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Mr. Goggles wore swim goggles. If that wasn t strange
enough, he was a small, misshapen man with mismatched
clothes that looked like they d been stolen from the Good-
will bin: an orange dress shirt and plaid walking shorts.
In some countries, the people would stone Mr. Goggles.
In South Florida, he d been in and out of jail and various
institutions. But he always returned to haunting bookstores
and libraries.
Even the most inexperienced bookseller knew there was
something wrong with Mr. Goggles. Young Denny recog-
nized the goblin man as a destroyer of innocence. He came
running up to Helen and said,  There s this weird guy play-
ing with himself in the Spider-man section. He s one row
from the kids books.
 Call nine-one-one, Helen told Brad.  I ll grab Mr.
Goggles. Denny, guard the Children s section and make
sure he doesn t run back there.
Helen quickly collared Mr. Goggles. The little man
struggled, but he was easy to subdue. Helen was six inches
taller and forty pounds heavier. She bent his arm behind his
back, and shuddered when his hand touched hers. She knew
where it had been.
Mr. Goggles smelled like fried eggs and unwashed hair.
Helen wanted to let go of him and take a shower. In Lysol.
 You should be ashamed of yourself, she said.
 I m sorry. I didn t mean it, he whined.  Don t be mad
at me.
196 Elaine Viets
 Shut up or I ll break your neck and do the world a
favor.
Helen was grateful that the Spider-man section was in a
secluded book nook. Mr. Goggles was too scared of Helen
to make any noise, and he d stopped struggling. The police
were on the way. She heard the sirens and started to relax.
They would haul him away soon.
That s when a little boy said loudly,  Mommy, that
man s wee-wee is showing.
It was the child who d torn up the Children s section,
along with his book-ripping sister. Helen would never for-
get those little monsters, or their heavily pregnant mother.
She d sat there and read Oprah best-sellers while her off-
spring destroyed the place.
Mom had her nose buried in another Oprah pick. But her
son s words must have set off some special mommy alert.
She put her trade paperback facedown on the table, crack-
ing its spine.
 Justin, his mother commanded,  go read about Clif-
ford, the big red dog, with your sister.
She stood up. My Lord, that woman is pregnant, Helen
thought. She must be due any day. She looked like a fertil-
ity goddess in a white, high-waisted dress, her long brown
hair trailing down her back.
Mr. Goggles saw the woman rise to her full height and
girth and backed into Helen for protection. Helen nearly
threw up as she got a wave of fried egg and oily hair. The
pregnant woman lumbered over to the law books and
picked up a Black s Law Dictionary. It was the deluxe
leather-bound edition, more than seventeen hundred pages.
The thing was the size of a lawyer s briefcase and a lot
heavier.
 Stand back, she ordered Helen.
 No! Helen said. But she saw the fire in the outraged
mother s eyes. She was not going to get squashed saving
MURDER BETWEEN THE COVERS 197
Mr. Goggles. She moved aside, and the woman walloped
him on the head.
 Ma am, it s OK, the police are on their way, Helen
said. But Justin s mom pounded Mr. Goggles like a pile dri-
ver. Helen hoped the police took their time. The pervert de-
served it.
Another mother in a denim jumper grabbed Jane s Fight-
ing Ships of World War II and slammed it into Mr. Goggles
private parts. He shrieked in agony.
 Shut up, you nasty man. You ll scare my child, the
woman said, and got him in the groin again. This time, he
moaned softly and fell to the floor.
All around Helen, mothers were arming themselves with
monster tomes. Helen abandoned Mr. Goggles to his fate.
By the time the cops arrived, there was a full-scale parental
riot. Mothers were beating Mr. Goggles with bigger and
bigger books. He was clutching his groin. It would be a
long time before he used that area for recreation.
As the cops dragged Mr. Goggles away, a woman
screamed,  I hope you throw the book at him.
That s when Gayle returned from the optometrist.  I m
gone fifteen minutes and there s a riot. What the hell hap-
pened?
 Mr. Goggles, Helen said.  He got what he deserved.
Gayle picked up the battered Black s Law. The title page
was ripped and smeared with blood. Other pages were torn.
 Justice has a high price, she said.  This book goes for
ninety-six bucks. I can t sell it or return it in this condi-
tion.
Gayle and Helen squatted on the floor, gathering up far-
flung books and assessing the damage. Black s Law was be-
yond repair. Jane s Fighting Ships might sell if they slipped
off the torn dustcover. Helen spotted a Webster s Third New
International Dictionary, Unabridged under a display table.
It weighed twelve and a half pounds, but it had been tossed
198 Elaine Viets
aside like a paperback. If Mr. Goggles got hit with that
baby, he would hurt for a while.
She crawled under the table to the abandoned dictionary
and saw that it was resting near two paint-spattered work
boots. She followed them up to a pair of superbly tanned
legs, blond hairs glistening in the afternoon sun. She knew
those legs and the rest of that muscular body. It was her all-
around handyman, Gabe, looking cool, calm, and oh-so-
handsome in this chaos. He helped her out from under the
table and embraced her.
 Gabe! Helen said.
 Daddy, said little Justin, grabbing Gabriel s leg.
 Daddy, when are you coming home?
Isn t that cute, Helen thought. He thinks Gabriel is his fa-
ther.
 Daddy! shrieked Justin s sister. Wasn t her name
Gabrielle? Helen was getting a bad feeling.
The pregnant woman, now armed with a sturdy Roget s
Thesaurus, returned to the section, fertile and ferocious,
 Yes, Daddy, when are you coming home? You haven t
given me a dime of child support in six months. In case you
didn t notice, your third child is on the way.
 You re married? blurted Helen.
 It s just a technicality, Gabe said.
 Technicality, my ass, said the pregnant woman, and
whacked him with the Roget s.  You walked out, but we re [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]