Hidden in the Blood: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 5)

Chapter Forty: Al, Wednesday

Al couldn't stay home anymore. On Monday Rachel stayed home with him to make sure he didn't fall, but even she could see he didn't need her to get around. His progress was geometric. She went into work on Tuesday. With everybody gone, he was bored to tears in an empty house. He called his supervisor at work to see if he could try a graduated return.

Rachel and Lauren eyed him in the rear view mirror as they carpooled into downtown Vancouver on Wednesday, as if they were trying to assess if he was really ready to go back. He had his walker, folded, in the trunk, and he intended to use it only if he needed to.

Lauren drove into the loading bay today; normally she dropped him off at the entrance to it, but Rachel wanted to see him safely to the staff entrance of the library. Al showed them how to use the liftable platform, normally used to bridge a gap when unloading trucks, to raise him and his walker up with the push of a button so he didn't have to use the stairs. His work didn't require him to go between floors, so he was pretty sure he could work at least a few hours without any harm to him.

He kissed them both goodbye and went to the door, excited to finally be back. The Versa pulled out and beeped a last goodbye, and Al pressed his staff badge to the RFID reader.

A beep, but instead of a green light to indicate a successful read, the light stayed red. He pulled at the door handle just in case, but it remained locked.

Puzzled, he tried it again, but got the same result.

"What the fuck?" he said. He tried it again, thinking about the definition of insanity. Had his staff badge deactivated in the time he'd been away?

He saw the button to page security and pressed it, hoping they could open the door for him.

After a second, a voice on the other end said, "Security."

He leaned in and said, "Hi, this is Al Mackenzie in Cataloguing. My staff badge doesn't seem to work."

"Hold on, we'll come to you."

He waited patiently, knowing he was already late starting work. Luckily for him, since he wasn't in a public facing department and had no desk schedule, he could basically start when he wanted as long as he put in his hours.

The security guard emerged a minute or two later, wearing the uniform of Justiciar Security and Investigative Services. He gave Al a tentative smile and said, "Can I see your badge, please?"

Al handed it to him, keeping one hand on his walker. The guard gave the walker a curious look but made no comment on it; the library was supposed to be a workplace that welcomed all abilities, after all, and accommodations were made where the work allowed.

The guard let the door close, then pressed Al's badge to the RFID reader. A beep, but this time the light turned green. The guard opened the door.

"Huh," Al said. "When I did it, the light stayed red."

"Really?" The guard handed him his badge. "Let me see."

Al demonstrated. Once again, nothing. The guard took his badge and tried it, and the door opened.

"I don't understand," Al said. "It does it for you but not for me?"

The guard shrugged. "Not sure. It could just be a malfunction. We could make you a new badge, no problem."

"Oh, thank you, that would be great. I don't want to have to keep calling you every time I come to work."

The guard nodded. "Come with me."

Al followed him inside, waving to the staff in Shipping who were busy sorting library materials and mail into totes to be delivered to other branches. As they waited for the elevator to the second floor, where the security office was, the guard asked, "You don't happen to have some other electronic equipment attached to you, do you?"