Jane had been hoping he wouldn’t notice. “I think it’s rather clever,” she said as she opened the door to the restaurant and they walked inside. She scanned the room for Walter and Lucy and found them seated at one of the restaurant’s low tables where diners sat on the floor. She’d forgotten Walter’s fondness for authenticity, and wished she’d been a bit more specific about the table arrangements.
“Hello!” Walter said, standing up. Like Lucy, he’d removed his shoes. Jane noticed that he was wearing white athletic socks. She also saw Kelly glance down at them.
“You must be Kelly,” Walter said, gripping the editor’s hand in both of his and pumping his arm. “Jane has told me so much about you.”
“Has she?” Kelly replied as he bent to untie his shoes. “That puts you at an advantage, then.”
Walter, busy greeting Jane with a kiss, didn’t hear him, much to Jane’s relief. Removing her shoes, she sat beside Walter while Kelly took a seat on a cushion opposite Lucy.
“Hi,” Lucy said. “She’s told me a lot about you as well. But don’t worry, she’s not trying to fix us up or anything.”
Jane shot her a look, which Lucy pretended not to see. But Kelly just laughed. “I’m afraid you’d be disappointed if she were,” he said. “I’m a lousy first date.”
“I took the liberty of ordering something to start us off,” Walter told them. “I hope you like sake,” he said to Kelly.
“That depends,” Kelly said. “What kind is it?”
“My favorite is Juyondai,” Walter told him. “I almost went with Tentaka, but I think it’s a little dry for most people.”
Kelly looked at Jane. “He knows his sake,” he said. “You can keep him.”
“I had no idea,” Jane admitted. She looked at Walter. “You’re just full of surprises,” she said admiringly.
“I’ve never had sake,” Lucy announced.
“Then you’re in for a treat,” Kelly told her. He addressed Walter. “I don’t suppose they have ankimo here?”
“Not only that, they have excellent hotate.”
“Do you have any idea what they’re talking about?” Lucy asked Jane.
“None whatsoever,” she answered. “I have a feeling they’re going to do all the ordering tonight. You and I will be subjected to their every culinary whim.”
“As long as nothing is moving,” Lucy said. “Raw I can handle, but not alive.” She glanced at Jane and grimaced.
The sake arrived and Walter poured some for each of them. Kelly showed Lucy how to drink it, and Walter did the same for Jane. “Make sure you smell it,” he said. “The aroma is half the experience.”
Jane liked having him show her how to drink the sake. It was intimate in a way she hadn’t experienced in a long time. She thought about Byron teaching her how to eat crawfish. It hadn’t been nearly the same. Walter made her feel special, as if he was sharing an experience with her rather than telling her how to have one.
The waiter came and, as Jane had predicted, Walter and Kelly ordered for the table. Again Jane found herself enjoying being taken care of in that way. I suppose it’s old-fashioned of me, she thought as she listened to Walter rattle off the names of the different kinds of sushi. Then again, I am an eighteenth-century girl.
She laughed at this thought, and realized that she was getting a tiny bit tipsy. This too she enjoyed, and she didn’t object as Walter refilled her sake cup. It’s rather pleasant having a boyfriend, she thought. I don’t know why I waited so long.
When the food came, Kelly and Walter refused to tell Jane and Lucy what everything was. “Just try it,” Kelly insisted, placing various multicolored pieces on Lucy’s plate. “I’ll tell you afterward.”
“This one is my favorite,” Walter said to Jane as he selected a piece of something dark pink for her. “It’s—”
He was interrupted by the ringing of Jane’s cell phone. It took her a moment to find it in her purse, but she finally located it. Who could possibly be calling me? she wondered. Only Lucy, Walter, and Kelly even had the number, and they were all sitting right there with her.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Fairfax, this is Sal Maldonado with the fire department.” His voice was scratchy and difficult to hear clearly.
“Fire department?” Jane repeated.
“I’m afraid there’s a problem at your store,” the man said.
“Is it a fire?” Jane said, struggling to get to her feet. The others stopped talking and stared at her as she waited for the reply.
“No, not a fire. But we did get a false alarm. I think something’s wrong with your detector. I just need you to come over and open the store for me.”
“Of course,” Jane said, relieved that it was nothing more serious. “I’ll be there in five minutes.” She hung up the phone. “It’s nothing to worry about,” she told Walter, Lucy, and Kelly. “Just a faulty smoke alarm at the store. They need to get in to check it. I’ll be back in no time.”
“I’ll go with you,” Walter said as he stood up.
“No, you stay here,” said Jane. “But thank you.” She gave Walter’s arm a squeeze. “I appreciate you offering, but I don’t dare leave these two alone,” she added, indicating with a nod of her head Kelly and Lucy. “I think they need a chaperone.”
Walter sat down again and Jane slipped on her shoes. Promising once again to return as quickly as possible, she left and got into her car. She was at the store within minutes. When she got out, however, she saw no sign of a firefighter or any emergency vehicles.
She went to the door and found it already open. I guess he didn’t need me after all, she thought as she went inside.
“Mr. Maldonado?” she called out. “It’s Jane Fairfax. Are you here?”
There was no answer, but Jane heard noises coming from the office area. She flipped the light switch beside the door, but the room remained dark. They must have turned the electricity off, she thought as she made her way to the back.
“Mr. Maldonado?” she called again. “Are you there?”
She reached the office and stepped inside. Someone was moving around in the dim light.
“Mr. Maldonado?” said Jane.
The figure turned. Jane gasped. Then something struck her in the forehead and everything went black.
Chapter 32
Jonathan, lying on the ground with his lip bloodied, glared up at Charles, who towered over him, hands knotted in fists. The look in Charles’s eyes was murderous, and for a moment Constance feared that he would kill Jonathan. Instead, he spat into the dirt near Jonathan’s head. “Go,” he said. “Don’t trouble us again.”
—Jane Austen, Constance, manuscript
THE SLAP WOKE HER UP. WHERE AM I? JANE WONDERED. WHAT happened? Her head hurt, and she saw stars before her eyes.
“Welcome to the party,” a voice said.
Jane shook her head and blinked to clear her vision. Her hands were tied behind her, and someone was standing over her, smiling triumphantly.
“Charlotte!” she gasped.
“Surprised?” Charlotte asked her.
“But you’re dead,” said Jane.
“That’s true,” Charlotte agreed. “But not dead dead.”
“The fire,” said Jane. Charlotte looked completely healthy, not a burn in sight.
“Yes, the fire,” said Charlotte. “That was a good try. Fortunately for me, our kind heals very quickly as long as nothing vital has been destroyed.”
“Jane, who is this?”
Jane gave a start at the sound of another voice. She looked to her left and was horrified to see Walter, Kelly, and Lucy all seated on the floor, their hands tied as Jane’s were. All three were staring at Charlotte.
Charlotte laughed. “Wasn’t it kind of them to come to your rescue?” she said to Jane. “All I had to do was wait.”
“Leave them alone!” Jane said angrily. “They have nothing to do with this.”
Charlotte cocked her head. “Really?” she said. “You see, I think
they do. I think they have a great deal to do with this.” She knelt down so that her face was right in front of Jane’s. “Do you know why?” she asked.
Jane could feel Charlotte’s breath on her face. She refrained from suggesting that Charlotte might consider the use of a mint. “No,” she said. “I don’t know why.”
Charlotte leaned even closer, so that she was whispering in Jane’s ear. “I’ll tell you why,” she said. “It’s because they will be my revenge. I’m going to drain each of them while you watch. Then I’m going to set fire to this place and watch it burn to the ground, just like you watched my house burn with my family in it.” She stood up and straightened her dress. “Oh, and I want my dog back,” she said.
“You can’t do this,” Jane said.
“Why not?” Charlotte shouted. Her voice was filled with rage. “Tell me why I cannot have satisfaction!”
“You’re the one who was going to steal my book,” Jane yelled back. “You’re the one in the wrong here.”
“Details,” Charlotte said snippily.
“Who are you?” asked Kelly.
“Who am I?” Charlotte replied. “Who am I?” Her voice grew in both volume and indignation as she walked over to her captives.
“Violet Grey,” Jane said. “She’s Violet Grey.”
“The blogger?” said Kelly. “The one who didn’t like your book?”
Jane nodded as Charlotte’s face reddened. Kelly stared at her. “All this because you don’t like a novel?” he said. “Don’t you think you’re overreacting just a bit?”
Charlotte clenched her fists and stepped back. She closed her eyes and began to recite: “Women are supposed to be very calm generally,” she began. Then her eyes flew open and she pointed a finger at Kelly. “But women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.”
“What does Jane Eyre have to do with anything?” Kelly asked her when she finished.
“It has everything to do with it!” Charlotte bellowed. She began to pace, striking her fists against her legs as she walked. “When The Journal of Words compiled its list of the one hundred best novels written in English, do you know that Pride and Prejudice was number twelve?” She stopped pacing and glared at Jane. “And do you know where Jane Eyre was?” she asked. She looked at the four of them in turn, but nobody answered her. “Number fifty-two!” she shrieked. “Fifty-two! Below that pornographic travesty Lolita!” She spat the title as if it were poison. “Below Huckleberry Finn! Below Ulysses. Have you ever tried to read Ulysses? Have you ever finished it? No, you haven’t. No one has. They just carry it around and lie about having read it.”
Lucy cleared her throat. “As I recall, Wuthering Heights was number twenty-nine.”
“That’s Emily!” Charlotte raged.
“I’m just saying,” said Lucy defensively. “If this is an Austen-versus-Brontë thing, at least Emily and Charlotte are on the same team.”
“I think I’ll start with you,” Charlotte told her.
Walter, who had been silent, suddenly spoke. “We all need to calm down.”
Charlotte shifted her focus to him. “And who exactly are you?” she asked.
“I’m her boyfriend,” Walter replied, nodding at Jane.
A smile crept across Charlotte’s face. “Her boyfriend,” she repeated. Then she laughed. “This has turned out better than I ever hoped. Revenge will indeed be sweet.”
Jane felt herself tremble with rage. “It is not violence that best overcomes hate,” she said. “Nor vengeance that most certainly heals injury.”
Charlotte sneered at her. “So you’ve read my book,” she said. “I’m touched.”
“Your book?” said Lucy. “But that’s from—” She stopped speaking and looked at Charlotte. Her eyes grew wide. Then she looked at Jane, who nodded weakly. Lucy’s mouth snapped shut and she continued to stare at Charlotte.
“Are you all so stupid?” Charlotte said.
“You’re insane,” said Walter. “You can pretend to be whoever you want to be, but what reason do you have to hate Jane?”
Charlotte stepped back. She looked at Walter for a long time, then looked at Jane. “He doesn’t know, does he?” she said. “He really doesn’t know.”
“Know what?” Walter asked.
Charlotte clapped her hands and held them to her face, covering her mouth. Her eyes glittered with happiness. “Oh, this is turning out to be such fun,” she said, clapping her hands like a child. “All right then, let me tell you a story.” She took a deep breath. “Once upon a time—”
Suddenly the door to the storeroom burst open. Jane looked up to see Byron striding into the room. “You!” she said. Her voice sounded peculiar, as if she’d spoken through a megaphone. Then she realized that it was because everyone in the room had said exactly the same thing at exactly the same time. She looked at the others, all of whom were glaring at Byron with the same look of consternation.
“How dare you come back here?” said Walter. “Jane told you, she wants nothing to do with you.”
“Jane?” said Kelly. He looked over at her with a puzzled expression. “This is the guy Bryce has been sleeping with.”
“Bryce?” Jane said, equally puzzled. She looked at Byron. “You’re Grayson?” she repeated.
Byron shrugged. “I know this is a bit awkward,” he said.
Before he could continue, Charlotte lunged at him, her fangs bared. “You left me!” she screeched.
Byron stepped aside, pushing her as she went by. Charlotte crashed headfirst into a pile of cookbooks, which toppled over, sending her to the floor. She turned herself over and renewed her attack. This time Byron was able to grab her arm. He swung her violently, sending her twirling toward one of the tall shelving units. She hit it hard, and it fell over, burying her in an avalanche of self-help books. Moments later she leapt up, sending copies of Surviving Menopause flying in every direction. She picked one up and chucked it at Byron’s head, missing him by an inch.
“Untie me!” Jane said to Byron. “I can help.”
“There’s no time,” Byron told her as he looked for a way to stop Charlotte.
Charlotte was throwing books furiously now, picking them up and hurling them at Byron as quickly as she could. A firestorm of young adult novels, pop-up books, and how-to guides bore down on him. Jane saw a copy of The Lovely Bones fly by, pages flapping, and cut Byron’s cheek.
Ducking and weaving, Byron ran at Charlotte, batting the missiles out of the way. Then the two of them were entwined, Charlotte clawing at Byron as she roared in rage and Byron trying to subdue her. Then, to her surprise, Jane saw Walter stand up. The ropes that had bound his wrists fell to the floor. He bent and helped Kelly and Lucy up.
“Go!” he said. “Get out of here.”
As the two of them left the room, Walter came to Jane. Kneeling, he reached behind her and cut her ropes.
“How did you get free?” she asked as she stood.
“Pocketknife,” said Walter as he took her arm and ran for the door. “It just took me a while to get it open.”
Behind them Jane could hear crashes and screams as Byron and Charlotte continued to fight. In the main room of the bookstore Kelly and Lucy waited anxiously.
“Who’s winning?” Lucy asked.
Jane shook her head. “It’s hard to say,” she replied.
“We should call the police,” Walter suggested.
“No!” Lucy and Jane said simultaneously.
Walter looked at them both. “But—” he began.
“Trust me
on this,” said Jane, interrupting.
“We should at least try to help him,” said Walter.
“I say let her have him,” Kelly said. “Home wrecker.”
“In case you’ve forgotten, he saved your life,” said Lucy sharply.
“For the moment,” Jane said. “We need to get out of here.”
They ran for the front door and into the parking lot. There they huddled in a group, watching the store for signs. A moment later they saw shadowy figures moving inside the store.
“They’re still at it,” said Jane.
Loud thumps came from inside, and something fell over with a crash. “That sounds like the audiobooks display,” Lucy remarked.
“That’s it,” said Walter. “I’m going in.”
Before Jane could stop him he had run back inside. More crashes filled the air, and then a figure ran toward the large glass window that spanned the front of the shop. The shadow grew larger and larger. Then it hit the window with a sickening thud and the glass shattered. Tiny pieces of glass fell to the sidewalk, clattering like hail, and Charlotte followed them. She landed face-first on the pavement and lay still.
Walter and Byron emerged from the store, panting heavily. They looked at the prone body of Charlotte. Byron clapped Walter on the back. “Good work,” he said.
Walter shook his head. “You’re the one who clocked her with the Stephen King hardcover. That took some of the wind out of her.”
“Thank heavens he’s a wordy man,” said Byron.
The two of them came over to where the others were standing. Jane gave Walter a hug, holding him close. “I’m so glad you’re all right,” she said.
“Me too,” said Walter. “For a while there I thought that lunatic was going to slit all our throats. I still don’t get it. All of that over a book?”
“It’s a good thing you came along,” Lucy said to Byron.
Before Byron could respond, Kelly hauled off and punched him in the face. Byron reeled back, holding his nose, while Kelly shook his hand in obvious pain. “That hurt!” he yelped.
“Bloody hell!” Byron said.
“Boys!” Jane said, getting between them. “You can work it out later. Right now we need to do something with Charlotte. I mean Violet.”