Book Of Days_ A Novel Part 39

CHAPTER 41.

The next morning Ann called Cameron at 7:40.

"Are we still on for coffee?"

Cameron rolled over in bed, grabbed his iPhone, and punched up his calendar. SEVEN THIRTY. ANN: COFFEE AT JAVA JUMP START. Whoops. They'd set the date the night they explored Taylor's building, but he'd forgotten to set his alarm. "I s.p.a.ced. Yes, we're on. I'll be there in ten."

"Good, we have to talk. There's something bothering me about Taylor's bas.e.m.e.nt, and I want to work through it with you."

Ann had a white chocolate mocha waiting for Cameron when he walked into the coffee shop.

"How was your climb yesterday?"

Climb? Right, yesterday he'd gone for a solo. Wake up, Cam. Wake up, Cam.

"Excellent. Great workout and great view from the top." At least there probably had been.

"Were there any other climbers?"

"Nope, my solo climb stayed solo."

Was that right? He didn't see anyone, did he? Another climber? No, but he'd seen someone ... Cameron squeezed his head.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You look like you just forgot what day it is."

"I ... think I did meet someone." The flash of a conversation flitted through his mind. There was someone at the top. Was that right? A wave of panic flashed through him. Something deep inside said it was critical he remember who he talked to. And what they talked about. Was it a man? Yes, he was certain it was a man. A moment later he wasn't sure he'd talked to anyone.

"Who'd you meet?"

"I can't..." Heat filled his body. "You have to help me." He looked up. "It's important for me to remember this." He kneaded the back of his neck. Remember! Remember!

"Was it a man? A woman? A kid?"

"I talked to this person about the Book of Days, I know it." Cameron stood and immediately sat back down. "Help me."

For the next few minutes Cameron tried to recreate the event of the previous day, but nothing more than a vague recollection of talking to someone at some point during or after or before the climb was all he could grasp.

"It'll come back. Give it time."

He didn't have time. And it wouldn't come back. "We need me to remember it now. I have to."

"Let it go."

"I can't." Cameron turned and stared out the window of the coffee shop.

"It seems like whatever it was, it's let go of you." Ann took his hands and rubbed the top of them. "It'll be okay, Cam-Ram."

He fell back in his chair as another wave of heat washed over him. "What did you call me?"

"Cam-Ram. Has n.o.body ever called you that before?"

He gripped his chair. "Jessie called me that."

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to call you something she-"

"No problem." Ann calling him that? As strange as it was, it felt right.

She squeezed his hands. "Can we talk about Taylor's bas.e.m.e.nt? I think I've found something that might help us in this crazy quest."

"What quest? It's over."

"Probably, but maybe not."

"Give me a minute to clear my head."

Ann stood. "No problem. Those eclairs have been tempting me for three days. So I'm going to get rid of the temptation by eating one."

Ann seemed to move in slow motion as she weaved through the knot of people waiting to order their java jolt. When she reached the pastry shelves at the back of the coffee shop, she reached in and pulled out two chocolate eclairs and pretended they were dancing with each other.

When she got back, she said, "This eclair will do wondrous things for your mind and to your taste buds."

"Wouldn't that be nice?"

Ann took her first bite and wiped her mouth with a napkin. "I think Taylor wanted us to find the book."

"What do you mean?" Cameron took his first bite of the eclair. Wow. Tasty.

"Didn't you think it strange he wasn't upset that we broke into his building?" Ann took another bite. "He didn't even mention it. And did you see the look of satisfaction on his face as we left?"

"No."

"Trust me. It's a girl thing. Any other woman would have seen it too."

"And?"

"It was as if he'd accomplished something he wanted to see finished."

"Which was?" Cameron clicked his pen and pulled out his notepad.

"I think he wanted to keep us from finding anything else in that bas.e.m.e.nt."

"Like what?"

"Something we missed."

"And that is?"

"Another room we should have seen, that should have been there but wasn't, but had to be but we didn't see it."

Cameron rubbed his forehead. "English please."

"According to the blueprints, there is one more room in that bas.e.m.e.nt we didn't see. My photographic memory, remember?"

No, he didn't. "And you remember what?"

"When we dropped down to the second level of the bas.e.m.e.nt, we could only go left. But there should have been a room just to the right. There wasn't."

"How big?"

"At least ten by ten, maybe bigger."

Cameron ran his fingers through his hair. Was it possible? He couldn't stop hope from stirring in his heart. "Hidden from sight just like the book room."

"That's what I'm thinking."

"You think he's stashed something in the extra room? A real Book of Days?"

"You won't be able to push me that far, Cam, but I think we're going to discover some fascinating things about Taylor Stone."

"I'm going back. Soon."

Ann dug her hands into her hips. "You mean we're we're going back." going back."

"Really, even after that run-in with Jason?"

"Yes."

"I think I like you." Cameron smiled.

"It's mutual."

Finding the additional hidden room proved easier than finding the first. Behind the tapestry to their right was a small door with three ancient-looking padlocks. Time for Ann to apply her special skill again. She winked at him and two minutes later tossed the locks to the concrete floor.

"Ready?" Ann asked.

"More than."

The door sc.r.a.ped open and they stepped into a room the size of a small den. Cobwebs hung like layered curtains from the ceiling covered by a fine coating of dust.

"Ugh." Ann brushed them aside with her flashlight. "Someone forgot to call the cleaning crew."

"Amazing." Cameron took a slow spin, shining his light on the room's contents. "I have a whole new set of questions for Mr. Stone."

A large stack of newspapers were piled on a large oak desk directly in front of them. Hundreds of photos were tacked to the wall above the desk. On the left-hand wall was a map of Deschutes County. On the right wall hung a world map with a familiar set of dots and next to it a map of the night sky with the Vela and Pyxis constellations lined out with a white pencil.

Cameron rapped the map with his fingers. "We have just found-"

"Game headquarters."

"Take a look at this." Cameron pointed to a framed picture on the desk. It was a copy of the photo of Ann's mom flying through the air on the tire swing.

"All the secrets of Taylor Stone on display."

He continued to search the right side of the room as Ann explored the left. A few minutes later she walked back carrying something. "I think you're going to want to sit down for this, Cam. Maybe lie down. Stone created more than a game." She shone her light on an old notebook in her hand.

As Ann flipped the pages of the notebook, Cameron felt like a dentist had shot his body full of Novocain. Page after page was filled with scrawled notes on how to make leather look and feel hundreds of years old, how to hand-make parchment paper to look hundreds of years old, and notes of the fonts used in the early eighteenth century.

The realization flooded over him. "He made the book."

"Yes."

"The whole thing."

"The question is why," Ann said.

Cameron rummaged through the rest of the notes on the desk. "Native American legends of the Northwest, Native American languages, burning letters into leather ... unbelievable. He could publish Creating a Book of Days for Dummies. Creating a Book of Days for Dummies."

Ann didn't speak till they'd left the building, clomped the quarter-mile to Cameron's car, and slumped into their seats.

"Any ideas why Taylor would go to all the effort to manufacture that book and set up the clues? This is more than a game to him," Ann said.

Cameron stared out the window. A sick game.

"I'm guessing you'll be keeping your date with Taylor tomorrow morning."

That's right! Taylor was going to teach him to fly-fish.

"Absolutely. He'd better be ready to catch much more than fish."

CHAPTER 42.

Cameron got up Thursday morning with fishing on his mind. He was the hook. Taylor Stone was the trout.

They reached the trailhead to Whychus Creek at five o'clock, meaning Cameron had lurched out of bed at a horrendous time, but Taylor said they had to get to the river early if they wanted to catch any rainbows. This didn't jell with Taylor's penchant for dropping his flies on the river at all hours of the day, but Cameron didn't argue the point. It was the perfect place to confront him about his creation of a Book of Days, and if getting up before G.o.d was awake was the price, so be it.