The next morning, I woke up eagerly. It's a Saturday so I have nothing to do, technically. Rolling out of bed, I look to see an unread text message from Debra AKA Daniel.

Shit. I forgot to send him a message when I got back last night.

Meet at usual spot if everything is fine noon. If not, alert will be sent.

Sometimes I really wished that he wouldn't be breathing down my neck as much. He could literally just ask "Are you ok? Confirm please" and we could avoid an unnecessary check-in. But then again, I understood the concern.

Throwing my hair in a ponytail, I got changed into some running clothes. Checking the time, I realized it was only 10am. Maybe I could go for a longer run today?

Checking the map app on my phone, I quickly mapped out a longer run utilizing some of the smaller trails leading to the park. After I meet Daniel, I could go see if I could find that book at the local library and local bookstore.

I grabbed my headphones and plugged them into my phone. I locked the door behind me, walking down the stairs to the street access point. I looked outside, seeing it was cool and cloudy. It was nice weather for running, but was colder than I would like, personally. Clicking play on my running playlist, I began running down the street, until I hit the trails.

I had decided to take a trail through the woods, as I often missed that aspect of running. The streets were fine, but they were so open and bare, nothing compared to the seclusion of wooded trails.

It was peaceful and I could feel the air on my skin and the vibrations of my feet hitting the ground. It was now February, and the trees were bare. The leaves made soft crunching noises with every step I took.

I lost myself in my pace and the feeling of running free, and before I knew it, I had reached the park. Pulling my phone out I was it was only 11:30. Still had half an hour before I would meet Daniel. I pulled my headphones out, and decided that I could stretch. It was just cold enough to dissuade people from coming to the park, so there were a few dogwalkers, a few families playing ball, and then some of the other individuals minding their own business.

A few stretches in and I saw a familiar suited man sit at the third bench from the lamppost. Checking the time, I saw it was 11:55. I guess I could head over a few minutes early.

I sat next to him.

"You're early today," he said, scanning the area before us.

"Decided to take a run."

"You didn't text me last night."

"I got back late… It just slipped my mind."

"You know the dangers of 'mind slips,' don't you?"

"Yes, and I am really sorry. It's also my first one in three years so you really can't fault me-" I began to ramble before he cut me off.

"We are letting you off with a warning. But be careful. Ruining the routine leads to slip-ups. You know that."

"I do," I said, my gut tightening at the thought.

"Here," he said, grabbing an envelope from his pocket. "We got notifications that someone is looking into a background check for you, so we beefed up your background. Learn it. Live it."

I stared at the envelope that likely held more fictional "facts" about me. No doubt one of the people I met, likely Penelope, had tried to pry into my past to know who they were meeting.

"Thanks," I said, tucking it into my waistband.

"See you next month."

"Yes," I said. No later had the words left my mouth then Daniel had gotten up and left.

I stared after him, and began to wonder where he went to. I knew his first name only, yet he knew everything about me, both in this file and not.

Getting up, I began to walk to the local Stafford Library, which was about half a mile away. It wasn't a bad walk, but I began to feel cold, as I was no longer running.

The library wasn't large but was enough to house the book needs of the Stafford community. There was rarely more than ten people, excluding the librarian, there at a time, especially on a Saturday afternoon.

"Ms. Bennett, good to see you," came the voice of Patricia Everglades. Patricia was an older woman, short and round with small little glasses. She had let her grey hair grow long, not opting for the shorter haircut most women of her age did. She was often cheery.

"Hello Patricia, and please, it's Sarah," I said, reminding her to not call me by my last name.

"Well, Sarah, how can I help you today?"

"A friend of mine recommended a book and I was wondering if the library had it?"

"Here let me pull up the directory," she said, glaring at the computer screen with a profound hatred. "Name and author?"

"Arthur Conan Doyle's The Mystery of Cloomber?"

"One second… Yes, we do have it, let me just write the call number down for you… and there you are!" she said, scribbling the number on a scrap of paper for me.

"Thank you, and I'll be back in just a second," I said, giving her a smile as I made my way to the section where the book lay.

"And there you are!" I said, triumphantly pulling the book from the shelf. It had taken me a few minutes, but soon enough I held the prized book in my hands. I then made my way back to Patricia.

"Can I check this out?" I asked, handing her the book.

"Just one?" she said teasingly.

"Don't worry, I will be back soon enough!" I said, laughing.

"Alrighty, and there you go. Enjoy!"

"I will and have a nice day!" I said, holding the book close to my chest. I left the library and decided that a quick coffee would be a nice treat to take back to my apartment to read the book. Making my way to Backroads Coffee, I decided that I would also get a sweet treat.

I deserved it after that run.

Chuckling to myself as I entered the shop, I walked to the counter.

"Jen, can I get the regular and a bear claw?"

"Someone's feeling fancy!" she said, smiling as she rung up my total. I paid my cost before making my way to the table. I looked at the book for the first time, noting the green and tan cover. It hadn't been read much as evident by the lack of discoloration from oils.

"Sarah?" I looked up and saw Jen was standing with my mocha and treat.

"Thanks," I said, turning to leave, but not before stopping before a familiar tall figure.

"Spencer?" I asked. He gave me a small smile before saying, "You said the mochas were good so I figured I'd try. I see you found the book?"

"Yeah, I did find the book," I said. "And I'm looking forward to reading it."

"That's good."

"Are you staying or…"

"I prefer to sit and drink my coffee."

"If you want, I could stay and keep you company?" I asked. Why would I offer that? Stupid. He probably wants to be alone.

"I'm planning on rereading Pride and Prejudice and some case files, so if you want to join me in reading, feel free."

"I think I will," I said, sitting down at a table as Spencer walked to the counter and ordered his drink.

Hopefully, he didn't spoil my book.