Page 87 of In the Dark

“I’ll be here if you need me,” he would tell me every single time, and then he’d nod to Archer.

That’s where the problem was, unfortunately. Archer was still following me around that library like he was stuck to me like freaking glue.

“Do you want to go look for any books yourself?”

“Not interested in books, Ms. Ruiz.”

“You mean, Jasmina.” I rolled my eyes. “You can throw knives in my room with me but not call me by my first name? Cut the shit, Archer.”

“It’s not shit, Ms. Ruiz. It’s a bit of respect.” He smirked.

Archer was huge, but in a teddy bear sort of way. He didn’t seem to care about anything anyone said either. He had a way of watching my every move but also not being very involved.

And for nearly an hour, I’d been engaged in a performatively slow walk up and down the romance aisle. I pulled books from the shelves at random, pretending to read the back covers while my heart hammered against my ribs as and I got more and more antsy. I was like a damn trapped bird that wanted to be free of his gaze.

Archer, my ever-present shadow, didn’t even look uncomfortable when I went among the bodice-rippers purposely. Of course I loved a good romance novel, but men usually shied away from them.

I picked up a Shain Rose title and hummed before I asked, “Think a shadow daddy after a witch would be a good romantasy to read?”

He just looked bored, almost as if he was respecting my privacy while simultaneously tracking every micro-movement I made. He was too good at his job, which made my actual reason for coming here very, very difficult.

My pocket felt heavy. Inside it was the SD card I’d kept hidden on me always but never got to. Today, I swore I’d get new information. I was wasting time on a wedding and getting lost in that when I should have been trying to figure out what no one had in years and years.

I was convinced something was hidden amid all the metadata I’d seen right before I’d come to Paradise Grove. I couldn’t make much sense of it, but I knew it contained the same damn name—Galaxy Skies—as the logo I’d seen in the background of that old security footage.

I couldn’t let go of that. It might have been partially pixelated and a breadcrumb that would mean absolutely nothing, but I needed to follow it to its end at the very least. Unfortunately, I couldn’t when Callahan was monitoring my damn search history. The library was my only safe bet, and I’d be damned if Archer freaking ruined it.

I was just contemplating faking a sudden interest in historical fiction to get closer to the terminals when a peal of laughter rang out from the front desk area.

Archer’s head snapped toward the sound, his boredom instantly gone. In its place was no respectful monitoring. His whole posture changed and stiffened. And then he was hurrying down the aisle past me before I could blink, his attention violently split between his duty to me and whoever was up there.

“Friends?” I called him out on it, trailing him.

He breathed out quickly as if trying to dispel his discomfort and cracked his neck. “Mia, Fran, and … Mia’s sister.”

“Sister? Oh.” I managed a dry tone, hiding my desperation for him to leave. “Like the sister we talked about the other night? The one you supposedly have no opinion on?”

“I gave you her background. That’s it,” he clipped out, refusing to look at me. “Like I said, she’s been staying in Paradise Grove recently.”

The way the tips of his ears turned red gave away everything. That man had it bad for Mia’s sister. There was definitely some sort of emotion toward her buried under that stoic exterior.

“Well”—I held up Shain’s book—“I’m going to go read up on this book and see what I can find on … flower arrangements. I’ll be by the computers. So, don’t mind me if you want to go, you know, see how Mia’s sister’s stay is going.”

Archer sucked his teeth, torn. A gasp from around the corner that sounded a lot like a woman’s decided it for him. He almost lurched toward the sound. “Come on, you’re coming with me,” he grumbled, and I rolled my eyes, not wanting to but knowing I had to pick my battles.

Mia and Marian looked alike, with tan skin and beautiful wavy hair. Her sister had a bit more curves and was a little shorter but just as pretty. Fran walked right up to me and said, “Did you bring your cat?”

“Oh, Romeo? I don’t think he’s allowed in the library,” I said and glanced at Mia, who was smiling.

“She’ll try to get you to bring the cat anywhere.” She shrugged. “How’s wedding planning going?”

“Honestly, I have a lot of research to do.” I shot a look toward Archer.

“Oh.” Mia frowned and looked between us, then a slow smile spread across her face before she gave me a tiny nod. “Then don’t let us keep you. And can I get your number from Cal so I can reach out and help sometime?”

“Um … sure,” I agreed cautiously, only because I wanted to see if Mia could accomplish what she was silently agreeing to.

“Great. Go research.” Then her honey eyes laser focused on Archer. “Arch, Marian swore someone followed her home from the grocery store yesterday, can you believe that?”