CHAPTER 41
When Corin arrived at his store on Wednesday morning, A. C. stood leaning against the front door with two oversized chocolate muffins and two large cups of what he assumed was industrial-strength coffee and a big grin on his face; an I-want-something grin.
“What are you doing here?”
“I thought I’d bribe you into letting me take another ride in your chair.”
Corin laughed. “What now? Broken toenail?” He opened the door and held it for A. C.
“Nah, I just want to sit in it. Find that peace again.” A. C. lumbered in and set the muffins and coffee on Corin’s sales counter.
“You’re going all spiritual on me?”
“Haven’t you thought about it? About God since all this started happening?”
He had. More than once. More than twice. The idea had been pinging around his brain long before Nicole had brought it up the day before. “Yeah.” Corin flicked on the store lights. “I have.” He turned but A. C. must have already ambled back to the vault.
Corin was halfway back when A. C. pounded toward him, face white, eyes intense.
“You all right?”
“It’s gone!”
“What’s gone?”
“What do you mean what, the chair!” A. C. paced the lamp aisle like he was getting ready to punch something. “Did you hide it?”
“No.”
“Don’t rock me, are you serious?”
Corin pushed past him and walked to the vault.
It was empty. Corin’s face flushed.
“That chair healed me.” A. C. slammed his palm on the vault door. “It could have helped a lot of people. It could have helped your brother.”
“It’s okay, A. C.”
The big man turned to Corin. “What’s wrong with you?”
“What?”
“You don’t seem that upset.”
“It’s okay; I’m not thrilled about this, but it’s okay.”
“The chair is gone, Corin. It’s not okay. We lost it!”
“No, we didn’t.” Corin offered his friend a slight smile.
“You’re kidding me.”
“Nope.”
“You built a duplicate.”
Corin nodded. “Just in case.” He waved his hands. “Reconstructing the chair was intense. The thing mesmerized me. So simple, so complex. It took me seven tries before I got it right, and even then I wasn’t even close.”
“But close enough. You fooled them.”
“Apparently.”
“You are brilliant, Roscoe.” A. C. smiled, but a moment later his mood darkened. “But we still have the issue of someone breaking into your store and stealing what they think is the chair.”
“Exactly. We’re not talking vandalism anymore; we’re talking a full-out crime. No signs of forced entry, which means they’re pros. Probably thought they’d have a few days before I found the ‘chair’ was missing. And yes, I fooled them for a while. But once they figure out it isn’t the real chair, they’ll come after it again.”
Corin paced in front of vault. “I built the duplicate just in case something like this happened, but I wanted to believe it wouldn’t.” He crossed his hands on top of his head. “Wrong.”
“Who? Who took it?”
“Jefferies. I suppose it could have been someone else I haven’t bumped into, but that’s where I’d place my bet.”
“So where is the real one?”
“Safe.”
A. C. laughed. “Where is it?”
“Safe.”
“You’re not going to tell me.” His friend cocked his head. “Thanks for the trust.”
“I trust you. I don’t trust them. If you don’t know, you don’t have to lie. Something you’re not good at.”
“Where do you go from here?”
“Get in touch with my new pals down at the police department, explain what happened, watch them serve me up with platitudes, and walk off with nothing but a ‘we’ll try to locate your old piece of wood and track down the people who took it.’”
“Don’t you think you’re in a little over your head?”
Corin glared at him.
“Sorry, wrong metaphor.”
“No worries.”
“I’m just saying this is beyond you at this point. You need to get someone else involved. To protect you.”
“Who?”
A. C. threw his arms wide. “Me.”
Corin shut the vault and spun the combination. “I don’t need protection. I have a feeling this thing is going to be over soon, one way or another.”
“What does that mean?”
“I wish I knew.”
As Corin drove home that night, he tried Tesser but there was no answer. Next he tried Nicole. Something she’d said made him realize who she was. And who he was to her. Waiting till she could confirm what he suspected wouldn’t be easy.