Page 89 of Booked for Theft

TWENTY-TWO

“The next time we order Chinese, you will pay.”

I passed out the newspapers blasting the government for the premeditated murder of Senator Godrin, and to make it clear who had been behind the tip off, I retrieved the memos, which we’d stashed in our closet. Once the meeting was over and we established the severity of the situation to everyone in the cell, the papers would disappear into our walls, preserved until they were needed once more.

Mr. Tawnlen whistled, and as the first to express any reaction whatsoever, I handed over the damning notes indicating when, where, and how the military personnel had been eliminated following their assassination of unwanted politicians and government staff.

“How did you get this?” my father asked.

“There are still a few good men and women left in the government, and they felt I was the best custodian for this information. Honestly, I won’t be at all surprised if they’re killed next. The government seems quite adept at tracking down who works against them and making certain they disappear. It just happens Senator Maybelle’s campaign information had been abandoned in an old warehouse, falling through the cracks. The staffer responsible for the storage of those documents will likely be targeted next.” I allowed some of my misgivings to emerge in both tone and expression. “I don’t think there’s anything we can do to save them.”

Mr. Tawnlen reviewed the list of names, causes of death, and dates, and after a few moments, he nodded his agreement. “You’re likely right. This does explain a great deal about everything we failed to piece together about the murders, though. This level of obstruction is practically impossible to pierce without outside assistance. And no, I don’t want you to divulge your sources. What we don’t know can’t hurt them or you. That’s not a slight against anyone here, but the less we know, the better off we all are.”

“How is that going to work if we’re trying to expose the government’s crimes?” I asked, unable to keep the exasperation out of my voice.

“We don’t need to know a whole lot to help you. We just need to know where we need to be, when we need to be there, and what our specific tasks are. Do we have any other targets?”

“Just one, and we have an October deadline for figuring out what the address is for. It’s another warehouse, but I have no idea what’s inside.”

“After this media reveal, it’s probably a good idea to let that sit for a month or two,” my boss replied with a frown. “Do you have any other information?”

“The tip suggested that we make the warehouse and its contents disappear.” I excused myself, went to my office, and grabbed my box of newspapers from my closet, thumping it onto the table before pulling out a few that included references to the fire, handing them to Mr. Tawnlen for review. After reading it over, he handed it to Meridian. “I wasn’t really expecting to become an arsonist, but if we need to make the contents disappear, then we need to make the contents disappear—after reviewing everything inside, of course.”

“We’ve been photographing and burning everything that isn’t critical,” Bradley announced. “We have memory chips with several copies of everything in digital format, hidden in a place that’ll be rather difficult to uncover. And no, we won’t be telling any of you where the hiding places are at, just that the files are as safe as we can make them right now. Once you’ve reviewed all the memos, those will be hidden as well.”

I did not look forward to removing everything out of our closet, removing the baseboard, accessing the wall, and sliding up all the papers. Bradley had handled acquiring the charmed envelopes, which would keep pests out of the documents for at least a few years before we needed to take everything out and renew the magic. “This way, if something does happen, we’re the only ones taking the fall for it.”

While my parents scowled, they ultimately offered their approval with a nod. My mother sighed. “I would rather you not take these sorts of risks, but we’re to blame for your tendencies. We raised you to help. Had I known how dangerous being helpful could be, I would have tempered your natural tendencies a little better.”

I raised a brow and regarded my mother, hoping my expression conveyed how unimpressed I was with her statement. “You raised me just fine, thank you.” Shaking my head, I picked up one of the newspapers from this morning, rereading the article. “It’s funny. All we did was take pictures of the memos, put them on hundreds of memory chips, and mail them to media outlets. We named a file with a message to distribute to all other media outlets.” I held up the newspaper, which had been one of the ones we hadn’t sent the chips to. “This one proves the media has a base desire to work together on this issue. We didn’t reach out to them.” I considered the article again, marveling over how much research work the reporter, who hadn’t been named, had done in such a short time. “Mr. Hampton helped with the mailing part. One of his illusionists disguised the envelopes, took them across the country, and mailed them from a primary distribution center. Nobody will be able to tell how the envelopes got to the distribution center, only that they were in the pile to be sorted and shipped. It took a few days for everything to make it back to the east coast, and we may have dated a few of the files with today’s date, hoping they would understand what we wanted. It seems like they did.”

“The illusionist, who will not be named, left for Europe yesterday, and she will be staying there until it is safe to return—if it is safe to return. She will be meeting with Dr. Castor to give an update on our progress, including regarding Janette’s status as an eligible candidate.” Mr. Hampton grimaced. “Sorry, Janette. I went over your head on that one, as I knew about it and have been tracking the media’s cultivation of your reputation. Someone in the media has realized you’re a valid candidate; there’s no other explanation for why they’re consistently bringing you up in a positive light. They are not allowing the American people to forget you exist, and they’re cultivating you to be a heroine a little more every day.”

“You are a bad person, Mr. Hampton. The next time we order Chinese, you will pay.”

“It could be worse, Dad. She could be ordering Indian. The Chinese is mild comparatively. She sobs over the Indian food.”

“I appreciate your mercy, and I will come prepared to suffer through at least a few bites for my contribution to this mess.”

I nodded my acceptance of his surrender. “It is settled. The Hamptons all pay for this travesty in some fashion or another. You’re off the hook for the moment, Mrs. Hampton. You brought books.”

“We should probably work on your status as readily bribable when books are involved.”

“All you received is some forgiveness for putting me in this situation, and you have to keep renewing your bribes, else the goodwill ends,” I replied with my sweetest smile. “You can bring over more of your library tomorrow.”

“Do you even have any room left in your office?” Bradley’s mother complained.

“I have enough room for at least a few more boxes of books, especially if they count as felonies.”

“I have so many felonies in my possession that we have five storage units to hold them all.”

I stared at her, well aware storage units could be sized from a closet to larger than the condominium. “How big are the units?”

Bradley’s father laughed at me. “They’re large ones. Every single librarian, janitor, and staffer at the Library of Congress packed out the heaviest box they could carry and did this for three straight weeks. Willamina was the only one willing to be caught with the collection, so everyone came to the storage units and deposited their boxes. It’s a lot of books.”

“Please tell me how many books.”

“Janette, darling, the number would send you straight into a panic attack,” he warned me in a gentle tone. “What happened at the Library of Congress is why we have been working to make sure if we do have a chance to change everything, you’re the one who rises to the top. You’re the only person who can at this point. This isn’t a new problem. You’re a new solution to an old problem.”