Chapter Eighty: Sneaky
“The LIBRARY?!” TJ groaned loudly as he sat with Tammy at the Pleasantville Library.
“Shhhhhhh!!!!” Hissed the Librarian.
“Sorry!' TJ ducked his head.
“Trust me, the Pleasantville Library is the one place where everyone comes for a bit of privacy.” Tammy whispered. “Judith is here all the time, Demon shows up on occasion with Daryl, and when Mark was alive he used to love the Aquatics section.” Tammy took TJ through the History section. “We won't talk about how Belle spends all her free time here.”
“When she's not stepping on her wicket.” TJ pouted.
“SHHHHHH!!!!” The Librarian hissed again.
“Geezus…is he always that vicious?” TJ hissed as Tammy picked a book from the Contemporary Arts section.
“Mr. Bookley is the sweetest man ever thank you.” Tammy glared at her friend.
“I was just saying…” TJ started.
“SHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!” The Librarian looked ready to kill.
“I'm not going to speak for the rest of the day.” TJ grumbled under his breath.
“Good, because Richard Dickson just arrived, and we need to scope him out today.” Tammy took her book down to a table and opened her bag, pulling out her laptop. “We're gonna find out why the Service is in Pleasantville.”
TJ immediately grabbed the nearest book and threw himself into the seat next to her, earning a filthy look from Mr. Bookley.
Dickson looked at the the library catalogue, then went to the Adult Fiction section. He grabbed a mystery and sat down near a window. He began to read quietly.
TJ looked at his book, “Self-Care after Pregnancy”. He groaned inwardly. Tammy shot him a Look, before continuing with her studies.
Dickson read quietly for a while, before another man walked in. He picked up a mystery of his own and sat by his commander. TJ noticed that Tammy sat back and appeared to relax a bit while reading her book. He sighed, and tried to enjoy the book he'd picked up.
“This is stupid.” The lackey said to Dickson. “Why'd they give us such crap supplies for?”
“Because you KNOW they don't want us to fix anything.” Dickson replied bitterly. TJ and Tammy nearly fell off their chairs when they heard the feminine voice of the big, strapping Dickson! “Pleasantville is where they take care of their shady business, and they don't want to lose it. It's disgusting.”
“You're gonna try anyway aren't you Sir?” The other man asked.
“Of course. I didn't sign up to be a whitewasher.” Dickson snapped.
“SHHHHHHHHH!” The Librarian looked ready to burst.
“I want to get a hold of the main two. Chuckles and Giggles. I hear they have ties to the Masters and Begly families who hold a bit of weight around here.” Dickson said quietly.
“I'll see what I can do Sir.” The lackey nodded, before returning to his mystery. “No good, I've read this one a million times, it's lost it's charm.”
TJ looked at Tammy, who looked deep in thought.
“What was THAT all about?” He asked her.
“SHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!” Both the Librarian AND Tammy shushed TJ this time.
“What?!” TJ asked. Tammy groaned, and dragged TJ out of there.
“The whole point of the library is that it's QUIET and people DON'T KNOW THAT YOU'RE EAVESDROPPING!” Tammy scolded him. “This is why I'm Lady Silent and you're a chump.”
“Hey, give me a break!” TJ groaned.
She ripped into him all the way back to the tip.
—
“This goes deeper than anything I could have imagined. Oh the drama!” Belle listened intently to what Tammy and TJ reported back at the tip.
“A global conspiracy? Awesome.” Charlie drawled, sitting on a pile of old mattresses. “I'm sure you'll find some way to make it boring.”
“So, how do we help them?” Sammy asked as Charlie went flying to the ground, the pile of mattresses destroyed.
“This is where TJ gets involved. Be sure to say hi from Chuckles and Giggles for us!” Daniel thumped TJ's back.
“Hopefully he does better than he did at spying.” Tammy frowned.
Suddenly, TJ's phone began to buzz.
“Constable Jacobs reporting…yes Sir, will be there soon Sir.” TJ hung up. “Bad news, Demon has called the police to make sure the Noble Knights of the Last Order are caught!”
“Not good.” Petunia moaned.
“It isn't.” Daniel rubbed his chin. “Okay. Lady Silent and Sir Dark will remain on…well, THAT detail.” He couldn't help giggling. “Lady Luck will remain here and keep things running. Lady Courage, Sir Hyper and myself will help Chuckles and Giggles fight crime, should it pop up.”
“Right.” The Knights nodded.
“Teej, it's up to you.” Daniel looked at one of his two best friends. “You have to get to Dickson.”
“I'll try.” TJ sighed.
—
“You're distracted love.” Petunia rinsed off plates and handed them to TJ, who loaded the dishwasher.
“How am I supposed to talk to Dickson? This is a job for Belle or Dan or even Tammy.” TJ sighed. “I'm just a cop.”
“You know how to talk to people.” Petunia pointed out.
“Yeah…but…” TJ sighed.
“But what?” Petunia looked up at him.
“I can't change anything. None of my coworkers ever listen to me when I try to steer them towards not being corrupt, and bloody Dingbat is the worst Inspector I've ever heard of. He won't promote me to Senior Constable because he's got his favourites.” TJ told her. “I wanted to do my Dad proud, but I can't do anything.”
“Maybe you should talk to your Dad.” Petunia suggested, finishing the rinsing.
“I guess.” TJ put the last dish in the washer.
“Don't I guess me.” Petunia smiled at him with a giggle.
TJ smiled back, and hugged her tightly. “What would I do without you to keep me straight?”
“You'd probably be married to Dan and cheating with Sam right now.” Petunia poked him.
They laughed. As long as they had each other, nothing else mattered.