32. Julian
JULIAN
I had to pretend my feet were glued to the floor as I watched Lance walk away.
I understood why he didn’t want to give me details, especially here where anyone might come in and my colleagues might overhear, but I needed to know how serious the situation was.
How much danger was Lance in? When would I see him again?
Lance had put his number in my phone days ago.
I had to resist the urge to text him. I didn’t want to disturb him.
He needed to focus on whatever was going on.
Dax would arrive soon, and I only had another hour of work before he would take me back to Lance’s place.
Dax was scary as hell, but I knew Lance wouldn’t leave me with anyone he didn’t trust, and his cousin definitely looked like he could take down most of an army single-handed.
The library was quiet, which was typical for the time of day, but inevitably several people would come in close to closing time, usually requesting something complex and demanding we find it for them.
About ten minutes after Lance had left, I heard the door open and looked up. A man with a pointy, pinched face in an expensive gray suit paused for a moment to speak with Gwen, then headed for my desk.
I doubted this would be a pleasant interaction, but he was a library patron, and the more people who used the library, the better our chances of keeping it open. I pushed thoughts of Lance and the danger we were in away and put a smile on my face. “Good afternoon. How may I help you?”
“I’m interested in letters written by Shirley Ann Grau to her children.”
Grau was a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and a New Orleans native.
I knew we had some first editions of her work and was fairly sure we also had some of her correspondence.
“Just a moment. Let me check my records.” As I thought, the materials he wanted weren’t in the main archive.
They were stored in boxes in a storage area located behind it.
“Follow me, sir. I have some documents that will be useful for you. You can have a seat here.” I gestured to the worktable in the primary archive room. “I have to step into the back. It will take me just a few minutes to locate the items.”
“They’re not stored here?”
“We have more documents in a different room. We keep only the most frequently used items in this part of the archive.”
“I’d like to come with you to see how they’ve been preserved.”
I preferred to get the materials from the storage room myself, but technically, we did sometimes allow patrons in there, usually researchers with special requests from a local university, not just anyone who walked in off the street. “I’m sorry, sir, but?—”
“I promise I won’t disturb anything. I was a professor at Tulane with your father.”
“Oh, did you use the archive when my father was here?”
“I did. He was a good man. He really knew his stuff.”
I nodded. “He did.”
“You must miss him.” The man’s expression softened, and I wondered if I’d read him wrong. Maybe he’d just had a bad day. He seemed much friendlier now.
“I do. Every day. If you’d like to come with me, we can look for the letters together.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
I unlocked the door, propped it open, and we headed inside.
The boxes we needed were in Row D, which was on the far side of the room.
I walked along the first rows of shelves, turned into the center aisle, and that was as far as I made it.
The man grabbed me, and his arm came around my neck, cutting off my air.
I tried to scream, but I couldn’t get the breath to.
I kicked his shin, but it didn’t seem to faze him.
As I clawed at his arm, trying to shift his grip, the room began to go dark.
How could I have been so stupid? Why had I let this man come to the back with me?
Why had I trusted him? I knew better. Lance was going to be so mad.
Where was the guard from the archive? Surely he’d heard the scuffle. I shifted my weight, forcing the man into a shelf and sending boxes falling to the floor. I had to get someone’s attention. I didn’t know if anyone in the main area could hear, but I was sure the closest guard could.
I pushed back against the darkness. I would stay conscious. I would.
Then I heard a noise. Was someone finally coming to rescue me? I tried to turn, but my legs didn’t seem to work. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a small brown form. Tony.
No. If he got hurt… He needed to run. This man would kill him and then Lance… Lance… Darkness closed in. I tried to fight it, but I had no more strength. The world went black, and I doubted I’d ever see Lance again.