Page 28 of Booked for Theft

Bradley made a thoughtful sound. “I would try contacting St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Fifth Avenue is a little less than ideal to get to, but they do consider funerals for Catholics outside of their parish. It depends on the schedule, but I suspect the cathedral would be more than a little pleased to have some presidential attention.”

“I will give them a call tomorrow. Spencer loved New York City; every time he was scheduled to go to New York, he was always quite excited about the trips. Due to the usage of his body for transplants, I expect Emma hasn’t had a chance to think about if he’ll be cremated or buried, and I am not sure how the viewing will go.”

“They will prepare his body as normal for a viewing, and they will use braces within his chest cavity if it is at risk of collapse,” I replied, having made the mistake of asking earlier. “Fortunately, his head, neck, and shoulders weren’t blemished during the transplant process, so it’s a matter of putting him back together sufficiently to be dressed and prepared for the viewing after embalming. I asked. I was given a rather thorough answer.”

President Castillo winced. “I see. But having the viewing is important for closure.”

It was, and I nodded my agreement. “Perhaps Senator Thaddens’s will might make mention of what his wishes for the funeral location might be.”

“She will be reading the will tomorrow and begin the process of managing his estate. She mentioned she would rather just get everything taken care of promptly.”

My heart ached for the woman. As I couldn’t change the past, I decided to attempt a subject change, although I suspected we’d circle back around to the senator’s death in some fashion or another. “If you don’t mind me asking, why did you decide to get involved with politics?”

The man smiled. “I wanted to change the world. I’m grateful, as I get ready to leave my position, that I have accomplished everything I set out to do. No matter who is elected, I am confident that our great nation will be in good hands. It’s rare that the candidates are all outstanding people determined to serve our country, even though we do disagree on how best to serve. It’s much like how you became a librarian, I’m just working on a larger scale.”

My awareness that the man was only a small piece of the puzzle that was the government’s treachery kept my temper in check despite wanting to make use of the magic at my disposal and put an end to the problem once and for all.

No number of Secret Service agents could stop me, not if I wanted to end his miserable life.

Rather than fall prey to momentary fury, I considered his words, and I even nodded my agreement with a key point.

I had, ultimately, become a librarian because I had wanted to help people.

“It is just a matter of scale, isn’t it? My scale is just a small section of New York City.” While a challenge, I managed to fake a smile. “While books are a critical part of the services we offer, our job truly is to help people. Sometimes, all we can do is provide a safe space should we be open during a storm. When we can, we help the homeless secure work and direct them to shelters. It’s particularly difficult for those patrons; if they can’t afford the shelter fee, they can’t shower or buy interview appropriate clothes, which continues the cycle of destitution. We try to help them as much as we can, but it’s not always possible for us to do so.”

“If you could change three things about the United States, what would you change?” President Castillo asked.

I recognized I’d ventured into perilous waters, but I suspected the answer would make me appear harmless enough in his eyes. “I would improve programs for the poor, aiming to end poverty and homelessness, improve general services for all Americans, particularly libraries, and work to improve the education system on mundane and magical teachings. Take education for exsanguinators. A lot of work will need to be done to bring exsanguinators up to speed in order for them to be able to volunteer in emergency rooms across the country. Right now, there are limited people capable of teaching them. Things like that need to change along with making the education system more robust for all Americans.”

And, with time and access to the true history of the United States, I would help to prevent another tyrannical takeover of our nation, assuming we survived the government’s machinations.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a brilliant woman?” the President of the United States asked.

I stared at him with wide eyes. “Me?”

“Yes, you. While I can’t do anything to end poverty and homelessness at this stage in my term, your other two wish list items are achievable. I can work in recommendations for expansions to public services, and I can work to make certain exsanguinators with the appropriate aptitude can volunteer in hospitals. I will leave the White House with two excellent accomplishments for the American people.”

As there was nothing else I could do, I said, “That would be incredible.”

“I will do my best to see it done. Let’s talk about better things. Bradley, you mentioned you’ve been working on your engagement party?”

My fiancé’s smile unnerved me, as I recognized his expression. He meant to toy with the President of the United States, and he fully intended on enjoying every moment of it. “We are. It hasn’t been officially announced yet, but we’ll be giving out invitations soon. It will be in roughly six weeks in the Hamptons. While you’re undoubtably busy, we will be issuing an invitation to the party.”

“If I can make it fit into my schedule, I would be honored to attend.”

“We’ll be processing our civil union at the engagement party,” Bradley said in a conspiratorial tone. “We have been discussing the serious issue of children, and Janette would rather we have them in legal wedlock so there are no uncertainties.”

As I wanted to see what cards Bradley meant to play, I grinned. “We’re taking all due precautions of course, but we both love young children, so it’s for the better this way.”

“Wise. When I got married, that wasn’t something many thought of doing, so we dealt with the entire engagement period. It was quite frustrating, really. And even with our precautions, our first showed up shortly after our marriage. Then we had two more. I won’t lie, I was quite pleased when those troublemakers left home, though that wasn’t all that long ago. Right now, two of the brats are over in Europe on a tour of duty. The other is keeping his mother company and likely helping the family prepare for Nathan’s recovery. He’s studying to be a cardiologist. The other two brats are studying foreign affairs and learning new languages, as they wish to be diplomats.”

Judging from the man’s tone, he thought they should be angling to become President of the United States. “Some days, I regret my inability to become a nurse. But what I’m doing now is also an important service to the people, and being able to volunteer helps.”

“I understand. Ah, dinner is arriving. Excellent. I asked them to defeat you with spice, Janette. I requested something a little kinder for us, Bradley.”

“I appreciate your mercy,” my fiancé quipped. “This is the one time I don’t mind when Janette cries, so I wish the chef the best of luck. I’ve only succeeded once thus far.”

“That hurt so good,” I replied in my most dignified tone. “May the chef reduce me to tears of joy and suffering.”