“Did someone tell you to do all this? Or did you hear it from God or someone inside your head?”
He paused for a moment then broke into laughter. “Oh, wow. Thanks. I needed that.” He let out a loud breath. “So that’s what you thought? That I was looney tunes? Bats in the belfry?”
“Hey, you’re killing people and on a mission. It’s not farfetched to think you had a ‘higher’ purpose.” She glanced up, as if looking to a higher power.
“Fair enough. Yes, Jane. And Gunther. He told me I can call him that.”
Yes?
“An actual human being, alive, not a god, whispered certain truths to me. He set me on my path. Sure, you’ll all call me insane and say I’m dealing with grief and other traumas I’m obviously suffering. But Mike Stevens’ name came from myspecial friend. I had to work to fill in the others around him, so that you wouldn’t see the true victim until it was too late.”
“But we know about Kaminski and the Mazzucas now,” Rapp confessed. “I told you that.”
“You did, and I appreciate that knowledge. I also appreciate that you haven’t been sharing everything we talked about with the group outside.”
Well, they hadn’t been until Jane had arrived. Diego and Gina were getting all this in real time.
“I told you once, Jane, that I am Justice. And I am. I’m not crazy or grieving. Well, maybe I am. But that grief cleared my vision, enabled me to see that not everything is in black and white. We’re all shades of gray.”
She scoffed.
Phillip frowned. “What?”
“I just had this conversation with my cousin. She says I’m too black and white, that I need to see that the world exists in shades of gray. But I think that’s just an excuse to allow yourself to break rules that should remain unbroken.”
“Interesting. And wrong.” Phillip stood.
She saw Rapp tense, but he remained still.
“I learned a lot in the Army. My family dedicated itself to service. I tried to be the best soldier, the best medic, son, and student. I admit, something in me broke when my parents died, because we all know they might have been saved if some scum hadn’t butchered them for parts.”
“But Phillip, that crime ring was under August Kaminski’s leadership. He’s the one you’re really mad at,” Rapp said.
Jane still didn’t understand why Phillip was determined to punish everyone but his grand-uncle, who deserved his wrath. He’d even forgiven his cousin, who had actually crashed into his parents.
“That’s what you all think. You don’t really know.”
“And you do?” Jane asked gently. As much as Phillip acted like he had all his ducks in a row and a clear focus, his actions were those of someone with a few screws loose. He hadn’t gone to the press when he’d learned about the organ harvesting. He hadn’t contacted any authorities. Hell, he hadn’t even contacted the FBI to get help.
Instead, he killed innocent people under someone else’s directive.
“Who gave you your marching orders?” Rapp asked.
Phillip studied him and Jane, shaking his head. “You still can’t see it. But then, you don’t have to. I’ll die, and you.” He looked at Rapp, “You’ll go back to missions overseas.” To Jane he said, “And you’ll go back to fighting crime at the Seattle field office. You both think you’re helping. And to an extent you are. But when it all comes crashing down, you’ll finally start to see what I’ve been saying.”
He motioned to the room to Jane’s right. “If you hurry and get in there, you might escape the blast. But you have to be quick. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.” He laughed, a sound bordering on hysteria.
Then she noticed the device in his hands. Some sort of trigger.
Rapp rushed her into the small, empty closet just as Phillip waved goodbye.
A blast of heat threw her and Rapp against each other and the wall.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Jane woketo muted voices and hospital smells. To her right, a bouquet of flowers and a small balloon on a stick told her toGet Well Soon. Another next to it said,Congrats! It’s a girl!
Funny. Jane didn’t recall giving birth.
