Page 64 of The Librarians
Is he sending a conciliatory note because he sincerely regrets not giving them another chance—or because he learned from Ryan that she saw Ryan’s car when she shouldn’t have?
She stares at the message for ten minutes before she types,It’s a lot to decide. Why don’t you text me when you’re back in town? That’ll give me some time to think.
She doesn’t want to give the impression that she’s had a sudden change of heart. But after his brusque rejection, it would seem reasonable for her to hesitate before committing herself.
Her phone buzzes right away. She flinches.
Hi, Hazel. So sorry to impose, but I really need to speak to you. Could you meet me at the library? I’m available any time you are.
Two seconds pass before Hazel sees that the text is not from Conrad, but Sophie.
It’s eight twenty-five.
Hazel frowns, then taps,I can be there at 9am. Will that work?
Sophie can only pray that she’s made the right call in reaching out to Hazel. Hazel, who knows that Sophie met with Jeannette Obermann well after the end of Game Night, has kept that from the police and not asked for anythingin return. And Sophie has no choice but to gamble that it will prove enough of a foundation for a crisis alliance.
When she reaches the library at five minutes to nine, Hazel is already there, standing by her Miata.
Before Sophie can thank her, she says, “I could be wrong, but is that Astrid’s car?”
Sophie has certainly never seen another Prius with a bumper sticker that saysMy book boyfriend is a billionaire archaeologist astronaut vampire.
What is Astrid doing at the library three hours before it opens?
Another vehicle enters the parking lot. Sophie recognizes Jonathan’s ten-year-old pickup truck.
He sees them as well and rolls down his window. “What are you guys doing here?”
“You’re early, too,” answers Hazel.
Jonathan shrugs. “It’s the time change. I got up and didn’t have anything I wanted to do at home, so I thought I’d put in some work on those donated books.”
That could have been Sophie’s excuse if she’d been quicker on the jump. She points at her tracksuit. “I’m going downtown to run. Just stopped here cuz I couldn’t find my lunch tote at home.”
“I went out for breakfast tacos and thought I saw Astrid’s car,” says Hazel smoothly.
Jonathan frowns. “Astrid?”
He and Sophie exchange a look. Astrid is always on time and enthusiastic about her work, but she isn’t even on the schedule today.
“Let’s go inside, shall we?” says Jonathan. “Maybe she can give me a hand.”
The couch in the storage room looks like a Garfield plushy left outside too long, but the cushions under the pilling upholstery still have some support to offer. Astrid, her feet pulled up, her arms around herself, wonders if it was a dream, what took place in the middle of the night. Can she go home and pretend that none of it happened?
She scrambles off the couch at sounds coming from the Den of Calories. “Who’s that?”
The door to the storage room opens and Jonathan pokes in his head. “Astrid? Are you okay?”
“Jonathan!” She rushes over, nearly knocking over two stacks of books, and throws her arms around him. He is huge and solid, like a mountain. “I’m so scared. There was somebody in my condo last night.”
“What?!” exclaims Jonathan.
As well as two other voices behind him.
Before she knows it, Astrid is ushered to the old Mod-Podged table in the Den of Calories. Sophie fills a mug at the hot water dispenser, Jonathan ventures back into the storage room to fetch Astrid’s sneakers, and Hazel empties foil-wrapped breakfast tacos onto a melamine plate.
“I have eggs and potato, eggs and bacon, brisket, and beans. Two of each kind.”
