Chapter 8

"You've got a leaf in your collar."

Rhetta blinked, turning away from her computer screen as she asked, "What?"

Leslie smiled at her, "You've got a leaf in your collar."

Rhetta reached up and plucked the wilted leaf out of her collar. She stared at it, then crumpled it and dropped it into the trashcan.

"Rough morning," The older woman asked as she poured alcohol on the cloth and rubbed it on the plastic cover of the picture book in front of her.

"Something like that," Rhetta replied.

"Aren't you going to tell me?"

Rhetta turned to look directly at Leslie. The woman's hair was loose; it tumbled around her shoulders and waved down her back in loose curls. Rhetta noticed that the woman was wearing more eye makeup than she normally did and that she was wearing a soft pink lipstick. Rhetta decided that the slight changes in Leslie's appearance were pleasing and made the woman look younger. Leslie smiled at her and continued, "It's not as if I'll tell anyone. We don't run in the same circles."

Rhetta considered the woman's words, then told her an edited version of the morning's events, "I had to take my dogs on a walk. Things got a little messy because of all the puddles and I had to bathe them, so I didn't have time to rinse off before coming here. The leaf must have gotten caught in my hair at some point."

"That sounds like a fun morning."

"I'm going to assume that was a joke," Rhetta said slowly.

"Of course it was," Leslie replied, laughing quietly.

Rhetta smiled, "Oh good."

"Excuse me."

Rhetta looked up, smiling politely, "Can I help you?"

The tall man smiled down at her, not speaking. His head was shaved and gleamed in the fluorescent lighting of the library. His angular jaw, high cheekbones and deeply arched brows gave him an almost pixyish look; a small scar cut his left brow in two. He wore a casual, blue suit that any business man might wear, though his tie was knotted loosely and the top two buttons of his dress shirt were undone. Rhetta blinked, unnerved by the blank expression in the man's eyes. She blinked, waited several seconds, then asked again, "Can I help you?"

The man leaned down, staring her straight in the eyes as he asked quietly, rather threateningly, "Do you know the MacManus brothers?"

"Who?"

"The Saints, do you know them?"

Rhetta nodded, brain working furiously for a moment, then she replied easily, half smiling, "Oh them. Of course I know them."

"Really?"

"Well, yes. Everyone in Boston knows them. We even had children dress up like them for Halloween." She smiled wider, playfully, being sure to keep her voice as light and airy and irritating, "Would you like me to find the short stories written about them? They're quite fascinating, and most are well written." She lowered her voice, "Though, if you're interested in the speculative articles and fictions written about them, I'd advise you go visit the magazine section or go online."

He stared at her, the skin around his mouth and beneath his eyes tightening. He continued smiling as he said, as pleasantly as he possibly could, "No, I don't want the book. I want to know if you know them personally. That is all I want to know."

"Why on earth would you think that I know them?"

Leslie cleared her throat. Rhetta looked at her, turning away from the man as she did. She mouthed 'Help.' Leslie blinked, then got to her feet and stared straight at the man, "I have to ask you to leave. This is the children's section and your presence is rather suspicious. If you do not leave, I will be forced to call the police."

The man stared at Leslie. Leslie was not tall, but she suddenly exuded an aura of command; Rhetta found it oddly comforting and at the same time frightening. When the man did not comply with her order immediately, Leslie reached over and picked up the phone. She dialed quickly and it was barely a second later that she was saying, "Darby, yeah, it's Leslie…..We've got a freak over here…..I need you to come pick him up…Tall, blue suit, bald, scar on his left eyebrow…..Of course we're still on for dinner…..Send someone with a Taser… A baton would be nice as well….Yeah, make it fast…..Thanks." She put the phone down and looked the man in the eyes, "You might wanna leave now."

The man retreated, expression cold as he stared at Leslie. Rhetta shivered, then smiled and said, "Thanks."

"What was all that about?"

"I think I upset him."

Leslie raised a brow, "Right."

Rhetta smiled weakly, "I really can't tell you anything."

"I wasn't going to ask," Leslie replied. She continued confidently, "Besides, I know you'll slip up and I'll find out someday. I'm not worried."

"Good to know," Rhetta said.

Leslie sat down and turned back to her computer. She tapped the keys hard and soon had pulled up a document. Rhetta glanced at it and noticed the title, "What is that?"

"It's pretty self-explanatory, isn't it," Leslie asked with a small smile, "'The Creep List' is really obvious."

Rhetta shrugged, "I just wanted to be sure."

Leslie turned back to the screen and began typing as she said, "Anytime I see someone or something odd, I add them to this list. Darby prefers if it I can give her a description in writing as well as orally."

"Who's Darby," Rhetta asked curiously.

"A friend," Leslie answered.

"Is she a dispatcher or an officer?"

"Officer. She should come in – or she'll send someone else – in a few minutes to get the description." Leslie changed the subject abruptly by asking, "Where are your little minions?"

"It's a school day. They won't be in till after three."

"I thought you had some homeschoolers."

"Not this year."

The end of their conversation was punctuated by a deep, somewhat awkward silence. They went back to work. Nearly an hour passed and Rhetta was alphabetizing a large cart of children's books. She had almost finished when Leslie spoke up, voice firm, "Even if you're not going to tell me what's going on, I'm not letting you go home unless you have a ride. I'll take you if you can't get someone else, but you're not going anywhere on your own, understood young lady?"

Rhetta looked at the woman, smiling slightly, as she leaned down and slipped on her high heels, "Understood."

She got to her feet and headed toward the stacks, pushing the cart in front of her. She ducked into the stacks, hidden from Leslie's, and the general public's view, and slipped her cellphone out of the pocket of her jacket. She dialed and raised the phone to her ear. It took several moments for the call to go through. After a moment, then call was answered and Rhetta said, "Hello Mrs. Hanlon…..Yes ma'm I'm calling from work…..I was just wondering, would you be a dear and ask Mr. Leary if he could pick me up on his way home from work….No, not this very minute…..Oh, something happened and my coworker thinks I need a ride home…..Better safe than sorry and all that…No, you really don't need to ask Connor and Murphy….Shouldn't they be at work…Well, if they work nights then they really don't need to be woken up….No, don't ask them….Hello….Hello…" She ended the call, "Damn."

She slipped the phone back into her pocket and began pushing the cart again.

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A thousand apologies for being so inactive lately. And more aplogies for this being more of a filler chapter than anything else. The boys will reappear very soon.

My computer got a virus and it erased my Word program, so I haven't been able to type anything new. Then, my computer decided it hated my flashdrives and refused to work with them for ages. And now, after much prayer sacrifice and near the near homicide of a laptop, everything's been straightened out.

Anyhoo: Thanks ever so much to cemmia and My Funeral Love Song for their Reviews.

And special thanks to rckyfrk for the PM.