Night Shift (Book 1, the Night Shift series)

Chapter Thirty-six

The next evening was comfortably mild. Daniel only wore his gray zip-up hoodie and jeans as he walked down West 23rd Street. Monique's report was in his backpack. He stopped outside a three-storey limestone building. Its long windows and arched entrance reminded him of Willard's. He pushed against the door and walked into the Muhlenberg Branch Public Library.

He approached the modern-looking circulation desk and inquired about books on hold under his name. The librarian told him they had ten items ready to be picked up, and another thirty on reserve. She looked over the top of her glasses at him. "Catching up?"

"Insomnia."

While she began to stack Ruth Ann's favourites on the counter, he studied the area. The library appeared to be around the same vintage as Willard's, but the inside was totally tech savvy. "How old is this building?" he asked her.

"Over one hundred years." She smiled, scanning the barcodes. "We had a major renovation over ten years ago, though."

"Oh?"

"Mm-hmm. What an amazing transformation; the windows were lengthened to bring in more light, the outside stonework was cleaned and restored, the whole building was fitted with new wiring, new heating and air conditioning units." She took a breath and added with a smile, "And a wonderful community space was added to the third floor. The elevators were updated as well."

"So, it all worked out," he said, trying to imagine Willard's with a facelift.

"Of course." She handed him back his card. "It revitalized the library for another hundred years."

Daniel thanked her and stuffed the books into his backpack. Monique's folder was flattened between To Kill A Mockingbird and Shane.

He arrived for his shift with an aching shoulder. After changing into uniform, he stood by the main doors for the last of the clerks. He lugged the backpack through Ladies' Fashions, taking a route that took him by Mary's display, but judging from the folded skirt and high heels left on the platform, she had already left.

Yesterday, there was a definite moment by the main entrance when he could have spilled out his heart to her. Instead, like a jerk, he tested to see if she'd let him go to Monique...and she had.

Daniel pulled on the backpack again. He hurried up the aisle toward the grand staircase, but then he paused in front of Sleepwear. He stood eyeballing the lilac-scented room. Something was off. In all the weeks Daniel had been at Willard's, he'd never seen anything out of order; every dress, jacket, shirt, and shoe was always in place.

But here, racks of robes were bunched too close together, and long scuff marks lined the carpet. He searched the area, but other than the slightly messy state, there was nothing to report to Mr. Oliver.

He made his way to the second floor and walked along the tall row of bookcases that led to the cozy reading area by the electric fireplace. Ruth Ann was hidden behind the cover of her latest read, while Clara and Mary were talking on one of the loveseats.

Daniel opened his backpack and poured out the entire contents around Ruth Ann's feet. She squealed and jumped up, giving him a big hug. He glanced around the room, grateful Jonathan wasn't present.

"What's that?" Mary asked, pointing to Monique's binder mixed in with the library books.

Daniel picked it up. "Anyone interested in a little glamorous gossip?"

Twenty minutes later, Mary was going over the whole thing for a second time. Her hair was tightly twirled around her finger. "This tells us nothing that we didn't know already," she scoffed.