Danny’s car roared to life. The engine coughed a few times while it warmed up. He turned onto Main Street. The two-block-long business district quickly gave way to residences. Houses grew farther apart along the long, winding road that led out of town. Danny drove to the Quickie-Mart and grabbed a candy bar and a Coke. The elderly clerk was watching a game show on the small TV behind the counter.

The clerk rang up his purchases. Danny handed him a five. “Is there a library in town?”

“Sure is.” The clerk handed Danny his change. “It’s right next to the grammar school on Sixth Street. We have computers and everything.” His voice rang with pride.

“Great. Thanks.”

Danny cruised back into town. Sixth Street was an easy find. Next to a small park, a converted two-story Colonial housed Huntsville’s library. He parked at the curb and went inside. The transformation process from house to library consisted of lining all the walls with bookshelves. Chairs and a table or two were assembled in the center of each room.

Danny wandered around.

“Hello,” an elderly woman greeted him. “I’m the librarian, Mrs. Proctor. Can I help you find something?”

She was about a thousand years old and had the same skin tone as the tortoises at the Philadelphia Zoo. The baggy dress, support hose, and orthopedic shoes didn’t help.

Danny turned on the charm with a wide smile. “I’m looking for a computer.”

Unswayed, she frowned at him with less humor than his high school principal. “Our media room is upstairs. Follow me.” Could she even get up the stairs? Spryer than Danny expected, she led the way back to the foyer and up a narrow staircase in the center hall. The media room was an empty bedroom with three desktop computers on a trestle table. Mrs. Proctor booted up the first machine. “Our system is slow. I hope you’re not in a rush.”

“I have some time.” He was avoiding the inn and Mandy and her mother, who had just witnessed Danny making moves on her daughter. Being caught by angry parents was nothing new to Danny. With his reputation for trouble, he’d never been welcomed into a girl’s home in his youth. In adulthood, his army career had made long-term relationships difficult. How did a man talk to a woman’s parents while he was thinking about getting their daughter naked?

And why was he suddenly pondering parents and long-term relationships? Neither was part of his MO.