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Before she could respond, Grady gave her an assessing look and said with an ironic smile, "Oh, and I&039;m quite certain I a any coht have been moved to make "Any news, Linwood?"
Macey was only too happy toShe didn&039;t look back as she started off down the sidewalk, cheeks still burning over her rash suggestion that a va woman
And the fact that Grady heard it
Not that it ain, and thank goodness for that
As she rushed along, she continued to berate herself That strange book had captivated her, and the story didn&039;t want to leave her alone For the last two nights, she&039;d been having those sa stalked and hunted by red-eyed va had happened at the library earlier today Macey was secretary to the director of accessions (with aspirations of being head librarian herself one day), and Dr Morgan had received a visitor early this h, as it turned out, the visitor hadn&039;t been looking for Dr Morgan He was a nice-looking young e, dripping u else That in itself was unusual, because just about everyone who came into the library was either in possession of one orin which to put one orfor a book
The young man looked intently at Macey, who&039;d enthusiastically taken a break froue file she&039;d done since eight o&039;clock Typing up card catalogue files was much more tedious than one would think, as she&039;d quickly learned She preferred to be walking a books and old h a newly acquired to the classification of the title and where it would go on the shelf And you never knehat sort of fascinating inforh a book
But when she looked up at the visitor, Macey&039;s first ister She wasn&039;t certain why she had that thought Maybe it was the co way he looked around the roo off, or evenBy the tierous about him
A sharp spike of nerves made Macey fumble with the pencil she&039;d picked up The newcomer carried himself with confidence and boldness, and he was dressed expensively in spats and a tailored suit A bloodred handkerchief, silky and patterned with black dots, stuck up from his breast pocket, folded in perfect, fan-like creases She found herself looking at his silhouette beneath the fitted jacket to see if she could spot the bulge of a gun, and wondered what she would do if he pulled one out
And the way he looked at her was odd It sent a gentle prickle over the back of her bare neck and across her shoulders, almost as if a chill draft brushed her skin In fact, she felt a distinct chill lifting the hair at the back of her neck, and she wondered if he&039;d left the outside door open when he came in
"Miss Gardella?" He stepped closer to her desk No one else was around; the rest of the department was at lunch
Macey looked up at hi to hide the fact that her knees were shaking What on earth rong with her? At least her voice came out calmly and steadily "May I help you?"
He looked at her more intently, and for a moment, Macey felt as if her insides waveredas if her vision swung and shivered For just an instant, she felt dizzy "I&039; for Miss Gardella," he said, still focused on her
She shook her head, and it took great effort to pull her gaze away fro and she feltsoupy "I&039;m sorry, sir, I&039;m not aware of anyone by that naan, he ht be able to help you Do you knohat departe place, and I&039;ether and annoyance colored his expression His eyes flashed red for an instant, then she disination and cloudy head A?
"No, that won&039;t be necessary I must be mistaken" The man turned and strode out of the office before she could ask his name
It was only after he left that it sunk into her thoughts that he&039;d asked for Miss Gardella In fact, it seemed as if he&039;d initially called her Miss Gardella
Gardella was the name of the family of vampire hunters in Mr Starcasset&039;s book
How coincidental
The dance club called The Gyro was loud and crowded, just the way the flappers liked Good ether on the sides, and, if you were daring and knew the right word or phrase, entrance through a secret door behind the h that doorat least, not so far
The wall behind the dais where the piano stood appearBy the time shes blooded to be an innocent panel of mirrors, but the third one was the secret door Macey knew this because she&039;d seen it slide open once, and because Flora had told her
"Do you know the password?" Macey&039;d asked her friend, jiggling her foot in tiently on the table
Flora shook her head, and her tight reddish-blond curls hardly moved at all "No, but I think Jimmy does"
Jimmy was Flora&039;s older brother, and he often accoh he hadn&039;t tonight Macey liked it when he caht bother thester shoot-outs, police raids, and other violence related to the so-called beer wars Since she and Flora weren&039;t about to stay in like two old maids with their cats (not that either of theht when the massive, smashed-nosed Jimmy came with them
Macey suspected he probably knew more about ent on behind the secret door than he let on, and e of a firearm under his arm, beneath his coat But he was Flora&039;s brother, and she&039;d known him for more than a decade because she and Flora had been friends since they were ten The two girls had grown up on the same street in Skittlesville, walked to the same school, and had the same ferocious piano teacher
In fact, that was how they&039;d co over their mistreatment by Mrs Pevensey Macey&039;s , and her father-orked for the British government-had promptly sent her as far away from him as possible She was shunted off on several faland to New York, and finally to farm country in the Midhen she was ten From then on, Macey was raised by a distant cousin and her husband, ned a timepiece shop in the tiny Wisconsin town Then Macey&039;s father had proceeded to get hiue memories of hiht be vague, but her feelings toward hiust, and pain rose inside her whenever she thought of being shipped off and abandoned by someone as supposed to love her-at least a little
"Any luck finding a job?" Macey asked, leaning close to her friend so Flora could hear her over the music and loud conversation They&039;d ether, initially getting jobs at the saed each other all along the way But in the last few ot her dream job at the university library and Flora lost hers at the pool, she&039;d seen less of her friend
"I had an interview yesterday for a position with another typing pool, but I&039;m not sure if they&039;ll callof coffee, and it spilled everywhere on the lady&039;s table" Flora rolled her eyes and saze "I&039;ht her by surprise
"Well, considering the fact that I knocked the cup over before I even got to the typing test, and it spilled onto Miss Henworth&039;s light pink skirt and stained itI never even got to the test"
Macey bit her lip "Oh That&039;s not good at all Do you have any other prospects? I keep looking at the job postings at the university to see if there&039;s anything for you I&039;an to recommend you if we find a suitable one"
"Thanks But I think I&039; non-secretarial Maybe I&039;ll work in one of the garra And if they don&039;t have anything, I&039;ll go to Chestwick"
Macey tried to keep her expression neutral Working in the gar work Flora washer eyes over tiny stitches day after day after day "Oh, don&039;t give up yet, Flo I&039;ll ask around Maybe there are some jobs that haven&039;t been posted"
"I have to pay rent, Macey Because I sure as shootin&039; don&039;t want to move back home As mean and crabby aswith , and Flora stood abruptly "It&039;s the &039;Tiger Rag&039; Come on, let&039;s shis, which were rolled down to just above her knee Her shift-like dress wasblue satin, with beaded, flounced layers fro loose and straight on her body, which made it easier to dance, and its skinny straps held it in place but left her shoulders and are red rose to the front of one strap, and she&039;d slipped another on a comb into her dark, curly hair
She&039;d chosen to wear an older pair of shoes instead of the blister-inducing Mary Janes frolad she&039;d opted for coh, the blisters had healed overnight and were nearly gone, but she decided not to teht
The dance floor was croith other flappers in their shift dresses, high heels, and bare legs and arnized a goodsome of their other friends She waved across the space to Chelle and Dottie, who had found soo, Macey lasses that stealy when they did the Charleston They&039;d danced twice and chatted for a while, but she hadn&039;t seen David (she didn&039;t get his last na around the club to spot hi necklaces bouncing, feet skirand ended, Macey was damp with perspiration and joyously out of breath Her feet hurt, but she didn&039;t care She was glad she&039;d recently had her hair cut short in the new bob style that went just past her jaw, because it kept her cooler It occurred to her the bespectacled David nize her if he did show up, since she&039;d had all of her hair cut off
Ready for so Flora a little wave As she ether, she felt so her It was like a cool breeze over the back of her neck, raising the fine hairs there in an insistent prickle
With a little bued direction, walking over to the long bar Leaning against the counter, she looked casually around the room as she ordered a strawberry lemonade
She didn&039;t see David&039;s reddish-blond hair and was ready to return to the table when so for a vampire?" came a voice in her ear
Macey&039;s storin She whirled to find Grady sitting on a bar stool behind her "No," was her uniinative retort as her brain scrambled to catch up to reality Where had he co the entire place
"Good" His expression was sober, and now that he wasn&039;t wearing a hat, she saw his hair was a rich sable brown Cut short around the ears and neck, it was deliciously wavy and thick at the crown He&039;d shaved since yesterday, but his fingers-which drummed impatiently on the bar-were still ink-stained
Her cheeks had cooled by now, and Macey made a swift decision to sit on the stool next to Grady instead of going back to her table She didn&039;t want him to think he&039;d scared her away, especially since she&039;d fairly run off yesterday
"Are you with the fuzz?" She leaned her elbows on the counter and looked at hiant nose His was a very good-looking face
Grady&039;s eyes, which had taken to scanning the room, settled back on her There was a trace of iot nothing to worry about froh that mirrored door back there-the one that&039;s not as much of a secret as Hownley-Joe thinks it is-and sa anyone"
"That&039;s not why I asked," she replied, refusing to allow him to annoy her The man seemed to have a "And thenyou hunt vaic Titanic on his shoulder, and so compelled her to find out why "You seereeted that officer by naht be a plainclothes detective or soed and noticed the way his attention followed herover her bare shoulders, and a warh her belly
"You do knohat they say about the cat and curiosity, don&039;t you, chickie?"
"Is that a threat?" she asked, keeping her voice light even as her heart started to pound a little harder For the first time, she wondered if he knew so much about Jennie Fallon because he was involved He could be a gangster Or a rapist Maybe she should go back to her table and forget she&039;d ever met Grady
If you could call their interactions ""