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“Because I knew that if and when you came back, you would go straight for her. She’s your anchor to your old life. You lost her for ten years, didn’t you? You barely said ten words to her in that ballroom. My best chance of reconnecting with you was sticking close to her.”
Cassie’s stomach felt funny, squirming and unsettled, as Drummond watched her, and she felt like a schoolgirl on a first date. She had to look away from him.
“I’m glad you were with them,” she managed to say, her voice shaking only slightly. “And I’m glad you waited around long enough for me to reappear.”
They sat in a companionable silence in the darkness, the stars rotating above them and the waves crashing rhythmically. Somewhere behind them, down the street in Pacific City, a woman yelped in delight and a man’s deep laugh followed. People living ordinary lives, happy lives.
“Can you do that with other people?” Cassie wondered. “Follow them around like a shadow?”
“I suppose so,” he said. “Why?”
“Just wondering,” she said.
“You’re going to try to stop her,” Drummond said, drawing Cassie’s eyes to him. “The woman.”
“I think so,” Cassie admitted.
“And what does ‘stop her’ actually mean?” Drummond asked. “Take her to the police? Take her books? Kill her?”
“I don’t know,” Cassie said. “And I don’t know how I’m going to do it. But someone once told me to imagine what she might do if she got all of the books.”
Drummond grunted.
“You once said you wanted to destroy the Book of Doors so she can’t get to your library,” Cassie said. “If we can stop her, somehow, then thelibrary can come out of the shadows again. And maybe the books can still do some good?”
Drummond didn’t say anything. His face was expressionless as he faced the sea.
“I’d love to go back to the library,” Cassie said, reaching across to put a hand on Drummond’s arm. “I’d love for it to be out of the shadows for good. But I need your help. I can’t do it without you.”
Drummond thought about that for a few moments. Then he gave her a sidelong look. “Admit it, you just want me for my mountains.”
She laughed, throwing her head back and tossing her amusement to the wind, and she felt free and happy for the first time in years.
Izzy and Lund greeted Drummond coolly at first, when Cassie brought him to their room.
“I found him,” Cassie said. “Wandering along the street.”
Izzy’s eyebrows rose skeptically. “Really?”
“Book of Luck,” Cassie said. “You remember how we bumped into him in Ben’s Deli?”
“Hello, Izzy,” Drummond said. “Last time we spoke you said you hated me.”
“Did I?” Izzy asked. Then, pointedly: “I don’t remember, do I?”
“Yes, I’m sorry about that,” Drummond said, walking over to her. “Really, truly, I was only trying to keep you safe.”
“Not sure it worked,” Izzy murmured.
“You’re still here,” Lund observed. Izzy scowled up at him, not appreciating his interjection.
The tension seemed to ease then, as Cassie and Izzy chatted. Lund switched on the TV and lay on one of the two double beds, his legs dangling over the edge of the mattress, watching as some handsome newscaster bellowed at him about world events. Drummond slumped into an easy chair by the door and stared at the screen. Cassie saw this, and thought he seemed grateful for the distraction.
“Anyone hungry?” Cassie asked after a while. “I’m starving.”
“You can order pizza,” Lund suggested. “There’s a takeout menu on the table.”
Izzy called the pizza place, and when she asked if anyone wanted drinks, Cassie said, “Do they do whisky?” and Drummond looked at her in surprise. She smiled back at him, unable to stop herself, and the corners of his mouth twitched and then his eyes crinkled in amusement.
