Page 16 of Booked for Theft (Vigilante Magical Librarians #3)

SIXTEEN

“But it’s cheese, Janette.”

Representative Forsythe waited outside of the fast food joint, which sold the greasiest, cheesiest burgers money could buy. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought him to be one of the lower caste men on the hunt for something cheap for lunch. His jeans had seen heavy use, and he wore a denim shirt with an old t-shirt underneath.

When he spotted me with Bradley, he grinned, picked up his backpack, and strolled over. “You have no idea how nice it is to have even a half day off.”

I could only imagine. As the politician seemed determined to start things off on the right foot, I smiled, freed my hand from Bradley’s clutches, and shook with him. “I hope you don’t mind Bradley coming along for the walk. He can have dairy now without consequence, and I’m pretty sure he never would have recovered if he missed a chance for a good cheeseburger.”

Representative Forsythe made a show of shuddering. “While I know it’s not precisely good for me, I’m a cheese fanatic. My wife laments over my love of all things cheese. I brought home an entire wheel of my favorite last week, and she’s horrified over my rate of cheese consumption.”

I sighed, betting the man was a walking cholesterol disaster area. “No, Bradley. You may not test your luck and buy an entire wheel of cheese.”

My fiancé sulked. “But it’s cheese, Janette.”

“I’m sure you can find some comfort in getting yourself a cheeseburger.” I gave the politician my full attention. “I’d apologize for him, but if I couldn’t eat cheese for most of my life and enjoyed an unexpected ability to consume however much of it I wanted, I’d likely be just like him. I’m not going to tell my doctor what I’m eating today as long as you don’t tell her.”

The man laughed. “I’m definitely not telling my doctor, but I fear my wife will. After what happened to Spencer, she’s booked us both in for a check.”

“I can do a quick check if you’d like,” I offered. “I can’t treat anything without the right waivers unless it’s an emergency, but if you do have a cholesterol or blood issue, you’ll at least know.”

“I’d really appreciate that, actually.”

I eyed the man and began the process of checking him over for the telling signs of diabetes, cholesterol problems, and other issues. To my relief, I couldn’t detect anything amiss except a slightly higher cholesterol level than I preferred. “Your cholesterol is a little high, but for a quick look, there’s nothing glaringly amiss.”

“It’s truly that fast for you to tell?”

“I only look with permission, but yes, it doesn’t take long for me to detect things like diabetes and certain illnesses; if it gets into the blood, I can find it. Sometimes, I can detect it in the lungs, as the lungs are so closely involved with the circulatory system. I’d have to touch you to check your heart,” I admitted.

Representative Forsythe held out his hand. “I’ll admit, I find this to be quite fascinating.”

Once upon a time, so had I—and then the reality of what I sensed came crashing down along with the weight of responsibility. With a slight smile, I took hold of his hand, closed my eyes, and focused on the problems that were harder to detect with a cursory glance. After a few moments, my magic locked on to something deep within his body, something that could grow teeth if left alone. Angiosarcoma, which fell into my domain solely due to its presence in the blood vessels of the liver, was a form of cancer I abhorred. It often went undetected until it became a lethal problem, requiring a transplant that most of the patients were too weak to survive. Surgical removal of the tumors might work.

Fortunately for the politician, his had only begun, and I could slice the whole thing out as long as there was a mender backing me.

“You need to have your liver checked for angiosarcoma,” I reported, releasing him. “It’s early—early enough I wouldn’t have spotted it without a closer check. It’s a cancer in the blood vessel of your liver. Its proximity to your blood is why I can detect it—and there’s no evidence of the cancer in your blood itself, so without that closer look, I wouldn’t have been able to spot it.” I struggled to keep from smiling over the fact I could help him, and it would only take a few minutes if only there was a waiver and a mender. “This is something I can treat, because I can just shave out the cancer cells and eject them into the blood stream before removing them—all without any escaping. I need a mender to repair your liver afterwards, but my part of the work is maybe ten to twenty minutes.”

“You can cure cancer in ten to twenty minutes?” Representative Forsythe blurted.

“Only specific types I’ve been trained to do. I’ve seen this one before, and a doctor taught me how to remove it. Yours is so early that it’s not a whole lot to remove. You’d have to sign the waiver and find a mender willing to work with me, though. But I never charge for this sort of thing.” I grimaced, realizing how callous my next words would surely sound. “I learned on animals first, and vets are always trying to find ways to save pets. Pets get cancer, too, and there are a lot of pets out there who can’t get traditional treatments. Money is an issue—or we just don’t have treatments for them. So, I got a lot of practice working with pets that would otherwise die. Some of the pets didn’t make it, but the owners knew that would likely be the case. But then there was that one cat who did make, and we’d already told the owner she wouldn’t. I ended up having to go out and explain to the grieving family we’d fucked up and that the treatment we were so sure wouldn’t work but were willing to try anyway had worked.”

“That must have been one of the times you came home in tears and couldn’t explain why you were trying not to cry,” Bradley said, narrowing his eyes as he regarded me. “You were wanting to cry because you actually succeeded when you expected failure.”

“Stop busting me,” I complained. “You’ve busted me enough for one day, Mr. Bradley Hampton!”

My fiancé snickered. “You’re just a sucker for cats.”

“I really am. With a mender, the procedure is maybe half an hour long with a two day recovery. And the recovery time is to make certain the vessels heal properly. It’s more of a guideline to prevent any issues. You’ll be a little sore for two days, and there’ll be some bruising in your liver, but that’s it.”

“Well, I’ll say something about your method of doing things: the lack of a wait for results is a huge relief. This isn’t my first round with cancer.”

“Oh. I had no idea. I’m sorry.”

“I had childhood leukemia, but it went into full remission. I’m checked every three years to see if there is a recurrence.”

I hated leukemia. “I didn’t notice any signs of leukemia. If you do have a recurrence, contact me. If it’s sourced from your bone marrow, I can help pinpoint the source of it, and depending on the problem, I might be able to resolve it. I can’t do anything other than purge the cancerous cells if it’s genetic, however.”

I’d only done a handful of leukemia treatments, but I shined when the patient was weak, a transfusion was required, and the doctors needed all the infected cells purged.

I could pick and choose which cells went and which cells stayed, which gave the care team an edge in combating the disease.

“I feel we have done our country a great disservice through our failure to cultivate exsanguinators in the medical field. Not all exsanguinators have your skill and ability, but you’ve proven how useful you are in the medical world—and other exsanguinators are showing up in hospitals around the country. We’re already seeing increases of ER survivor rates just from having training individuals on hand to help in sketchy situations. It’s truly remarkable. May Senator Maybelle rest in peace, but her death has led to the salvation of so many lives, all because of you. Without her assassination, the world wouldn’t have gotten a chance to see you shine.” Representative Forsythe sighed. “And I grieve that Senator Thaddens passed as he did. That must have been hard for you.”

One day, I would sit down and truly cry over everything that had happened, but I would wait until our country had a chance for a good and a bright future. “It was. Normally, I’m treating people I don’t know—or it’s a family member, like Bradley’s father. My magic hadn’t been discussed, and he hadn’t asked for me to check him over. Even if he had asked me to check, I wouldn’t have known what the cancer was. I would have sent him to a doctor first thing in the morning.”

“And first thing in the morning would have been too late.”

I nodded. Oddly, acknowledging the situation helped. “Exactly. Sometimes, life isn’t fair, nor is it kind—and this case, it was neither fair nor kind.” I took the initiative and headed into the fast food joint. “You’re about to witness a burger slaughter, sir. I hope you are prepared for the vast quantity I can consume in a single sitting.”

“I have heard rumors of your appetite, and I admit I’m curious.” The politician followed me with my fiancé trailing in his wake. “Do they serve anything spicy here?”

“Sometimes.” I eyed the menu in search of one of their pepper burgers. Luck was with me, as there was a temporary sign indicating they were pitching a burger from the depths of hell, spicy enough to make anyone cry. I bounced to the counter and pointed at the offering. “I will take three of those, and make them as hot as you can, and layer on the cheese, Doug.”

Doug, who was one of the regular workers and was often around when I came in, laughed at my request. “Only three today?”

I spent a moment thinking about it. “You’re right. I better get four, and if the spicy is from a sauce, I better get some on the side to dip my fries in.”

“We got our hands on a batch of peppers imported from South Carolina. It’s the hottest peppers legal for sale in the restaurant industry. We slow roasted them to maximize the flavor, and we’ve removed the seeds to prevent injury.”

Were there sweeter words to my ears? “I’m going to need some yogurt and extra napkins.”

“I’ll toss in some lemons, too. You’re going to need them. Whatever you do, do not rub any of the oils in your eyes. You will regret it. Should you get any in your eyes, go seek immediate medical attention.”

I loved when my food ran a high risk of injuring me due to its spicy goodness. “Music to my ears, Doug. Hook me up with four, go heavy on my fries, and include mercy. I am hoping to need it.”

“And for you, Bradley?”

“I will take two cheeseburgers with extra cheese, give my extra cheese some extra cheese, and give me some fries. I will not be trying anything claimed to come from the depths of hell, thank you.”

“How about some banana peppers on the side?”

“I will accept banana peppers with regret, mercy yogurt, and some lemon,” my fiancé replied.

According to his expression, he worried, already had regrets, but refused to give up quite yet.

“I’m buying for my guest as well,” I said, gesturing to Representative Forsythe. “Are you brave, moderately brave, or like Bradley, willing to nibble on a small piece of banana pepper to say you at least tried?”

Representative Forsythe eyed the menu with wary regard. “I fear I am about to make a very poor decision, but count me as among the brave for one burger. I will also try the cheeseburger with extra cheese that has been accompanied with extra cheese for when I tap out on the insane burger from the depths of hell. I should probably take an order of fries as well.”

“He’s going to need extra yogurt and lemon with his, too.”

“It shall be so,” Doug replied before giving a bow, ringing me up, and passing me the terminal.

I paid, returned the device, and grinned at my political victim, who would be donating his wealth to my library if I had my way. “We have a fridge with drinks, including milk, in the library, as my boss has learned I will bring spicy food into work and try to trick people into trying it. And then we became spoiled and needed milk daily.”

My return had brought about numerous changes to the branch, and the stocked refrigerator was one of those changes. I had a suspicion Bradley had purchased the refrigerator and paid to have it stocked; thus far, there was no evidence that the public footed the bill for the perk.

“I appreciate your mercy. I will be honest, if I even try something that makes you cry, I will earn significant street cred among my colleagues.”

I bet, especially after learning about my reputation with spicy food. “May we both emerge from this experience with our taste buds and sanity intact.”

“While I have doubts, I’ll certainly do my best,” Representative Forsythe replied, and he grinned at me. “And when my wife asks why I can’t talk above a hoarse whisper, I will simply tell her that there is a spice dragon in New York, and I foolishly tried to prove my mettle.”

I widened my eyes at his commentary before staring at Bradley. “I’m a spice dragon!”

“I can’t argue with his assessment, so I will not. Just tell everyone I tried to keep up with you before I perished from trying the banana peppers,” he requested.

Poor Bradley. One day he would learn—or he would adapt to my spicy ways. “I’ll try.”

We made it to the library without incident, and once I left Bradley with Mickey and my boss, I lured the politician to my fancy new office, where I ruled as the undisputed queen of donations. We ate, and to my horror and delight, I turned into a crying, sniffling mess after the second bite of my first burger. Representative Forsythe wheezed, but he somehow managed to consume his entire burger and his peppers, although his face flushed and I worried he might perish before the heat settled to something manageable.

We both needed the yogurt, the milk, and the lemons to endure the burgers, which surely had come from the depths of some fiery hell.

“You have nothing left to prove,” I informed him in a soft voice, as like him, I could barely speak after our misadventures into the world of South Carolinian hot peppers. “I need those dry roasted and in my home to humble me.”

“I need to never do that to myself again,” he gasped.

“You did wonderfully ,” I praised.

“You ate four of them.”

I laughed at the horror in his tone. “I’m impressed you packed away two, although only one was blessed in hell.”

“We sound like we’ve run a race and bitterly lost.”

“I’m sure we’ll recover sometime today.” I lifted my glass of milk in salute. “And now that I have subdued you with the fires of some spicy hell, I feel we should discuss how I convince your money to leap from your wallet and dive into the coffers of the New York Public Library.”

The representative chuckled, made use of my hand sanitizer, wiped his hands off on a paper towel, and retrieved his backpack, pulling out a laptop and three small packages the rough size and shape of books, which had been wrapped in blue foil paper. The presents were put on my side of the desk while he set up his laptop. “You won’t have to do much in the way of convincing. I have always been a strong supporter of libraries and their services. I saw your library system has different donation branches, but I couldn’t figure out how to direct funds to this specific branch.”

“The link tree is horrific in its complexity,” I replied, and I gave him instructions on how to pull up the donation links for my branch. “We’re going to be opening a history wing featuring AD titles along with prehistory education soon. That’s something in the works. If you want to contribute to that program, we’ll have to do that transaction by wire. The rest can be done online unless you’re contributing more than a million dollars to any specific fund at a time, in which case, we have to do a wire and I’ll write up a tax receipt. The workaround for that is painful.”

“Multiple transactions of just under a million dollars each?”

I nodded.

“As I enjoy making my accountant cry, I will process numerous transactions under the threshold.”

I snickered at the thought of some poor accountant being accosted with charitable donation slips. “You just want to escape work for a few hours.”

“You caught me. You’re also winning me a bet. I told one of my colleagues that winning a meeting with you was as simple as offering a gift of a book. I brought three, because I assumed a librarian would find more than one book to be pleasing.”

“That would be the understatement of the year. And they’re wrapped in such pretty paper. Thank you, Representative Forsythe.”

“My wife loves when someone takes the time to wrap presents for her in pretty paper, so I just decided it was a universal trait. I pulled these out of my personal collection, and I hope you enjoy them. Please feel free to open them in private. My wife does not like when anyone witnesses her become teary eyed, and it happens every time someone gives her a present.”

I laughed. “I will try not to cry from joy from receiving some books, but if something is going to make me cry, receiving new books might just be what does it. And spicy food. But nobody can mock me for crying over good spicy food.”

“As we were both sobbing from those burgers, I agree with you. And I will have no shame in admitting I cried. If it’s spicy enough you’re crying, I am safe from ridicule. And should anyone attempt to ridicule me, I will send them to that restaurant.” The viciousness of Representative Forsythe’s expression promised upcoming amusement in the political world. “I have a few targets I wish to see cry, preferably while on their knees.”

I could see a way of drumming up business for the local fast food joint in a hurry. “I will spread word those burgers were hot enough to make me cry, and that anyone who successfully eats one has nothing left to prove. I will bait the prideful into suffering, and the true pepper lovers will be weeping from spice and joy.”

“The regular burger was excellent, too. And once I had my first fry, I understood why you wanted them so badly. They’re fantastic.”

“My plan is to go every two weeks, that way, my doctor can’t get angry with me for succumbing to culinary darkness. But with my caloric needs? She has Bradley on marching orders to pick me up a few burgers if I’m looking peckish. I need a lot of fuel to keep running.”

“May I ask what your caloric intake a day needs to be?”

“My doctor wants me to eat no fewer than five thousand calories if I’m being active or using a lot of magic. In good news, my magic does not care what format the calories are in; it starts pillaging calories right out of my stomach, so if I need a milkshake because I’m working hard, the sugars are vanquished before they can even hit my bloodstream.”

“I wish I could just engage with random milkshakes. Diabetes runs in my family, so I’m quite careful with my sugar intake.”

“You showed no signs of having diabetes,” I assured him. “Whatever you’re doing is working quite well, outside of that one problem you should contact your doctor about.”

“After what happened to Senator Thaddens, I’ll give my doctor a call tonight and ask for a recommendation. Would it be all right for me to pass on your number?”

I grabbed one of my new business cards, which the library had ordered for me upon deciding I would be hunting politicians. I jotted my personal cell number on the back and handed it over. “Please do so. The doctor will have to figure out the appropriate waivers, but what you need is a procedure I’ve done before, and it really doesn’t take long.”

“I really appreciate it.”

I smiled, and I struggled to keep my bitterness contained. “I know I can’t change the past, but sometimes, I wonder how many lives I could have saved if only I’d been allowed to become a nurse like I wanted.”

“With your abilities, had they been legal to work in the medical field, you would have become a doctor. Your ability to diagnose and treat is exceptional, and as a doctor, you would have been able to handle all elements of care. Don’t get me wrong, nurses are important, but with your abilities? You would have done the most good as a doctor. And you’re plenty intelligent enough for the work. You’ve learned how to treat how many diseases experimenting in the operating room with minimal guidance from doctors?”

“More than a few,” I replied, conceding with a nod. “But I became a bodyguard and then a librarian instead.”

“Your work is just as important, especially now.”

That I could believe. Knowledge would become power in my hands eventually. All I could do was hope the government’s tyranny would come to an end in a peaceful fashion. I supposed it all depended on what the military chose to do. If the military sided with the government, I foresaw a great deal of death and tragedy.

Time would tell.

“Can I still make special requests with the funds should I use the website forms?”

I nodded. “You’ll have a comment box when you make the donation. Add a note that you have put in special requests with me, and that will be sufficient to have the funds earmarked as necessary.” That element of the forms would drive the accountants insane, but I had no problems getting into fights with them over the appropriate usage of the funds. “We’re trying to make everything easy.”

“I appreciate that. Let’s go ahead and process these payments, shall we? However much I’d love to hang around all day to chat, I have several meetings I must attend this afternoon.”

I didn’t have to fake my loathing over the thought of meetings. “My condolences.”

He laughed. “Had I truly understood how much of my life would be dictated by meetings, I never would have gotten into politics. Oh, well. It is what it is, and as such, I must at least try to keep to my schedule. And if I’m late, well, at least I have a good story to tell.”