Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
The female voice for the GPS issued instructions to get off the highway, snapping me from my wandering thoughts. I followed the route for another ten minutes and pulled off at a nice two-story building surrounded by old trees and newer shopping plazas. It appeared the region was still being transformed from farmland into subdivisions and shops.
My stomach knotted as I got out of the car and crossed the parking lot to step inside. A pleasant hush fell over me and touched all the way to the bottom of my soul, reminding me of the blissful quiet of some of my favorite museums around the world. It was the awed quiet that came when humans were in the presence of great history and knowledge. Or, at least, that was what I imagined.
It was a nice local library with warm, butter-yellow walls and beige carpeting. On the left, as soon as I entered, was a couple of drop-off slots for books and other media. It led to a small room with a couple of windows where I could see someone dutifully checking books in and sorting them. In front of me was a round reception desk occupied by two librarians who were working at computers. An older woman with shoulder-length, steely gray hair looked up and smiled at me. I returned it with a nervous nod of my head and forced myself to stroll past her, trying to look nonchalant while watching for any sign of Rome. I couldn’t let the bastard sneak up on me.
The first floor held the usual bank of computers for anyone who needed one but maybe didn’t have one at home. A scattering of tables held a few people reading books. And past them were the stacks. First the fiction shelves and then the nonfiction. They even had a nice section for people who were doing genealogy research.
After peeking into a few of the other windowed rooms, I wandered through the stacks, trying to fight the urge to read the titles as I walked past them. Now was not the time to locate a new book to read. Besides, my residency was across the river in Ohio. It wasn’t likely that I’d be able to get a library card here, anyway.
Maybe.
No. Focus! Rome first. Books later.
If I accomplished my goal today, I’d head to the library closer to my home and get a new book there. Or maybe six. Whatever.
The library was moderately busy for a late afternoon on a Tuesday. A scattering of people sat at tables with stacks of books or even the paper, reading in the watery light that fell from the windows. There were more seated in quiet areas between the rows of tall bookshelves, lost in stacks of fiction. I inched along, peeking down the rows one by one, trying to make sure I spotted him first.
But no Rome.
It took me only three or four minutes to cover the entire first floor. Unless he was in one of the back rooms limited to employees, he wasn’t on the main level. Of course, there was a chance he wasn’t working today, and I’d have to keep returning until I caught him.
When I’d wandered through the main area, I paused near the reception desk, debating whether I could be bold enough to ask one of them if Rome was on the clock today. The danger was that they would tell Rome later that someone had shown up searching for him, which would destroy the element of surprise. They wouldn’t be able to give him a detailed description because I’d come to the library in disguise. Fine, I wore a Cincinnati Reds baseball hat pulled low, a large black hoodie, jeans, and my thick black glasses instead of my contacts, but the important thing was that I appeared nothing like I had that night at the concert. There was no way he’d know it was me who was looking for him.
Yes, this would be okay.
As I gathered up the courage to ask one of the librarians at the front desk, a loud cheer echoed through the open entrance area, causing me to nearly jump out of my skin. I twisted to spot a set of wide stone stairs leading to the second floor. The shout seemed as if it came from a group of children.
“It sounds like story time is once again a big hit,” a librarian commented behind me.
Her companion chuckled. “I thought Rome said he was planning to read the new dragon book we got in last week. He spent the morning practicing the voices for it.”
“I’m sorry I missed that,” the older woman murmured.
“You didn’t. I took some video. Let me get it.”
I tuned them out as my brain struggled to comprehend what I was hearing. Rome worked in the children’s section of the library? Just the idea that he had anything to do with children struck me as…odd. He was so evil. Heartless. Thoughtless. Selfish. How could anyone let him near kids?