Thread on Arrival Read Online Free PDF Page B

sight.”
    I grinned. “I feel like we’re going on a secret undercover mission.”
    “I’ll agree it’s kind of exciting,” Reggie said. “Usually, it’s Manu who gets to do all the fun stuff.”
    “It won’t be fun if we have a confrontation with Mr. Cantor,” Audrey said.
    Reggie and I glanced at each other. I knew we were both thinking that it might be fun to see Audrey spring into supercop mode.
    When we arrived at the Cantor residence, a handsome man who appeared to be in his late thirties was pulling away from the curb in a white late-model SUV.
    “Oh, crap,” I mumbled.
    “It’ll be all right,” Reggie said.
    The man in the SUV circled around and came back to see what we were doing. He pulled up beside the van and put his window down. “What are you doing here?” His question sounded more curious than demanding, but there was an undercurrent of steel that warned that Adam Cantor was not a man to be crossed.
    Reggie lowered the driver’s-side window of the van. “Good morning, Mr. Cantor. We’re here to see your father.”
    “What do you want with him?”
    “We’ve brought him a selection of books we thought might interest him.” She glanced down and rifled through a couple blank papers. “It says here he likes nonfiction . . . history?”
    “Yeah.” He smiled, showing even white teeth. “Yeah, he does. It’s pretty early for a delivery, though, isn’t it?”
    “It is,” Reggie agreed. “I don’t like the bookmobile to interfere with regular library operations, so we typically run it before and after library hours.”
    Adam squinted into the van at me. “You don’t look all that familiar to me. I don’t think I’ve seen you at the library before.”
    “I’m not an actual employee,” I said. “I’m just here to help Reggie this morning. I have an embroidery shop in town, so I don’t have to go to work until ten a.m.”
    “Nice of you to give up your morning like this,” Adam said.
    I smiled. “I think it’s important that everybody has access to books. Besides, it’s only a couple days a week. I can spare that.”
    He nodded. “So you brought books to show to Dad? I’ll go back inside with you. There might be something there I’d like to read.”
    “Of course,” Reggie said.
    This was not in the plan. She and I were both smiling, but I knew her mind had to be racing even faster than mine was. We needed to get rid of Adam Cantor, or else our intended conversations would never take place. But if we tried to get rid of him, he’d be more suspicious than he probably already was and would never allow us into his home.
    “I’ll start grabbing the books,” I said to Reggie, hopefully giving Audrey time to hide before I opened the van’s back door.
    “Be right there,” Reggie said, taking out a pen and scribbling on one of the blank papers before placing it in a folder.
    I hopped out of the van, went around to the back, and opened up the door. I saw Audrey standing just to the side of a small cart filled with books.
    “Take the entire cart,” she whispered.
    By that time, Reggie had joined me.
    “Can you grab that end?” I asked, getting the handle of the cart closest to me.
    “Of course,” she said, her sunny affect never wavering.
    We’d barely had time to shut the door before Adam Cantor came around Reggie’s side of the van.
    “So these are the books?” he asked, craning his neck to read the titles.
    “These are all we have this trip,” Reggie answered. “If there’s something specific you’d like, I can put in a request and hopefully we’ll be able to bring it to you next time.”
    “All right. Can you two manage that cart okay?” he asked.
    “Sure,” I said.
    He checked his watch. “I’ll run back into the house for a second, but then I need to get to work. Maybe the next time you come, it won’t be such a surprise.”
    Reggie and I got the cart up onto the curb as Adam Cantor jogged up the sidewalk and into the house.
    Adam graciously