Dom rolled his eyes, like maybe even he thought he was overreacting a little. “You don’t understand how long it took to convince Crispin that this was a good idea.”

  “I think I have a decent idea of how long it took.” Lady had overheard a lot of the arguments. She had even been involved in a couple of them. She had taken Dom’s side. Maybe she didn’t like Chad, but she had always thought help seemed like a good idea.

  “We interviewed a lot of people.”

  “A lot of people?” Lady didn’t remember hearing about that many candidates. She wasn’t aware that more than a couple dozen people even knew the Dark Lake library existed.

  “We interviewed several,” said Dom, correcting himself with a pointed look at Lady. “But it was a lot of interviews. There was a lot of back and forth. We had to vet people, look at their references. Crispin spent hours talking my ear off about who was and wasn’t the right choice. It took forever, and after all that, this guy doesn’t show?” Dom shook his head. “Don’t get me wrong, he seemed like a moron. I couldn’t stand the guy, but he seemed like he would work out. I figured me not being able to stand him was a point in his favor.”

  “He did seem like a suck-up,” Lady said with a nod. “How’s Crispin taking all this?”

  “He’s worried.” Dom took a few steps away to pull the rolling desk chair over and take a seat in it. “He won’t be thinking about what to do next until he has Chad’s side of things. He just went out to grab us something to eat. Neither of us have had lunch yet.”

  “Do you think he’ll fire Chad over this?”

  “Depends on what his reason for not showing up is, I guess. Personally, I have the numbers of the other people we were interviewing pulled up and ready to go.”

  “Were there any other promising candidates?” Lady didn’t bother keeping the sarcasm out of her voice. It seemed like getting a job at the Dark Lake library was more difficult than getting into most colleges.

  “One or two. There was a girl we both liked. I might give her a call.” Dom changed the subject. “So, what are you doing here?”

  “It’s a public library, isn’t it? Am I not allowed to come to the library when I feel like it?”

  “Are you here to check out a book?” Dom asked in a tone of voice that suggested he knew she wasn’t there for that reason.

  There was no point in being coy. “Ms. Poole told me to go meditate.”

  “So you came to the library.”

  “I’m supposed to mediate out in nature.”

  “So you came to the library.”

  “There are woods out behind the library, aren’t there?”

  Dom raised an eyebrow. It looked like he had something to say, but the door at the front of the library opened. It grabbed both of their attention. Crispin appeared a few seconds later, his arms full of disposable cups and a brown paper bag. Lady hurried over to give him a hand. “Here. Let me.” She took the drinks from him before he spilled one of them.

  “Lady!” Crispin’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

  “Neither did I until about an hour ago. I would have called, but I wasn’t sure you would be here. Didn’t want to interrupt a day off.”

  Crispin continued to the counter and put down the paper bag. “I’m not sure either of us will have a day off for a while.”

  “I told her what happened,” said Dom. He was already opening up the bag. He pulled a burrito shaped cylinder of tinfoil from it.

  “Have you heard anything from him?” asked Lady.

  Crispin shook his head. “No. I hope everything is all right.” He looked from Lady to the bag. “Are you hungry? I would have grabbed something for you, but I didn’t know—”

  “I’m fine,” Lady said quickly. “You guys eat. Don’t mind me. Seriously.”

  “She’s here to meditate,” Dom said around a mouthful of burrito. He had already unwrapped his.

  “Outside?” asked Crispin. “It’s a hot day for it.”

  “It’s what Ms. Poole told me to do, so I figure I better at some point.”

  “The heat is great for meditation,” Dom said with a casual wave of his hand.

  Lady snorted. “Yeah, according to Destiny.” That girl thrived in the heat. Maybe she should go to her for advice.

  “According to anyone,” Dom insisted. “Here. How about this. Let me finish eating and I’ll go out there with you, show you how it’s done.”

  If you could just show someone how to meditate that easily, Lady wasn’t sure why Ms. Poole wouldn’t have done it yet. Then again, Ms. Poole did like her finding things out through her own legwork. “Sure.” She shrugged. “Why not?”

  It didn’t take long at all for Dom to finish his lunch. He took his drink with them when they headed outside. Crispin stayed behind to mind the library.

  “How often do you meditate?” Dom asked as they walked toward the woods.

  “I don’t know. Does it count if I fall asleep?”

  “Not really.”

  “Then I don’t meditate much.” Lady pulled her ponytail back from her neck. She was already starting to sweat again. “I tried with Crispin a couple of days ago, but that didn’t really work out.”

  “I’m not surprised. I can’t imagine he offered you any pointers. He doesn’t meditate. He can barely relax. I think he’s one of the most high strung people I’ve ever met.”

  “He was reading.”

  “That sounds about right.” Dom lifted up a branch and ducked under it. They had reached the woods. Pine needles crunched underfoot as they pressed in deeper. At least it was cooler in the woods. There was a lot of shade. “So you and him, huh?”

  “What?” Lady genuinely didn’t catch what he was getting at first.

  “You and Crispin.” Dom didn’t look back at Lady. He was walking ahead, leading the way. “You’re a thing now, yeah?”

  “A thing?” Lady repeated, not sure how she was supposed to take that turn of phrase. She wasn’t sure what else she would call their relationship. “Did Crispin say something to you?”

  “Not exactly. He doesn’t have to, though.”

  “We’re planning a date,” Lady said before he could get the wrong idea. “They’re kind of loose plans, but… yeah. We’re going to see how that goes.”

  Dom stopped walking once he reached the base of a particularly large oak and turned to face Lady. “You like him?”

  Lady could feel her face warming up. “I think he’s a good guy.”

  “He is.”

  Lady was starting to wonder if all this had a point aside from making her very uncomfortable. “So, what? Is this like a warning? I’m not setting out to break his heart. It’s not even serious yet. We just have plans to go out for dinner. That’s all.”

  “I know.” Dom sat down and motioned for her to do the same. “I’m not trying to give you a hard time. I’m just… surprised.”

  Lady sat down across from him. “What’s so surprising?”

  “I don’t know… How’s Otsuya taking all of this, by the way?”

  “You knew she had a crush on Crispin too, huh?”

  “Who didn’t?”

  “Crispin, apparently. He seemed pretty shocked when I told him.”

  That got a laugh out of Dom. “Yeah, I guess something like that would go over his head.”

  “She’s all right. I mean, she was pretty mad at first. I think she’s still kind of upset if I’m being honest. We talked, though. We’re still friends, and she gave me the go ahead.”

  “That’s good.” Dom seemed to be done with the subject. “Now close your eyes.”

  Lady didn’t much feel like trying to meditate now that he had gotten her mind going with all that relationship talk. She closed her eyes anyway. Instinctively, she tried to clear her mind. Not that she was doing a very good job at it. All she could focus on was how hot it was. Also, the ground wasn’t exactly comfortable to sit on. Pine needles were scratching at her upper thighs something awful.

  “Breathe in deeply,” said Dom. He had a low voice and it was actually sort of soothing when he wanted it to be. “When your lungs are full, hold it there for a couple of beats then exhale slowly. Do the same thing when you’re lungs are empty. Don’t breathe in for another couple of beats. Keep doing that. Find a rhythm.”

  Lady did as he told her. The air wasn’t exactly pleasant to breathe. It was thick and hot. She did it anyway, though. At least when she went home tonight she could tell Ms. Poole that she had tried.

  “Now find something to focus on,” said Dom. “Obviously, not trying to think of anything at all isn’t working out for you if you keep falling asleep. I like to focus on my breathing. If that doesn’t work for you, you can have a picture in your mind. Some people think of a beach. Some people think of a big open field. Heck, if you really need to you can just leave your eyes open.”

  Lady considered opening her eyes, but she decided to try something else first instead. She thought of the woods around her. She thought of trees. She thought of a breeze coming through the branches.

  Dom didn’t say anything else and, gradually, Lady felt herself beginning to relax. The heat became less of a concern. She focused on the image before her and watched as it became more and more vivid. She saw branches sway and heard the wind. Something caught her eye—or her mind’s eye, as it were.

  There was movement on the trunk of a nearby tree. Lady focused on it. At first, she wasn’t sure what she was looking at. It was red and sleek and it moved quickly. A lizard, maybe? Lady was trying to zero in on it a bit better when something in the real world snapped her out of her meditation.

  “Hey! Guys?! Are you out there!”

  Lady opened her eyes. Across from her she saw Dom do the same.

  “Guys!” someone shouted again. It was Crispin, she realized. Had Chad showed up? She couldn’t imagine he would leave the library unintended otherwise, not even for a moment.

  “Yeah, we’re out here!” Dom shouted. The volume and suddenness of his voice made Lady jump.

  “Do you think you could come back here?!”

  Dom sighed, annoyed. “Yeah! We’re on our way!” He turned his attention back to Lady. “Well, that sucks. It seemed like you were really getting into it.”

  Lady nodded. “I was… I think. You know, you’re not a bad teacher.”

  “You don’t have to sound so surprised by that.” Dom stood and offered a hand down to Lady so that she could do the same.

  Lady grabbed Dom’s hand and let him haul her to her feet. “You just don’t seem like a guy who meditates much.”

  “Anyone can meditate.”

  “Apparently.” She started back toward the library. “So what do you think’s up?”

  “Dunno. Probably something important if he came all the way out here to yell at us. He could have just called my phone.”

  Crispin wasn’t at the edge of the woods when they got there. It seemed like a safe bet he had gone back inside. They headed around the building and went in. “We’re back!” Lady called. Her body had adjusted to the heat outside. She had nearly forgotten how nice the AC felt.

  “I’m over here.” Crispin’s voice came from the direction of the front desk. He was standing behind it, his cellphone in hand.

  “What’s up?” asked Dom. He had composed his face into a serious expression. It was obvious from Crispin’s furrowed brow that something was wrong.

  “Destiny just called,” said Crispin without looking up from the face of his cell phone. “I think we should head down there.”

  “Why?” asked Dom. It was the obvious question.

  “There’s something going on. I’m just not quite sure what, but…” Crispin clearly had his own ideas, but he shook his head. “I don’t know for sure. I just think we should go down there and see for ourselves.”

  “Okay,” Dom said slowly. “Who’s going to stay and watch the library?”

  Crispin finally looked up. “Oh.” It seemed he hadn’t thought of that, which was something of a surprise. The library was always on his mind. “Um… Well…”

  “Why don’t you stay here?” Dom suggested gently. “I’ll head down there and see what’s going on. I’ll give you a call once I’m there. Where’s she at? The marina?”

  Crispin nodded. “You can stay here and I can go down. I don’t—”

  “I’ll go,” insisted Dom. He didn’t say it, but they could both see that Crispin was a little flustered.

  “I’ll go too,” said Lady. She was curious now. It was impossible not to be. “Unless you want me to stay here. Are you okay, Crispin?”

  “Hmm? Yeah.” Crispin nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. You both go on. Give me a call as soon as you’re there, okay?”

  “Got it.” Dom grabbed the keys from the counter and headed for the door.

  Lady followed close behind. “What the heck was that all about?” she asked once the doors had closed behind them.

  “No idea.” Dom pulled his cellphone out as they walked to the car. He pressed a few buttons and brought the phone to his ear. Lady could only assume that he was calling Destiny. “Hey… Yeah… Yeah… That’s what he said. What the heck did you tell him?”

  Lady strained her ears to try and hear what was being said on the other end of the line, but she couldn’t make it out. She gave up and got in on the passenger side. Knowing Dom, he might just leave her if she lagged behind too much.

  They were already pulling away by the time Dom hung up the phone. “So?” Lady prompted when he didn’t immediately launch into an explanation of what was going on.

  Dom glanced over at Lady like he had forgotten she was there altogether. “Hmm? Oh.” He looked ahead at the road. “Well, I don’t know for sure yet, but it sounds like we might know what happened to Chad in a few minutes.

  Chapter Five

  It didn’t take them long to get to the marina. Dark Lake wasn’t very big when you weren’t traversing through it on foot. Dom had some trouble finding a place to park. The police were already there, and they had made a perimeter. A loose one with yellow police tape and only one officer standing nearby, but a perimeter all the same.

  Dom parked near the road and together they got out. It wasn’t difficult to get closer. All they had to do was walk around the office building. No one saw them move close to the docks.

  Lady wasn’t too worried about getting in trouble. She knew the guy in charge. She could see him in the distance, tall and lean and standing near the docks beside a figure that looked like Destiny. Together with Dom she approached.

  Conners frowned when he noticed the both of them. “I guess you two didn’t have any trouble getting over here?” It sounded like a rhetorical question. He was glaring in the direction of the officer guarding the perimeter. True to form, the officer didn’t notice. He appeared to be looking down at his phone. Dark Lake law enforcement was not known for their stellar police work. Conners turned his attention back to Lady and Dom. “Why are you here?”

  “I called them,” said Destiny, raising a hand. She was wearing even less clothing than usual. Aside from her short shorts all she had on was a red bikini top. She didn’t seem the least bit concerned about her revealing attire. It was too hot for modesty, it seemed. Not that Destiny had been a particularly modest person to begin with.

  “I guess it’s just as well,” sighed Conners. “The kid worked for you, right? Destiny says Crispin recently hired him on at the library.”

  “He did,” said Dom. “Mind filling me in on what’s going on here, though? I don’t exactly have all the details.”

  Lady took her first proper look around. Aside from the police cars, there was an ambulance. Its lights were on, but it didn’t look to be going anywhere.

  “My boss found him,” said Destiny. “He’s in his office right now. He’s pretty shaken up about the whole thing. I don’t blame him.”

  “Found him?” Lady winced. That didn’t sound promising. “So is he…”

  “The EMTs said it was heat exhaustion.” Conners nodded down the pier. “It’s a hot day, but normally we don’t see this sort of thing. The elderly collapse sometimes, but he was young. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a guy his age dropping dead like that.”

  “Heat exhaustion?” Lady felt an involuntary shiver go down her spine despite the temperature. That sounded like an awful way to go. “And he just collapsed? And died? Here on the pier?”

  “Not on the pier exactly,” said Conners. “And we won’t know more until we have a medical report.”

  “His parents had a boat,” said Destiny. “He took it out sometimes. I’ve seen him out here checking on it, bringing friends to look at it and stuff. That was where they found him. I guess he was working on the boat and didn’t really notice how overheated and tired he was getting until it was too late.”

  Lady could remember the time she had been doing yard work for some foster parents she had when she was younger. She had gotten so overheated mowing the lawn once that her vision had gone all black. She remembered leaving the lawnmower running and stepping away to vomit in a ditch. That you could die from that sort of thing was a scary thought.

  “Have you told his parents yet?” asked Lady.

  Conners nodded. “They work out of town, but the father isn’t far. He said he’d meet us at the hospital.”

  “That sucks,” said Lady, which felt like a callous understatement as soon as the words left her mouth.

  “Did you find his phone?” asked Dom.

  Conners had to think about that for a moment. “I think he had it on him. Why?”

  “He was supposed to open the library this morning. I called him. Crispin and I both did.”

  Conners frowned, considering that piece of information. It took Lady longer than she cared to admit to realize why that was odd. “Do you know when he died?” she asked.

  “Not for certain. Not yet,” said Conners. “But I would assume it wasn’t all that long ago. Sometime today would be my guess. The library opens early, right?”

  “It’s still mostly dark out when we get there,” Dom confirmed with a nod. “So if he didn’t show up this morning, it wasn’t because he was dead.”

 

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