Page 93 of It takes a Psychic

“Of course, of course,” Thacker said. “Hang on, I’ll fetch it for you.”

He slid the movable stepladder into position, climbed the rungs to the top, stretched out an arm, and pulled a slim, leather-bound volume off the shelf.

Roxy’s low growl was the only warning they got before Harp appeared in the doorway of the vault, a flamer in her hand. Her eyes glittered with rage.

“You two destroyed the future,” she snarled.

“Ms. Harp,” Thacker squeaked. “I wondered when you’d show up. I say, you’d better put the flamer away—”

He lost his balance on the stepladder. In a frantic effort to recover and avoid a fall, he dropped the volume and grabbed the handrails.

Leona snatched the falling book out of midair. Roxy chose that moment to launch herself from under a nearby shelf. Sleeked out, eyes and teeth showing, she dashed toward Harp.

“I’ve had enough of that fucking dust bunny,” Harp shrieked.

She swung the flamer toward Roxy, trying frantically to aim at the fast-moving target. But Oliver had somehow moved alongside her without being noticed.You never see him coming,Leona thought.

He grabbed the arm Harp was using to hold the weapon, forcing it upward, deflecting the shot. An instant later, he snapped the flamer out of her hand.

“Roxy, it’s okay,” Leona said. “You don’t need to bite her.”

Roxy scrambled to a halt. Harp drew back a booted foot in preparation for a savage kick. Leona swooped forward and grabbed Roxy.

Off-balance now, Harp toppled backward. There was a sickening crunch when her head struck the edge of a bookcase. She landed on the floor and did not move.

Leona clutched Roxy close. “It’s okay. Everything’s under control.”

“Actually, things are not under control,” Oliver said. “We need to get out of here. Now.”

Leona suddenly smelled smoke. She looked up and saw flames leaping from the top shelf. Harp’s errant shot had struck a stack of documents.

“My library,” Thacker wailed. “Ms. Harp, what have you done?”

He started gathering up books and files willy-nilly. Several cascaded to the floor.

Oliver gripped Leona’s shoulder and propelled her toward the entrance of the vault.“Go.”

He was using his Guy in Charge voice. It was effective. She rushedtoward the door of the vault, Roxy clutched under one arm, the Willard journal in her hand. She glanced back once and saw that the flames were rapidly consuming the top shelving. Sparks landed below, igniting other shelves filled with highly flammable materials.

“Oh, shit,” she whispered.

“Yep,” Oliver said.

He did not elaborate. Instead, he hauled a near-hysterical Thacker away from a flaming pile of papers and shoved him toward the door. Dazed and panicked, Thacker followed Leona out into the crammed library.

“What about Harp?” Leona called.

“I’ll take care of her,” Oliver said. “Just go.”

Leona looked down to make sure she was on the yellow tape path and then raced through the canyons formed by the towers of artifacts, books, objects, and assorted junk that had been accumulating for a century. She could hear Thacker behind her, stumbling and panting as he struggled to run with his armload of books and files.

Evidently grasping the scope of the danger, Roxy remained sleeked out and wide-eyed. There was no cheery chortling now, Leona noted.

She swerved around a sharp corner, saw the open door of the library, and dashed out into the hall. Thacker followed, dropping a couple of his precious books in the process. When he bent down to retrieve one, he lost another volume.

Oliver emerged from the library, Harp slung over his shoulder. “Outside. This place is going to go up like a bonfire.”

Leona ran down the narrow aisle formed by the stacks that lined the hallway, wrenched open the front door, and burst outside into pouring rain. Thacker and Oliver followed.

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