When the Night Falls

JASMINE

“Put your clothes on.”

“But, Theodore, can’t you…?”

“I said put your clothes on.”

Since hearing the crash outside, Theodore had jumped to red alert. It was a little surprising to

me.

Staring up at him from the bed, at his powerful form striding to pick up his phone from where he’d left it on the dresser, I couldn’t help but wonder if this wasn’t the first time he had to jump into action like this.

I’d never stopped to question who he really was. I mean, what kind of man had both a panic room and a secret bedroom in the walls of his library?

“Ms. Gibson.” The return to my formal name startled me out of my thoughts. Theodore was glaring pointedly at the pile of clothes at the foot of my bed.

“Sh it,” I muttered. “Sorry.

I scrambled off the bed, quickly unbuttoning the fluffy collar and tossing it aside. With trembling fingers, I began to dress.

Meanwhile, Theodore was dialing a number on his phone. Finally, he put the phone to his ear.

“Sherry? There’s been another break-in. Meet me in the library in five minutes,” he barked into. the microphone.

He hung up just as I tucked in my blouse. I straightened up, looking at him expectantly.

“What happens now? Are we waiting here for Sherry?” I tried to keep the note of apprehension from my voice. Seeing Theodore this tense was having an effect on me, too.

But he was already striding to the door.

“Not a chance,” he growled. “I need to see who the hell is snooping through my library in the middle of the night.”

I followed him towards the door, but Theodore gave me an incredulous look. “Don’t you even

think about it ” he eaiz

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60, 24 Jan

think about it,” he said.

“Let me come with you. I can take care of myself,” I mumbled. But Theodore just shook his head.

“Stay here. I mean it,” he ordered, then swung the door open and disappeared down the passageway to the library.

I sunk down to the edge of the bed, my heart pounding in my chest.

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As the seconds ticked by, my nerves seemed to grow. I put my head in my hands, not sure where else to look, as my stomach fluttered.

All I could hear from the library was a faint rustling from of papers. There was no sound from Theodore, no shouts or angry yells of a confrontation.

I pulled my head out of my hands to look at the door to the library. It seemed oddly haunting and dangerous. It was as if I expected something terrible to come rushing through those doors at any

second.

I wanted Theodore to be back here with me. I wanted to wait for Sherry to come and neutralize the threat before going out. But Theodore had to be the first one on the scene.

Suddenly, a scream rang out from in the library, echoing off the walls of the passageway and. bouncing around my room.

S hit! I jumped to my feet, heart pounding in my chest.

That had to have been a woman screaming. It definitely wasn’t Theodore, right? Or was he in so much n

that he was screaming in that octave?

I took two steps towards the door, then hesitated. Theodore told me to wait here. And besides, what good would I be if he really was hurt?

But I couldn’t just

stay here while g od knows what happened to him outside. I was paralyzed with indecision. I had no idea what to do.

Then I heard a voice from outside. “It’s you. I shouldn’t have been surprised.”

Relief flooded my b*dy. That was Theodore’s voice, and he sounded okay.

Before I knew what I was doing, I made a beeline to the door and, after throwing it open, ran down the passage beyond.

The library was still and eerie, the huge shelves seeming to loom up around me like living, breathing things.

I could hear mu ffled voices coming from somewhere in the shelves. One of the voices belonged to Theodore. And it seemed mad. The other voice was also familiar, although I couldn’t place it.

I hurried through the ghostly rows of books, following the voices as they grew louder, Chapter 17 of 30: Chapter 17

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13:12 Wed 24 Jan

Finally, I rounded the corner and stepped out into the section of the library with the locked glass cases. Well, not locked anymore.

One of them had been busted open, and there were papers strewn across the floor. A woman knelt on her knees in front of them, holding a digital camera in her shaking hand. Theodore was standing over her, looking furious.

I gasped as I recognized the woman on the floor.

“Iris?” I asked, my voice ringing out in the quiet. She glared at me like I was some kind of fungus she wanted to have exterminated.

Theodore turned at the sound of my voice, and I saw a slight frown on his face.

“I told you to stay in the room,” he said.

“I heard someb*dy scream,” I explained. I looked back and forth from Theodore to Iris. “What’s going on here?”

“None of your business, Ms. Gibson,” spat Iris. But Theodore took a menacing step towards her, and she flinched away from him.

“A very good question, Jasmine,” Theodore mused. “It would appear that Ms. Iris Black has been spying on us this entire time.”

H

“Really?” I asked, surprised. I never liked Iris, but she’d always seemed very dedicated to Theodore, almost to the point where I’d wondered if she was interested in him.

“Indeed,” Theodore said, moving some of the loose papers with his foot. “It would seem she thought nob*dy would be in the library at this hour and that she could break into my private files to send my personal information to… To whom, exactly, Ms. Black?”

He looked down at Iris. She stared up at him hatefully. Then she spat right at his feet.

Theodore merely looked inquisitively at the foamy spit seeping into the carpet beneath him.

“No doubt you intended to blame one of the housekeepers for the break-in tomorrow, am I right?” Once again, Iris said nothing. Theodore continued.

“I guess I’ve had a rat in my employ for several years now. Troubling. But what I still don’t understand, Ms. Black, is who you’re working for. A competitor? An assassin? Who?”

Iris mockingly drew her fingers across her l*ps as if zipping them, then tossed away an imaginary key. Theodore chuckled.

But just then, I saw something glow under the table next to Theodore. For a moment, I wondered what it was. But then I realized..

I darted forward and scooped it up off the ground. Iris’s eyes went wide as I held it in front of her face.

Chapter 17 of 30: Chapter 17

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I was holding her cell phone, which was currently buzzing as someb*dy tried to call her.

“Dropped this?” I asked triumphantly.

“Give that to me,” she snarled. I could see from the look in her eyes that she was afraid now. Clearly, Theodore noticed this as well. He turned towards her, smirking.

“If Ms. Gibson looks at your phone, Ms. Black, what exactly will she find?” he asked her co olly. She looked up at him, and I had to bite back a smirk at the panic in her eyes.

“Please, Mr. Jefferson,” she said. “This is all a big misunderstanding. Someb*dy else broke into these files. I was only here to catalog what was taken. Please, you don’t have to look at my phone. There’s nothing on there, and it’s an invasion of my privacy.”

While she was talking, her phone stopped buzzing, and a little “ding” told me that she’d received a new text. I saw her flinch a little when she heard it.

“That’s a nice story, Ms. Black, but I’m afraid it won’t cut it. Ms. Gibson, who is so insistent upon speaking with Ms. Black here?”

I turned over her phone and tapped the power button to wake up the screen. Along with the ‘Missed Call’ notification, there was a new text.

Lana

Do you have Theo’s files yet? Send them as soon as you

have them.

I felt something cold flood into my stomach as I read. Theo, she called him Theo.

I looked up at Theodore, not sure what to say. Who the hell was this Lana person, and why was she calling Theodore, my Theodore, by pet names?

“It’s… It’s from someb*dy named Lana,” I said, watching Theodore’s face for a reaction. Instantly, his face drained of color.

Oh, g od. What the hell was going on?

I looked down at Iris on the floor, whose eyes were darting between Theodore and me. It seemed. she was still searching for some way out of this.

Then, to my great surprise, a smile cracked her face, and she let out a cruel cackle.

“He didn’t tell you?” Her voice was shrill, bouncing off the bookcases around us as she sneered up at me. Theodore still looked white as a sheet.

“Oh, don’t think I haven’t seen the way you two look at each other,” she snarled. “All lovey-dovey. I bet you think you’ve found true love, and everything’s going to be peaches and sunshine from now on. Poor little stu pid, naive girl.”

13:12 Wed, 24 Jan G

GO.

“That’s enough,” roared Theodore. “Jasmine, don’t listen to her.”

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I couldn’t look at him. I felt rooted to the spot. Iris, who seemed to realize she wasn’t getting out of this and should stop trying, was now cackling like a mad woman on the floor.

At that moment, I heard running footsteps behind me, and Sherry came running into the room. They skidded to a halt next to us, surveying the scene with confusion.

“Took

you long enough,” hissed Theodore. “Take Ms. Black out of my house. Please deposit her at the nearest police station.”

“You got it, boss,” said Sherry, as she jumped into action. Iris fought her the entire way out of the library. She was still cackling madly, her beady little eyes staring back at me as she was dragged.

away.

Once they were gone, Theodore and I were alone with only the ghost of her cackling laughter.

“Jasmine.” Theodore placed a hand on my shoulder, but I flinched, and he quickly removed it.

I turned around to look at him, my eyes burning. “Who is Lana?”

Theodore sighed, running a hand through his sleek hair. He looked very haggard and tired at that

moment.

“Can you please just drop it? She’s nob*dy,” he muttered. “Let’s go back to bed.”

“What happened to trust? That’s what you’re all about, right?” I asked.

My words hung in the air between us. Theodore didn’t respond, but I knew I’d made a solid argument.

Finally, he let out a deep sigh and took a step towards me.

“I haven’t been totally honest with you,” he said softly. “I think it’s time I told you about Thea’s mother.”