Permanently Booked Read Free Page A

dark-haired girl, about Summer’s age, was dressed in her usual Hibiscus Pointe blazer and floppy corporate tie. Ugh. Couldn’t they come up with a hipper uniform?
    “Sorry, she’s not here,” Summer called, over her shoulder.
    “Oh, hey, Summer.” Jennifer’s face brightened as she walked in, and Summer immediately felt guilty for dissing her outfit. It wasn’t Jennifer’s fault. Unlike her, the girl had an actual, paying J.O.B.—and Jennifer had given her a lot of breaks lately, even fending off the Residents Board on her behalf.
    “Too bad I missed her.” Jennifer looked truly disappointed. “I have the first copies of the latest What’s Your Pointe? newsletter to show her. She wrote a great article about our book club relaunch on Friday. She’s so excited about it.”
    “That’s nice,” Summer said. Did anyone actually read those newsletters?
    Dorothy stepped past Summer, shaking her head. “Something just isn’t right,” she said. “Those banker’s boxes we packed for the book sale are all jumbled up, and—” She stopped when she saw Jennifer, and smiled. “Oh, hello, dear.”
    “Hi, Mrs. Westin, how are you today?” Jennifer glanced around the room. “It does look a little disorganized in here, doesn’t it? Maybe we should turn on more lights.”
    “We did.” Summer headed over to the librarian’s desk and peered behind it. A bunch of papers were scattered on the floor, and one of the file drawers was open, with a couple of colored folders sticking out. Didn’t the librarian have a chair? Yep, there it was: the black, swivel kind, lying on its side. Looked as if it was broken, too.
    Ms. Ruiz back at Samo—Santa Monica High—would never let anyone mess up her library like this. “Someone’s definitely been here, guys,” Summer said. “And it wasn’t Goldilocks.”
    “I’ll make a vandalism report, and get Security down here right away.” Jennifer reached for the cell phone at her slim waist. “When Mrs. Caldwell gets back, she can tell us if anything’s missing.”
    “Wait just a sec. We didn’t check over here.” Summer jogged to the book stacks and glanced down the narrow rows of shelves. They were almost as dusty as Grandma Sloan’s. But at the last section, she stopped short.
    A gray-sweatered arm was sticking straight out from behind a pile of coffee table books on the floor. An old-school gold charm bracelet dangled from the wrist.
    Summer’s stomach pitched like a sunfish caught in a tsunami. She squeezed her eyes shut and leaned back against the nearest shelf, feeling the cool metal edge press into her back. This could not be happening again. Two dead bodies in less than two months? No way.
    “I’m sure Lorella would have heard us by now,” Dorothy called. She sounded weirdly far away in the tiny library.
    Summer looked back at the still form on the carpet and bit her lip. “I wouldn’t bet on that.”

Chapter Two
    “What’s wrong, Summer?” Dorothy hurried toward the book stacks. The poor girl looked as if she’d encountered a ghost in the semidarkness.
    With some trepidation, Dorothy followed her friend’s gaze to the motionless figure of Lorella Caldwell. “Oh my goodness.” Dorothy placed a hand to her heart, making a fist so it wouldn’t tremble. “She’s...”
    “Dead,” Summer said, in a near whisper. She was gripping the bookshelf behind her very tightly for support.
    That wasn’t possible, Dorothy told herself. Lorella always exuded such determined energy, in her quiet way.
    She leaned forward, just a smidge. The librarian lay facedown on the edge of the carpet, her reading glasses askew on their beaded blue chain. A small dark-cherry stain marked her gray head, and her left arm protruded at an unnatural angle, as though she’d been reaching for something.
    Or someone. Dorothy suppressed a shudder. “Maybe she’s still alive,” she said, trying to sound hopeful. “She might just be unconscious. Maybe some kind of