Twelve Angry Librarians Read online

  “Of course,” I said. “I’m ready to get out of here anyway. We’re still on for dinner tomorrow evening, right?”

  “We sure are.” Randi gave me a quick hug. “We’ll talk about things a lot more pleasant than that parasite.”

  After a hug with Marisue, I watched them make their way through the crowd. I had heard enough from them to be even firmer in my resolve that Gavin Fong wouldn’t get within an inch of the job at Athena. I could only hope the rest of the search committee would agree with me.

  If the meeting with Forrest Wyatt tomorrow morning didn’t get me in trouble, that is.

  Bothered by that thought, I began to ease my way toward the ballroom doors. I’d had enough of crowds and loud conversations.

  I paused in the ballroom foyer to get my bearings. Where had I parked? In the lot behind the hotel, I remembered, and I headed for the rear exit. After a few feet, I stopped when an idea struck me. I was already on the town square, and Helen Louise’s place wasn’t that far around the square. Though I had nibbled enough cocktail party–type food to keep me from going hungry, I could make room for a piece of one of her elegant and delicious desserts. Plus, if the place weren’t too crowded, I could snatch a few minutes’ conversation with the woman I loved.

  Accordingly, I turned and headed toward the front of the hotel. Out on the sidewalk, the evening was cool, the air pleasant after the close confines of a crowded ballroom. The walk to Helen Louise’s bistro took only about three minutes. I paused at the front window and peered in. The place looked about three-quarters full. Busy, then, but not swamped. I opened the door and went inside.

  Helen Louise stood at the cash register, chatting to a young couple as she checked them out. When she finished, she glanced my way. Her lovely face made my heart turn over, especially when she smiled the way she was smiling now. I made my way through the tables to the register, and she came around the counter to greet me with a brief hug and a warm kiss.

  “This is a sweet surprise.” She took my arm and led me to the table in the corner near the register that she kept reserved for special guests. She seated herself to my left after a swift glance around to see whether she was needed. Evidently satisfied that she could take a few minutes away from work, she turned back to me with that beautiful smile.

  “I was done with the conference reception at the hotel.” I reached for her right hand with my left and clasped it. “I couldn’t be this nearby and not come to see you.”

  “And perhaps have a little dessert?” Helen Louise laughed and winked at me.

  I grinned. “Well, the thought did cross my mind, I must admit.”

  “I think there might be a slice of the chocolate tart I made this afternoon with your name on it.” Helen Louise released my hand and stood. “How about coffee to go with it? Fresh decaf?”

  “Sounds wonderful,” I said. “No wonder I love you. You spoil me terribly.”

  She bent to give me a quick kiss before heading to the kitchen. She soon returned bearing a tray with two servings of the tart, as well as two cups of coffee. She served the tart and coffee, then placed the tray on the other side of the table as she seated herself.

  “Tell me what you think,” she said and picked up her fork.

  I had a bite of the tart, and I think I gave a little moan, it was so tasty. After I finished with that bite, I said, “Heavenly, as always. No one makes any kind of chocolate dessert the way you do.”

  “Thank you, love.” Helen Louise ate a bite herself, chewed, and then nodded. “Yes, I think this is pretty good. I’ve done better, but this is good.”

  “You’re far too modest, sweetheart. I don’t see how it could be any better,” I told her before I forked another, larger bite into my mouth.

  We soon finished our servings of the tart, and then we chatted over the coffee. I told her about the incident earlier in the afternoon with Gavin Fong.

  “You couldn’t help yourself, love. I know that, but I hope it’s not going to cause you trouble. This guy sounds like the type who would sue over the tiniest thing.” Helen Louise, though she hadn’t practiced law in well over a decade, never lost the lawyer’s way of looking at things. “Have you talked to Sean about any of this yet?”

  “No, not yet.” I stared into my nearly empty coffee cup. “I haven’t told you the worst. I had a call from Forrest Wyatt’s office earlier, asking me to meet with him first thing in the morning.”

  “I think you’d better talk to Sean about this before you go to that meeting, just in case.” Helen Louise frowned. “I may be making more of this than I should, but it’s best to be prepared.”

  “You’re right,” I said. Suddenly that chocolate tart felt sour in my stomach. I drained my coffee. I glanced toward the window, where a face outside caught my attention. Gavin Fong was staring at me, but the moment he saw that I was looking back, he took off down the street.

  I thought about mentioning it to Helen Louise, but decided after quick reflection there was no point. It was nothing more than coincidence.

  “I’ll call Sean when I get home,” I said. “Though I have to tell you I don’t look forward to confessing this to him.”

  “I know he’s inclined to fuss a bit where you’re concerned.” Helen Louise smiled. “But he’s your son, and he cares about you.”

  “I know. I just don’t want to feel like the teenager getting fussed at by his father, and that’s the way I feel sometimes.” I grinned. “I have to say, though, that I like the idea I can still surprise him, shake up his notions about what his old man gets up to.”

  Helen Louise laughed. She glanced toward the door as the bell on it chimed. Seven people came in, and she turned back to me with a wry smile as she stood.

  “Looks like my break is over, love. We’re shorthanded tonight because one of my help fell today and sprained his ankle.”

  “No need to apologize. I know how busy you are. Call me later when you get home.” I pushed my chair back and stood. We exchanged one last quick kiss before I made my way to the door.

  I headed back toward the hotel, my emotions a mix of joy and annoyance. Joy from having spent even a few short minutes with Helen Louise, and annoyance at myself for letting my temper get the better of me with Gavin this afternoon. Perhaps I hadn’t taken the situation seriously enough. I knew Sean would probably read me the riot act. He worried enough in the past over my exploits, as he called them, in solving murders.

  Instead of going through the hotel to get to the parking lot at the back, I cut down an alley that ran alongside the building. The lighting wasn’t good, but I could see just enough to make my way through.

  As I neared the corner of the building at the back, I paused. Had I heard someone behind me? Were those footfalls?

  I turned to look, then the world went dark.

  NINE

  I felt a hand on my shoulder and opened my eyes to find a face close to mine.

  “Hey, man, go sleep it off somewhere else. If you don’t get movin’ soon, I’m going to have to call Athena PD. You don’t wanna spend the night in a cell, do you?”

  I realized I was lying on the ground, and I pushed myself up into a sitting position. I glared at the man in a security guard’s uniform.

  “I’m not drunk. Someone hit me and knocked me down.”

  He stood there gaping at me. “I didn’t see no one.”

  I got myself upright and stood looking down at him. “I don’t care whether you saw anyone. I was attacked.” I rubbed the back of my head. I remembered footsteps hurrying away right after I hit the ground. I must have blacked out, but only for a few seconds, I thought.

  “If you say so,” the security guard said.

  My tone was curt to the point of offensiveness when I replied. “I do say so. You can move along. I don’t need your help.” Not that you helped much, I added silently.

  He shrugged. “Well, i
f you ain’t hurt, then I guess I’ll let you be.” He turned and walked away.

  Thankful to be rid of him, I dusted off my suit the best I could. I realized my hands had scrapes and a couple of small cuts, probably from putting them out to break the fall onto the surface of the parking lot.

  I winced when I turned my head. My right shoulder was going to be stiff by morning. I think it must have taken the brunt of the impact and saved me from getting an even worse blow to the head. My head was pretty clear, and I didn’t feel nauseated. No urge to vomit, either. No concussion, then, I hoped.

  Mostly what I felt was anger. I felt sure I knew who was responsible for this. Gavin Fong had followed me when I left Helen Louise’s place, and he saw his chance at revenge when I turned down the dark alley rather than making my way through the hotel.

  I debated whether to go to the ER at the Athena Medical Center but decided against it. I was a little shaken up, but otherwise I was okay. When I got home I would tell Stewart and Haskell about the incident, and I knew Stewart would keep an eye on me, bless him, and make sure I was all right. He had come to be like the younger brother my parents never gave me.

  As soon as I reached home, I would put an ice pack on the place where Gavin struck me. I needed to keep any swelling to a minimum. I made it to my car and drove home.

  When I walked into the kitchen I found Stewart and Haskell at the table playing canasta. Diesel came to me immediately for attention. He told me, in indignant meows and warbles, how unhappy he was at being left behind. I bent slightly to rub his head, and I groaned. My shoulder was not happy.

  “Charlie, what the heck happened to you? Have you been in another fight?” Stewart laid his cards on the table and jumped up to examine me. “Look at you. Your hands are scraped, and you’ve got dirt on one side of your face.”

  “Not a fight.” I grimaced. “Well, a one-sided one. I was attacked a little while ago in the parking lot at the Farrington House.”

  “Did you see who did it?” Haskell went immediately into cop mode while Stewart led me to the sink to wash my hands with antibacterial soap. Diesel followed, still complaining, though in more muted tones. Dante danced around, barking occasionally.

  “No.” I winced as the soap made contact with the cuts in my hands. “But I’m pretty sure I know who was responsible.” I explained about seeing Gavin Fong peering in the window at Helen Louise’s bistro. “It was shortly after that when I left to go to my car. I’m sure it was him.”

  “Do you still have your wallet? Cell phone?”

  I felt like an idiot. I hadn’t thought about that. I remembered feeling my wallet in my pocket, however, when I fished my keys out. “I have my wallet. I’ll have to check for my phone when Stewart finishes with my hands.”

  “In a moment.” Stewart rinsed my hands under the warm water, then dried them with paper towels. He patted my jacket pocket where he knew I usually kept my phone. “It’s there.”

  “So not robbery,” Haskell said. “Then I reckon it probably was that guy, trying to get back at you. How are you feeling? Any symptoms of concussion?”

  “No, I feel all right, only bruised on my right shoulder, and my hands of course. Oh, and I’ve got a bump on the head.” I smiled at Stewart. “Would you mind making me an ice pack for it?”

  “I’m on it,” Stewart said. “You sit right down there and take it easy.”

  “Thanks.” I did as he told me. Now that I was home, and my immediate needs were being addressed so efficiently, I felt able to relax. “It was a cowardly thing to do, to hit me from behind so that I couldn’t defend myself, but I almost can’t blame the jerk. I never should have punched him today.”

  “Maybe so.” Haskell frowned. “But he shouldn’t get away with it. If only you had seen him, you could press charges.”

  I shrugged, and my shoulder twinged. “I didn’t see him, so there’s nothing more I can do. I will do my best to avoid him the rest of the conference, I promise you.” Lisa Krause would have to find someone to take my place for the panel discussion on Saturday. The less contact I had with Gavin the better.

  Stewart handed me a plastic bag with ice wrapped in a towel. I held it to the bump on my head. The coolness soon began to soothe the ache.

  “There were no witnesses?” Haskell seemed determined not to let it go.

  “No, I don’t think so. A security guard found me on the ground, but he thought I was drunk. When I told him what happened, he said he hadn’t seen anyone besides me.”

  “I guess that’s that, then,” Haskell said. “The main thing is you weren’t badly hurt.”

  “As far as we can tell,” Stewart said. “I’m going to keep an eye on you, Charlie, to make sure you don’t have a concussion.” He grinned and batted his eyelashes at me. “Just a warning, so that when I creep into your bedroom at two a.m. and wake you up, you know why.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh at that. I didn’t relish the idea of being awakened during the night, but I knew arguing with him would not achieve anything.

  “I appreciate your concern,” I said. “Not a word about this to anyone else yet, if you please. I will tell the family, but when I’m ready to. Are we clear on this?”

  Both men nodded, Dante barked, and Diesel meowed loudly. “I guess that covers everyone.” I shared a laugh with Stewart and Haskell before getting slowly out of my chair, keeping the bag of ice in place at the back of my head. “I think I’ll go upstairs and lie down for a while, if you don’t mind.”

  “Fine, but I’m coming with you to make sure you get up the stairs all right.” Stewart’s tone brooked no argument.

  He kept a hand on my free arm as we moved out into the hall and up the stairs. Diesel ran ahead. Haskell held Dante back in the kitchen. The last thing I needed was to take a tumble because the poodle got under my feet.

  In my bedroom, Stewart helped me ease my jacket off and then my dress shirt. He pulled down the neck of my tee shirt to examine the sore shoulder. “Looks like it will be nicely colored by the morning. Let me get you another ice pack for it. I’ll be right back.”

  He was out the door before I could say anything. I managed to get my shoes off by pushing them off my feet and letting them fall where they might. I went into the bathroom to take some aspirin, then came back to sit on the side of the bed, ice pack against my head, until Stewart returned. In the meantime, Diesel watched me anxiously, head-butting my free arm a few times. I spoke to him and assured him I would be okay.

  When Stewart returned with the second ice pack, he hovered nearby while I took off my pants, then helped me position myself in bed with the two ice packs. Diesel stretched out on the bed next to me and continued to watch.

  “I’ll be back in a little while to check on you, maybe refresh those ice packs if you need me to.” Stewart turned off the overhead light and switched on the reading lamp by the window. He came back to stand by the bed.

  “Thank you. You’re an excellent nurse.” On impulse I added, “I’m really thankful you are part of my family.”

  Stewart smiled down at me. He squeezed my unhurt shoulder for a moment. “I’m thankful, too. Any time you need me, I will always be here for you,” he said softly. Then he slipped out of the room.

  Diesel yawned beside me, and he soon fell asleep. I felt a little drowsy, thanks to the aspirin, but the cold spots at my head and my shoulder reminded me that I still ached. My hands hurt a bit as well.

  It could have been a lot worse, I told myself. I wondered what Gavin had used to hit me. I didn’t think it was his hand, or hands. He wasn’t the martial arts type, as far as I knew. Whatever he used, he hit hard, but not hard enough to kill.

  Had he meant to do more than knock me out? I didn’t know why that thought hadn’t occurred to me before. I felt a little sick to my stomach as I considered the possibility.

  Had he been trying to kill me? Did he really hate me t
hat much?

  Or did he want my job badly enough to commit murder for it?

  TEN

  Stewart woke me twice during the night, and each time I came awake quickly. The second time I got up and took more aspirin, then went back to bed and fell promptly asleep. When I woke the third time, the bedside clock told me it was nearly seven. Diesel was gone from the room, and I suspected he was downstairs in the kitchen with Azalea.

  I tested the back of my head. Sore, but not as painful as I expected. My shoulder had stiffened, but a hot shower ought to help that. My hands remained sore, and I needed to clean the cuts again and dab them with some antibiotic ointment.

  In the shower, while I let the hot water hit my stiff shoulder, I thought about the attack. I had a gut feeling Gavin was responsible, but I had no way to prove it. Maybe he owed me that much, since I knocked him off his feet twice in twenty-five years.

  I had talked to Helen Louise last night, the first time Stewart woke me. It was around ten o’clock then, and I knew she ought to be home and getting ready for bed. I didn’t keep her on the phone long because I knew how tired she was after a full day at the bistro. I also didn’t tell her about the incident with Gavin. I didn’t think anyone else would tell her about it before I had a chance to, and I didn’t want her lying awake, worrying, when she needed rest. I would tell her about it when we were face-to-face so that she could see that I was okay.

  Twenty minutes later, showered, shaved, and dressed for the conference, I went downstairs. To my surprise I found my son at the table, eating a hearty breakfast. Diesel greeted me first. Sean waved a fork in greeting. I could see he was busy chewing.

  I greeted Azalea in the meantime, and she poured coffee for me while I took my accustomed place at the table. When Sean could speak properly, he said, “Morning, Dad. What’s this I hear about you getting in fights yesterday?”