"He's dangerous, Henry!" Jo snapped. "He has to be stopped, but not at the risk of your secret. I can handle him."

"The Library can protect my secret, Detective," Henry replied, glaring at her. "I have survived for two hundred and–"

"Thirty-five years, yes, you've mentioned it." Jo ran her hands through her hair, frustrated. They had been going in circles for hours. She was the Guardian. She may have only known that for less than a day, but she had been a guardian of sorts her whole life. She knew what she needed to do. She needed to hunt down Adam and kill him with the pugio dagger to eliminate the threat to the Library and the Librarian.

Henry did not agree. "I understand that you are the Guardian, Detective," he said in a tight voice. "I understand your need to protect me. However, it is unnecessary. I cannot die."

"But you can be caught," Jo retorted. "Do you have any idea how many security cameras there are in the world? It's incredible that your secret had survived the twenty-first century. If you go after this Adam on a crowded city street, you might as well check yourself into a psychiatric hospital." He flinched, and she pressed on, determined to make her point. "You have no idea where to even begin looking. I'm a detective. Finding criminals is my job. Let me do my job, Henry."

"That's not why the Library called you," Charlene said from the doorway. She was supporting the teenage boy. "That's not your job anymore, Detective Martinez."

Jo didn't want to talk about the situation in front of Ezekiel. She gave Henry a look that said We will finish this conversation later! before helping the boy to a chair. "How's your head?" she asked.

Ezekiel shrugged. "It's fine. I've had worse, and Charlene said there was nothing special about the dagger." He shifted in his seat, giving Jo a wary look. "Did she say you're a detective?"

Jo raised her eyebrows at him. She recognized that look. "Yes, but don't worry, Ezekiel – I work in homicide, not burglary. I have a feeling you'd interest some of my colleagues, though."

He jumped to his feet, but she put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him gently back down. "I'm kidding, Ezekiel. At least, for the moment." Taking a seat next to him, she propped an elbow on the work table. "What happened today? Do you remember?"

He narrowed his eyes at Jo. "I'll tell you, only if you swear not to mention me to your colleagues."

"I promise."

He gestured to Henry, who had taken a seat on the other side of the table. "Is he a detective? He has to swear, too."

"What about me?" Charlene asked from behind him.

"You don't look like you ever leave the Library," he retorted without turning around. "I'm not worried about you."

Henry smirked at Charlene, who was sputtering indignantly. "I am not a detective, but I swear to keep your secret nonetheless."

Ezekiel hesitated, looking from Jo's face to Henry's. At last, he sighed and said, "This Adam guy, he approached me while I was on a heist in England. Said he'd heard that I was the best. And I am, no lie. Ezekiel Jones, world-class thief, at your service." He gave a theatrical bow from his seat. "Anyway, Adam offered me a million dollars if I would break into the Metropolitan Public Library for him. Showed me the money, too. I said, sure, no problem. Then he said there was a catch." He shook his head. "Should have known it would go south after that."

"What did he say was the catch?" Jo asked.

"The Metropolitan Public Library was only a front for another Library underneath. Said that in addition to the million, he would let me loot whatever I wanted from this secret Library. There would be ancient artifacts, manuscripts, things like that, which would be worth a fortune on the black market. If I got him in, he would let me take all of it."

Henry asked the question that was on Jo's mind: "How did you get in?"

"It was tricky," Ezekiel admitted. "At times it seemed impossible. But no lock defeats Ezekiel Jones, even one that I've never seen before. There's always another trick. I picked up a few items here and there, items rumored to be, um..."

"Magical?" Henry supplied.

"Yeah. I mean, it can't hurt, right? So I used those items, and when put together, they showed me and Adam a way into the Library other than the front door. There was a tiny elevator, more like a dumbwaiter, and it led us down here."

"The service elevator," Charlene muttered. "I might have known."

"We will do something about that," Henry sighed. "What happened next, Mr. Jones?"

"At first everything was fine. I was grabbing items–"

Henry opened his mouth, looking furious. Charlene forestalled his complaints by saying quickly, "I put them all back, calm down, tiger."

Ezekiel grinned at Henry, unabashed. Then he sobered. "And then Adam saw Charlene here, and he kind of went crazy. He pulled that old dagger out of his pocket and held it to my throat. You saw the rest."

"Did Adam say why he wanted to get into the Library?" Jo asked.

Ezekiel shook his head. "Not in so many words, and I didn't ask. But he did say that he was looking for someone, and he'd brought a present for them."

Jo and Henry exchanged looks. The revolver? Or something else?

"At any point when you were in the Library with Adam, did you lose sight of him?" Henry inquired.

"Only for a minute. I think I heard him putting something on a shelf."

Henry sat up straight. "Do you remember where?"

"Uh, it was near this thing that looked an awful lot like the Ark of the Covenant. In one of those first aisles of books, on the left."

Jo patted Ezekiel's hands and got to her feet. "Thanks, Jones." She looked at Charlene; Henry was already out the door and halfway down the hall. "Charlene?"

"I will stay here with Mr. Jones," Charlene replied, taking Henry's chair. "Be careful, Guardian." As Jo left the Annex, she heard Ezekiel ask,

"That's not really the Ark of the Covenant, is it?"

"It is, actually." Jo could picture the look on his face when Charlene cautioned, "And no, you may not steal it, thief!" Chuckling, she picked up the pace and called after Henry.

"Henry, wait up!"

I hope I'm getting these characters right. What do you think?