Yesterdayevening’s mission didn’t exactly go according to plan.Giannamanaged to get the information onAbineri’splans all right, but that ledLedgerand me to jump on an agency plane toCuba, where we had to parachute onto some farmland outsideHavana, ride motorbikes into the city, and then infiltrate an enemyguaridaand sabotage their plans to acquire theEradicationproject.
Welanded back onUSsoil at theBaltimoreairport 24 minutes ago.Wecut it close enough that the only wayIcould make it here on time was to helo-rappel in.
Ifnothing else, the busyness has kept me from being able to worry excessively about takingMackenzieto the gala tomorrow.Ifthings had been less busy,Imight have told the director thatIwas not willing to put her in that kind of danger, even if it would help keep her out of danger in the long run.Asit is,I’mjust left with worriesIcan do nothing constructive about.
And, surprisingly, it has also left me with a bit of excitement for the gala.I’vegone to plenty of events like it, and thinking about attending one withMackenzieis bringing a smile to my face.Sois this event tonight.
Mackenzietold me some of the activities this group has done in the past— laser tag, roller coasters, archery.Ican handle any of those things, even as tired asIam, andI’mgrateful to be heading into something easier after how my previous forty-eight hours have gone.
Iwalk down the same tree-lined and aging sidewalksIremember from my childhood, with the strip of grass between them and the cracked asphalt pavement of the road, and cross to the other side of the street toward the library.Foras close as this town is to urban centers, it doesn’t feel big.It’snice and quiet and full of unique shops and places to eat.
Anda whole lot of historic buildings.WhenIwas a kid, the library was in one of those historic buildings, and it was teeny.Thislibrary now, though, looks more like a school than a library and is easily ten times the size of the historic library and probably twice as big as a town this size needs.
Assoon asIenter the library,IspotMackenzieand a group of a dozen people talking quietly but excitedly not too far from the doors.IrecognizeMackenzie’sfriendLivibut no one else.Assoon asInear, a woman in her early twenties with blonde hair so light it’s almost white, and who’s wearing a sticker name tag that readsSophia, asks me in her bestI’mtrying to be quiet becauseI’min the library butI’malso kind of pumped upvoice, “Didyou see a helicopter before you came in?Iswear it wasright here.”
Andthat’s the trouble with rappelling into places.Thenoise. “Yeah,”Isay, “Isaw it— it was flying pretty low.Iwonder where it was going.”
Awoman with honey brown hair in a bun and long nails with designs on them whose name, according to her name tag, isEvesays, “I’mgoing to text my friend,Randi, to see if there is any chatter about it on the police channels.”
Great.
Thenan older woman with wispy silvery hair andBrendaon her name tag shakes her head and says, “Justbecause you’ve got a fishing net doesn’t mean you’ll catch a mermaid.”Hercomment makes no sense, given the context, yet it somehow also makes perfect sense.
Throughthe group of whispering people,Mackenziethrows me a smile that tells me she’s really gladI’mhere andIcan feel my smile in my ears.Withas iffy as getting here seemed for a while,I’mextra gladI’mhere, too.
Mackenziegets everyone’s attention by simply talking at a normal volume.Weare in the lobby, not near the stacks, but still, her voice feels loud in this place. “Thankyou all for coming.Wehave a couple of new peopleI’dlike to introduce you to.First, we haveJaceLancaster.He’sjoining us fromCloakwood, but he grew up inCipherSprings.”
Imay have gotten used toMackenzieknowing my real name, butI’msuddenly very uncomfortable having everyone here know my name.Especiallybecause one balding white-haired older gentleman is looking at me like he knows me.Idon’t remember everyone from whenIlived here as a kid, andIdon’t recognize him.Everyoneclaps, but since we are in the library, they mostly do the motion without making the sound, which makes it feel likeI’vejoined a mime convention.
“Andanother couple of first-timers areIsabellaandBecky.”
Ifthey are anything other than identical twins, thenI’mimpressed at their parents’ ability to create a direct copy of a previous child.Everyonedoes the mime clap again, and this time,Ijoin them.
Therest of the group is a mix of people between the ages of about twenty-one and sixty-eight, by my guess.
Eve, the woman who texted her friend to listen to the police channel, says, “Pardonthe interruption, butSallyWaterssays someone dropped down out of the helicopter like we are being invaded.Butmy husband says he heard thatTheBacheloris filming nearby this season and that it was just them doing some kind of publicity stunt.”
Howmany people did she text?Ishouldn’t have rappelled down so close to people.I’vebeen away from living here just long enough to forget how small towns work.
Evecontinues. “RalphThompsonthinks it’sAmazontesting out a new delivery method.Oh, and the official word fromDellainDispatchis that it’s probably a weatherman from a local station.”
Aman in his twenties—German, his name tag reads— says, “I’mbetting it was just some kids making aTikTokvideo.Itwouldn’t surprise me if it was one of theBartonteens.”
Irub my forehead.Noteto self:Don’trappel into a small town ever again.
Overthe sound of everyone giving their opinions on the reason,Mackenziesays she’s going to call theBartonsto see if they are still coming, and then she steps out.
Thegentleman in his sixties comes over to me, so he must really think he knows me.Itry to not let myself go on high alert.Hestops beside me and joins me looking in the direction of the door thatMackenziejust left through. “So, you’reMackenzie’s‘mystery man,’ huh?”
Wait.Irecognize that voice.Myeyebrows draw together andIsquint asIstudy the man.Ittakes a moment, but it’s the eyes that end up giving him away.Ilook around to see if anyone is within hearing distance of us.Theyaren’t.Ina quiet voice,Isay, “Abraham?Isthat seriously you?”
Abrahamsmiles.
“Wow.Greatdisguise.”Theman looks a good ten years older.Andthere is very little about him that tipped me off that it was him.Hereally is good at his job.
“Thankyou.Thisis my around-town disguise.I’mHammyhere, by the way.”Henods toward the door. “So, you andMackenzie?”
Itry to tamp down the heat rising to my face.I’vebeen trained to withstand interrogation.Ican keep myself from appearing… what is thisI’mfeeling?Rattled?EmbarrassedthatIlet myself fall for someoneI’msupposed to be shadowing?I’mnot sure.Whateverit is,Iwipe it clean off my face.
