"You idiot." Rachel shoveled out a large slice of lasagna and opened a beer for me. "What the hell were you thinking?"
I swigged half the beer down. "I didn't have time to think."
The paramedics had taken Emma out on a stretcher. The cops had cuffed Marvin, slid the steak knife into an evidence bag, and interrogated me for half an hour before letting me go, with a promise that I'd have to come out to make a full statement in the morning.
"I did manage to snag this." Somehow the cops hadn't seen—or didn't care about—the lamp under my arm. Marvin didn't mention it when he was shouting about calling his lawyers. I managed to get it into my car, and watched it closely while driving back to the city.
Rachel leaned forward. "Is that what I think?"
"Yeah." I gobbled some lasagna. "Get a napkin or something."
She laughed, then grabbed a kitchen towel. "Okay, how do I do this? Back and forth, or up and down, or what?" She started rubbing.
The green smoke popped up. Rachel rubbed her eyes, then slugged my arm. "This is pretty cool."
Ginn stood before us, arms crossed. "How may I serve you, oh, master? Wait, is that lasagna?"
"Yes, and it's good." I sat back, starting to relax. "Sit down and knock your socks off. Wait, you're not wearing socks, are you?" His green feet were bare. "You want a beer? Rachel?"
"What am I, a waitress now?" But Rachel got another plate and a beer. The Djinn sat and ate as if it was his first meal in centuries. Maybe it was.
"Okay." I put my arms on the table. "If I ask you a question, does that count as a wish?"
"Nah. Ask away. Hey, this is good!"
Rachel beamed. "Of course."
"Okay." I sat up. "Where are you from?"
He cocked his head. "Persia. I guess it's Iran now, or at least part of it is. How I ended up in Mexico I have no idea."
"You can't kill people, right? That's why Charles Pope is in a coma and not dead?"
"Yeah, that movie got it right somehow. I don't know."
"You've seen Aladdin?" Rachel giggled.
"Hey, I've got magic, don't I? Also Wi-fi." He swallowed some beer. "Ooh, I haven't had any of this in a while. Nice.
"So Marvin Paulette wished for money?" I was trying to steer this back to the case.
A nod. "First thing people always ask for. It's kind of boring."
"And then for something to happen to Charles Pope? So he could hook up with his wife?"
"Uh-huh." Ginn rolled his eyes. "Like the other rule, I can't make anyone fall in love, but I guess he figured he could do that himself."
"All right." I backed my chair up. "I wish for you to take Pope out of his coma and make him well."
Ginn closed his eyes for a moment. "Done."
I breathed a sigh of relief. Rachel smiled at me.
"Okay." I finished my lasagna. "For my next wish, I want you to clean up the kitchen."
"What?" Rachel stood up. "That's cheating! You can't—"
But she was too late. In a flash of light, the pots and pans and plates in the sink were spotless and put away. The counter was immaculate. The spices were all in the right spot on the shelf.
She jabbed a finger at me. "You're sleeping on the couch tonight. Or maybe tomorrow. Depends on how horny I get."
The djinn finished his lasagna and his beer. "Third wish, oh master? Or are you going to save it?"
It was tempting, but—"Can I wish you to be free?"
He chuckled. "Like in the movie again? People say they'll do that, but no one ever does. I'm kind of used to it."
"What would you do?" Rachel asked.
Ginn blinked. "I don't know. Maybe make a few wishes of my own?"
"As long as you don't wreak havoc on humanity in revenge for centuries of isolation and slavery." I looked into his eyes. "I'm opposed to slavery."
The djinn shook his head. "Like I said, can't kill anyone. And I don't want to. I'd like to—get off this world, you know? See the galaxy. Maybe come back in a hundred thousand years? I don't know. But honestly, I'm done with this world. I'd be happy to go somewhere else."
"All right." I grabbed Rachel's hand and took a deep breath. I wanted to do this before I changed my mind. "My third wish is for you to be free."
"Uh . . ." Ginn closed his eyes.
The lamp vanished in a blaze of light. The Djinn stood up, raising his arms, the top of his head close to the ceiling light. "Wow. This is nice. Okay, uh . . ."
He looked down at us. "Thank you."
I smiled. "Have a good trip."
Rachel waved a hand. "Goodbye."
In one last puff of green smoke, the djinn vanished.
"Wow." Rachel finished her beer. "That was maybe the weirdest encounter with a supernatural being in all the years we've been together."
"You're welcome." I stood up unsteadily. "Another beer?"
"Please. But the next time I make dinner, there's going to be an even bigger mess, and there won't be any genie to clean up for you."
"Right." I opened more beers. "Now I just have to figure out what to tell me client about all this."
"Tomorrow." She clinked my bottle. "Let's go watch Aladdin again."
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