Page 91 of Booked for Murder

“What part of that wasn’t true?” I countered.

“You do not need a hoard. You’re bad enough with those car magazines. Willamina showed me your car magazine collection, particularly your favorites, which were read to a near-death state. After we finished with your car magazine collection, she showed me your stash of car-related fiction novels, to go with your stash of spy thrillers, political intrigue novels, and general mystery books. Those were also read to a near-death state. In good news, Bradley has taken this information and has begun buying you a new library of books you can read to a near-death state, apparently to bribe his way into your favor.”

Crap. I thought I’d done a somewhat admirable job of hiding my general collection of books in the Hampton family library. “Being his bodyguard would have been a great deal more pleasant if the job involved reading,” I admitted. “I think any contract I have to deal with involving the Hampton family should include guaranteed reading time.” I considered Bradley’s mother. “Your name is Willamina?”

Bradley’s mother huffed. “I don’t know how you managed to live in my house for how many years without learning my name. I swear, you have a one-track mind.”

As I couldn’t argue with her, I shrugged.

Bradley chuckled, drawing my attention to him. “You’re something else, Janette. Still, I never would have thought to look for you in a library. I mean, you did like anything you could read, and I would usually find you with your nose in a book or a magazine if I lost track of you, so I shouldn’t be surprised. Yet I really am. When I got impressions of you at the library, I really did just about have a heart attack. A damned library, Janette?”

“I got to do something I enjoy, and I like librarians, so I got to do something I enjoy with people I like. Why is this so surprising?”

“It just is.”

Bradley’s mother cleared her throat. “You’re trying to convince her to marry you, not convince her to kill you. I love you, so I don’t want her to kill you before or after she marries you.”

“If she marries me, she can attempt to kill me for the rest of my lifespan, and I will thwart her at every turn. I also will let her use the range anytime she wants, and she can explore my book and gun collection at her whim if she’s engaged or married to me.”

I took my time thinking about that.

“She’s actually thinking about it,” Meridian blurted. “Janette, you’re really thinking about it! But which part? The attempted murders or the range? The books or the guns? It’s really bothering me that I am asking this.”

“Can it be both?” I replied. “Or everything. It’s everything. Mr. Tawnlen, can you move me back to acquisitions permanently? I get to read and research all the titles coming in. I feel my current job requirements are restrictive.”

“No,” my boss replied. “You’re the fake Head Librarian until we reopen, after which you’re technically in acquisitions only because you’re working on the renovation project and will need to acquire books to go into the new sections, but you’ll have to work with the actual acquisitions experts. You can continue to bring your cat to work with you, however.”

Oh, well. “I’m going with everything for your question, Beatrice. It’s hard to say no to books, though. And I get to keep bringing my cat to work with me.”

“It really is difficult to say no to new books,” my friend agreed. “You better write in a demand for books, paid out monthly, plus time for reading them. Men can be demanding, and if you don’t make certain they understand you need your reading time, you might not get to read a book for an entire week.”

“That would be grounds for justifiable homicide.” I eyed Bradley. “I need reading time, Mr. Hampton.”

He held up his hands in surrender. “You can even host book parties where all you do is sit in the library and read if you want. I am a lot of things, but I’m not stupid. Most of the time. I am not stupid most of the time. Honestly? I feel I’ve been fairly stupid over the past few months, especially considering who has been involved with that bill. I tried to maintain somewhat of a friendship with Godrin, but I have been somewhat vocal about the potential damage the bill could do, so we were not on good terms.”

“Yet you were at the crime scene.”

“I was at the crime scene because I was called in and asked to assist. They wanted readings from inanimate objects.”

“But why not a reading from his body?”

“Oh, they wanted that, too, but the bill for my work is a lot cheaper than the bill for Mom’s work, and the bill for Dad’s work is terrifying.”

I regarded Bradley’s father, who maintained his silence and likely would. Bradley’s mother tended to do the talking.

Bradley’s father tended to be the kind to handle the doing.

“Your thoughts?” I asked. “And if you could explain why your work is so much more expensive, that would be possibly good information to know.”

“Willamina and I were married because we have the same general ability type. We both deal with organics, but I can also read inorganic materials much like Bradley can. Bradley does have some sensory abilities with organics, but he is restricted on its usage.”

Interesting. “Bradley?”

“I can only read living people, and I can only read them when they’re in a certain mindset.”

“What does that even mean?”

Bradley refused to look me in the eyes.