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“You sure your landlord is okay with this?” she asked in a teasing tone.
“I excel at fixing things. And I doubt he will find a lawyer willing to take on an interstellar case.” He smiled halfheartedly and shoved his hands in his pockets.
“I’ll come back and help after work.”
It was his turn to shake his head. “No, you do not need to become further entangled in my dilemma. You have helped more than I could expect already.”
“I want to help.” She knew what it was like to feel hunted, knew what it was like to want to go home. Mere had no desire to say goodbye to Anders, but the thought of him in the clutches of the government who had killed his family made up her mind.
“Only if it is safe, Meretta. If there is any doubt as to your safety, do not come.”
“Agreed.” She let him believe it was her safety she worried about. In the end, she would show up as long as she wasn’t leading them right to his door. “I really have to go.”
He pulled her to him and kissed her softly on the forehead. “Thank you.”
Mere wanted so much more from him, but now wasn’t the time. She let her emotions show in her eyes, in the softness of her touch, in her reluctance to let him go. She left without another word.
Her parking spot was still free from large government vehicles when she returned to the library. She’d done what she could and now had a role to play in keeping them away from Anders.
Special Agent Gaudin returned about an hour before closing, a sneer plastered on. “We have a warrant for your computer logs and any document requests.”
Dee watched out of the corner of her eye but let Mere handle the situation.
“Certainly.” Mere took the paper and looked it over. “I will inform the county attorney and the town’s legal counsel, then I’ll pull these for you.”
A short delay. Anything to tweak Agent Gaudin’s nose. He was starting to annoy her, reminding her of Tyson in manner and tone of voice.
“Ms. Larsen, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were stalling.”
“If I was stalling, I’d pull out the handbook and read the procedure to you. Now, if you don’t mind, let me get on with my job and you can have your records that much sooner. And you’ll need to talk to Mr. Shiratori about the server logs. I don’t have access to those.” She said it with a sweet smile, but her eyes were nothing but steel.
“Fine, whatever.”
Agent Okabe entered the library and strode over. “Everything good?”
“She’s delaying,” Gaudin said.
Okabe nudged her partner, and he clamped his mouth shut, thank God. “Thank you, Ms. Larsen. We appreciate your diligence.”
“She’s doing this on purpose,” Gaudin hissed as Mere walked toward Dee.
“Let this play out, Gaudin,” Okabe muttered.
“Dee, could you please copy the computer sign-up sheets?” Mere raised her voice to ensure the agents heard her.
“Sure. How far back?”
Mere had decided her strategy on the way back from lunch. She was going to be the most cooperative librarian these agents had ever met. If they demanded records, she was going above and beyond to provide every last piece of paper, every last digit. Overwhelm them with data. It might buy Anders enough time to accomplish what he’d come here for.
“As far as you can,” Mere whispered.
She had scanned the warrant, and it failed to specify the beginning date, so they’d copy all the things. It could take days, weeks, maybe months to get through it, even from their small-town library. The paid staff was only the two of them, their systems were old, some still analog, and their copier had the habit of getting jammed every hundred pages or so. But they had lots of records. Even with a dedicated team, it would still take time, hopefully enough.
She made the required phone calls and got the verbal go-ahead from her manager and the town attorney. The attorney spoke to Okabe, informing her he needed to be present before any records were handed over. She looked grumpy about it, but he arrived in under ten minutes. He read over the warrant and gave it to Mere.
Thirty minutes later, Mere sat at her computer and downloaded the information called for in the warrant onto a thumb drive as Agent Okabe watched over her shoulder. Browser histories, log ins, and inter-library loan requests. She started Dee on copying the sign-in sheets and other physical records.
“Is this all of it?” Okabe played with the thumb drive.
