Ritual Magic

family?” Ackleford asked.
    “My sister Susan. Susan Wong. She’s a doctor. She and Grandmother have been staying with . . . with the victim in the ladies’ room.”
    “I need to transport my patient to the hospital,” Susan said crisply as soon as she reached Lily. “I’ve called an ambulance.”
    A jolt of fear made Lily stiffen. “Is she—”
    “No, no—there’s been no change. She’s not in physical distress, but we don’t know what was done to her. It was some kind of spell, wasn’t it?”
    “Magic was involved.”
    “It might have physical effects that haven’t shown up yet. She needs to be checked out.”
    “Yeah, well, I need to talk to her first,” Ackleford said.
    Susan turned a polite frown on him. “Who are you?”
    “Special Agent Ackleford, ma’am.”
    “Well, no one is interrogating my mother right now. She’s suffered serious trauma, and questions increase her distress, potentially deepening the trauma.”
    “It’s a funny thing, but the FBI doesn’t let the victim’s family determine who we talk to and when.”
    “In this case,” Lily said, “the family member is also the doctor in charge. She’s stated that the victim is not fit for questioning and is about to be taken to the hospital. Pretty clear rules about that. You might try to remember that I gave you an assignment.”
    Ackleford rolled his eyes. “C’mon, Parker. Let’s get started.”
    “Second door on the right,” Lily told him.
    “Yeah, yeah. The one that’s not being secured by the uniforms. I might’ve figured that out all by myself.”
    Ackleford stomped off. Rickie Parker—who was thoroughly female in spite of the nickname, which was short for Fredericka—gave Lily a single, sympathetic glance before following him.
    “Who
is
he?” Susan asked, staring after them.
    “He’s in charge of the Bureau’s office here. He is not, however, in charge of this investigation. He’ll forget that several more times before we’re through. Susan, how is she really doing?”
    Susan sighed and looked tired and worried and not doctorish. “She needs a psychiatric evaluation.”
    “She isn’t crazy!”
    “We don’t know what she is at the moment. I wasn’t exaggerating about the trauma. Mentally, she’s twelve years old. She remembers nothing later than February twenty-fourth, 1968. At a minimum, we need to monitor her for shock and determine if medication will be helpful.”
    Lily didn’t like it, but . . . “I won’t tell you how to do your job.”
    “Good. Rule will have to go with her.”
    “Rule? I mean, that’s okay, but I would have thought Grandmother or maybe Aunt Deborah—well, no, not her.” Deborah would be collapsed somewhere, sniffing damply. Aunt Deborah was as soft and huggable as a teddy bear, but she did not deal well with crises. “But Aunt Mequi—”
    “Not Aunt Mequi,” Susan said grimly. “She insisted on coming in to talk to Mother, but when Mother saw her, she freaked. I think she recognized Mequi, but the sister she remembers is fifteen years old, not next door to sixty. Even Grandmother couldn’t get her calmed down. Rule did, though. He came right into the ladies’ room and let her grab hold of him while he patted her back, and she settled down. Only now she’s latched on to him like a toddler with a security blanket.”
    “Then he’ll go with her. Have you called Beth?” Their youngest sister was in San Francisco. The day before the party, she’d claimed that a work emergency was keeping her from coming to San Diego. Lily suspected that Beth had decided the guilt involved with missing their mother’s birthday celebration would be easier to deal with than the furor if she showed up with her new boyfriend . . . Sean Friar. Robert Friar’s half brother.
    “Dad did. She’ll be here sometime tomorrow.”
    With or without Sean? Lily decided not to ask. She thought of someone else who had to be called. “What about Grandfather Lin?” Her mother’s father was not exactly an involved parent, but he had to be told.
    “Grandmother called him.”
    Lily’s eyebrows shot up. “She used the phone?”
    “Weird, isn’t it? She demanded my phone and called him. He’s going to make an appearance, but not right away. He’s got some kind of important meeting.”
    Lily grimaced. Typical. “How’s Dad holding up?”
    “He’s quiet. Really quiet.”
    Lily bit her lip and nodded. Edward Yu dealt with rough emotional waters by going silent. The