“Hi, Kaci. What can I do for you today?” He sounded oddly chipper for someone I’d threatened during our last phone call. He must have been pretty confident that he could find a reasonable excuse to find Justusguilty.
But I could sound chipper and confident too. “Really, it’s what I can do foryou.”
“And what isthat?”
“I’m going to help you vote yourconscience.”
“I wasn’t aware that I needed help with that, but I’m listening. How do you plan tohelp?”
I sank back onto the edge of the bed. “To get to that answer, first let me ask you a question: What would it take for you to believe that Justus deserves to beacquitted?”
“Well, I’m notsure…”
“Please don’t say you can’t imagine a scenario in which he’d deserve to be acquitted, Mr. Taylor. Because that would make it sound like you’ve made up your mind about him before the trial even starts. And I’msurethat’s not thecase.”
He chuckled. “Kaci, have you ever considered becoming anattorney?”
“You know, I just might. So. What would you need to see or hear to convince you that Drew Borden’s death wasjustified?”
“I would need to hear that his execution had been ordered by the council—which I know for a fact did not happen—and that the circumstances were too dire to justify carrying out his execution in a more secludedplace.”
“Okay. Thanks. And on the lesser charges?Infection?”
“Kaci, those are not lesser charges. It’s a capital offense to infect a human. Especially a woman, because infecting a human woman has always led to her death. Well, until Robyn,anyway.”
“Yes, but surely you don’t think he can be held responsible for infecting people, when he didn’t even know that was apossibility?”
“Ideally, we’d like proof that he didn’t realize that scratching or biting spreads the werecat infection. It’s unfortunate for Justus—or perhaps convenient?—that the one man who could testify to that has died. At Justus’s hands. Er…jaws.”
“I can assure you that isnotconvenient,” Justus said from the bathroom, where he’d been staring into the tub for far longer than it should have taken to make sure I hadn’t forgotten myshampoo.
“However,” Taylor continued, and I couldn’t tell whether or not he’d heard Justus. “I, personally, would be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on that for the first three cases of infection. The ones that happened at the cabin, where he was evidently manipulated intogoing.”
“He wasn’t just manipulated. Drew infected him on purpose, then sicced him on his girlfriend and her real boyfriend. He created a weapon, then he unleashed it, with a very specific and destructive purpose. Justus was a victim inthat.”
“Like I said, I think he could make an effective argument to that effect—as you just did—for the first three cases. But that fourth infection. The kid at the party? Justus would need to prove that he was still acting involuntarily, even though he was evidently sane and reasonable enough to carry on his normal human life between the twoincidents.”
“Okay. Thank you, Mr.Taylor.”
“I’m glad I could help.” Though he didn’t sound entirely sure about that. “And I look forward to seeing you and Justus both at histrial.”
“Uh huh,” I said, in as non-committal a tone as I could muster. In case Justus still decided to run. “Bye.” I hung up the phone and stared at it for a moment,processing.
“Learn anything helpful?” Justus closed the bathroom door and glanced around the rest of the hotelroom.
“I assume you heard the wholeconversation?”
“Yup.” He grabbed my hairbrush from the top of the dresser and dropped it into my backpack. “But I suspect you and I processed that information prettydifferently.”
“Probably.” I zipped up my backpack and tossed it over my shoulder. “So, what happened with the last guy you infected? If we’ve talked about that part, it’s been lost to the dark, dark abyss of the othernight.”
Justus picked up his duffle, evidently satisfied that we hadn’t left anything behind. “Exactly how every groom dreams his bride will describe their weddingnight.”
I laughed as I stepped into the hall and held the door open for him. And as I took his hand, I realized I hadn’t laughed so much with anyone in my life, other than little Greg. And toddlers don’t count. They’re alladorable.
“That guy’s name was Elliott Belcher.” At the end of the hall, Justus pushed the elevator call button, and it opened immediately. “I didn’t know him, and I only met him briefly at Titus’s house, after everything went down. He’s a member of the Mississippi Valley Pride now, and Titus says he’s doinggreat.”
The elevator doors slid shut, and I pressed the L button. “How’d you wind up infectinghim?”
