Page 36 of Booked for Murder

“But it doesn’t benefit people you care about.”

“Exactly. It doesn’t. Society isn’t nearly as segregated as he liked to believe. However much my mother takes pride in her rating, one of her favorite people is her maid. They go to the salon together now, did you know? My mother claims it is a ‘hiring benefit’ but really? They sit there, get their nails done, drink Champagne, and talk. Her maid used to be horrified over the situation, but it turns out she really likes my mom, so they’re actually friends now.”

“Which maid?”

“Jezabella. Remember the tiny little black girl my mother picked up off the street after she was orphaned?”

I nodded; for the first three weeks of Jezabella’s life at the residency, she’d lived in my bedroom while I had crashed on whichever couch was available because my room was the plainest by my choice.

She’d come from poverty, and luxury had unsettled her almost as much as being yanked out of her old life and essentially adopted into the Hampton family.

I’d liked Jezabella, as she’d possessed the nerve to try to fight Bradley’s father over some old rags.

Those rags had been her father’s shirt, and I’d helped Bradley’s mother clean it so the girl could keep it.

“How is she doing?” I finally asked.

“Pretty good. She’s in a fight with Dad right now.”

Uh-oh. “What sort of fight?”

“The kind where she got upgraded from maid to daughter, but she’s over eighteen now, and she can’t believe my parents would want to adopt her, some scrawny little black girl they’d picked up off the streets.” Bradley grunted. “She hasn’t figured it out yet. Mom wants me to talk sense into her, but I figure I’ll bring her over so you can talk to her.”

The private investigator cell would need a cleaner, the kind that could erase evidence of our presence on a crime scene and disappear in the rougher parts of town. We’d also need a record keeper, and while any one of the librarians on the team could, it would give the girl—no, young woman—a chance to prove herself without Bradley’s parents intervening. “Bring her over, but I make no promises I won’t corrupt her or bring her into the cell.”

Bradley frowned. “Why would you add her to the cell?”

Beatrice sucked in a breath. “Maids are perfect for tidying up a scene. They’re called scene cleaners in the cells. A scene cleaner makes sure we don’t change anything as we wipe away any evidence we were there, so they’re basically site supervisors who make sure we don’t fuck up the evidence. You need a strong attention to detail, which she’d have from the insane amount of work it takes to do something like properly clean a bathroom. She’ll also think in a completely different way than the rest of us. It’s brilliant. The only problem is she’ll have to pass the certification for it.”

“Jezabella is a quick study,” I replied.

“Understatement,” Bradley muttered, and Ren snorted a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Beatrice demanded, her gaze locking onto the bodyguard.

“Jezabella’s black, she grew up poor, and her magic rating is worse than Janette’s falsified rating,” Ren replied. “How much worse? We don’t know. She’s scared of learning to drive.”

I frowned. “Because of the crash?”

Bradley sighed and nodded. “She’s going to be pissed when she finds out you’ve been alive all this time.”

“Better to get it over with now, then. Go pick her up if you can, Ren. She might as well see me in my full limping glory. I’ll feed your charge and make sure he doesn’t end up in my bathroom again for the rest of the night. Bradley can loan me his little toy, and that’s all the protection he’ll need while in here.”

Rising to his feet, Ren nodded. “I’ll bring a present for you. I’ll have to notify the family, Bradley, sir.”

“It’s inevitable. Once Jezabella finds out, my mother will find out. She won’t be able to hide something like that from my mother. You might just want to bring Mrs. Hampton into the cell.”

“As what?” I blurted.

“The bouncer,” Bradley muttered.

I snorted at that, as private investigator cells didn’t have bouncers. They got one enforcer type, which would be my role.

“The attorney,” Beatrice suggested. “Legal advice will be needed, and there’s a slot available for someone to work with the courts if needed. Oddly, it’s the only position in the private investigator cell that doesn’t require some form of degree or qualification. You also aren’t required to have one as part of the cell. But yes, we could bring her in for that purpose.”

“She used to be a librarian, too.” Bradley laughed. “Jezabella would love to be a librarian, too.”

“Your mother used to be a librarian?” I blurted. “Since when?”