter. Then she grabbed a box of tissues and handed it to him. He took several and didn’t even seem to notice that she’dmoved the gun.
Soon Rarity heard the front door open and footsteps, then murmured voices.
Drew came into the back room. He saw the gun first and crossed over, picking up the gun and handing it to an officer who came in with him. The officer disappeared with the gun, and Drew stood at the table, his hand on the top. “Caleb? My name’s Drew. Can we talk?”
And as soon as Drew sat down, Caleb dissolved into tears. Drew rubbed his back, then asked if he had any other weapons. Calebshook his head.
“Do you mind if I check?”
Caleb held his arms out to his side, and Drew patted him down.
Rarity stepped out of the room and sank into a chair by the closest bookshelf. Jonathon came over and rubbed her back, a lot like Drew had just comforted Caleb. “Are you all right? Should we close the store and I’lltake you home?”
She shook her head. “He’s just so sad. I don’t think he killed anyone. He just wanted to be loved.”
