“See if they’ll do it for $10,000. Five up front and the rest after it’s done.”

“Babe nobody does a murder on layaway. We got to come up with a plan.”

Mrs. Davenport dropped the stack of books she was carrying. A stomach bug had been racing through Lehigh High School. Mrs. Davenport was filling in for the school librarian who was out sick. Tuning in and out of her surroundings, Davenport was returning books.

Now her heart raced. Her senses heightened as adrenaline surged. Someone laughed as other students talked. Most used the library to hang out and not do their work. What had she just heard?

Books spilled across the aisle. There must be a reasonable explanation. Some kind of joke? She bent seeing a pair of Converse sneakers and slender legs through the metal book shelf.

Who was it? Kneeling with a jumbled armful books, Mrs. Davenport thought about what she’d heard. Who was planning a murder? XTurning it over and over, the teacher slowly rose. Should she talk to someone?

Rounding the aisle, she had to find who was plotting. Who will be killed? The skinny legs were gone on the other side. A few kids were working on computers but most were playing on their phones. They were all just kids. But two of them have murder in their hearts.

Davenport shook her head. There must’ve been a mistake. This was a nice community, good families, a great school district, crime was a fender bender or kids throwing toilet paper in someone’s trees. She searched faces wanting to believe

“Mrs. Davenport, hey, you dropped a book,” Jimmy said.

The junior waved a paperback. Distracted mrs. Davenport reached for the book. She wanted to explore the stacks find out more of the plot

“Take care mrs. Davenport,” Jimmy said walking away.

Something in set of his shoulders and the playfulness in his tone stopped her breath. Jimmy, little Jimmy Edwards, she’d taught him for freshman English. She’d known this boy fort years. Today Jimmy was scary. The teacher looked at the book he’d handed her. She dropped it. The bang rang across the quiet. Everyone looked up and then returned to their conversations.

Curiosity Killed the Cat, the book title, shouted up at her. Mrs. Davenport looked over her shoulder. She was in the history section. She left the warning on the library floor and ran.