Sapphire: A Paranormal Romance (28 page)

She looked up at
Jimmy and the movement of her head sent one of the tears cascading down her
wrinkled face.

"We teachers,
and possibly some students, all heard that Jesse had gotten her pregnant, but
that was ridiculous, of course.  She was gone the very next day, and she could
not have possibly known she was pregnant that fast.  Unless, of course, they
had had sex before that night, but she never indicated that they had been much
of a hot item to me before that.  Then again, what do I know?  I was a teenager
once, myself, and I remember the raging hormones."

Jimmy's expression
must have given away his surprise.

"Oh, yes,
Jimmy, there was a time when even I had a sex drive.  You know, back just after
the Earth had cooled and dinosaurs roamed the planet."

They laughed.

"What else
did you hear about it?" Tabitha said.

Mrs. Walters let
out a long breath.  "Oh, just that her father had lost his job and they
had to head back to some other city where they had family.  Or, conversely,
that it was her mother who had lost a job and necessitated the move.  Of
course, there were darker rumors, too.  That she had run afoul of the law the
night of the dance.  That she and Jesse had gone out on the town and she had
destroyed public property or gotten drunk.  But there was never any evidence,
nothing seemed destroyed, and she was hardly the first teenager to get drunk in
Knorr, so why that would necessitate a hasty exit never made much sense."

She eyed both
Jimmy and Tabitha.

"Of course, I
have heard the vanishing hitchhiker stories for years, you know.  The
description of the phantom always reminded me of Sapphire, but no one, until
you two came in here with your wild tale, has ever used her name in connection
with the legend."

She directed her
stare directly at Jimmy.

"If you are
not just pulling an elaborate prank on an old woman and what you say is true,
then you are the first person to speak to her in a very long time.  Your
description of her appearance and her manner match what I remember of her.  You
must be very special, Jimmy.  And from what you have uncovered, it seems that
my worst fears about her are likely correct."

She dabbed at her
eyes with a tissue that she grabbed from inside her desk.

"Of course, I
always suspected something with Devlin Little.  He went on to become quite the
businessman, but I always suspected that that had more to do with his ability
to intimidate and push people around than any real skill with numbers or
business.  He's not a good man or a nice man, and his vile son may end up being
even worse.  So you two are diving into very deep and very dangerous
waters."

She paused to let
that sink in.  Jimmy knew that this was one of her favorite things and that her
lectures were often filled with dramatic pauses.

"Thank you, Mrs.
Walters," Tabitha said.  "Is there anything else?"

Mrs. Walters shook
her head. "Not really.  The story you told me is amazing, and finding out
that we carry on after we die is somehow comforting, yet disturbing, for
someone my age.  I don't know what will become of either of you on this quest
of yours, but I do hope you can help Sapphire. She deserves peace."

Tabitha and Jimmy
nodded in unison.  The three of them exchanged a few more pleasantries and then
Jimmy and Tabitha exited quickly.  The light was getting brighter outside and
the parking lot would soon be filled with cars and students.  They moved
quickly to Tabitha's car and Jimmy got into the passenger seat, ducking down in
the hopes that no one would see him.

"So did we
learn anything?" he asked as the car pulled out of the parking lot.

Tabitha shook her
head and a look of frustration crossed her face.  "Not much.  I honestly
think that a talk with Jesse is in order.  But I also fear that, at some point,
we are going to have to have a face-to-face with Devlin Little.  Right now,
however, I am trying to determine if that should happen between us or if I
should call the sheriff and get him involved."

"Don't you
trust the sheriff?"

"Well, he
helped me and Warren out with the Boogeyman thing.  He seems like a good guy,
but there is no denying that Devlin Little holds much influence in this town,
and I would assume that includes the sheriff.  I seem to recall that Little's
many companies contributed significantly in the last election."

Jimmy felt a knot
of fear in his gut.

"I should
talk to George," he said.

"Why?"

"He's as much
in this as we are.  He should know what we've found out," Jimmy replied. 
"He could be in danger, as well.  Remember that Devlin mentioned him
directly when I overhead him and Jesse talking."

Tabitha asked, "Do
you want to call him?"

"No, I think
a one-on-one talk is in order.  He is my best friend, after all."

"Invite him
over tonight," Tabitha said.  "I'll make dinner and we can all
talk."

Jimmy smiled.  One
thing could always make him smile: the promise of a meal.

"What do we
do now?" he asked.

"I think we
should head over to the library," she said, and looked over at Jimmy. 
"What do you think about that?"

"Do you think
Jesse will talk to us?"

"I'm hoping
that the guilt he feels over covering this up for decades will finally break
through and he'll feel compelled to talk just to get some relief."

"Here's
hoping," Jimmy said.

"He may hold
the key, Jimmy.  If he was there when it happened—as everything seems to
indicate—then he may resolve this entire thing right now.  We're armed with at
least a little information that will prove we're serious.  That may be
enough."

Jimmy was
doubtful, but he kept quiet.  His stomach was still tied in knots of fear.  The
buzzing in his head that indicated that Sapphire was near was gone.  Despite
being in the car with Tabitha, he suddenly felt very alone.

They arrived at
the library and Jimmy felt that knot of fear tighten in his stomach.  The
parking lot was close to empty.  However, as Tabitha had expected, Jesse's car
was parked off to one side, indicating that the man was in early.  Jimmy had
confirmed for her that this was common for him.

As they drove,
Jimmy had borrowed Tabitha's cell phone and called George.  He talked to George
briefly, telling him that he was invited over to the Hollises’ home tonight for
dinner.  George told him that he would try to make it, but he would have to
check with his parents.  Jimmy said that would be fine.  The conversation was
short, but strangely tense.  Jimmy wasn't sure if that was because of the
general weirdness of the situation, the fact that George was at school at the
time, or if someone was within earshot that was causing concern for George. 
Whatever the cause, it had further set Jimmy on edge.

Devlin Little's
truck was nowhere to be seen.  Some other cars were scattered about, but Jimmy
guessed that most of them belonged to people who worked at the hotel and
restaurant and maybe the little bar and store across the street.  There were
souvenir stands and such scattered about, but they appeared dead and silent at
the moment.  Overhead, the sky was turning a brilliant blue, and as of that
early hour there were still no clouds.  If anything, it was threatening to be
an unseasonably warm day.

"Nervous?"
Tabitha asked when she had shifted into park.  Jimmy realized she had been
looking at him.

"Yes,"
he said.

"I'll be
doing most of the talking, Jimmy," she said.  "I think we'll be
fine."

Jimmy nodded. 
"Everything has me on edge.  The fact that Jesse was involved in any way
has me worried."

"I
know," Tabitha said.  "And you're right to be.  Don't let your guard
down."

With those
inspiring words of comfort, Tabitha opened the door and stepped out. Jimmy
sighed and got out.  Normally he was glad to come to the library and looked
forward to talking with Jesse.  Right now, however, the steps leading up to the
front door of the library had never seemed more like the steps to a gallows. 
He chided himself for being such a drama queen, but it did little to calm the
feelings in his gut or the analogy in his brain.

They reached the
top of the stairs together and Tabitha grabbed the door handle.  The door swung
outward without resistance.  Technically, the library did not open for another
hour or so, but Jesse always unlocked the door when he got in, and he never
locked the door behind him.  If anyone showed up at any time that he was there,
he was glad to welcome them in and show them around the place, since it was a
historic and ancient library.

Inside, the
silence of the place was absolute and images of tombs and graveyards and other
ominous, but silent, things filled Jimmy's head.  That familiar scent of dust
and old books filled his nose.  These were normally happy and exciting smells
to him, but now they smelled dangerous.

"Hello?"
Tabitha called out.  "Jesse?"

Her voice was so
loud that Jimmy jumped.  Her voice echoed like a cannon shot in the silence of
the building.  A sound off to their right caused both of them to react in
surprise, and then Blackie came out from his hiding place behind the desk.

The dog padded
over to both of them calmly.  Jimmy smiled and reached down to let Blackie
smell his hand, and then he petted the dog.  Tabitha knelt down and gave
Blackie a friendly scratch behind his ears.  The old dog seemed very pleased by
this, and after sniffing them thoroughly he trotted back to his place behind
the desk and lay back down.

"Well, hello
there, Tabitha and Jimmy," Jesse said from behind them.  Jimmy felt his
muscles flinch and he cursed himself for his fear.  Jesse had been in the
upstairs area, apparently, and had come down behind them.

"Hi
Jesse," Tabitha said, smiling.  "We came here to ask you a few
questions."

Jesse frowned.  He
was carrying a couple of hardbound books that had no covers.  He pushed past
them and headed for his desk, where he put the books down.

"Me?" he
said.  "Why on Earth would you want to talk to me?  And Jimmy, what are
you doing going around making inquiries with Tabitha?  I heard what you did at
school the other day, by the way.  It's all over town.  I cannot say I
approve."

Jimmy shrugged. 
"You can only take so much."

Jesse nodded, but
did not smile.

"I'm staying
with the Hollises for a while," Jimmy said.

Again, Jesse
frowned.  As Jimmy looked at him, he noticed that the librarian's forehead was
creased where it had not been days before.  Jesse's eyes were very red, and he
appeared to have bags under his eyes.

"What’s going
on, Jimmy?" Jesse asked.

"It's for his
own safety, Jesse," Tabitha said.  "But that's not why we're here. 
We're here to talk to you about Sapphire.  I'm sure you remember her."

Jesse's eyes went
wide.  His mouth opened and then shut.  Then he opened his mouth again, made a
strange noise, and then shut his mouth.

"I really
don't have time to talk," he finally said rather weakly.  "Maybe we
can discuss this some other time.  I have work to do."

"There's no
one here, Jesse," Tabitha replied.  "What do you have to do?"

"There's a
lot of things I have to do to make sure the library is ready for people once it
opens."

"So I take it
you remember Sapphire?"

Jesse bit his
lower lip and the muscles of his face spasmed.  Jimmy knew that Jesse was
probably cursing to himself in his own mind, wishing that Tabitha and Jimmy
would just go away. 

"Of
course," he said evenly.  "You don’t forget someone like that."

"You loved
her," Tabitha said.  She was speaking quietly, not ordering him around or
anything.  Jimmy instinctively let her take the lead.

"Everyone
loved her," Jesse said.  He was trying to work his way around behind his
desk.  However, he was having a hard time doing it while also looking down and
studying the random papers scattered about.

"But you
truly did, didn't you?" Tabitha said, moving forward.  "She was the
girl that you loved, right, Jesse?  And when the dance came, you managed to
work up the courage to ask her to go with."

"Yes,” Jesse
said. “It took me months.  I mean, in the time the Christmas break came and
went, all I was thinking about was asking her to the dance.  But it took me the
entire rest of winter and into the spring to do it."

"What
happened?" Tabitha cajoled.  "How did you ask her?"

Jesse smiled to
himself, his eyes still down, studying the papers on his desk.  "Sapphire
and I shared a class.  Biology.  Anyway, I knew that she liked to get there
early.  So I left lunch early and got to the classroom.  She was in the back
working on something.  I don't even remember what it was , but she was working
on a lab or something.  She and I started talking and I just sort of blurted it
out."