Money Trail

Chapter 18: Entranced

Chapter 18: Entranced

 “So, how sure are you of this girl, Ilia?” Warren asked as the four of them walked into the MCRC library.

“Sweetie seems to think she's good.” Ilia shrugged, unconcerned. “She's probably got something good about her.”

It took a lot for Ilia to convince Dallas to let her go visit Brooklyn herself. He wanted Warren to go while he looked after her and Josh. For some reason, he was even more protective than usual. It made Ilia curious as to why. But all that mattered was that after hours of begging, he finally let her go.

All four of them.

Josh was looking around the library in wonder as Warren looked around, slightly bored.

The library, Ilia had to admit, was quite impressive. She was a computer geek but that didn't mean she couldn't appreciate the ancient art of text. And the large room presented to them was a wonder of literature.

Since the rise of the mythics, there had been a tremendous amount of research done of the species. And it appeared that all of it was stored here. There were rows after rows of two story tall bookshelves. In the front, squeezed in where they found room, were a few four seater, circular tables.

The gentle shuffling of pages and a few whispers were loud in the large, silent room.

“I haven't actually visited the library before.” Josh admitted.

“Me either.” Ilia almost regretted. It really was a good library but she never needed to visit it when she could look all the information up with her computer.

“I was in here a few times.” Dallas said. “I've needed a few of these books.”

“Not me.” Warren shook his head. Ilia wasn't surprised. As a haltija, it was instinct to protect, not to learn. “I've never really liked the smell of old paper.”

“Loser.” Ilia smirked at him and was shushed for her trouble as she had spoken a bit too loud. “Oh, you hush.” she snapped and earned a few glares.

“Hush.” Dallas said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You're disturbing people.”

Before Ilia could make a retort, a rather loud one to annoy those people even more, she was interrupted.

“Hello, Ilia.” Brooklyn whispered, coming around one of the bookshelves, a thick leather bound book in one hand and a few loose papers in the other. She looked just as immaculate as always.

“Hey.” Ilia grinned at her, her retort forgotten. “Wow, you're shorter in person.”

“Nice to meet you, too.” she said dryly. “Are these your companions?”

“I like the word 'friends'.” Ilia nodded. Brooklyn was a little too formal for her tastes but, hey, who was she to judge? “This is-”

“Dallas.” he cut her off, not wanting to be introduced as 'Cowboy' again. “We've met once before.”

“I remember.” she nodded. “Was the couatl information helpful?”

“Very.” Dallas smiled, pleased she remembered. “We managed to hunt down the poachers and put the couatls onto the endangered species list.”

“I'm glad.” Brooklyn smiled.

“This is Josh.” Dallas continued the introductions. “He's a computer specialist like Ilia.”

“Nice to meet you.” Josh waved. Brooklyn was even shorter than him. And very pretty. He wondered if she was single.

“Nice to meet you.” she repeated. “Please feel free to call me anytime for any information you might need. I know you might be able to find anything online but if you're ever overworked or have no time to do it yourself, I'm always available.”