“Yeah, I’ll be right out.”
Paul had been flawed, yes, but he had loved her and he had come to save her. The vice president’s letter had meant a lot to her.
Her dad was a hero. Just like Patrick was-two men who were both willing to die for her. And one of them had.
Because of that, Paul’s death held at least a little meaning.
However, there was the other matter.
Since last Friday Patrick had reassured her a hundred times that Sevren’s death was not her fault. “He knew there was no way out and he wanted you to think that you killed him just to make you suffer. I’m the one who shot him. You didn’t kill anyone. Do you understand?”
She appreciated what Patrick was trying to do, and after a while she’d told him that she understood, but she knew something that he did not.
She was the one who’d tilted the gun backward, not Sevren Adkins. She was the one who’d pulled the trigger.
She’d wrapped her right arm across her chest, grabbed her left elbow and shoved the gun back toward Adkins’s face, squeezing the trigger as she did.
Yes.
She had.
She’d stepped into the fracture and been true to her heart and killed the man who’d set her father up to die. She’d taken the life of the man who was about to kill her.
And she was glad.
She set the eyeliner down, glanced in the mirror and it reminded her of Belle and the mirror self-recognition test at the primate research center.
Tessa stared at her reflection. Self-recognition, huh?
You took a man’s life.
She didn’t recognize herself at all anymore.
For a few more moments she stared at her reflection, then she took a deep breath, and joined Patrick to go see the woman who’d shot her dad.
110
“So, it’s all here?” Congressman Fischer asked Margaret.
“Yes, sir.”
He flipped through the files she’d given him. “Unbelievable. All documented?”
“Yes.”
He gave a small sigh. “When I present this to Congress I’m sure we’ll have Rodale’s resignation within a week.” He shook his head. “He was with that Lebreau woman the night Brady tried to kill my brother?”
“Yes.”
“And she helped Brady set it up?”
“To sway public opinion, yes. Have a pro-death penalty supporter assassinate a popular vice president and you guarantee public opinion will swing your direction, against the death penalty.”
Which is what happened, actually.
“Was Rodale involved?” Fischer’s tone had turned dark.
“I couldn’t find any evidence that he was, and Lebreau is still missing so we can’t ask her.”
He set down the files, looked at her quizzically. “And how did you find all this out?”
“I did some checking. I’m pretty good at connecting the dots.”
He waited.
“I can’t reveal my sources at the moment, sir, but if need be, I will. I’m sure you can respect that. One question-do you know why Chelsea Traye and Sevren Adkins targeted your family in this crime spree?”
He shook his head. “The two bills I’m sponsoring, I’d guess. The killers were trying to make a statement.”
It wasn’t clear to Margaret what that statement might be. “So, are you going to pull support for the in-vitro testing bill?” In her research over the last week she hadn’t found any evidence that Fischer had acted unethically. It was all Rodale. From the start he’d been using Fischer to promote the legislation and the research that would lead to breakthroughs that would make him rich.
“No.” He shook his head. “In fact, I’m more committed to it now than ever.”
“Because of your daughter’s death.”
“Yes. Anything we can do to stop other psychopaths before they slaughter more innocent girls like Mollie. We’re going to pass this legislation and get the Gunderson Foundation their funding. I don’t care anymore if people find out I’ve been contributing to them. It’s time this issue reached the public forum. From the start I’ve just wanted less crime, fewer people suffering. And you can be sure that now I’m going to see that happen.”
“But cutting down on the number of criminals by aborting more babies?”
“If that’s what it takes.”
“Terminate a life because someday the person might turn violent?” She could tell her tone had turned curt. “That doesn’t make any sense, Congressman. Let them be born. Teach them. Help them. We have the ability to rise above our instincts. To choose.”
“The jury’s still out on that. Let’s see where the research leads.” It was clear he was done discussing the matter. “I’ll put in a good word for you in the Senate. They’ll need someone sharp to fill Rodale’s post. You’d be a good Director, Ms. Wellington.”
But she was still thinking about the social implications of the policies he was promoting, still troubled by them.
He led her to the door. “By the way, have you ever thought about running for Congress?”
“The thought has crossed my mind.”
“I won’t be holding this office forever, you know.”
“No, you won’t.”
“Well, good day, Ms. Wellington.”
“Good day, Congressman.”
Chelsea was in prison, but to avoid the death sentence she had told the authorities about all the goldfish in the freezer. Even now, their cases were being reviewed, their sentences revoked. But she was not concerned about that. She was thinking about her baby. Once born, the child would be allowed to stay with her in prison for perhaps the first year. And all that while, she would be planning her escape so that she would be free to raise her baby by herself. Free. Free. Free. Just the two of them. No one was going to take her baby away from her.
She patted her stomach as she stared out the bars of her cell. “I will be strong enough,” she whispered. “I promise.”
Tessa still hadn’t indicated to me what she was going to say to Cheyenne, and now that we were on our way up the front steps of her apartment I felt I needed to bring up the issue. Before I rang the doorbell I said, “She feels really badly.”
“I know.”
“What are you going to say to her?”
“It depends.”
“On?”
Tessa looked at me. “On what she says to me.”
“Tessa-”
“She killed my dad, Patrick. I know it was an accident, but that doesn’t make him any less dead.”
“I know you’re feeling angry, okay? Hurt. But you can’t give in to all that. This is one time you need to be true to something bigger than your heart. Whatever else might make us different from animals-we can acknowledge people’s mistakes and we can forgive. We can learn to love again.”
She stared at me. “Did you just make that up or did you prepare it beforehand?”
I was quiet for a moment. “Okay, I worked on it for a while, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Sevren is gone. He only wins if we let anger swallow us up.”
“Anger, huh?” She paused. “What about the promise you made to Grant Sikora? That you wouldn’t let Basque kill again?”
Time to listen to your own advice, Pat.
“I’m starting to think that it isn’t our job to punish people for things they haven’t done. Justice shouldn’t try to predict the future, just judge the past.”
But he’s guilty, Pat. He’s Tessa looked at me with surprise.
“What?”
“It’s just, I don’t know, for a minute there you sounded wise.”
“I won’t let it happen again.”
“It wasn’t that bad.”
The door opened and Cheyenne greeted us. She looked well-rested and in good health, certainly not like someone who’d been in intensive care just four days ago.
However, as she took a step aside so we could enter, she winced.
“You can sit back down,” Tessa told her. “Seriously.”
“Maybe that’s a good idea,” I said.
But Cheyenne shook her head, said to Tessa, “Come here.”
For a moment no one moved, then Tessa walked toward her slowly.
Cheyenne took her in her arms and held her and told her in a heartbreaking way how sorry, so sorry, she was. From where I stood I couldn’t see Tessa’s face, but her shoulders began to tremble slightly and I heard her start to cry.