Twin Targets by Marta Perry

Tried is the operative word. She’s got some of her mother’s courage. I told her I’d look into it for her, hoping to buy some time.”
    “If you found Eloise, if she agreed to go into the program again, she could have her daughter with her, if that’s what they both wanted.”
    “That’s a lot of ifs, kid.” Jackson halted, turned. “We’d better head back. You’ve got enough on your plate with the Ruby Maxwell killing. I wanted you to know about this, but I’ll deal with it.”
    Of course he would. Jackson always preferred to deal with things himself. At least he’d trusted him with the background. But…
    “You don’t suppose there could be any connection between that old case and what’s happening now, do you?”
    He could see Jackson turning that over in his mind.
    “On the face of it, I don’t see how.” His words were slower than his usual incisive tone. “Still, it is odd, Ms. Perry showing up just when you’re dealing with a Mafia hit. Maybe a coincidence.”
    “Maybe.” Jade’s face appeared in his mind, vulnerable and grieving. “But I don’t like coincidences.”
    Jade parked in front of the library and took her time getting out. Despite her insistence to Ellen, as well as to Micah, that she was fine and she’d be better off going to work, she still felt a bit shaky after yesterday’s experience. But she’d improve once she got busy. Sitting around, listening to Ellen bemoan their failure to put in a new stove hadn’t exactly cheered her up. It had been a constant reminder of how close she’d come to death. She paused to survey the library building as she often did, trying to see it through the eyes of someone who might be persuaded to come in. The turn-of-the-century brick building was one of the oldest in town. Library service had declined slowly over the years, until some determined citizens started putting pressure on the county to hire a qualified librarian and increase the budget. She smiled with satisfaction as she pushed through the glass-paneled door. Now the library was growing into the kind of vibrant, active place she’d envisioned it could be. Circulation was up, activities had skyrocketed in the past six months, and she had an interested, supportive board behind her.
    And will they stay behind you if you keep having odd ‘accidents’? The little voice at the back of her mind was persistent.
    Yesterday was an accident, she told herself firmly. No one could blame her for that. As for the rest of her misfortunes—well, it was up to the marshals to sort that out. She was just an innocent bystander. She walked quickly through the stacks at the front of the library before going to the circulation desk, just making sure all was as it should be. She had some teenage volunteers who came in after school to reshelve books, but sometimes their grasp of the system was a bit shaky. The marshals, in the person of Micah McGraw, would handle the aftermath of Ruby’s death. He’d already called first thing this morning. She’d steeled herself at the sound of his voice, ready for whatever questions had brought him here yesterday, but he’d just wanted to know how she felt, his deep voice warm with concern. She couldn’t deny that she’d been affected by his caring, to say nothing of the fact that he’d saved her life twice. Still, he’d be forever linked in her mind with what happened to Ruby.
    And to him, despite his apparent concern, she was part of a puzzling case, if not a suspect. That was all they could possibly be to each other.
    She reached the circulation desk. Allie Brandon, her assistant, greeted her with a worried smile.
    “I thought you weren’t coming in today, Jade. I don’t mind staying on, really I don’t.”
    “I’m better off here.” She glanced at the round schoolhouse clock over the desk. “I have story hour at two, and I don’t want to miss that.”
    Allie shook her head, unconvinced. “If you don’t mind my saying so, you’re looking pretty