Page 7 of Booked for Murder

I didn’t miss that part of my dream job at all.

While standing on my toes while wearing a medical boot hurt like hell, I did so for a peek at my ex-boss. Yep. He was still hotter than hell, and I resented how well his suit fit him. The cops kept him busy, asking him questions while he crouched beside the cloth-covered body on the library steps.

I’d feel bad about the death of Bradley’s friend given an hour or two.

Meridian giggled, and she joined me in standing on her toes for a better look at my ex-boss. “You get to be Head Librarian Asurella for the next two weeks.”

I groaned and settled back onto my feet before I crippled myself further, already regretting my choice of last name, which had been safe and common for someone of my manufactured percentage. “Seriously? That’s Mr. Tawnlen’s job.”

“He’s now Executive Supervisor Tawnlen. It makes him feel special. As this round’s head librarian, you get to boss everyone around except for him, fix all those pesky things that keep annoying you, and no one except Mr. Tawnlen can tell you no.”

I narrowed my eyes, as our magazine archive needed a new shelving unit, we needed to open up one of the dusty, abandoned rooms for the space needed to fix the magazine archive, and bring in a proper digital archiving machine for the older records. “The digital archiving machine?”

“Ordered by our boss this morning before the murder.”

Before the accident, I would have done a little dance. “The abandoned rooms for the magazine archive?”

“I’ve been told the Head Librarian can open them up at her whim as soon as the police let us back in, and that Mickey volunteers to do the cleaning if it means he doesn’t have to sit at the reception desk. After this morning, he’ll be grateful if you would put him in charge of cleaning out those dusty hell holes.”

Maybe Bradley Hampton was a little too close for my liking, but I’d focus on my new life, one I meant to enjoy without the burdens of my past holding me back. “The expanded fiction section?”

“Once the magazine archive is moved, it seems logical we’d have space to expand various sections of our stock. And I expect we’ll be closed for a few days after we’re cleared to go back in, so you can use your rotation to fix all those things.”

“What’s the catch?” I demanded.

“You have to deal with the main branch about it.”

I groaned. As one of the smaller novelty branches of the New York Public Library, we fell under the umbrella of one of the main branches, having to justify every change we made to our catalog, building, and staff. When I’d been hired, our boss had battled with the main branch for three weeks over my hire, as they hadn’t felt we needed yet another librarian.

Fortunately for me, a pack of senators had come during the tail end of the argument, turning our library upside down and choosing it over the main branch for their impromptu meetings, reference center, and public meeting space. I still had no idea how New York had so many damned senators, but they flocked to our branch in droves.

Then again, Senator Godrin wasn’t even a New Yorker; he represented New Jersey.

As I hadn’t been born or bred in New York, my parents dragging us to the state to offer me better opportunities due to my rating, I failed to understand or care about the rivalry with New Jersey, Delaware, and the surrounding states. I’d lived in the city long enough to have developed an accent, but I’d erased it after living out west during rehab. I’d failed to pick up the appropriate accent upon my return, instead opting for something more neutral.

Neutral marked me as anyone other than who I’d once been.

I considered my situation and found a few good silver linings. If I had to deal with the main branch, I wouldn’t be around for the investigation. If I wasn’t around for the investigation, I wouldn’t run into my ex-boss again. He could kiss the so-called for life contract goodbye, as I couldn’t even do the work anymore.

That job was long gone, and while I missed it, I held no delusions about returning to my old life.

Time worked its magic on everyone, and he’d forget about his wasted investment soon enough—and the contract had been clear. Shit happened, and he couldn’t punish my parents for my failings, not even in case of death, dismemberment, or severe injury.

For his purposes, I was as good as dead, and there was no need to drag any skeletons out of the closet.

“All right. Tell our boss I’ll get to work on the main branch issue. I’ll go there tomorrow and get the preliminary approvals.”

“Tomorrow?” Meridian squeaked. “So soon?”

“Meridian.” I pointed at the bloodstained library. “Why would I want to come here when I can do useful work there? It’s not like I have to implement anything before waging that war, and they’re going to be more inclined to listen to me when I remind them we just had somebody murdered on our front steps. I might even head over today after settling Ajani at home.”

“True. Huh. All right. I’ll tell the boss. Anything else I should relay since I’m playing the loyal messenger?”

“Yeah, there’s something you can relay. Head librarians deserve raises.”

Meridian laughed at that. “Good luck with that one, Janette. Hell will freeze over first.”

“Well, you can’t say I didn’t try.”