“Now that we do know,” Brad put in, “what do we do about it?”

“There you go.” Jordan walked back to the couch, and burst Moe’s cookie fantasy by sitting down on the crate that served as coffee table. “We can’t get her, or any of them, out of this. Even if we could, I don’t know if we should. There’s a lot at stake.”

“Three souls,” Brad murmured. “I don’t think I’ve adjusted to that yet. Even knowing what happened with Malory, it doesn’t compute in my head. But I’ll go along with this. We can’t get them out of it. So the question comes down to two parts. What can we do to keep them safe, and how do we help them find the key?”

“We make sure none of them is alone any more than necessary,” Flynn began. “Even though we know that he got to Malory when she was with Dana and Zoe, it’s a precaution we ought to take.”

“She won’t move in here, Flynn. I offered to move out, and she still wouldn’t go for it.” Absently Jordan rubbed his chin, reminding himself that he hadn’t shaved. “But one of us could move into her place. At least stay there with her at night.”

“Oh, yeah, she’ll go for that.” Sarcasm dripped from Flynn’s voice. “The minute I say I’m going to sleep at her place, she’ll get her back up, or just brain me with the handiest blunt instrument. And she sure as hell isn’t going to let you move in with her. Or Brad either.”

“I was thinking of Moe.”

The annoyance on Flynn’s face changed to bafflement. “Moe?”

At the sound of his name, Moe leaped up happily, knocking magazines off the crate with the enthusiastic sweep of his tail before trying to climb into Flynn’s lap.

“You said Moe sensed Kane, or danger at least, when you went into the building where he’d separated Malory from Dana and Zoe.”

“Yeah.” Remembering it, Flynn rubbed Moe’s big head. “And he charged up those stairs ready to rip out throats. Didn’t you, you wild thing?”

“So, he could be a sort of early-warning system. And if he carried on the way you said he did before, he would alert the neighbors. Potentially, he could keep Dana grounded.”

“It’s a good idea,” Brad agreed, and began to pick a few of Moe’s hairs off his trousers. “But just how are you going to talk Dana into taking Moe as a roommate?”

“I can cover that,” Flynn said smugly. “I’ll tell her I’m moving in at her place, and we’ll have the expected argument. I’ll give in, then ask her if she won’t at least compromise by taking Moe so I can sleep at night. She’ll feel sorry for me and agree so she doesn’t come off as bitchy.”

“I’ve always admired your sneaky, serpentine methods,” Brad commented.

“Just gotta keep your eye on the goal. Which brings us back to the key.”

“My schedule’s still the most flexible,” Jordan began. “I can take all the time needed to dig into this. Research, brainstorming, legwork. You’ve got your journalist’s resources,” he said to Flynn. “Plus Malory’s willing and able to work with you, and Dana and Zoe have already let you in—as far as women ever let men in—to their group. Brad’s got the HomeMakers’ advantage. He can drop by their building most anytime—How’s it going, ladies? Looks good. Can I give you a hand with that?”

“I can do that. Maybe you could casually mention to Zoe that I’m not now, nor have I ever been, an axe murderer.”

“I’ll see if I can work it into our next conversation,” Flynn promised.

IT was time, Dana told herself, to roll up her sleeves and get to work. To do something positive, something to offset the nasty seed of helplessness Kane had planted inside her.

She’d be damned if she would let it take root.

If her key was knowledge, then she’d get smart. And what better place to seek knowledge than the library?

It galled her to go back as a patron rather than an employee. But she would just swallow the bile and do the job.

She didn’t bother to go home first, to change, but in her paint-splattered clothes walked straight into what had been a key in her life.

The smell caught her instantly. Books, a world of books. But she buried the sentimentality. Inside books, she reminded herself as she headed straight to one of the computer stations, were answers.

She’d read everything available on Celtic lore and mythology, so now she would expand on that. She ran a search for titles that related to sorcery. Know your enemy, she thought. Knowledge isn’t just a defense. Knowledge is power.

Noting down her top choices, she ran other searches using what she thought of as the main code words from Rowena’s clue. Satisfied that she’d made a good start, she headed toward the stacks.

“Did you forget something?” Her irritating toothy smile in place, Sandi stepped into her path.

“I keep trying to, but it’s tough when you keep getting in my face. Fuck off, Sandi,” she said in her sweetest tone.

“We don’t appreciate that kind of language here.”

With a shrug, Dana skirted around her and kept going. “I don’t appreciate your overly rosy perfume, but there you go.”

“You don’t work here anymore.” Chasing after her, Sandi snatched at Dana’s arm.

“This is a public building, and it happens I have a library card. Now take your hand off me, or I’m going to mess up those pearly whites that your daddy probably paid a lot of money for.”

She took a deep breath to find her calm. She wanted to get her books and get the hell out. “Why don’t you run up and tell Joan I’m here, nefariously checking out library books. Unless she’s off in Oz picking on a scarecrow.”

“I can call the police.”

“Yeah, do that little thing. It’ll be interesting to see what my brother writes in the Dispatch about how card-carrying patrons are treated these days in the local library.”

She flipped a little wave at Sandi’s face and swung into the stacks. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he spells your name right.”

Bile was a little harder to swallow than she’d thought, Dana admitted as she began selecting her books. It was painful, every bit as much as it was maddening, not to be able to come here, even as a patron, without being hassled.