Snow. Snow. So much snow. A world finally washed clean by fluffy flakes from heaven. Two whole days of freedom from the everyday troubles of a small town library. Two days alone in my house, baking cookies to make the kitchen cozy and warm. Two days eating those cookies and not worrying if my favorite pantsuit won’t fit in the morning.
But time marched on, temperatures rose, and my boss summoned me back to my desk. I step into my tiny office as I unwind my scarf. The smell of glue and old bindings welcomes me. I breath it in, pondering whether or not I should break the unwritten rule not to close our doors until we leave for the day. I would love to enjoy a few minutes alone with my latest pile of wounded tomes, repairing them in solitude.
I take one last longing look at the door but leave it open. I crack my knuckles and sit down at my computer. As I reach up to turn it on, I realize the light on the tower is already glowing in a friendly manner.
“I know I turned you off.” I mutter as I tap the button on the monitor and wait for it to come to life.
My lock screen greets me. I slowly type my password, reassured when it logs in to the desktop. Soon I am immersed in cleaning out my inbox to assure that no new projects have been assigned to me during our two days of closing. It is amazing how my to do list grows even when we have unexpected days off. As I reach for a pencil to make a note of my new top priorities, something nags my mind. I stare at the pencil in my hand. Instead of being a blunt nub, it looks freshly sharpened.
“Odd. I don’t remember sharpening this.” I look around my desk more closely. Other items are shifted slightly. “I wonder…”
I open up the three web browsers on my computer and start scrolling through their histories. It isn’t until I open up Firefox, which I don’t even remember installing, that I find what I seek. Someone has been doing extensive research here. I start clicking on links and forget to breath as I realize that this combination of websites can mean only one thing, someone in our small town is planning a terrorist attack. And they are trying ti set me up as the mastermind.
I go through them again, slowly, one at a time. One more time. This time, every sound makes me jump. I almost leap right out of my skin when my boss peeks her head in.
“Good morning. Glad you made it safe through the snow.”
I breath in deeply to recover my composure and smile back at her. “You know I live two blocks away. I could have been here yesterday.”
“You weren’t.” She says matter of factly. “I checked the logs.”
As she wanders off, I am left to ponder how that is possible. If no one logged in using my account over the weekend, how did this disturbing browsing history get on my computer? As I am pondering this, Neil raps his fingers on my door.
“Hey, Betty, how ya doin’?” He asks in his slow southern drawl. I can’t help but note that his eyes widen when he sees me busily scanning the contents of my screen.
“I’m good, Neil. Just making a list of all the new projects that became top priority over the last two days.”
He nods. “Anything I can help with?”
He steps into the room to stand at my side. I have already resumed reading my emails. He exhales slightly as he looks at my screen and I see him tilt his head down toward the notepad at my fingertips. He finds the list of pending projects unthreatening and steps back to the door.
“Did you need something Neil?” I ask.
“What?” He pauses and turns to look at me. “Oh. No. Just wanted to see how you were doing?”
“Two days off didn’t help with your social skills, did it?” I mumble under my breath, but he is already gone.
I wait a couple of minutes and follow him out into the stacks. While I step carefully to avoid being heard, he taps along in his hard-soled shoes. When his feet stop a couple of rows over, I tiptoe into the adjoining row and peer through the books.
Neils looks anxiously up and down the aisle. He cocks his head to the side as if listening for something. Finally satisfied, he pulls a black flip phone from his pocket and dials quickly.
“I’ve only got a minute.” He whispers into the receiver. “I know. I know. She didn’t notice anything. Quit worrying.” He pauses to listen to whatever message comes from the other end of the line. “Okay. I have to get back to work. We shall prevail.”
As he heads back toward the offices, I slip around the other side of the shelves, taking careful steps to the opposite side of the building. I have my own phone call to place. Neil doesn’t know that I dated one of the Sheriff’s deputies in high school, but I would rather he not catch me calling him. I continue padding along on catlike feet until I hear the echo of Neil’s footsteps recede onto the carpet. Standing next to one of the double-paned safety windows at the front of the building, I open up a text message. I don’t dare be overheard with what I fear is going on.
‘Jim, you there?’
‘Yes, Betty. Why so formal?’
‘Wanted to make sure it was you.’
‘Should I call?’
‘No. Can’t talk.’
The ellipses appear and disappear couple of times.
‘Someone at the library was using my computer to look up some disturbing things. I think it was Neil.’
‘I’ll be right there.’
‘Please hurry.’
The police station is only a couple of blocks away, but who knows where he is coming from this early in the morning. He may not even be on duty and his ranch is twenty minutes outside of town. I hear footsteps approaching and grab a book from the nearest shelf, sitting down at a chair by the window.
“There you are,” Neil looks down at me suspiciously, trying to read the title of the book in my hand.
I bite back a snide remark about him taking another unsuccessful crack at learning social skills and offer him what I hope comes off as a friendly but confused smile, “Yes, here I am. Did you need something else?”
“Just walked by your office and didn’t see you there. Wondered where you got off to.” He glances at the book in my hand again.
My eyes follow his, my heart slamming in my chest until I realize I have somehow managed to grab “Little Women”, “Something about this cold snap made me want to read this again this weekend.”
“Oh.” He scans the book and my face with obvious suspicion. “Odd. I was just in the stacks and didn’t see you come through here.”
“You were? I didn’t see you either. I wonder how that happened.”
“Yes. I wonder.” He mulls this over.
“I better check this out and get back to work,” I smile at him. “Want to walk me to the circulation desk?”
The question throws him off guard. He stammers something about having his own work to do and wanders off. I toss my hair and glance over my shoulder to find him still watching me. I grin and wave with my book. He scowls for a second before he rights his face and offers me a brief smile.
I reach the circulation desk at the same time that Angelica, who is working the desk, greets a patron. ‘Well, hello, Jim, a little early for lunch with Betty, isn’t it?”
“Never too early to see Betty.” He grins at her and turns his attention to me, “Especially when she has a new book for me.”
“This book is for me,” I tap his shoulder with it before handing it to Angelica.
“I just wondered if you would like to have cocoa with me?” He asks as his eyes scan the entryway and doors leading into the back of the building.
“Of course, once this book is officially mine for two whole weeks.” I wink at him.
As soon as Angelica returns the book to me, Jim and I offer polite goodbyes to her. He loops his arm in my and leans in to whisper in my ear. “You know she thinks we are back together now?”
“I don’t care. We have to talk.”
He giggles and I elbow him in the ribs. We walk in companionable silence to the coffee shop. I lay claims to a table in the back corner while he grabs us both hot cocoa. When he returns with two donuts as well, I don’t complain. In fact, I tear them both in half, so we can each have half of each. He laughs at me.
“Tell me what is going on. Your text worried me and your current expression isn’t reassuring me.”
I explained what I found on my computer and my weird interactions with Neil that morning. Jim raised an eyebrow and looked out at the snow.
“So someone was cruising sights on bomb-making, posting on a forum that seems to be plotting some sort of coup in our sleepy little town, and Neil has been unusually interested in you. You’re sure he hasn’t secretly been harboring a crush on you?” He offers me a weak smile.
“I am not his type.” I lower my head so I am peering at him over the top of my glasses.
“Keep giving me that sexy librarian look and I am going to forget why I am here.” He offers me a real grin now.
“So what are we going to do.” I shake off his attempt at flirting. I will deal with that later, if there is a later for me.
“I already talked to my boss. He should already be in the library with a team. He is going to have some tech guys go over every computer particularly yours, he promised to handle Neil personally.”
“Oh.” I take deep breath of relief.
“No matter what. You can always count on me to have your back.” He takes one last swig of his hot cocoa. “Go back to work. Act like you don’t know anything. Call or text if anything weird happens. Anything.”
“Got it.”
“And call me before you head home. I will walk you.”
“Yes, dear.” I smile at him as I stand up.
“I’m serious. I’ve got your back, but you have to let me.”
I squeeze his forearm. “And I appreciate it.”
He smiles at me, but he can’t hide the worry in his eyes as I step past him, clutching my hot cocoa in my hands.
The library buzzes as I step inside. Angelica is still working the front desk and holding court. A few of our regular patrons and at least half of the library staff form a semi-circle around the circulation desk. She has no trouble entertaining them.
“So Sheriff Jones just rolled in here this morning with a team of police nerds. He left with Neil in cuffs, screaming obscenities, which is odd because I didn’t even know Neil could even hear those words without flinching, let alone apply them with such force. The tech nerds are still all over the building, inspecting all of our computers.”
“What are they looking for?” One of the assembled audience asks.
“I haven’t quite figured that out yet.” Angelica nods her head wisely, “But I have some ideas.”
“What on earth is going on?” I ask as I step up behind the gathering. “Did a new book get released during the storm?”
“Oh, Betty, you missed all the fun.” She offers me a salacious wink. “Or maybe just the fun to be had in a dusty old library.”
My cheeks infuse with blood at the insinuation. I shake my head slightly to clear the shame rouging my cheeks and ask. “So what did I miss? Looks like it was a lot more interesting than hot cocoa.”
Angelica pauses, deciding between continuing to be the center of attention and quizzing me about my liaison with the deputy. Gossip that she can share wins. “Shortly after you left, the police came in. Apparently, someone has been using our computers, possibly for cyber crime.” She leans forward to whisper the last few words.
“Oh dear.” I glance toward the offices. “Have they found anything?”
“As if they would tell me.” Her eyes light up as if a lightbulb has just begun glowing over her head. “But that handsome deputy might tell you.”
“No.” I say abruptly turning toward my office.
“Some people don’t know how to use their feminine wiles,” Angelica laughs as I walk away.
I don’t turn back. I don’t dare engage. I keep walking to my office with my head held high. I get there as the tech finishes whatever he was doing to my computer. I recognize him from high school but can’t remember his name. He nods at me as I step into the room.
“Hey, Betty, just finishing up here. Just so you know, it looks like you were right, so be careful. Jim wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”
I am going to need to start wearing foundation to cover this constant flushing that his name seems to bring to my face. “Thanks. I plan to.”
“You’re good to go. I have what I need. And I checked for viruses and malware. All good.” He assures me as I look at my computer apprehensively.
“Thanks.”
He nods again, gathers up his gear, and moves on to the next office, which happens to be Neil’s. I watch him for a second as he sits down and begins tapping at the keyboard. He looks up once to offer me an uncomfortable smile and I sit down at my own computer. I don’t start typing. I can’t focus. I am worried I didn’t react fast enough and that something terrible is going to happen in my little town.
The worry continues to gnaw at me as I go through the motions. I pick the first task on the list that I compiled this morning and start processing books with extra caution because I am afraid of making a mistake as my mind continues to wander. I take my half hour lunch at the coffee shop, which makes phenomenal sandwiches named after local legends. I don’t taste mine as I wait for any response from Jim, whom I texted as soon as I headed over for lunch. I am so busy checking my phone for his response that I don’t notice him come to stand in front of me until he clears his throat. I jump up from the table, clutching my chest.
“Calm down. I’m one of the good guys, remember?” He points to his badge.
“I’m sorry. I was expecting you to text.”
“Just got out of an interrogation and thought I would come see your beautiful face.”
“Now isn’t the time to flirt.” I frown at him.
“Maybe tonight over dinner?”
“Um, Jim?” I don’t know how to broach the subject at the forefront of my mind.
“Neil isn’t much of a criminal mastermind. He told us everything, including who put him up to this.” He pauses and glances around before leaning in to whisper. “That’s really all I can tell you…active investigation…but I want you to know you are safe now.”
“So I don’t need you to walk me home?” I tease. “Or take me out to dinner?”
“But would you like me to?”
I let the question hang between us in the air. Today has been too terrifying to make any big decisions. And this feels like a big decision.
~~No snow in sight. Much to the disappointment of my sweet toddlers, but I can always write about it, right?~~
