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“In town?”
“No,” I answered before realizing I should have told him I couldn’t talk about it, which was technically the truth.
The droop in Marge’s face at the lunch question prompted an idea. “Maybe Marge would like to join you,” I said. “Could you, Marge? Just to keep him safe if Lisa comes by?”
Boone’s face scrunched in confusion at my mention of Lisa, but he caught on quickly. “Is noon good for you, Marge?”
“That would be wonderful, and I know just what to say to that Lisa girl if she shows her face.”
Marge had mentioned on a half dozen occasions how much happier it made her to see Boone with me than Lisa, and she’d become somewhat of a running joke.
I gave her the biggest smile I could. “Keep it civil, Marge. I don’t need anyone slashing my tires.”
“Oh, don’t you fret, dear. I have a lot of experience wrapping an ice-cold meaning in sugar-coated words.”
* * *
At lunchtime,I pulled up across from the long, low building in Peterville that I knew well from growing up here. The Landonia County Library hadn’t changed one bit since it had been my after-school refuge. I parked across the street in the large lot of two empty storefronts.
This was where Pris had said she’d been taking Lee all those weekends, to research who knows what. There had to be a clue hidden in his visits, and it was up to me to find it—piece of cake for a seasoned hacker-tracker like me. Find the first breadcrumb, and it would start me down the trail.
We’d agreed that it would be safest to take Lee’s warning seriously, which meant Pris shouldn’t arouse suspicion by doing anything out of the ordinary. That meant I would be the one taking field trips to Peterville to find clues.
Hefting my backpack, I locked the car and ventured inside. The first thing I noticed was a small poster on the wall advertising an open position for a librarian. Fishing my phone out of my bag, I took a picture. Maybe a backup job that didn’t involve cleaning supplies would come in handy for Tally.
It wasn’t until I put my phone away that I noticed the gray-haired librarian at the checkout desk eying me. She shifted her gaze back to the woman checking out a stack of DVDs, with a quick glance back at me. She probably marked me as a weirdo—nothing new there.
Breathing in, I decided that just as hospitals had a distinctive smell, libraries did too. Lots of paper in here, lots of history, and a hint of furniture polish.
I walked over to the corner desk in the wide, open study area that had been my spot years ago. It was the same desk, with the initials JG and TC still carved into the wood surface. I ran my fingers over the TC. I never knew who they were, but I imagined lovers who’d run away from here for New York, Los Angeles, or some other exotic big city.
The desks were empty, save one lady reading a magazine. It was too early in the day for school kids.
The computer section was bigger than before, and empty as well. Did kids even come to the library these days or just sit at home in front of their iPads and family computers?
Spinning in a slow circle and perusing the space, I tried to envision where Lee would have gone. The gray-haired librarian averted her gaze again as I turned in that direction. Pris had said Lee called it a project, so searching the stacks didn’t make any sense. He would have been here at the study tables. A history book maybe?
Project? What kind of project?
My eyes landed on a small sign advertising the reference desk. That was the place to start. The librarian at that desk might be aware of what Lee had been doing. Maybe Mrs. Bransetter still worked the desk. She’d probably remember me.
I swiped back two photos on my phone to the one of Lee that Pris had sent me. Staring at the photo, I asked myself again what he’d be looking for here as I made my way to the desk. Nobody appeared right away, so I waited…and noticed door labeledreference storagewith a keypad lock behind the desk. A lock on a library door seemed a bit extreme.
“Hello,” the librarian said as she walked over from the checkout desk—the same lady who’d shot me skeptical glances. She slid a piece of paper across the desk. “The county has very nice benefits as well,” she said. “We lost a very capable person a few months back, and the county manager just approved the opening.”
It was an application for employment.
I bit back a bit of a giggle. “Oh, no. I’m not here to apply for a job.”
She gasped. “Oh my, I’m sorry. It’s just I saw you studying the our little hiring notice, and you looked like… I’m so embarrassed.” Her name tag readMrs. Lukens.
“Don’t be silly,” I insisted. It was the same here as anywhere. The hair, my glasses, and my lack of makeup had people thinking I was a schoolteacher or librarian. “Actually, computers are my thing, but I might know somebody who would be interested.”
She nodded with a smile. “Well, what may I help you find?”
I held up the phone with Lee’s picture. “I was wondering if you remember this man coming in.”
She moved closer and squinted. “He looks familiar.”
