Free Cornered by Ariana Gael

it’s done. I might even go next time and the time after that, but that’s only because I’m a control freak. Would you call the car service while I make sure everything is secured?” Marjorie left to begin checking the glass cases of the rare books, setting their alarms individually, while Michelle dialed the number for a car. Marjorie then retrieved a large suitcase from the closet where the packaging materials were kept, a metal-sided hard-shelled rolling case with a large luggage lock on the zipper. The packages went in the suitcase, surrounded on every side by small white pillows, before being locked inside.
    While Michelle gave the directions to the car dispatcher, Marjorie printed out the instructions for the terminal and gate where the plane would be waiting. She tucked those in the pocket of her coat and the two of them waited just inside the first door at the back of the shop, still locked in but able to step out directly into the car.
    This is a good bit of overkill for some books , Michelle thought to herself while they waited. Marjorie glanced out through the small window in the exterior door, watching for anything suspicious.
    “You seem pretty tense,” Michelle said, not wanting to offend her new boss but also wondering what was making the older woman so on edge.
    “Well, of course I’m tense. This suitcase is now worth more than every major organ in your body. And mine. Combined, even. There have been problems in the past, so I keep a very low profile when I’m sending books out.” She laughed to herself for a moment, still looking out the window. “You know, there was a time when I thought nothing of dropping these packages in the mail with nothing more than a tracking number and some insurance. As if these books could even be insured.”
    “They can’t be insured? Why, because they’re too expensive?” Michelle asked.
    “Oh, no. Anything can be bought for the right amount of money. I was referring to the fact that they cannot be replaced. Just think of it. John Milton sat in a dark attic room for hours penning Paradise Lost . Did you know he ruined his eyesight from spending too much time reading and writing by only candlelight? One of the books in this glass case is from the original printing of that work. Milton undoubtedly held it in his hands. If I let something happen to it due to my own carelessness, I have stolen it from the whole world.” Michelle was struck by the reverence in the older woman’s voice as she spoke, sharing a truth about not just books, but about the entirety of life.
    “I never thought of it that way. Now you’ve kind of got me scared!” Michelle said lightly. “The fate of the world—well, at least, this really awesome book—rests in our clumsy, germy mortal hands!”
    “I knew from the moment I met you that you’d understand,” Marjorie said, patting Michelle’s shoulder briefly before looking her square in the face. “The car’s here. I’ll go first and open the back door, then you get in and go straight through to the other side, bringing the bag with you and placing it on the seat between us. Then I’ll get in, and we’ll be off!”
    Michelle waited in the entryway as Marjorie stepped outside, looking from left to right and waving the driver off when he left the car to get her bags. The handle of the suitcase was a burning, dead weight in Michelle’s hand, given the importance her boss had placed on all of this. When Marjorie gestured to her to come outside, the younger woman practically ran to the car and dove in head first, bringing the light suitcase with her in one quick movement. As she promised, Marjorie climbed in the car and shut the door, barking to the driver, “Lock the doors, please.”
     

CHAPTER THIRT EEN
     
    Mr. Vane climbed down from the front of the delivery truck and reached under the seat for the clipboard to log the miles off the odometer, taking special note of any mechanical problems and checking off the boxes on his