Page 67 of Guess Again

Boscobel, Wisconsin Monday, August 4, 2025

ETHAN SPRINTED THROUGH THE DOORS OF THE PRISON AND INTO the parking lot.

Maddie waited in her unmarked squad car.

Ethan jumped in and slammed the passenger door shut.

“Veteran’s Park in Milwaukee,” he said.

They tore out of the parking lot of the Wisconsin Secure Program Facility in Boscobel and sped east.

This time they were on official business and Maddie had the lights flashing and the siren blaring.

“What the hell is a Little Free Library?”

Ethan asked.

“It’s like a need-a-penny-take-a-penny you see at gas stations, but for books.

They’re all over the place.

Want to get rid of a book? Stick it in a Little Free Library.

Want to grab a free book? Go to a Little Free Library and take one.”

“Really? I’ve never seen one.”

“Yes you have, you’ve just never noticed them.”

With Maddie reaching top speeds of 100 mph, and traffic pulling to the side to allow the police cruiser to speed past, they made it to Milwaukee in just over two hours.

They found Veteran’s Park and skidded to a stop in the parking lot.

They jumped from the car and sprinted through the woods on the north end.

Ethan spotted the Little Free Library—a wooden structure that was the shape of an A-frame cabin and positioned on a wooden post secured into the concrete.

He was breathing heavily when he pulled open the door to the small structure.

It was filled with hardcover and paperback books that lined the single shelf.

He swiped the books away and reached inside.

Brushing his hand back and forth along the top, he felt the corner of an envelope and pulled it free from the tape that held it in place.

He looked at Maddie as he produced the envelope.

He pushed the distracting thoughts from his mind about how Francis was orchestrating it all.

Ethan ripped the envelope open and pulled a single index card from inside.

Portia Vail

286 Summerset Lane

Lake Sherwood

Rome, Wisconsin

“Address in Rome,”

Ethan said.

“Where’s that?”

Ethan typed the address into his phone.

“Looks like a small, unincorporated town near Nekoosa.”

He remembered that Eugenia Morgan lived in Nekoosa, and Pete had been running surveillance on the woman’s house.

“North of Madison,”

he said.

“Two and a half hours from us.”

“Let’s go!”

Maddie said.

They sprinted back toward Maddie’s cruiser.