Page 34 of Catching Fire

“But where can we find out what land he owns?”

Even as Seline asked the question, she watched Maggie's face brighten.

Chapter Twenty-One

Seline marched through the double front doors of the Redemption Public Library as soon as the librarian opened them.

The woman’s bright blue eyes had flown wide to see four people on her doorstep waiting. Probably not the norm in the tiny town.

Seline was quick to assess that the woman's hair was a caramel color and not what she would call blonde.Thank God.Not a target.

“Maggie!” the woman exclaimed, her surprise turning to a smile.

Maggie grinned back and motioned to the prim looking young woman in her shell pink sweater set. She told the others, “This is Ivy Dean, librarian extraordinaire.”

Seline must have frowned, because Maggie answered the question she hadn't quite asked. “I'm in here all the time. I handle property with wills and disputes, so I’m always checking records and looking up county ordinances. Ivy is a genius with all things document.”

Ivy seemed apologetic, or maybe humble. “The newer county records are at the county seat, not here. We only have the older ones … On microfiche!” She added the last bit with a wry look.

“That's okay.” Seline liked Ivy Dean already. “We're really looking for broader information. Land records, probably older ones.”

“All right, then.” Looking around to see if she had another rush coming at library opening on a Thursday, she let the door fall closed behind them. “Follow me.”

She almost unconsciously tipped up a sign at the front desk as she passed by, and Seline caught that it said “I’ll be right back.” Ivy moved as though she owned the library herself, as if everything magically appeared beneath her fingertips as she needed it.

With her caramel hair and pink smile and slightly-too-old-for-her-age outfit, Ivy could have been a fairytale princess. If she sang and birds or butterflies brought the books to her, Seline would not have been surprised.

“In here.” She led them into one of the small back rooms, whatever tasks she had planned for the opening already pushed aside. Two walls were lined with boxes, dated and marked carefully in a variety of handwritings. One wall held large record books that Seline would guess were filled with neat, slanted script entries. The last wall held a low desk and three machines close enough that the users would bump elbows. One end of the table was lined with neat, round rocks for no apparent reason.

Ivy turned in the center of the room to face them. “What it is that you need to know?”

Seline took a breath and told Ivy her very crazy idea. “So I need to know what kind of property William Treat Sanders might own or have access to within a four hour radius of Redemption.”

“Sanders?” Ivy asked, a look of confusion pausing on her features for only a moment before she clearly placed the name. Everyone in town recognized the name Sanders now.

“I thought he was using a cabin in the national park.” The words were out of her mouth before she jerked back, her hand flying to her mouth as though she could swallow them. She must have realized Maggie was the reason he wasn't still using the cabin. She breathed out a hushed apology, “I'm so sorry.”

Maggie held up a hand. “I’m fine now. It's not me I'm worried about. Do you know Marina Balero?”

“The officer?”

Seline thought,of course the town librarian knew their officer friend. This was why she’d moved to Redemption in the first place—to be someplace where she could have real friends and where she knew her neighbors.

“Yes,” Seline said, as Maggie replied with even more information. “Sanders has taken her.”

“What?” Ivy’s stunned reaction wasn’t a surprise, only that the news hadn’t traveled faster. “Is no one looking for her?”

“Everyone's looking for her,” Seline assured her. “The FBI, the Redemption Police Department, everyone.”

Ivy caught on. “Including you guys.”

“I couldn't sit at home and wait.” Seline felt the muscles of her torso twitching even as she said it. The nervous energy still flowed out, lacking a direction. She hoped Ivy Dean could help her find a way to channel it.

Ivy didn’t ask if they'd brought Sanders to her doorstep. She'd simply said, “Okay, show me where he was before. And we'll start looking from there.”

Striding the few short steps to one wall, she moved around the edge of one of the industrial metal bookshelves and reached into a bin that held tall cardboard tubes. She looked at a few then picked out one and rolled open a map of eastern Nebraska that spanned almost the whole table. She turned, picked up four of the waiting rocks behind her and weighted the edges of the old map. Redemption Public Library was not high-tech, but Ivy made it work.

The four spaced themselves out around Ivy, putting five sets of eyes on the map. Ivy looked up first. “Geller was a resident at Sabbie’s boarding house for some time, correct?”

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