“How about we debate your origin story somewhere else? Like a nice warm café.”
I scanned the familiar room. Little had changed since my childhood. The book stacks lined up like soldiers, taking most of the space. There were long tables where I used to do my homework, some with desktop computers. As far as I could tell, the biggest difference was a seating area near the front window that had a circle of cushy leather chairs. Only one was taken and it wasn’t by a human.
“I see her,” I said. “And you’re right, Sinda, this isn’t the girl for you.” My breath caught in my throat and the next words were a rasp. “I sure hope she isn’t for him.”
CHAPTER SIX
Mr. Bixby pressed a paw into my toes in a demand to be picked up again. “Do not go in. I can smell him.”
“Smell who?” Renata asked. “Janny, what’s going on?”
I was already opening the door. “I have to go in. There’s a dog in need.”
“A dog who’s already dead, in case you hadn’t noticed.” Bixby’s voice rose to make sure my friends heard him as we stepped into the foyer, which was just a small area to wipe boots and hang coats on twin rows of hooks. “I’m sure she’ll be happy to wait for your first available appointment. Which is half-past never as long as that guy is around.”
“He’s gone into an aisle.” I moved into the library proper to get a better look. “We’ll take our meeting in a different one.”
The dog rarely poked me with more than words, but he aimed a jab at my chin now. “Hey. Earth to Janelle. Is this fair to Sinda and Ren? I mean, bring the poodle if you must, but have the decency to keep your friends safe.”
My feet slowed and I went back to the foyer, beckoning the others. “Can you guys wait outside? There’s potential for an awkward encounter in here.”
“Bad man, bad man, bad man,” Bijou said, lifting her muzzle. “Smells like old roadkill on a hot summer day.”
“Add a dash of yard waste and some sulfur and you’re nearly there,” Bixby said.
“Is it Oscar Knight?” Ren’s voice dropped to a whisper. “He’s been nicer lately but I still don’t trust that man.”
I shook my head. “Not Oscar, but I’ll never trust that man. Nor this one.”
“Angus,” Sinda guessed. When my expression confirmed it, she continued, “We’re not leaving you alone with him.”
“Agreed,” Ren said. “We’re in it together.”
Bixby cleared his throat loudly. “That’s all well and good when there’s a crisis but this is entirely optional. That mutt will be here tomorrow if past experience is any indication. By then Angus will have chosen his thriller novel and moved on.”
“He does have a point, Janny.” Ren watched her own dog prance in place. When Bijou marched like that, she was nervous. “We could come back in an hour. There’s still time before class. How long would a guy like Angus hang around a library?”
“Even bad guys read, I suppose,” I said. “But this can’t wait. My new friend Skye has herself in a state.” The dog had jumped off the chair and was darting in and out of the stacks. “She’s running around like the place is going to blow up.”
“Border collies always run around like that. Can’t relax.”
I knew quite a few now and he wasn’t wrong. My cousin Jilly and her friend Ivy lived with a dog who always had to be doing. His dam and sister were exactly the same way. Still, the panic in Skye’s brown eye when she stopped at the entrance to an aisle couldn’t likely be fabricated. Her eerie blue eye was harder to read.
“A dead dog’s eyes are going to be eerie,” Bixby said. “It’s a given.”
“Yours weren’t.” I signaled for the others to stand back and they obeyed about as well as Bixby normally did. As in, not at all. Bijou actually forged ahead of me, starting Bixby’s thrashing all over. “Make up your mind, pal. I’m not a service elevator.”
He chose down and I lowered him to the industrial gray carpet. “I don’t like the new kid. She’s hyperactive. The way she ran through that old lady was unseemly.” He strutted toward her and raised his voice. “Hey, you in the tuxedo. Get a grip on yourself before you give someone a heart attack.”
The border collie did the opposite, circling around us to do what her breed did best: herd.
“My goodness,” Sinda said. “I feel a cool breeze.”
Ren’s eyes were on Bijou. “Me, too.”
The poodle went ahead. “Come, come, come before she nips your heels. She’s all go-go-go. Frenetic.”
That was something, coming from a very peppy dog who’d perform a series of circus tricks on a dime.
I felt something sharp on the back of my leg. “Ouch. Do not nip me, Skye. I’m trying to help.”
“She really can bite?” Ren picked up the pace. “That’s new.”
“Nah, my last rescue was mouthy, too. Puppy teeth. This was more of a pinch, but my hose are ruined.”
“Hardly the time to worry about your hosiery,” Bixby pointed out. “Worry about your reputation. Or what’s left of it.”
I stared around, even while obeying Skye’s orders to move into the Home and Family Management section. The librarian behind the desk was frowning at us. She couldn’t hear the dogs but our voices were far louder than sanctioned library levels.
Maybe the noise drove a young blonde woman out of the aisle at the other end, perhaps before she found what she wanted, since her hands were empty. Or maybe Skye forced her out so that we could be alone.
Once we were all in the self-help aisle, Skye disappeared for a minute and then came back in the way the blonde woman had left. She could have passed right through Sinda and Ren to reach me but chose to be polite. I knelt to meet her at her level. Up close, her mismatched eyes were even more disconcerting. Mesmerizing, in fact. I felt myself getting almost lightheaded.
Luckily, I wasn’t the only one inhabiting my head. “Wake up before I nip your other leg,” Mr. Bixby said. “This is what they do. Mesmerize sheep to make them docile. They lose all ability to think independently. Makes the job stupid easy.” He got in between Skye and me and spoke aloud. “Back off, lady. Janelle Brighton is nobody’s sheep.”
Renata fought a laugh and failed. “Bixby, you are hilarious.”
He stood a little taller. “So right, Renata. But this is no laughing matter. The sheepdog is trying to lull Janelle into a trance.”
