Page 50 of Booked for Murder

“Renovating it.”

“The entire thing.”

“Well, yes. They told me we get discounts because we’re a public service and a heritage building. If I can get all floors for the price of only some floors, I’m going to renovate all floors and have them make our building a competitor for the main branch.”

Beatrice, seated on my floor with a sea of papers around her, grinned at me. “I’m pretending I didn’t hear that just so the uppers are caught completely off guard when they go view the building when it’s done. They hate you on a good day, and when they find out you’re working magic with your renovation budget, they’re going to lose their minds. I want to witness this.”

“I’m so glad to be of service. Did you all get any work done while I was making phone calls?”

“Somewhat. We’ve gotten all of the certification requirements put together, so everyone can do their studying so we won’t have to have any retakes. It’ll be three weeks to get an appointment for your shooting qualification. Will you be ready by then?” she replied.

“I’ll have to be. What can we realistically do before we get licensed?”

Bradley released my arm, went to my coffee table, and picked up several sheets of paper, looking through them. After reading them over, he selected one and held it out to me. I joined him, took the paper, and read it over, discovering it to be information regarding Senator Tomalin, the first of the murder victims. “Senator Tomalin’s death is beyond the closed investigative period, so if we’re investigated for investigating, as long as we don’t have any information on the other victims, we’re not breaking any laws. So, we’re going to go through his death and learn everything we can. Anything we learn about the other victims will have to be kept off record—or hidden carefully. As long as we don’t draw attention to ourselves, we shouldn’t be investigated. That’ll give us a chance to get our licensing in order. It won’t stop us from investigating, but we’ll have to be careful about how we handle it.”

“Okay. What do you want me to do?”

“Practice your shooting,” he replied. “I’ll have a new firearm for you tomorrow, and I’ll be making arrangements for a better weapon. Ren will pick you up every evening after work and take you to a range, where you’ll record your hours for qualification. After you’ve gotten the hours needed for carry permit qualification, you’ll get your paperwork filed. That’s all you need to do before your main test.”

“How many hours for qualification for the conceal carry permit?”

“Forty.”

Crap. I’d be spending every waking hour outside of work getting my hours in at the range. After forty hours, I’d probably be back in shape for the test, but my hands would never forgive me—and neither would my foot. “I’m not getting into your car. You bring a sensible vehicle, or you pay for my cab fare to the range. You can pay for my ammo and range time, too. If I have to deal with forty hours at the range, someone better be bringing me orange chicken at least once a week.”

“What’s wrong with my car?”

“My boot won’t fit.” I expected the first time I got into it, my doctor’s worries of flashbacks would manifest, and it had taken me months before I’d enjoyed life without them.

Everyone stared at my medical boot, which was more than double the size of a regular shoe.

“All right. I’ll secure a different vehicle for your trips to the range. What time will you get off work tomorrow?”

Mr. Tawnlen rolled his eyes, reached over, and scratched Ajani behind her ears. “The branch is still closed for the investigation, and there’s nothing the renovators can do, nor is there much you can do until you can go in and get full measurements of everything, Janette. Mickey, Meridian, while we’re still closed, I want you two to brush up on city codes, bylaws, and anything else we’ll need for this venture. I’ll be doing acquisition research on current forensics rules, regulations, and methodology for the library expansion. Make sure you create a list of relevant materials we’re going to need to order to justify your research. While the library is closed, I’ll have everyone working with acquisitions to help Janette with her general expansion plans. Since Janette has a reputation of not owning a phone and we’re all known to come over here from time to time, we’ll use this as our meeting point.”

While everyone fit, more people were standing or sitting on the floor than fit on my couch, and even if I opened my bedroom for everyone, I couldn’t make the space comfortable for everybody. Some cushions and lap desks would help, and there was a store down the street I could buy them from. “I’ll get some things to make my apartment more comfortable,” I promised.

“I am bringing over a better coffee maker for you tomorrow,” Bradley announced. “I have already ordered it, and I’ll be picking it up as soon as I leave here. I cannot drink that toxic waste.”

I eyed my coffee maker and the collection of mugs taking over my counter, warning me a bunch of fools had tested their luck. “You tried my coffee, didn’t you?”

“I’d rather eat your orange chicken again without milk or sugar.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“It is really that bad. I’m buying you a new coffee maker, and you’re going to like it. If you keep complaining at me about it, I’ll find something else to buy for you, and I’ll force you to accept it. I’m thinking a laptop. I have noticed you do not seem to own a computer, Janette.”

“I use the ones at the library.”

“I’m buying you a laptop. Anything else you don’t own that you should?”

“Try to bring a television in here, and I’ll shatter it over your head.”

He laughed. “You can watch television on your new laptop if you really want. It’ll be useful. I’ll grab you a tablet, too. You can read books on that if you need an excuse.”

“If you’re looking for various things to bribe your way into my apartment, you can go to the bookstore and try to think what a librarian might appreciate.” I considered him. “One suitable item from a bookstore will purchase you one day of welcome into my apartment.”

“You’re going to go broke if you let her con you like that,” Bradley’s mother warned.