Hush-Hush

by Elizabeth Spann Craig

He stepped out and peered at the car, swiping impatiently at his face as the wind buffeted rain at him. Then he got back into the car.

  He looked relieved. “I can’t really see any damage. Let me see if I can drive us out of the ditch.”

  Connor stepped on the accelerator and the engine revved but the car didn’t move. He turned the steering wheel a different way and tried again, but it just didn’t budge. This was one of those situations where we’d be better off in my old Subaru with the all-wheel drive than in his expensive sedan.

  I really didn’t want to get out of the car. It had been a long day and the weather was pretty unrelenting. But I also didn’t want to be stuck in this ditch. I reluctantly said, “Should I get out of the car? Maybe if the weight is redistributed then you can get it to move.”

  Connor gave me an apologetic grimace. “Would you mind? It’s worth a try. Sorry—I know you’re not feeling well.”

  I hopped out and into the gale. Connor pressed on the accelerator again and I watched as the wheels spun but didn’t get any traction to move the car. Whether Connor wanted to face it or not, it was obvious to me that the vehicle was going to need to be towed out of the ditch.

  He motioned me back in the car and I happily climbed back in, wishing I had a towel or something as rivulets of rain coursed down me. Even though it was a warm day, I shivered.

  Connor had apparently finally reached the same conclusion I had. “Guess I’m going to need to call for a tow.” He sighed as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He gave me an apologetic smile. “Apparently, the universe is trying to tell us that this isn’t a great night for our date. Should we take a rain check?”

  I was relieved. “Of course we can.” I hadn’t wanted to go out in the first place and then I’d gotten weirded out by Connor talking about Ellie.

  He was on the phone with the garage when a car pulled up to see if we were all right. I couldn’t see inside the car because of the torrential rain until the driver lowered his window. I grinned when I saw my favorite patron Linus there. In his copilot seat was his dog Ivy, looking very interested in the proceedings.

  Linus’s eyebrows were drawn together in concern. “Is everybody okay?”

  “We’re fine, but the car is disabled, so my friend is calling for a tow,” I said.

  “I could give you a ride back home, if you wanted,” he said.

  I hesitated. I had the feeling Connor was going to want to speak with the tow truck driver and I didn’t want to totally desert him. Although, truth be told, it was extremely tempting.

  Connor put his hand over his phone and said, “Hey, Ann, if you want to head out, that’s okay. I wouldn’t want you to have to wait for the tow driver with me.”

  I said slowly, “Okay. Then I could head back out and pick you up in my car when you’re done.” It was, honestly, the last thing in the world I wanted to do, but I figured an offer needed to be made.

  He shook his head. “Nope. I’m not going to have you drive back out in this mess. No need for both of us to wreck our cars. I’ll just call an uber once I’ve gotten everything settled. No worries, okay?”

  Again, I felt nothing but a huge sense of relief. I couldn’t help but think if I’d been with Grayson, I might have felt differently. Plus, I really couldn’t picture Grayson speeding like that in weather like this. “Okay. Thanks, Connor. Be careful, okay?”

  I carefully climbed back out of Connor’s car and hopped into Linus’s backseat.

  He turned and said apologetically, “I’d have you sit in the front seat with me, but Ivy’s fur would get all over you.”

  “Linus, I’m just sorry I’m soaking your back seat with water. Thank you so much for getting me out of there.”

  His gentle features were concerned. “I’m just glad I happened to be coming back from a trip to the dog park. Are you sure you’re okay? That must have been quite a jolt you took.”

  For the first time, I glanced back at Connor’s car in the ditch. From the road, I could really tell exactly how big that ditch was and what a crazy angle the car was stuck at. We hadn’t had a chance of getting that vehicle out of there; I could see that now.

  “You know, I think it just scared me more than hurt me. The whole thing seemed to happen in slow motion.”

  Linus seemed satisfied that he didn’t need to drive me for medical attention. He turned back around and put his car in gear and said firmly, “Well, Ivy and I are going to get you back home to Fitz now. Enough of being out in this storm.”

  It was rather nice to be fussed over. As Linus set out slowly down the road, windshield wipers flapping furiously, I leaned back on the seat and felt some of the stress drain out of me.

  Linus gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands as he sat on the edge of the seat and navigated through the storm. He said, “I hope things settle down for you soon, Ann. You’ve really gone through a lot of stress lately, what with Ellie’s death.”

  I gave a short laugh. “You’d think the life of a librarian wouldn’t be very exciting, wouldn’t you?”

  He said in his careful way, “Have you heard if there are any more developments in Ellie’s case?”

  I blew out a breath. “If anything, it’s gotten more complicated. One of the guys who fixes computers and other electronics for us has been murdered. There might have been a connection with Ellie. Of course, as you mentioned yourself, Ellie seemed to be capable of blackmail. There’s no telling right now what might have happened to her.”

  Ivy turned around to give me a sad, soulful look in response to my tone.

  Linus said a bit uncomfortably, “I did see Ellie getting out of a man’s car a few times when I was returning to the library after lunch. I wonder now if she might have been involved with someone. And if he ended up doing her harm.”

  Linus was always so quiet that it was easy to forget how much he was taking in all the time. “You’re very observant. Yes, the police are aware of a relationship she was having. It sounds like that’s another possibility for them to investigate.”

  Linus had the heater on which, under ordinary circumstances in a North Carolina summer, would be absolutely unbearable. But because of the fact I was soaked through and had had a pretty frightening experience, it was soothing. Ivy, who was definitely not soaked, looked rather warm as her tongue lolled out. She smiled a doggy smile at me from the front seat, which felt very reassuring. Linus had instrumental jazz music playing softly in the background and the combination of all the ingredients made me start feeling sleepy.

  Since I could easily envision myself falling asleep and engaging in noisy snoring, I kept the conversation going so I could stay awake. “I was lucky you and Ivy came by. Otherwise, I’d probably have been stuck there in a really weird angle in that car for a while.”

  Linus’s face was concerned again in the rear-view mirror. “Yes, like I mentioned, Ivy and I had gone to the dog park in Asheville for a while. Then I got a weather alert on my phone, so we packed up and started back right when the storm started up.” He paused, seeming to struggle between his concern and his respect for privacy. “Was everything all right? I mean, with you and that young man? It was a hydroplaning event, I suppose?”

  “Well, it was certainly a hydroplane. I wonder if it would have happened if we hadn’t been going so fast and he hadn’t been distracted,” I said a bit sourly. Then I quickly added, “Sorry, that’s just me being tired. Connor is a nice guy.”

  “Is he?” asked Linus. I couldn’t fault him for the question since his only experience around him was when Connor had driven his vehicle into a ditch.

  “Absolutely,” I said with perhaps more enthusiasm than I actually felt. “We grew up together here. Went to school together.”

  Linus nodded quickly, always eager to agree. But his kind face was still a little worried and I had to admit it was nice to be fretted over, even though I thought his concern was misplaced.

  As Linus dropped me off, I hurried inside since there were still buckets of rain coming d
own. He waited until I got safely in the door and waved from inside the house and he cautiously backed out of my driveway.

  Fitz hurried up to rub lovingly against me, but quickly backed away when he realized how sopping wet I was. “I know, buddy,” I said ruefully. “I’m going to take care of that now.”

  Of course, to Fitz’s astonishment, the way I chose to take care of it was to climb into a hot bath. I could tell by the expression on his furry face that he didn’t comprehend how getting even wetter was going to help my situation. But it definitely did. I’d grabbed my book and a glass of wine and even lit myself a candle and tossed some bubble bath stuff into the tub as it ran. Fitz kept an eye on me from a safe distance as he settled on the bathmat, tail curled around him.

  The bath apparently did the trick because I was soothed enough to fall quickly asleep—even without eating supper. I guess all the stress from the day had really knocked me out. Fitz had snuggled up with me and we both slept hard until the alarm went off the next morning. It was a good thing I wasn’t on the schedule to open up because for once I was still groggy, dragging, and running a little behind.

  When I arrived at the library a few minutes after opening, Linus was already there, as usual, in his suit. He gave me a warm smile and a quick wave from the periodicals section where he was collecting the first of several morning newspapers to read.

  Wilson spotted me and motioned to me to step into his office for a moment. I frowned, wondering if the fact that I was seven minutes behind schedule for once in my career was the cause for this impromptu meeting.

  But when I walked in, Wilson was giving me a worried look. “My sister called me last night and told me about Connor’s crash. Are you all right? Do you need a day off today?”

  Mona definitely seemed to have created a kinder and gentler version of Wilson than the stern taskmaster I’d seen in the past. “Thanks, Wilson, I appreciate that. But I’m absolutely fine. I was just a little shaken up last night and pretty exhausted from the experience. All completely fixed, though, with a good night’s sleep.”

  Wilson frowned and said rather sharply, “Was he driving too fast? The weather was atrocious last night. My sister said he was driving out of town.”

  “He’d made dinner reservations in Asheville. He was being thoughtful.”

  Wilson grumbled, “It seems as if he could have been thoughtful on a night with better weather.”

  “All’s well that ends well. Did you hear who my gallant rescuer was?”

  “Not Connor apparently.” Wilson’s tone was still cranky.

  “Linus.”

  Wilson frowned in confusion.

  “Linus—the suited gentleman who’s in our periodical section much of the day.”

  “Oh, right, right. Yes, he’s been something of a fixture for years—a very quiet fixture. I always say good morning to him and he to me but he doesn’t ever seem to want to engage in conversation. Honestly, his perpetual attendance here makes him blend right into the background. But you’re saying he rescued you?”

  I nodded. “In a manner of speaking. He arrived out of the blue . . . well, I guess out of the gray would be more appropriate . . . and took me back in the middle of the storm. Connor needed to stick around with the car and wait for the tow truck driver. Linus had Ivy in the car.”

  Wilson looked blankly at me.

  “You remember the stray dog we had here at the library a while back?”

  “He adopted her?” asked Wilson.

  I nodded again.

  “Well, it sounds as if he’s a hero all round,” said Wilson slowly. Then, this matter apparently settled to his satisfaction, he cleared his throat and said, “So, what’s on the agenda for the library today?”

  I filled Wilson in as to my plans for the day, which included a bunch of social media posts for the library and the tech drop-in that was going on later. There was a light tap on the office door as I was wrapping up and I turned to see Mona standing there, giving us a smile.

  Wilson smiled back and motioned her in. Mona bustled in, holding a tote bag full of knitting supplies. “Thought I’d hang out here today,” she said, giving Wilson a quick hug.

  He blushed and started blustering and I hid a smile.

  “I did a little baking this morning and have muffins in the breakroom,” she said.

  “Muffins?” My stomach growled. Part of my oversleeping meant that I’d only grabbed a yogurt before heading out of the house this morning. And, of course, I’d missed supper the night before.

  “They’re still warm,” said Mona persuasively.

  “Wow, you must have gotten up super-early this morning,” I said.

  “She’s always very thoughtful,” said Wilson gruffly.

  Fitz came in through the office door to find me. He wound himself around my legs.

  “Fitz thinks it’s time for me to get to work,” I said with a smile. “I’m going to grab a warm muffin and get to it.”

  Wilson’s phone rang and Mona said ruefully, “That’s my cue to start my knitting in the periodical section.”

  “Linus is already there to keep you company,” I said.

  Mona chuckled. “He’s too quiet to be very much company. But he’s become at least a little more sociable. He’s been interested in what I’m knitting, I think. I keep seeing him stealing glances at it.”

  The morning progressed. Luna had a couple of back-to-back children’s storytimes, so was switching gears from toddlers to preschoolers in the breaks between them. Fitz was so alert and playful that I was able to take a number of pictures of him to liven up our social media. Then I set up graphics to advertise some of the library’s upcoming events.

  Luna came up to the circulation desk after her second storytime was finished. “Whew. I don’t know what I was thinking scheduling those two particular groups back to back.”

  “I thought you had a set schedule for the storytimes.”

  “I do, but some other group needed the community room during one of the usual times, so I had to make a change.”

  I said, “Hey, before I forget, Burton gave me something to give to you. He gave me one, too.” I reached into my purse and pulled out one of the pepper sprays and said, “Want me to stick it in your purse? This purple one is yours, right?”

  Luna nodded. “Wow. That’s actually really nice of him to do. He drove my mom and me when we had the car trouble, too.” She paused, mulling this over. Then, after a pause, she said, “What do you think of Burton?”

  “Me? I think he’s a fantastic guy. The reason I have those pepper sprays from him is because he drove by the library last night to check up on whoever was closing the library up and make sure we got to our car all right. And you know what? I really appreciated that because Ted was outside and just about scared me to death last night.”

  “What? What was he doing out there?”

  I said, “He was trying to convince me not to mention to Sunny that he’d had an affair with Ellie.”

  “What a jerk,” said Luna. “Why would he think you’d do that anyway?”

  “He apparently thinks Sunny and I are becoming friends,” I said with a chuckle. “It’s more like I keep running into Sunny. But anytime I do, Ted becomes increasingly uncomfortable.”

  “Good! He deserves it. So he was hanging out . . . what? In the dark last night, waiting for you to come out of the library? That’s super-creepy.”

  I shrugged. “I guess he wanted to see who was closing up the library. It could have been you and then he just would have driven off. But I don’t think he realized exactly how creepy he was being until Burton drove up and got all stern with him and made him leave.”

  “Good for Burton,” said Luna warmly. “So you think he’s a great guy.”

  “He’s the best. But I think it’s more important what you think of him.”

  Luna said slowly, “I don’t know. I wouldn’t have thought he was my type at all. He’s all law-and-order, you know.”

  I snorted. “I don’t know i
f that’s true. That’s just his job. He doesn’t come across as super tight-laced to me.”

  “Fair enough. Oh, I don’t know. He’s just been so nice lately. He’s so gentle with my mom and she thinks he’s such a gentleman. He even offered to help take a look at the car on his day off. He’s a great listener. It’s hard to find a man who is.”

  Luna almost sounded as if she was trying to convince me . . . or herself? . . . of Burton’s attributes.

  “Do you think . . . well, do you think Burton is into me at all, though?” asked Luna, a little furrow appearing between her brows.

  I burst out laughing and Luna put her hands on her hips. She said, mock-crossly, “What’s so funny.”

  “It’s just that you’re always so proud of your intuition and insight but you’ve been completely blind about Burton. For so long.”

  Luna colored a little and her eyes widened. “What? Really?”

  I shook my head. “This is a conversation you need to be having with Burton, Luna. I’m just going on the record to let you know that, yes, he’s into you.”

  Luna’s eyes shone and she bit her lip. Then she took a deep breath and said briskly, “On to more interesting topics. I was hoping to hear how your date with Connor went last night. After I heard Connor might have a secret Ellie knew about, I almost asked you to let me know when you got back home safely.”

  I grimaced at the mention of the date and her eyes grew big. “That bad? What happened—did you end up with food poisoning?”

  I was shaking my head and Luna guessed again. “Wait—did he stand you up?”

  I realized this guessing game could potentially go on all day so I quickly intervened. “No, no. But you know how bad the weather was last night. Connor’s car hydroplaned and we hit a ditch. It was a mess.” I decided to keep my suspicions about Connor to myself until I found out more. After all, it was more of a gut feeling than anything else. Connor hadn’t said he’d dated Ellie, only that he’d known her. Luna was already suspicious of him enough as it was.

  “Ohh no.” Then Luna frowned. “Doesn’t he have that fancy sports car?”

  Luna and I both drove old cars that could sometimes break down in spectacular and expensive ways, so I understood why she would ask the question. “Yes, but you know how it is when you hit a large puddle and you’re going fast. Even though his car handles well under ordinary circumstances, it wasn’t any match for the rain last night.”