“So you’ve got quite a mess here. Such a shame. Do you know who did it?” she asked with fake concern.
“Never mind about the books. Is there something I can help you with?” I wanted her to get straight to the point.
She tossed her blonde locks back from her shoulder. “I came over for a newspaper.”
Why had she crossed the street for a paper when there was a newspaper machine on the same side of the street as High Fashion? I’d keep my eye on this woman. She was bad news and I’d known it from the moment she walked into Book Nook.
“Sure, the papers are by the register.” I guided her toward the counter.
“No hard feelings about you not hiring me,” she said as she handed me the cash.
I took it from her hand and I swore I felt a zap. A tiny one, but it had been there, nonetheless. The sooner I got her out of the store, the better off I’d be.
“I’m glad you understand,” I said. “It’s just business. Nothing personal.”
“Of course not. It was for the best anyway. I absolutely love working for Cooper. I hope it’ll last past a short-term gig. I have a lot of great ideas for his store.” She waved her arms in a sweeping motion.
Why did a cold chill run down my spine when she said that? Suddenly, I feared for Cooper’s safety with this woman around. But I knew Cooper would laugh off my warning. He thought his aura-reading abilities allowed him to judge anyone’s character. Despite psychic abilities, we were only human and sometimes our skills could be wrong. I feared he’d misjudged this one. Maybe I’d try and talk with him. I also needed to find more information about Jane.
“Well, I’m off. Cooper gave me the rest of the day to myself. Isn’t he sweet?” She flipped her silky blonde hair off her shoulder.
“He’s a doll,” I said wryly.
Jane grabbed the paper and bounced away from the counter. Without looking back, she made her way to the door, her hair swaying as she sashayed.
“What was that all about?” Beth asked.
“I think she’s up to something,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
I stared at the door, then finally addressed Beth. “Are you sure you didn’t see anyone in here when the books were destroyed? Was that woman in here?”
Beth frowned. “I am so sorry. I didn’t see anything. You can take the cost of the books out of my pay.”
I shook my head. “No. No way. I wouldn’t think of it. Please don’t let this worry you. It’s just something that happens sometimes.”
Just one of those things that happened to me on a regular basis as of late. I knew it wasn’t Beth’s fault. It could have easily happened to me if I had been working.
“I’m going back over to pick up the books. I’m glad you left them so I could see. Maybe there’s a clue as to why this person did this.” I turned to walk away and Beth followed closely.
“I figured it was better if you saw exactly what had been done.”
Without looking back at Beth, I said, “Good thinking. I’ll see what types of books were destroyed.”
One back to the pile of books, I bent down to pick one up. It was a paranormal romance with a half-naked man on the cover. I’d read the book. It had a witch as the protagonist. I reached down and grabbed another book… another romance. It also featured witches. Was there a pattern to all this? I grabbed a few more books, but they had different themes, some vampires, werewolves and fairies. I figured it must have just been a random selection after all. So much for my sleuthing ability. It was probably someone who had been looking for a cheap thrill… someone who liked making trouble. Maybe it was time for me to install a security camera.
After Beth helped a customer, she returned the pile of damaged books and helped me pick up the few remaining ones. “I wondered how long it took them to tear up all these books. I still can’t believe that I didn’t hear something.”
I stacked the damaged books into a pile. “You’d be surprised how quickly they probably ripped them up. You could have been helping a customer, and by the time you were finished, they could have destroyed the books and escaped out the front door.”