"I work here in the library," I said.

"Swell," she snarked. "Want me to help you shelve some books?"

"I had to put some things away in the recording studio a while back," I said, snaking my arm around Beth again (after double-checking once more that the coast was still clear). "Ms. Sarniochi gave me the code to the lock. I think I still have it in my phone."

We barely had the presence of mind to grab our laptops and other stuff from the table before we hustled into the seldom-used back stairwell and from there down to the basement.

The recording studio is a small room in the...