Page 4 of Booked for Theft (Vigilante Magical Librarians #3)

FOUR

Absolute power corrupted absolutely.

When Dr. Castor had informed us we’d been booked for theft, I’d assumed we’d be pilfering documents, not attempting to take over the government. We stared at the paused video, and I feared the device might rise up and bite us.

Me? Become the President of the United States?

I wanted to curse at the audacity of the situation. Nobody could just waltz onto the world stage and take over the storied role, could they? What was needed to become the leader of an entire country?

Power and magic could do it; there were numerous countries overseas that had been taken over by someone with a strong ability and a willingness to use force. When honest with myself, I possessed such an ability.

I wouldn’t wield it in such a fashion, but I could .

That bothered me.

“I don’t like this,” I informed Bradley.

“I’m trying to figure out if I was in an accident on the way home from my doctor’s appointment,” he replied, and he stabbed a piece of his butter chicken and decided to pop the entire thing into his mouth. Once he chewed and swallowed, he sighed.

I suspected the pained sound came from more than just the food’s burn. “You did not get into an accident, Mr. Bradley Hampton!”

He grinned at me and raised a brow, and I realized he’d baited me rather successfully. “While I don’t like it, his proposition makes a great deal of sense. And honestly, ever since my mother told me what she’d done, I had a feeling it might come down to this. The assassins have accomplished a great deal. Because of them, people are aware of the rights they have lost, the rights they are going to lose, and the consequences of inaction. They know all the candidates are part of the system. They know there is a system now. And now that they know there is a system, it’s going to fester. I’m worried that civil war is going to be an inevitability at this stage. I only see one path to avoiding that civil war, and it involves you taking charge. You’re literally the only candidate everyone respects. From the military to the upper echelons of the government, you are the person people look towards with respect. You are a heroine. The others are not.”

While I disliked everything about the point he made, I acknowledged the truth: he was right. “Worse, the others are the ones who sold out all Americans and are wanting to sacrifice them on the altar of some future war.”

If there was a war brewing, I had no idea who the enemy would be.

No, I feared that the enemy was the people, and the government intended to use the new military to wage that unwanted civil war to trim down the population to only those who would bend to their reign. If things continued as it did, the United States would fall to true tyranny without even a strangled cry.

It would be done with the scratch of pen to paper, one freedom signed away at a time, until nobody had any choice in who they wed, who they worked for, or what they did with their lives.

Absolute power corrupted absolutely, and the government had already dipped a toe into those waters and found it to their liking.

“And the government will silence those who speak out against the grand scheme. What we don’t know is why Senator Thaddens is willing to take the risks. He has a wife—and he’s not that old.”

“I didn’t check him with my magic,” I confessed. “Perhaps I should have.”

“We might want to moving forward, but you value his privacy, and unlike with our family, he didn’t consent to you sticking your nose into his business. But we might want to start bending some of those ethical rules if we want a better understanding of what’s going on in politics. So far, we have a lot of sacrificial lambs choosing the altar for the sake of the people, and they’re all doing it because they know they don’t have long to live. I admire and respect that. I just wish it hadn’t come to this.”

“It never should have come to this. The United States had checks and balances once upon a time.”

“And corrupted, twisted politicians chipped away at those checks and balances so their precious party could have more power. We’ve slipped from a democratic republic to a dictatorship, and the government does its best to trick people into believing that hasn’t happened. And an unfortunate number of people still believe that the old system is intact when it isn’t.”

As I couldn’t argue with him, I nodded. “Well, I hope he has a better plan than I do. If I’m left in charge of this operation, I’m going to just work in my library, try to extend services, and make sure I take President Castillo for all he’s worth in terms of revitalizing public services.”

“That might be the plan,” Bradley replied, and he shrugged. “Because honestly, every time a politician brings up your name in association with public services, they are reminding the people that you serve the people. The voters already know the government no longer serves them. Our role might be giving consent to allow this to happen while gathering all the information we need for if you do win the election and you need to make change happen in a hurry. The only possible way we can get the senate and house cleaned out is if the corrupt opt to resign and the governors of each state put good people into those positions of power. The roles would be temporary, but it only takes a temporary majority to undo everything that’s been done. If the president isn’t vetoing, if the majority is changing the rules, then it doesn’t matter what the previous government planned. It’s possible .”

“But it’s a fleeting possibility,” I pointed out. “We would have to, after the election but before the inauguration, present so much damning evidence that the entirety of the corrupted government opts for resignation. Those who have gotten a taste of power don’t want to give it up, Bradley. That’s how we got into this mess in the first place.”

“I know. But still. When my mother told me what she’d done, I’d thought about chucking her off a bridge for putting you in harm’s way. But then she told me her side, and the politicians are essentially cultivating you for the victory. And honestly, I don’t think they realize they’re doing it. They’re so confident of their superiority that they don’t understand they are drawing the attention of many unhappy voters straight to you, someone who has displayed true heroism in the face of tragedy. It takes a special person to do what you did at the rally shooting.”

One day, I might get around to fully accepting that. “And someone caught on video how I’d taken a bullet for Senator Westonhaus.”

“Yes. And everyone is aware that you and Westonhaus don’t see the world the same way. Well, the smart ones are.”

I wondered how many of the smart ones had been sucked into the system without protest—or what had happened to the smart ones who had protested. I suspected shed blood, but unless I could somehow go back in time, I wouldn’t discover the truth of that—not unless the government had kept records of every life lost during their quest to take over the United States, not through war, but through treacherous politics. Was the government and those behind its corruption so cocky they would do such a thing?

I feared what we would discover if we began pilfering documentation that the government would rather the public never see.

“This entire plan sucks. How are we going to work around the cell?”

“We’re going to work with the cell as normal and use the cell as a front for our thefts,” Bradley informed me. “Meridian will be getting intel as she can from the allowed routes. We now know she’s on one of those lists, and she will be our comparison point. We also know we cannot leak what is given to Meridian; that’s an obvious and lethal trap. But what we can do is use what Meridian is given as a foundation point for learning what we need to steal. We’ll compare against what Senator Thaddens has given us to what she acquires. We’ll take a closer look at the documents she hasn’t gotten, the stance she’s been assigned, and go from there. It’s not much of a plan, but it’s better than no plan at all.”

That I could agree with. “All right. We’ll have to put our heads together and figure out how much involvement they’ll have. And this whole candidacy thing is absolute nonsense, and I will not be acting should anyone ask me if I want to become the President of the United States. The answer will be a very heartfelt no. But I will, depending on what else we learn from Senator Thaddens, potentially position myself in such a way where people might be encouraged to vote for me. I will do this through continuing to promote libraries, of course.”

“Of course. You’re going to do a hostile takeover of the Library of Congress given a single chance.”

I sucked in a breath. “The Library of Congress might still be intact, Bradley.”

He raised a brow at me. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that the government has done an excellent job of purging information they don’t want to be spread in textbooks and similar. The books within the Library of Congress might still be intact—they might have copies of the history books before they were overwritten.” The thought of stealing from the Library of Congress enthused me. “If we can spread the true history of the United States, the principles it was built upon, and how checks and balances should work, we might be able to get a revolution started that way. Without civil war—especially if we educate people about the consequences of the Civil War. We don’t want a divided United States. We want a united one. And the United States was born from the colonists rebelling against a government rather than each other. ”

That much of our history hadn’t been erased, although I doubted it was as widespread knowledge as I’d like.

I’d learned from being a librarian and assisting politicians with their research of the past.

Most lacked that advantage.

“And as long as the government can keep us divided, they win,” Bradley muttered before stabbing another piece of chicken and shoving it in his mouth.

I hunted for another piece of potato, scowling when I discovered I’d vanquished my starchy foe. I heaved a sigh and went for a piece of meat instead. I determined he’d gotten me succulent pieces of lamb, and the meat partnered well with the heat. Once I’d lit my taste buds on fire, I said, “Do you think this might work?”

“I think most Americans are going to be so desperate for change they’re going to turn to the first person that might get it for them. Right or wrong won’t matter as long as they benefit. That’s how we got into this situation in the first place. The government convinced a bunch of people that the freedom of making our own choices should be taken away as long as their supporters agreed with that choice.”

The truth of his statement hurt enough I sighed. “This is truly not an ideal situation, is it?”

“It’s really not. And the more I think about it, the more I realize that what is good for us isn’t good for our country—and what is good for our country really might not be good for us.”

I took the time to think about his words, and I realized he made an excellent point. If we cooperated with Senator Thaddens, we would sacrifice our lives, goals, and plans for the sake of the people. We would be forced to move away, for at least four years, to a home that wasn’t ours, under constant surveillance.

We would be the least free people in the country, and we would choose to do the work for the sake of others.

We would sacrifice in life rather than in death, and we would do it for the sake of our family, our friends, and our people.

I wondered if President Castillo understood the concept of sacrifice—at least of himself. I held no doubt in my mind he practiced sacrificing others, likely on a daily basis. That circled back to the problem of the bodies we’d surely find while searching for the truth behind what the government did, why it did it, and what those in power hoped to accomplish.

“It won’t be forever,” I reminded him. “It’s only four years.”

“Knowing you, it’ll be eight, and as they’re already working to overturn the term limits for the presidency, it might end up being a lifetime position. And when a good person in power is there for life, the people benefit. The problem is when the bad people secure that power.”

“My first act, should such misfortune fall upon me, is to make certain that term limits are fully restored—and that all positions in government are limited. No longer than four years per term, no more than two terms. If elections weren’t so disruptive, I’d suggest two terms of two years each.”

“Well, if election cycles were limited to no more than thirty days, two year terms wouldn’t be a big issue. The problem is, right now, it’s two years of election campaigns for a four year term.”

“Seriously,” I muttered. “And I shouldn’t even be in the running for this. I’ve missed more than half of the campaign. Not only did I miss more than half of the campaign, the politicians have been using my missing and presumed dead body as their plaything.”

Bradley scowled. “They were not doing anything to your body.”

I grinned at his jealous tone, saluted him with a piece of my lamb, and nodded at the laptop. “Let’s see what Senator Thaddens thinks we, of all people, can do to fix the United States. Because honestly, I think that even hoping I might get elected is a pipe dream, a pipe dream that we will not discuss with anyone else, not even your mother.”

“If she asks, I’ll tell her it’s a crazy idea. You like being a librarian. You don’t want to be the President of the United States.”

“You’re right. I don’t. And however much I hate admitting it, I fear that’s the reason this might work.”

Senator Thaddens apologized several times for the burden he put upon me—and upon Bradley. He began with the dreaded engagement party, something that would be critical for my unwanted campaign efforts. According to him, a unicorn was more likely to be voted in as the President of the United States than a single woman. However, an engaged woman marrying into a prestigious house was another matter altogether. And while I was a heroine in the eyes of the people, Bradley was respected by those in power. Where I wouldn’t have the standing required for my quiet campaign, he did. Not only did my fiancé have the standing, his family had the expected wealth.

I benefited from his reputation and position.

The whole mess irritated me.

Our first move would be to host our engagement party, and if we were wise, we would invite every politician who had donated to the library. And then, to make it clear we had favor in high places, we would extend an invitation to President Castillo and his wife. In all likelihood, he would not attend.

But in the slim chance the President of the United States opted to attend, Senator Thaddens provided us with an appropriate list of dates, with the nearest happening in two weeks. I gestured with my fork, our signal to stop and discuss, and I stabbed a piece of lamb and gnawed at it in an attempt to contain my growing irritation.

Bradley paused the video.

“Yes, it’s possible to plan an engagement party in two weeks,” Bradley informed me. “It’s not ideal. The date six weeks from now would be the best—and depending on where we host it, we might be able to bug the entire place to see what the politicians decide to talk about.”

Damn. I swallowed, huffed, and went for some of the mercy yogurt to appease the burn. “Let’s go for the one in six weeks. We’ll also plan the actual wedding date at the same time, and we’ll announce that , too. Your mom mentioned that some couples do that, especially when they’re secure in the courtship.”

“If we really want to be bold about it, we can do the informal civil union at the engagement party. My mother looked into it, and it’s been done with couples who wished to pursue children early into their courtship. As it’s common knowledge we both want children, we can close numerous loopholes and prevent the current plans from being able to hurt either of us. And with both of us fully protected, with the laws as currently presented, we’ll be in a better position to do something about it.” Bradley raised a brow at me. “We can then start some family planning and indicate we’ll welcome unexpected surprises but work to have our first child after the public ceremony.”

Knowing us, we’d last a few months before we started suggesting our birth controls should be destroyed. However, until I could safeguard our children, we’d probably take care in private. “I don’t know if I want to have children with the government in this state, Bradley.”

“I know. I agree with you. But if we play to expectations, we’ll put on a show—and we’ll get Dr. Mansfield to slip about wanting to give you a few extra months before a pregnancy. As it is, she’s been hamming up your physical condition at my mother’s request to help us dodge the inquiries. That adopted spleen of yours is getting us good mileage.”

“Being kidnapped and undergoing a major operation and coming back severely underweight helps our cause, too.” I shook my head at the insanity. “And while Senator Thaddens didn’t make mention of my weight, every other politician I have visited with has come armed with chocolate or anything that might help me gain a little weight.” I pointed in the direction of my office. “I have a stash worthy of a Roman empress now.”

“You really do. I noticed one of them had found chocolate imbued with the essence of hot peppers.”

“I am saving those for a special occasion. I will probably hide them somewhere in my wedding dress for when I must deal with people. And since some of those people will surely be politicians, I’m going to need that chocolate.”

“I’ve already talked to my mother about making certain when we do have our wedding, your favorite foods are present. Will I need to talk to the Indian restaurant about your dish?”

I nodded. “Will you survive if we have this at least once a week?”

“With your Chinese at least one other day of the week?”

I nodded again.

“I’ll probably survive.” Bradley picked up his glass of milk and toasted me with it. “The milk hasn’t risen up to kill me yet, and we’ve been at the table for longer than twenty minutes.”

I eyed the milk. “You’re not drinking goat milk again, are you?”

He snickered. “While that was a fun prank on you, it’s real milk. I’m not having any of the symptoms yet.”

“Things are looking up. All right. We’ll go with hosting the engagement party in six weeks. We’ll announce it two weeks from now, after we have made arrangements for the venue.”

“We’ll host it in the Hamptons. Six weeks is plenty of time to prepare the place for unwanted visitors and make certain the entire place is bugged.” Bradley reached over and pressed the play button.

Senator Thaddens spent ten minutes instructing us on how to behave, what to say, and what to do when hosting the engagement party to make it appear as though I had zero actual interest in running for office—at least for those in power.

With a little luck, the right media connections, and patience, the voters would see what they wanted to see. While a woman had yet to become the President of the United States, were one to be elected, she would have to rise far beyond the other candidates in all ways.

The voters loved my willingness to serve the public, my reputation, and even my magic. In the blink of an eye, I’d transformed exsanguinators from demons to angels, miracle workers in the medical field. More importantly, I’d showcased a willingness to get my hands bloody for the sake of another.

Every now and then, someone in Senator Maybelle’s family muttered and cursed over my theft of her blood.

Their lack of regard for the victims of the shootings never failed to astound me. Worse, it stirred the ire of the voters.

I narrowed my eyes.

Bradley paused the video. “You’ve thought of something. What?”

“You know that person in Senator Maybelle’s family that keeps bringing up how I hadn’t gotten a dead woman’s consent before making use of her blood?”

“Oh, yeah. They struck again this morning. It was front page news in several papers. Slow news day,” he informed me, shaking his head. “Why?”

“What if this person is trying to help my cause?”

His eyes widened. “You know, you might have a point. Every time I think things have gotten quiet, they start making another fuss, concocting some new angle. The letter of complaint is always anonymous, but the writer indicates they’re a member of Senator Maybelle’s family—and someone in the media confirms that this is the case. Every time a letter shows up, the media republishes articles about your heroism, your medical struggles, and your kidnapping. And part of the article sequence includes how my mother registered you as a candidate to become the President of the United States. It often results in President Castillo making an offhanded comment praising your bravery, determination, and willingness to sacrifice for others.”

“But who in her family would do that? I’ve met more than a few of them, and they’re like her in a lot of ways.”

“That’s a good question, one I don’t have an answer to. But it’s a good place for us to start looking. Maybe we should summon everyone here for a dinner party and start having a conversation about this.”

As our home was the only place safe from bugs, I nodded. “We will disguise it as engagement party planning, and we’ll make it look authentic through having all the women go to a bridal shop for apparel. You men can go wherever men go for this sort of thing.”

“Our tailor. It’s a good idea. Tomorrow, after we get new phones, we’ll contact everyone and get this show on the road. But first, let’s see what other advice Senator Thaddens has for us in this video.”

I nodded. “And then we’ll put this away and sleep on it for tonight. I have a feeling he has many an hour of heartache and thinking for us to do.”

“We’re going to be moving furniture a lot,” Bradley complained.

“It’ll be all right. I need the exercise anyway. Just press play. Let’s see how deep this rabbit hole goes.”