Jenkins and Jacob stepped through the door onto a street. The library branch was in a charming old building and sadly Jacob could see why developers would want the land. In a few minutes of gazing at the building, he had a plan form in his head and he turned to Jenkins with a grin.
"Easy, I just need to call Flynn Carsen over at . . . ."his voice trailed off when he failed to locate his phone in the usual pocket of his coat. He patted himself down in a bit of a panic, realizing that his phone was not on him. "I don't have my phone."
Jenkins was looking at him with an expression that was a mixture of pity and bemusement. "Ah, one rule Mr. Stone, you cannot contact anyone from your old life."
"Why?" Stone furrowed his brow, looking confused. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks and he bit back sudden tears. "Right . . .dead."
Jenkins did look legitimately sorrowful. "It can be an adjustment at first, believe me."
"Oh," Stone said, nodding. Of course, Jenkins was . . .well, whatever he himself was now. An angel in waiting? Not alive at least. "But she'll be able to . . . ."
Jenkins nodded. "We're not ghosts, Mr. Stone. You'll be able to interact with her like you would have before. At least until you complete your task and move on to the Library."
"So, I can't call anyone for favors and I can't go to my office and check my laptop or books or databases and my phone is gone. So I will have to help her the old fashioned way, lots of research."
"I'm afraid so," Jenkins looked up at the library building, an expression that Jacob couldn't quite read flitting across his face. "This is where I leave you for now. When you're done for the evening, that door over there will turn gold and you can use it to access the Annex. Good luck, Mr. Stone."
With that, the old man turned and walked back through the door which after he entered turned into a non-descript service entrance. Jacob adjusted his coat, took a deep breath and entered the library.
He looked around but he didn't see any sign of the redhead from the book. There was a line of people at the desk in front of him and he really didn't want to bother the workers there. The only other person that appeared to be staff was a young Asian man who was staring at a power strip that ran cords toward a bank of computers.
"Bloody ancient wiring," the man was muttering. "Don't even know why we are even bothering, this place will be rubble in a couple of weeks."
"Hi," Jacob said, trying to get his attention.
"Yeah?" the boy asked, jerking his thumb behind him. "Check-out's back that way, mate. If you need a computer, you'll have to use the ones upstairs."
"Right, actually, I'm looking for Cassandra Cillian, do you know where she is?"
The man didn't even look up from what he was fiddling with, just pointed upstairs. "Children's department is upstairs."
"Sure, thanks."
Jacob swore he could hear the younger man mutter about reading the damn signs, but he decided that maybe the stress of the branch closing down was getting to everyone.
Jacob had followed the signs to the children's department. There were kids being assisted by a staff member but Cassandra wasn't there. He was starting to wonder if the woman wasn't working that afternoon when he rounded the corner and spotted her in front of a bank of windows. She was standing in front of one, looking outside, snow and frost sticking to the glass. She was wearing a dress with a pattern of stylized green and blue evergreens, navy tights, red shoes and a navy cardigan. But it was the way the afternoon sun filtered through the glazed windows highlighted her hair just right that made Jacob catch his breath. He might be an angel in actuality, but she looked just like one in a Renaissance painting.
When he remembered to breathe, the woman was turning away from the windows and she eyed him curiously. That's when he realized he must have been staring. He cleared his throat as she addressed him.
"I'm sorry, I was lost in thought. Did you need some help?" she put on a polite smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Actually," he swallowed and sternly reminded himself that he was dead and he was here solely for his last act on Earth. "I'm here to help ya. If you're Cassandra Cillian?"
"I am," she said, looking guarded.
"Hi," he smiled and offered his hand. "I'm Jacob Stone and I'm from the county historical society. I got your email."
This time, the smile lit up Cassandra's entire face and just like in the Annex, he couldn't help his answering smile. She shook his hand with a little noise that sounded like a joyful shout.
"So you think you can help me?"
"I'm hopin' so, the thing is," he scratched the back of his head trying to figure out a way to explain how he couldn't use the historical society's files. "We've had an outbreak of the flu in the membership." He saw Cassandra's smile fade as she looked down at her hand. "Oh, no," he held up his own hand. "I'm good, I was lucky enough to be out of town when everyone came down with it. So basically I'm the last man standin'. And that means I can't get into the records because the archivist is sick and the backup is in Canada visitin' her sister. Long story short, I've gotta work with what you've got in the library. I'm sure you have some local history?"
Cassandra nodded but sighed. "We do. But they're a mess, we've never really had anyone to organize them. I didn't have much luck myself finding anything."
"Well, that's why you've got me. Why don't you show me these files?"
Cassandra was not exaggerating when she said the files were a mess. Jacob quickly realized that he was going to have to sort them in some resemblance of order before he could even hope to find an answer to her problem. He just hoped he had enough time to accomplish this task before it was too late for both of them.
He was quickly lost in the work and the time slipped by until Cassandra poked her head into the disused office that the files were in.
"Jacob? It's closing time."
"Really?" he reached for his phone then remembered it wasn't in his pocket. There was a clock on the wall and it read ten to eight. "Wow, I got so busy I didn't realize I'd been at this for hours."
"I'm really sorry," Cassandra apologized. "I planned on helping you more but we have some vacations and a couple of people have already started their new jobs. So we've been short handed today."
"It's fine, really," Jacob sighed. "I wish I'd made more headway but I think I at least have things sorted so I know where to begin. I'll be back tomorrow. When will you be here?"
"9am, I have the day shift tomorrow."
"Okay, then I will get out of your hair then," Jacob got up and stretched. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Aren't you hungry?" Cassandra asked. "I don't think you've had anything. It's okay to bring a snack tomorrow."
"I'm fine," Jacob smiled, realizing that he wasn't hungry or thirsty. Benefits of being an angel, he supposed. "But I'll keep that in mind for tomorrow. Good night, Cassandra."
"Good night, Jacob and thank you, thank you so much for this."
Jacob told her it was his pleasure and headed out the way he came. As promised, the door turned golden and he opened it, no one on the street even noticing.
"Ah," Jenkins said as he walked in. "That took longer than I thought."
Jacob groaned, tossing his coat over a chair. "Their files are a mess. It took me all evening just to sort them into anything I can use." He sighed. "Cassandra is a sweetheart, I really hope I can help her, but honestly . . ." he shook his head. "I hate that old isn't considered valuable. That building is beautiful and should be saved because of that. But I know that ain't gonna get her a stay on construction."
Jenkins shook his head. "Well the Big Guy has faith in you. Tea?"
"Rather have a beer, but I don't suppose . . . ."at Jenkins' look, Stone shrugged. "Tea sounds great."