Madonna came stomping back across the street, holding the shotgun broken open in the crook of her arm.
“Let me put this up. I’ll come back and get Grady,” she said.
“Sure. He’s no trouble,” Joe said. “Everything okay over there?”
“Yeah. That Smith came through the back area just before I came in the front. Little jerk-off thief didn’t know where to look.”
“Anyone we know?” Joe asked.
“No, some punk from Abilene,” she said. “Thought it would be easy to knock over a little store in a little town like Midnight. Huh. Not with me and Teacher here, it isn’t.” She gave the line of men a look that expressed her contempt at their inaction, and then she went in to put away the shotgun. “Thanks for all your help. Not.”
“I guess we got put in our place,” Quinn said, sounding amused. The Rev shook his head. Diederik (now even taller, Manfred noted) smiled, not the big open grin of previous days, but a smile nonetheless. Joe and Chuy stood as close together as they could get, and Joe smiled down at the dark head resting on his shoulder.
“Yes, we’re a sad bunch,” Manfred said, and he smiled, too. He thought Diederik still smelled like blood. He watched as, out of nothing, a feather fluttered from Joe’s shoulder and landed gently on the sidewalk.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I need to thank Dr. Ed Uthman, Dennis DuBois, and Miller Jackson for their advice and information on various issues in this book. And, as always, thanks to Dana Cameron and Toni L. P. Kelner, aka Leigh Perry, for their helpful comments and suggestions.
Ace Books by Charlaine Harris
The Midnight, Texas, Novels
MIDNIGHT CROSSROAD
DAY SHIFT
The Sookie Stackhouse Novels
DEAD UNTIL DARK
LIVING DEAD IN DALLAS
CLUB DEAD
DEAD TO THE WORLD
DEAD AS A DOORNAIL
DEFINITELY DEAD
ALL TOGETHER DEAD
FROM DEAD TO WORSE
DEAD AND GONE
DEAD IN THE FAMILY
DEAD RECKONING
DEADLOCKED
DEAD EVER AFTER
A TOUCH OF DEAD
AFTER DEAD
Ace Books Edited by Charlaine Harris
THE SOOKIE STACKHOUSE COMPANION
Ace Books Edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner
DEAD BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Ace Anthologies Edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner
MANY BLOODY RETURNS
WOLFSBANE AND MISTLETOE
DEATH’S EXCELLENT VACATION
HOME IMPROVEMENT: UNDEAD EDITION
AN APPLE FOR THE CREATURE
GAMES CREATURES PLAY
Berkley Prime Crime Books by Charlaine Harris
The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries
REAL MURDERS
A BONE TO PICK
THREE BEDROOMS, ONE CORPSE
THE JULIUS HOUSE
DEAD OVER HEELS
A FOOL AND HIS HONEY
LAST SCENE ALIVE
POPPY DONE TO DEATH
The Lily Bard Mysteries
SHAKESPEARE’S LANDLORD
SHAKESPEARE’S CHAMPION
SHAKESPEARE’S CHRISTMAS
SHAKESPEARE’S TROLLOP
SHAKESPEARE’S COUNSELOR
The Harper Connelly Mysteries
GRAVE SIGHT
GRAVE SURPRISE
AN ICE COLD GRAVE
GRAVE SECRET
SWEET AND DEADLY
A SECRET RAGE
Berkley Prime Crime Anthologies Edited by Charlaine Harris
CRIMES BY MOONLIGHT
InkLit Graphic Novels by Charlaine Harris
GRAVE SIGHT
InkLit Graphic Novels by Charlaine Harris and Christopher Golden
CEMETERY GIRL: BOOK ONE: THE PRETENDERS
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
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This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.
Copyright © 2015 by Charlaine Harris, Inc.
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eBook ISBN: 978-1-101-59881-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Harris, Charlaine.
Day shift / Charlaine Harris.
pages; cm. — (A novel of Midnight, Texas; 2)
ISBN 978-0-425-26319-8 (hardback)
I. Title.
PS3558.A6427D39 2015
813'.54—dc23
2014045840
FIRST EDITION: May 2015
Cover illustration © Hugh Syme.
Cover photograph: Clouds © Mr Twister / Shutterstock.
Cover design by Judith Lagerman.
Map illustration by Laura Hartman Maestro.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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