Derek nodded.“Let me guess—it was sent after Friday evening.”Grace checked the time stamp and nodded.“Then I am going to ask you to forward me a copy, or pass it to the police yourself.”He was not going to back down from William or his threats.
“This is serious,” Grace said.
“It is.And I’m being careful to be safe, and I watch over the staff to keep them safe.The library should be a place where no one is threatened and where everyone can come to feel at home, patrons as well as staff.”
“I mean that the charges he makes are serious,” Grace clarified.
Derek stood and leaned forward.“No.His accusations are falsified, and I have witnesses to back up what I’m saying.William is a stalker and is writing to you to try to put pressure on me to go out with him.That’s illegal, and you not taking what I’m saying seriously is also illegal.It is our responsibility to ensure that the library is a safe work environment.I have done my part in that; now you need to do your part.You are all aware that I have applied for the position of library director, and if this takes me out of the running, so be it.But I won’t be stalked, and I won’t allow you to assist someone who is doing that.Is that understood?”He met Grace’s gaze, using Harm’s icy stare as a guide.“As I said, that is a fabrication, and I can prove it.”
She harumphed and then cleared her throat to try to cover it.
“Grace, that’s enough,” Mary snapped, and Grace swallowed and turned to her.“Have other library staff seen this behavior from the patron?”
“Yes, they have.Multiple other employees have witnessed it.I’ve given them the flowers because I do not want his attention.And I wouldn’t have brought this to the board’s attention because we have plenty of things to discuss that are more important.But I will ask again that a copy of the email that was sent be forwarded to the police to aid in their investigation.”
“It will be,” Mary said, looking at Grace as she said it.“I believe that this is a serious situation, and we will look into it.”Damn, for someone who was usually quiet, she was saying plenty today.“We will look into this.I will take the lead.But I think I can speak for the majority of the board in stating that unless these allegations are founded, this will not have any impact on our decision regarding the library director position.”
“Yes,” other members said.
“We’ve been pleased with the job you’ve been doing, and the fact that you’ve continued to build library programs with a minimum of costs speaks a great deal in your favor.”Mary had the full board’s attention.“Is there any further discussion on this topic…?If not, we should move on.But I do want to say that if there are any further reports sent in, they should be forwarded to me immediately.”
“As president of the board—” Grace began.
Mary talked over her.“I think it best that this issue be handled by me.”There was definitely something going on that Derek was not aware of.He looked between the two women, wondering what he didn’t know.
“Are you questioning my objectivity?”Grace retorted.
Mary smiled and nodded.“In this case, yes.You clearly have a bias, and it was on display a few minutes ago.That cannot be the case.So anything regarding this matter will be handled by me going forward.”Man, this lady had a backbone of steel.“I can call for a vote.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Grace conceded.“The email I received will be forwarded to the police.Now, let’s move on to our next agenda item, which is the status of the budget for the year.”
Derek turned to the sheet that had been prepared and went through expenditures and revenue and where they stood at the present moment.
“Why are expenditures lower than expected?”
“Because we instituted a cost savings program,” Derek said and went on to explain what they had found and how they had managed to reduce some of the costs.“What I’d like to do is formalize the program so that we can reward the staff members who put forward viable cost savings ideas.”
“So you lowered costs and brought in additional money,” Mary observed, looking straight at Grace, who seemed to be looking down at her papers rather than at the rest of the board.Yeah, there was most definitely something going on between the two of them, and Derek hoped it wouldn’t end his chances.
Chapter 8
HIS SIGNINGgroup was about to begin, and he was running late.Harm had been asked to stay for a few extra hours because of a data issue that put the warehouse behind.So he was hurrying to find a place to park.He got lucky enough to get a space as someone else pulled away.He rushed in the rain into the library and up to the room.The door was open, and he went inside.Derek greeted him with a smile and a small wave.
Because of changes to his work schedule, he hadn’t seen Derek in days.They texted every day, but that was about all he had time for.Harm hadn’t been prepared for the number of hours he’d been working.Still, his military training kicked in and he pushed through, doing what needed to be done.
“I’m glad you’re here.I was getting a little worried.”Derek seemed on edge as Harm took one of the chairs.Then Derek began the learning part of the class, running through a refresher of last week before going over new material.There were sixteen people this week, including some of the people from Harm’s work.Belle and the others helped Derek as he went through the lesson for the evening.Once that was completed, Harm spent time with Belle and others conversing, picking up additional information and getting used to using his hands to communicate instead of his mouth.
Toward the end of the session, a woman came in.She sat in the back and kept to herself.Harm watched her because Derek kept shifting his gaze to her.Then, as they were breaking up, she approached Derek and spoke to him softly.Derek pointed in his direction, and she came over to where he was seated.Belle and the others from work signed “goodbye” and left him alone with the stranger.
“I’d like to speak to you if I may.”
He nodded and pulled the pad from his pocket.After signing for two hours, he hated going back to writing everything down.“I’m Harm.What do you need.”
“I’m Mary, and I’m on the board of the library.There have been some accusations made against Derek.”
“By William?”he wrote.
“So you know,” she said, and Harm nodded.
