I decided to make an unscheduled stop and see if I might be able to get a look at my mysterious shadow. I pulled up to the curb and parked and put a few quarters in the meter and began strolling towards a nearby library. The great thing about libraries is that they have lots of hiding spots and places where you can observe others without being too conspicuous or seen in return. Well, that and the books, obviously.
As I turned the corner I made a nondescript check over my shoulder and saw someone emerging from the passenger side of the now parked tail car.
Crap, I thought as I moved past the corner, there's more than one of them. This was going to make things a little more difficult. I only got the briefest of glances at my passenger side pursuer, but from that glance I could see that he was big, wearing an ill-fitting tan suit, and, I swear on my mother's teeth, a pair of aviator glasses and a buzz cut. My first thought was "G-man" but then, why would the government give two squirts about little, old me, so I pushed that reasoning aside until I could get more info on the guy. Two building away from the library and I took a glance across the street into the large display window to see if I could catch him in the reflection. No luck, though. Either he was staying a good distance away or he was taking a different route, because there was no one else within the area that the windows allowed me to view.
I stepped onto the steps of the library and reached for the door and pulled. It didn't budge. I looked down in disbelief for a second and tried again. It was locked tight. I checked the hours on the sign near the door and then my phone.
"Are you freaking kidding me," I asked the sign as if it could answer. It had no reply. Two minutes past closing. I looked through the window on the door and all the lights were out inside and there was no sign of anyone moving around. One thing you can say about librarians, they are punctual... I guess. I have no real frame of reference. (See what I did there?)
I looked around at the sidewalk up and down the street, but no sign of tall, stark, and khaki. I headed back up the street towards the Beast again and when I turned the corner the car and the tail weren't anywhere around. I took that for a good sign and headed towards the car. No sooner had my key touched the driver side lock than a hand the size of a loose-leaf notebook landed on my shoulder.
