Hitting the Books

by Jenn McKinlay

  Lindsey noticed that the small pitcher of margaritas in front of Kayla was mostly empty and she was swaying on her seat. While Kayla wasn’t out-and-out slurring, she was definitely well lubricated by the tequila coursing through her system.

  “And it gets worse. I had just made the final payment on it,” Kayla said. “Can you believe it? What are the odds?”

  Lindsey blinked at her. So finding the dead guy in it wasn’t the worst part? Interesting.

  “Yeah, that’s a tough break,” Lindsey said. “I had a pair of very expensive shoes in my car.” This was true. “Designer black patent pumps with bows on the toes. So cute, and they took those, too.”

  “No!” Kayla said. “That’s just rude. I mean a car is one thing, but taking a girl’s kicks? That’s low.”

  Even five years later, Lindsey still mourned the shoes. Kayla’s feminine outrage was a balm on the old hurt.

  “How about you? Was anything stolen out of your car?” Lindsey asked.

  “No,” Kayla said. “I don’t keep anything in my car.”

  “That’s smart,” Lindsey said. “I had shoes, makeup, workout equipment.” She glanced at Kayla to see whether this was jogging anything in her memory. “Books, oh, and my favorite CDs.”

  Kayla took a sip of her margarita and gave her a pitying look. “Maybe if they find your car, you’ll get it all back.”

  “Especially the CDs,” Lindsey said. She studied the other woman. “They didn’t belong to me, you know—I checked them out from the library.”

  Kayla blinked at her. Suddenly, Lindsey felt like she was on a one-woman mission to get this woman to check out her local library.

  “You use the library, don’t you?” Lindsey asked.

  “I can’t say that I do, no,” Kayla said. “I’m not much of a reader. I think books are a big yawn.”

  It was like a knife to the chest, and Lindsey would have staggered, but she didn’t want to let Kayla know how much her feelings about the library hurt. Lindsey had met book-resistant people before, and she tried not to judge, but really, the library offered so much more.

  “Well, how about movies?” she asked. “They have loads of movies.”

  “I download movies,” Kayla said. “It’s so much easier than having to load a DVD into a player—know what I’m saying?”

  Lindsey felt desperate to find something at the library for this woman to be excited about. “How about programs? Did you know there are all sorts of clubs that meet at the library?”

  “No.”

  “There’s a craft club, chess club, cooking club, a travel club.” Lindsey ticked off the different clubs on her fingers.

  Kayla frowned. She looked Lindsey up and down and said, “No offense, but you’re boring me.”

  She turned away, adjusting herself on her seat and tossing her blond hair in a clear dismissal of Lindsey and her advocacy of the library.

  Ian pushed a glass of ice water at Lindsey. The look he gave her was one of pure pity.

  “Well,” he said.

  “Don’t say it,” she said.

  “Say what?” he asked. His innocent look didn’t fool her one bit.

  “Good boy,” she said. She downed the water and pushed the glass of ice back at him. The brain freeze when it hit almost took her out at the knees, but she refused to let it show. Instead, she turned and exited the restaurant, tucking what was left of her dignity into her purse as she went.

  * * *

  • • •

  Lindsey hurried back to her office. The library was still open. Paula was manning the front desk while Ann Marie oversaw the reference area. They both glanced at Lindsey as she came dashing into the building.

  “Silly me, forgot something,” she said.

  Paula smiled and nodded, but Ann Marie gave Lindsey a speculative look. Having two young boys who were notorious mischief makers, Ann Marie had a sixth sense for malarkey. Lindsey didn’t linger for questioning but closed her office door and fired up her desktop.

  She logged into the circulation module and then opened her phone to see the list of barcode numbers Emma had forwarded to her. Since each item in the library had its own barcode, this should be a simple matter of looking up the item by barcode and seeing who had it checked out. Then they would know who had left materials in Kayla Manning’s car. Of course, there was still the question of why their items were in her car, but that would have to wait until they had a name. The bigger concern was whether they had anything to do with the hit-and-run driver. Could they identify him? It was a big leap, but Lindsey was hopeful.

  She yawned and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was seven o’clock, and the big meal she had just consumed was making her sleepy. She felt her head bob as the weight of sleep pulled it down while she waited for the circulation database to open. Her desktop computer was getting pretty old, and while the slowness usually didn’t bother her, right now she was feeling tired and impatient.

  Coffee would help. Coffee always helped. She left her computer to continue its process and went to the break room to see whether there was any coffee in the community pot. There was but it was cold. Lindsey didn’t care. She didn’t care how old it was either. The only thing she cared about was that she could have some right now.

  She found her I Like Big Books mug sitting rim-side down in the drying rack by the sink. She poured the remainder of the cold coffee in and popped it into the microwave. While she waited, she scrubbed out the coffee pot and left it to dry in the rack. Ann Marie had taped up a sign that read, Wash your own dishes. Your mom doesn’t work here. There were water spots on the sign and it had started to fade, but it was effective, as no dishes were ever left in the sink.

  She was just leaving the break room with her reheated beverage when she heard an earsplitting squeal of tires coming from outside the library. Several patrons glanced toward the large windows that looked out onto the street, and Lindsey joined them. She saw a red muscle car, possibly a Camaro, roaring down the street.

  She didn’t recognize the car and wondered whether a teen from a nearby town had gotten hold of their parents’ car keys and decided to rip up the pavement in a town where they wouldn’t be recognized. It was now fully dark, and the headlights of the car sliced through the night with a menace that made the hair on the back of Lindsey’s neck stand on end.

  “What’s going on?” she asked her staff as she left the window and hurried to the front desk.

  “No idea,” Paula said. “But it looks like someone decided to go for a joyride through the center of town.”

  Pop pop pop.

  Lindsey jumped, and hot coffee spilled over her fingers and dripped onto the carpet. She and Paula exchanged shocked expressions.

  “Were those gunshots?” Paula asked.

  “Everyone get down!” Sully ordered as he dashed into the building with his shoulders hunched as if bracing for a hit.

  11

  No one needed to be told twice. Patrons dropped to the floor as one, shielding themselves with tables and chairs. Lindsey put her coffee on the counter and did a visual sweep of the room, making certain everyone was down, as she crouched low and hurried to Sully. She glanced over her shoulder and watched Ann Marie as she ducked behind the main desk with Paula.

  Sully was hunkered low against the wall beside the open doors. He craned his head around the doorjamb, trying to assess what was happening outside.

  Lindsey reached into her pocket for her phone. Darn it! She’d left it on her desk. The sound of an engine revving and the squeal of tires ripped through the quiet. Lindsey could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Sully pulled her down beside him, and Lindsey pressed herself against his solid warmth.

  “What do we do?” hissed Paula. She was peeking around the side of the circulation desk. “Last time I checked, random gunfire wasn’t covered in the staff manual.”

  L
indsey had just opened her mouth to answer when Sully, using the voice of command that she suspected he had perfected during his years in the navy, said, “Stay down. I’ve called the police. They’re on their way.”

  As if he had cued it, the faint sound of a siren could be heard in the distance. It sounded far away. Lindsey wondered whether Emma had stationed her officers to watch over Theresa Huston and now they had to hustle back to the center of town to deal with whoever was shooting up Main Street.

  Pop pop pop!

  Sully pushed her up against the wall even while he moved to get a better look. Lindsey fought against his hold, trying to see for herself what was happening. She leaned against his back and peered over his shoulder.

  The red sports car had spun around and was now charging down the center of the road, right on the back bumper of another vehicle. A tricked-out, high-end SUV was swerving and dodging, trying to lose the smaller sports car like a big dog shaking off a playful puppy.

  As they watched, the SUV jumped the curb and sped through the park, tearing up the new spring grass in its race to get away. The driver’s-side window of the sports car was down, and Lindsey saw the barrel of a gun pointed at the SUV. A shot was fired, and the SUV swerved again, bouncing back onto the street with a bang and a thud. Amazingly, the tires didn’t blow, and the vehicle sped past the library.

  As it moved under a streetlight, Lindsey gasped. The distinctive bright blond hair of the Norrgard brothers was visible, as was the pale and terrified face of Theresa Huston, who was wedged between them in the front of the vehicle.

  The SUV executed a tight right turn at top speed, turning onto a side street. The muscle car missed it and sped past. Lindsey watched with wide eyes as the sports car pulled a U-turn in the center of Main Street to go after the Norrgard brothers. Just as it reached the side street and turned onto the road, the Norrgards came roaring out of the side street, passing the muscle car, which was now headed in the wrong direction.

  The SUV raced through town while the sports car was left trying to turn around on a narrow side street full of parked cars. The sound of one bumper crunching another and of one car scraping up the side of another shredded the night air. There was a beat of silence, and then with another squeal of tires, the muscle car was in pursuit of the SUV once again.

  Sully was up and moving toward the door as soon as the taillights disappeared. Lindsey was right behind him. She thought it spoke well of their relationship that he didn’t ask her to stay behind. Perhaps she had worn him down after their years together, or maybe he just didn’t want to take the time to argue. Either way, they were out of the building and running at top speed for his truck, which was parked on a side street beside the library.

  They jumped in, and Sully jammed the truck into drive and rocketed out of the parking space. He shot out onto Main Street with a teeth-jarring thump, and Lindsey grabbed the handle that was built into the door, trying to steady herself as she bounced in her seat.

  The road ahead was empty; the faint sound of the police siren still wailed in the distance.

  “How are we going to find them?” she asked. “We have no idea where they might have gone.”

  “True, but I don’t think whoever is after them is going to give up,” Sully said. “The Norrgard twins are better sailors than they are drivers. I am betting that they’re looking for a way out of town where the car won’t be able to follow.”

  “They’re going to take a boat,” she said.

  “That’s my hunch.”

  “But the town marina is in the other direction.”

  “Where there are an awful lot of boats to choose from. My guess is that Stieg and Stefan are planning to use a private vessel so whoever is chasing them will be stranded.”

  “But they have to get to the boat first and have time to load Theresa and get out of there.”

  “Exactly.”

  “So your plan is to help stall whoever is chasing them, the person with the gun?” Lindsey clarified.

  “I was really just thinking about getting the license plate to the sports car on the chance that they disappear before the police arrive,” he said. “But if stalling is required, I think we can manage that, too. Assuming, of course, that you’re in?”

  “Oh, I’m in,” Lindsey said. “Do you really have to ask?”

  “No,” he said. He cast her a quick grin as they shot down the road. “Which is why I didn’t.”

  For some reason this charmed Lindsey silly. She liked that Sully knew her so well and had no desire to change her. She thought about his morning whistling and kicked around the idea that maybe Robbie was right. Maybe she was letting all of Sully’s quirks annoy her simply to keep him at a distance.

  The deeper she got into this relationship, the more powerful the hurt would be if it didn’t work out. She didn’t enjoy it much the last time they’d taken a break. Now that they were cohabiting, it would be devastating and complicated. And what about Heathcliff? He was so attached to Sully; his little doggy heart would be crushed if he lost his best buddy.

  She thought about Sully’s exuberant greeting of each day with whistling and a mug of coffee appearing on her nightstand just before she needed to rise and get in the shower. It hit her then that if he wasn’t there to whistle in the morning, she would miss it. She would miss him.

  She glanced at his profile. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes were on the road in front of him. His hands gripped the wheel with total control while he navigated the turns of a road that had no streetlights, making it difficult to know what was around each curve. Lindsey knew that she should be afraid. She should be worried about what they might find on the road ahead, but she wasn’t. She trusted him completely.

  “Hang on,” he said. He yanked the wheel to the right, and Lindsey gripped the handle on the door as she fought to keep her seat even while being belted in place. The dirt road, which was barely visible from the street, cut a narrow swath through the trees. The branches were reflected off Sully’s headlights and looked menacing with their nearly naked branches stretched out across the path, scratching the side of the truck if Sully veered too close.

  They hit a patch of bumps, and her teeth clacked together. One rut sent her bouncing out of her seat. Sully reached across the console to steady her even as he continued to steer through the thick trees, turning the wheel with the palm of his free hand. Abruptly, they landed in a clearing. Sully’s headlights flashed on the SUV and the muscle car. He had to stand on his brakes to avoid ramming into them. As his truck lurched to an abrupt stop, he snapped off the lights just as Lindsey noted that both cars looked abandoned, with the doors hanging open and the headlights of the SUV still on.

  The Norrgard brothers and Theresa had obviously made a run for it, and whoever was following them in the sports car had followed.

  Sully put the truck in park and switched off the engine. The night surrounding them seemed to pulse outside their windows with the heartbeat of a predator just waiting, biding its time as it watched its prey, waiting for them to make one false move. Lindsey shivered.

  “I’ll go first and do a sweep of the area,” Sully said. “When I signal, open your door slowly and carefully and slip down to the ground, or you could just stay here and wait.”

  “All right,” Lindsey said. Then she dashed the hope that flickered in his eyes by adding, “I’ll wait for your signal.”

  With a sigh, Sully carefully opened his door and crept out, closing it softly behind him. Lindsey held her breath, waiting for him to scout the scene and give her the all clear. It was dark in the woods, but as her eyes adjusted, she could make out Sully stealthily walking across the ground toward the cars.

  He stopped at the SUV first and checked inside. He didn’t linger but moved to the muscle car. He disappeared from sight for a moment, and Lindsey could feel her heart beating in her chest as she waited for him to reappear. He popped up a few
moments later and waved for Lindsey to join him.

  She carefully opened her door and slid to the ground. It was hard beneath her feet. The few leaves from last season were damp and didn’t crunch underfoot. It was quiet here, surrounded by trees that towered overhead. No breeze rustled through the budding leaves; no birds chirped; even the insects were quiet. The night air was chilly, and she regretted not having brought her jacket.

  She crouched down beside the truck and then hurried to join Sully by the sports car. Up close, she could see that it was a newer Camaro. The doors were open, as if the occupants had left in a hurry. She glanced inside. They had taken the keys, so obviously they were planning to come back. There wasn’t anything else in the car except for a bright yellow hooded sweatshirt tossed onto the back seat and some fast-food bags. The interior of the car had a lingering smell of a burger with onions.

  The thought that the shooter could be on their way at any moment made the dark woods surrounding them seem even more ominous. Lindsey glanced into the trees as if she had the ability to pick out anyone hiding amid the thick trunks in the dark. It was a futile effort.

  Sully was shining the flashlight app on his phone at the corner of the windshield on the driver’s side. He was snapping pictures of the VIN, and Lindsey knew he would be sending them to Emma. He hurried around the back of the car and snapped a picture of the license plate as well. He sent off a rapid-fire text and tucked his phone back into his pocket.

  “Come on,” he said. “We need to get out of here.”

  “Do you think they’re on their way back?”

  Sully scanned the area. He gave her a somber look.

  “Probably. There’s only one reason the Norrgards would take Theresa here. The hiking path through these trees gives back access to Milstein’s private dock, where he keeps his yacht.”

  “Do you think they made it?”

  “There’s only one way to know for sure,” he said. “Let’s go see if the boat is there.”