by Rose Pressey
“Are you sure it’s not the same one?” Mary Jane asked.
I touched the cover. “No, Tom took that one with him.”
Grandma Imelda flipped open the cover. The book had the same cream-colored pages with black elegant writing. There was one thing different about this book though.
This book belongs to… was written in the center of the page. Underneath the name Meredith in pretty script was listed.
Grandma Imelda and I exchanged a look.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t like it one bit.” Grandma Imelda turned the book in her hands.
“What does it say?” Mary Jane asked with panic in her voice.
“It belongs to Meredith,” I said.
Her eyes widened. “Then how did it get here?”
“That’s what I’d like to know. It wasn’t here minutes ago.” I gestured toward the shelf.
“Do you think she slipped in through the back door?” Mary Jane asked.
I rushed over and checked the door. “It’s locked still. What are we going to do?”
Grandma Imelda hoisted the big book up from the counter and clutched it in her arms. “I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. We’re going to take the book back.”
Maybe that was the logical thing to do, but I didn’t know what to say to Meredith. She would obviously be upset. Plus, she had lied to me about not knowing any magic. Why had she done that?
“I don’t think she’s in her shop yet. It’s too early,” I said.
“We’ll find a way in.” The twinkle in her eyes made me a little nervous.
I’d never seen this side of Grandma Imelda. She was a mad grandma.
Chapter 8
After locking the front door, Grandma Imelda, Mary Jane and I headed out the back door of the café. I figured we would be less noticeable if we slipped around from the side of the café instead of going out the front door. I didn’t want anyone to see us going across the street to Meredith’s shop.
We crossed the road and walked down the alleyway toward the back of her shop. We didn’t hurry because that would have looked even more suspicious. Grandma Imelda still had that huge spellbook clutched in her arms. We should have hid it in one of the café’s giant to-go bags.
Mary Jane tried the side door. It was locked. Of course this was when it hit me. How were we going to get in the shop to put the book back? Why hadn’t I thought of that sooner?
“Grandma, how are we getting in?” I asked.
Her mouth twitched. “I will think of something. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
I trusted her, but this time I had no idea how she would pull this off. Magic spells wouldn’t open doors. Not that I’d ever seen.
“I’ll try the other doors,” Mary Jane said as she walked toward the front.
I stood with Grandma, trying to think of a way to get in. I knew that the doors would be locked. That made me wonder how the person had gotten the book from her shop when it was locked. I supposed the same way they had gotten inside my café.
Mary Jane reemerged from the back of the shop. “The doors are all locked.”
“I figured they would be,” I said.
Mary Jane stared at me.
“What? You look strange.” I quirked an eyebrow.
“If you really want in, I think I can get us in,” Mary Jane said, scanning the alley.
I couldn’t believe we were sneaking into this place.
“We need to put the book back. It’s not as if we are taking something,” Grandma Imelda said. “We’re bringing something back.”
“I guess she does have a point,” I said. “Okay, how can you get us in?”
Mary Jane motioned for us to step closer. She stood in front of the door. She pulled out a credit card. “This won’t work if there’s a dead bolt.”
I nodded. Mary Jane slid the card down the side of the doorframe right at the handle. There was no way this was going to work.
The lock clicked and Mary Jane twisted the knob.
“I can’t believe that worked,” I said.
She wiggled her eyebrows. “My parents used to lock the door on me all the time when I sneaked out. They never figured out that I could get in. I used my library card.” She laughed.
“Okay, ladies, let’s do this.” Grandma Imelda pushed past us.
“I hope there’s not an alarm,” I said as I inched inside.
Of course Grandma Imelda was already all the way inside, so apparently there was no alarm.
Rory had said Meredith needed to get better security. It looked as if she needed to get any security. Of course if she was anything like me she would always forget to use the alarm. In light of current circumstances, I had to remember in the future.
We had entered into the office. There was a desk with a computer in the middle and a bunch of filing cabinets on the far wall.
“What do we do with the book?” Mary Jane asked.
That thought had just popped into my head too.
“We can just leave it on her desk,” Grandma Imelda said.
“I think she’d know for sure that we were in here then.” I noticed empty bottles on a table across the room. Were they for potions?
“She’s probably going to know anyway,” Mary Jane said.
“You’re probably right.”
I just had to take a peek around while I was there. I had been in the building when it was a beauty salon.
I opened the door across the room. “Hey, look what’s in here.”
I’d thought it would be just storage. It was so much more than that. The small space was full of books. They all looked like the spellbook that Grandma Imelda still held in her arms.
“Grandma, give me the book, it has to be heavy by now.” I took the huge thing from her arms.
“Wow, look at all the books,” Mary Jane said, stepping inside the space.
“This isn’t a normal collection,” Grandma Imelda said, looking around.
“Why do you say that?” I asked.
“No one has this many books.” Grandma Imelda touched one of the spines with her purple polished fingernail.
I moved over to one of the shelves for a closer look. It looked as if they were all volumes of the same book. Obviously the book left in the café came from this collection.
“Why did someone leave this book at the café?” I ran my hand across the cover.
“I don’t know, but we need to find out where all these books came from,” Grandma Imelda said.
That seemed impossible.
Just then a bang came from somewhere in the building. We froze and I thought for a minute I might have stopped breathing.
“What do we do now?” Mary Jane whispered.
“We should get out of here,” I said.
I motioned for Grandma Imelda and Mary Jane to follow me. Before I left the little room, I slid the book back onto the shelf. There were other volumes missing, so I wasn’t even sure that I’d put it in the correct spot. That was better than keeping it though. We hurried across the office and to the side door where we’d slipped in moments earlier.
We didn’t get all the way out the door though.
“Put your hands up,” the officer said with his gun pointed at us.
I stuck my hands in the air and immediately froze. Mary Jane and Grandma Imelda did the same. Had someone called the police on us? Maybe there was an alarm after all. At least I had gotten rid of the book first. It would have been harder to explain why we were there if I’d been holding the book.
I had no idea what excuse I would use. I couldn’t believe that I was getting my sweet little grandmother arrested.
Chapter 9
Sitting on the curb next to my grandmother and best friend with my hands cuffed behind my back was one of the most humiliating things I’d ever experienced. It was even worse than the time I had tripped in the high-school cafeteria and landed face first into my food tray. Even worse, spaghetti had been served that day. No matter how old I got,
the embarrassing moments never stopped.
“Sorry I got you into this, Grandma,” I said.
“That’s okay, dear. After all, it was my idea to bring the book back.”
“I’m the one who unlocked the door,” Mary Jane said.
“I think it’s safe to say we were all equally involved,” I said.
I had no idea what they were going to do to us. Would the police take us to jail? We hadn’t taken anything, but they didn’t know that. The sound of a car making its way down the road caught my attention. I recognized the car right away. Tom parked in front of us at the curb. He climbed out from behind the wheel of his black BMW. How had he found out so quickly? I wanted to avoid eye contact, but it was too late.
An officer walked over to Tom before he had a chance to say anything to us. I had no idea how I would explain what had happened. As Tom talked with the police, a voice that I recognized came from somewhere behind us. When I looked over my shoulder, I spotted Meredith talking with the police. She must have sensed my stare because she looked right at me and frowned.
This night just kept getting better. I turned back around and stared straight ahead. She was still looking at us though because I felt her stare on my back.
Just then the officer and Tom approached.
“Okay, ladies, please stand up.” He motioned for us to get up.
“That’s not easy for someone my age to do with her hands secured behind her back.” Grandma Imelda shimmied back and forth trying to stand.
The officer leaned down and helped Grandma Imelda up. In the meantime, I was embarrassing myself in front of Tom by wiggling around on the sidewalk trying to get up. Finally, I got to my feet. The officer had already released Mary Jane and Grandma Imelda. Next, he stepped over to me and freed my hands. I twisted them around and tried to act nonchalant as Tom stared at me.
He stepped closer to me and I knew I wouldn’t be able to avoid this conversation forever. He looked as if he hadn’t slept, but he still oozed sex appeal as usual.
“I suppose you’re wondering what happened?” I said with a smile.
He didn’t smile back and just looked at me. I guessed the innocent act wasn’t going to work on him. I’d still give it a try though. I was doing everything short of batting my eyelashes.
“Why don’t you tell me what happened?” he asked.
I released a deep breath and then recounted the entire story, as ridiculous as I knew it sounded.
“I’ve never heard of that many spellbooks in one collection,” he said.
I pushed the hair out of my eyes. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Grandma Imelda said she hadn’t either.” I couldn’t tell by his expression if he believed me or not. “Look, even if you don’t believe me, you should believe Grandma Imelda. She would never lie to you.”
“It’s not that I don’t believe you, Elly. I’m just trying to wrap my mind around all of this. There’s a lot going on in a short amount of time.”
He kind of looked hurt that I thought he didn’t believe me. But what was I supposed to think?
“I should go talk with Meredith.” He gestured.
“Before you go, how did you get them to let us go?” I asked.
He attempted a small grin. “I have my ways.”
I watched as he walked down the alleyway toward Meredith. Yes, he certainly did have his ways. I observed their conversation, wishing that I knew what they were saying. A couple of times they looked over at me, and I tried to pretend as if I hadn’t been staring at them by studying my shoes or examining my sparkly pink polished fingernails.
After a couple more minutes, Tom returned.
“What did she say?” I asked.
He looked me right in the eyes. “She said she has no idea what book collection you are talking about.”
“What?” I said a little louder than I should have. “We saw it with our own eyes. She can’t deny it.”
Tom shoved his hands into his pockets. “I don’t know what to say, Elly, she denies any knowledge of a collection of spellbooks. But she isn’t denying that she had one book that was found at your shop. She is admitting to that now,” Tom said.
“Gee, that is so sweet of her,” I said sarcastically. “I want to know why the book was at my café.”
“That’s something I’m working on finding out,” Tom said.
“So did you ask to go inside her shop to look for the books?” I asked.
He ran his hand through his hair. “I mentioned it and she didn’t want to let me look.”
“Ah-ha!” I thrust my finger up, using it as an exclamation point to end my sentence. “See, she is trying to hide them.”
“I can’t force my way in, but I’m going through all the necessary steps so that I can gain access.”
Well, at least that was a start.
Meredith looked at me one more time before stepping inside her shop. I knew something was going on, but I had to find out what.
“Let’s go back over to the café.” Tom gestured toward the café.
I nodded. “Yeah, I am ready to get out of here.”
We headed across the street. Mary Jane and Grandma Imelda had already gone inside. It had already been one heck of a morning and we hadn’t even had the breakfast crowd yet. Just as Tom and I stepped inside the café his phone rang.
When he looked at the screen, he said, “I have to take this call.”
Chapter 10
Tom walked over to one of the booths at the corner of the café. I picked up a towel and pretended to be wiping off tables. He watched me out of the corner of his eye. He probably knew that I was trying to overhear the conversation.
“You have no record of her?” Tom said in a low voice.
I didn’t dare look over there because he might go outside to take the remainder of the call. Who was he talking about? Who did they have no record of? Would he tell me if I asked? Probably not.
Tom hung up the call and walked over beside the table where I had been wiping the same spot for the past several minutes. He stood there a second before saying anything and I pretended like I didn’t know he was there.
I glanced over. “Oh, are you finished with the call?”
He eyed me suspiciously. “Yes, I’m finished.”
He looked as if he was trying to read me. What was it about that call that he didn’t want me to know?
“I have to go somewhere, but I’ll be back soon.”
I set the towel on the table. “Okay. Sounds serious?”
“Just routine stuff,” he said as he walked toward the door.
I knew he wasn’t being truthful. I followed him to the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk with him. Tom had just turned to say something to me when we noticed Rory on the other side of the sidewalk. Meredith appeared from around the corner and approached Rory. They didn’t look over at us. Tom and I exchanged a glance.
“I forgot to mention that Meredith is Rory’s cousin.”
“Interesting,” Tom said under his breath. “What has he said about her?”
“Not much actually,” I said.
“See what you can find out from him.” Tom looked as if he was stunned at what had come out of his mouth. “Wait. I take that back. Don’t do anything until you talk with me.”
I placed my hands on my hips. “What do you think I’m going to do?”
“Elly, you’re on thin ice. The Organization doesn’t know what’s going on here. You don’t want them to shut the café down, do you?”
The heat rushed to my face. “They can’t do that. I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Just keep it that way, okay?” Tom said.
We watched Rory and Meredith for a few moments longer. They still didn’t look over at us.
Tom finally said, “I’ll be back soon. Let me know if anything happens.”
If the Organization wanted to close the café, I wasn’t so sure I would tell Tom anything. I knew he didn’t want to see the café closed, but he also had a job to do. If he didn’t
have anything to report then he wouldn’t get in trouble. Therefore anything I found out I would keep to myself.
Tom walked across the street toward his car. Rory and Meredith never looked over at him and he didn’t say anything to them.
This whole thing just got weirder by the minute. I stood on the sidewalk for a moment longer. Just how long would Rory talk with Meredith? Would he ever even look this way? The thought had barely left my mind when Rory and Meredith looked over and caught me watching them. Rory said something to Meredith and then headed across the street toward me. Meredith watched me for a moment. Actually, she was giving me a death stare. Finally, she turned and went back into her shop. I got the feeling that she didn’t like me much. The feeling was rapidly becoming mutual.
“Good morning,” Rory said when he approached. He grabbed me in a hug and then kissed me. When he stepped back he looked into my eyes.
I said, “I guess she told you about what happened.”
Rory smiled. “Yes, she mentioned it.”
“I know what I saw.”
Rory nodded. “I really don’t believe she is involved with anything magical. My family just isn’t the magic type. We’re not crafty.”
I knew that she was lying to Rory, but I couldn’t prove it at the moment so there was no sense in arguing about it. “I don’t want to get you in the middle of anything between us.”
“I was just on my way to pick up a few things, but I wanted to stop by and make sure you were okay.”
“Did she say anything about the strange man around the shop last night?” I asked.
Rory stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I think it was probably just someone walking home.”
I frowned. Was he being serious? That was clearly not someone out for an evening stroll around town.
Rory kissed me again and then said, “I’ll call later.”
“Sure, I’ll talk with you soon.”
I watched him walk back across the street. Something was off, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Mary Jane stepped out. “Imelda is looking for you.”
“Yeah, I’m coming.”
