Lupi 08 - Death Magic

She’d be in touch.
    At 9:40 Lily and Ms. Stockard shook hands a second time, and Lily left.
    She’d taken Rule’s rented Mercedes, not her government-issue Ford. At any moment she expected to have to turn that back in. It felt weird to be sliding behind that wheel, and not her own. She had to pause and take a breath and tell herself to get used to it.
    In the pause she noticed something else easing—something that had nothing to do with arraignments or the pending loss of her badge. She checked . . . and yes, Rule was closer. A lot closer, and moving fast. He must have caught a plane.
    It helped. It didn’t make everything okay, but it helped.
    She got to the hospital a good thirty minutes before Deborah was due to meet her. That was intentional. Lily had the idea Deborah knew about the Shadow Unit, but how much did she know? Best to have a brief chat before she got there.
    Fagin had a private room. And a police guard. Which was good, but a problem. Lily couldn’t badge her way in. Technically she hadn’t been fired yet, but she didn’t feel right about it. Besides, the officer might have heard about her arrest, and . . . and she was snarling herself up in the unnecessary. She smiled at the officer and raised her voice slightly. “I’m Lily Yu. Can you ask Dr. Fagin if he wants to see me?”
    “He’s not allowed visitors, ma’am.”
    She heard muffled voices inside the room. “Are you not allowed to ask him about that?”
    “I have to ask you to move on.”
    The door opened. A lean, dark man with a grave expression and pressed khakis gave the cop a glance, but spoke to Lily. “Dr. Fagin will be out in a minute. I have to help him into the wheelchair.”
    “Wait a minute,” the cop began.
    The man looked at him. “Dr. Fagin appreciates your protection, Officer, but he’s not a prisoner. He wants to speak to Ms. Yu. If you won’t let her in, he’ll come out here to do it.”
    “I’ve got a list,” the officer said stubbornly. “Those on the list are allowed to go in, after showing ID. No one else.”
    From inside the room Fagin called, “I made the list, you ninnyhammer. Lily’s name is on it. Or if it’s not, someone removed it without my knowledge or consent, in which case I need to speak to your supervisory officer immediately.”
    The officer must have been in his thirties, but at that moment he looked like a teen called on the carpet by the principal. “Yes, sir. That would be Lt. Collins, sir. Sixth Precinct.”
    “Thank you. Now step aside and allow my lovely visitor to refresh my tired old eyes.”
    Those tired old eyes were twinkling madly when Lily walked into the hospital room. Fagin had enjoyed himself. “You must be feeling better,” she said.
    “Pain makes me grumpy. Abusing some hapless mote of the bureaucracy is a pleasant distraction. Your arrival will do me even more good. Have a seat, my dear. Ah . . .” He glanced around. There was one chair, which at the moment was next to the window and held a large shopping bag. “Samuel, if you don’t mind . . .”
    “Of course.” He went to fetch the chair.
    Fagin did look better. His color was good, his eyes clear. He was sitting up in bed with his legs straight out, his bandaged feet sticking up amid a sea of newspaper pages. He did not wear a hospital gown. Someone must have brought him the blue and purple paisley pajamas.
    “Thanks,” Lily said when Samuel set the chair next to Fagin’s bed. But she didn’t sit down right away, and it wasn’t Fagin she spoke to first. “It’s good to see you, Samuel. I had no idea you were here.”
    “Rule called while the two of you were trapped by that elemental. He wanted one of us with Dr. Fagin at all times. He asked for me specifically.” A smile broke the usual gravity of his face.
    Lily’s breath hitched. Samuel wasn’t LeBron. His smile wasn’t quite the same as his father’s had been. But there was something about seeing that reflection of the man in his son . . . it eased her. “I’m glad he did.”
    He shrugged. “He knows I’m still hunting a job and could come right away.”
    “He knows you can do the job or he wouldn’t have asked for you.”
    “I should hope not,” Fagin said, “considering it’s my life this dashing young man is protecting. Clearly you two know each other?”
    Lily glanced at Samuel and caught him doing the same with her. Yes, they knew each other. Not well, yet it was an intimate connection. She’d heard quite a bit about