Page 35 of Dark Terror
Alan grabbed both of Cara’s hands. “Oh, you poor, poor dear. How horrible for you.”
“Can’t argue with that. How was your weekend?” she asked, not wanting to talk about the murder or a man stalking her. Alan had been out of town, visiting his family, so he’d missed the news stories on the murder.
“It was fabulous. But seriously, are you okay? Do you need a day off, love? I’ll broach the dragon’s lair for you if you do.”
“Thanks, but not necessary. Being here helps take my mind off things.” Like kissing a hot cop and wanting to do it again.
“Speaking of the dragon,” Risa whispered.
Cara glanced over her shoulder to see Mrs. Kastrop heading their way, a scowl on her face. Since there was always a scowl on the head librarian’s face, it wasn’t all that concerning. No matter how well any of them did their jobs, Mrs. Kastrop was never satisfied. And her coworkers taking a few minutes to commiserate with her, offering sympathy and some friend love before the library opened wouldn’t be tolerated.
“Someday,” Alan muttered, then walked away to avoid getting an earful of negativity.
Cara understood the message. Alan was on a campaign to convince Mrs. Kastrop to retire so that, as her replacement, he could take the library into the next century, or at the very least bring it into the current one. So far his efforts had been unsuccessful. That was unfortunate, as he planned to promote Cara to assistant librarian. She was of the opinion that the woman intended to keep her job until her dying day.
“Risa, make yourself useful and put the books in the overnight depository away.”
“Yes, ma’am.” When Risa turned her back to Mrs. Kastrop, she stuck out her tongue and crossed her eyes as she left to do Mrs. Kastrop’s bidding.
Cara bit down on her cheek to keep from laughing. The tall, statuesque black woman was something of a mystery in that she was reserved and not easy to get to know. She and Risa weren’t best friends, but they liked each other. And they both shared something in common. An intense dislike of their boss. Deciding it was time to hasten her own departure, Cara took a step to leave.
Mrs. Kastrop grabbed her arm and not gently. “I haven’t dismissed you, young lady.”
“Ma’am?” Cara was pretty sure she knew what was coming.
“After Friday night’s unfortunate turn of events, I trust you’ve learned your lesson.”
Yep, nailed it. “What lesson would that be? Not to try to help others?”
“Sarcasm isn’t becoming, Cara. We were already shorthanded on Saturday with Alan off, and your absence only made matters worse. That type of behavior will reflect poorly on your annual review.”
If she didn’t love being a librarian so much, didn’t love everything about her job and the people she worked with, she would walk out the door this minute. See how the old battle-ax liked that. Even if she was tempted, though, she didn’t have a car to make her great escape in since Gabe had driven her to work to make sure she arrived safely.
When Mrs. Kastrop looked expectantly at her, waiting for her employee to grovel, Cara refused to comply. Yes, she wished she hadn’t witnessed a murder, but she had through no fault of her own. Well, other than chasing a dog into the park. She supposed she could be blamed for that.
“I had such high hopes for you when I hired you,” Mrs. Kastrop finally said when Cara kept her mouth shut. “Yet you continue to disappoint.”
And she no doubt would continue to let her boss down since she had no intention of changing her behavior. She was reliable, worked damn hard, and hadn’t mouthed off to her boss, no matter how often or hard she’d had to bite her tongue. It was actually amazing that she still had a tongue.
The alarm on Mrs. Kastrop’s watch sounded, signaling that it was time for the library to open. “You’re on the front desk today.”
“But I have the—”
“Since Saturday wasn’t an approved day off, you can work on the inventory report on your own time, Ms. Jenner.”
“Witch,” Cara murmured when Mrs. Kastrop reached the door to unlock it and Cara was sure she was out of earshot.
“I heard that,” Alan said, coming up next to her and giving her a wink.
“And did you hear that I’m on the front desk today?” Alan loved desk duty. He was outgoing and enjoyed helping their customers find the books they were looking for, loved chatting with them.
“Ah, I wondered what your punishment would be.” He sighed. “I guess I’ll go log in the boxes of books we just got delivered. Chin up, love. She can’t live forever.”
“I’m not so sure of that.” Imitating Risa, she crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue.
Alan laughed before taking himself off.
Normally Cara didn’t mind the front desk. She wasn’t as chatty as Alan, but she did enjoy helping their customers find the perfect book to read. But not today, and she wondered if Mrs. Kastrop realized that and why. She wouldn’t put it past the woman.
