Apprentice in Death (In Death 43)

“Mother, stepfather, brother. They came first. The hate, the rage, it goes deeper there. Then she’d be free of them, and she’d target the principal, the counselor, and the students she felt had wronged her or insulted her or were against her. You taught her how to hone those slights into crimes, you gave her the excuse to kill.”

“Lies.”

“You know better, but hold on to that if it helps you get through. You’re looking rough, Mackie. I can authorize another medically approved hit if you need it to continue.”

“I don’t need anything from you, you lying cunt.”

/> “Okay then. Let’s go back to this.” She shoved a couple of Zach’s photos closer. “She killed his puppy, and she means to kill him. He’s in protective custody, for now. You know that can’t last forever. And she’ll wait, she’ll wait as long as it takes unless we stop her, and she’ll put a strike through his brain. He shares her blood, they share a mother. He could’ve been yours, and she’ll wait as long as it takes.”

“She’s got no reason.”

“She’s got every reason.” Eve slammed a fist on the table. “He took from her. Didn’t you help her justify using the skills you taught her to put down anybody who took from her? Some guy’s driving down the street on a rainy day, and a woman runs out in front of him. He tries to stop, tries to swerve, but it’s too late. Did he aim for her, Mackie? Did he get up that morning planning on killing her? Did he spend days, weeks, months, like you, working on the details? Did he tell himself he could take innocent bystanders, too, because they didn’t matter? The kill mattered.”

“He killed her, and they did nothing.”

“So you target him, this guy who tried to stop, and you target the doctor and his office manager because her appointment ran over, and you target her supervisor, who gave her grief because she kept coming in late, wasn’t doing her job.”

“She did her best!”

“Who says somebody’s best is always good enough? What world do you live in? You target the lawyer you went to because he couldn’t make it all better for you. And you use your daughter to make the kills because you’re so fucked-up you can’t make the strikes. Whose idea was it to take out more? Hers, I’m guessing. Hers because she wanted that power, that thrill. That practice. Practice so when she got to her own list, she could take out her mother and her little brother.”

His abused eyes twitched now. “We’re going to Alaska.”

“She was never going to Alaska. What the hell does she want to go to Alaska for? She’s a fifteen-year-old girl from New York, and the city has everything she wants and needs. Targets galore.

“She’ll kill this little boy, this cute little kid because her mother had the nerve to have another offspring. She won’t get to him today or tomorrow, not next week, but in six months or a year, when he thinks he’s safe again? When he’s out playing with some friends, she’ll wipe them all out, all those kids. Because she can, because you gave her the excuse, and you taught her how.”

“She won’t.”

But his ravaged eyes cut away.

“You know she will. Maybe he’ll be twelve when she comes for him. He and a couple of pals heading down to the arcade or riding airboards, or hanging in the park. And done! She ends them all. Just like she ended him.” She pulled Alan Markum’s photo out of the file. “He and his wife, having a day together, their wedding anniversary. She was going to tell him they’re having a baby. She never got the chance, like that baby will never have the chance to know its father. You did that, Mackie, you and Willow. You took that life on a fucking whim, and now another kid grows up without ever knowing its father. For what? So you can cover up killing a doctor who was busy bringing another life into this screwed-up world so his appointments ran late?

“You stole from them. From this pregnant woman, just like your wife was pregnant. By your rules we should execute you and Willow. You took the father from the child.”

“They took from me.”

“How did he take from you?” She shoved the picture closer yet. “How did Alan Markum take from you? He never met you, you didn’t know him. What did he do to you to deserve death, to deserve never holding his son or daughter?”

“We . . . We had to protect the mission. Collateral damage.”

“That’s it? That’s what you taught her. So this boy, this kid on his seventeenth birthday?” She tossed Nathaniel’s photo on the table. “This boy whose mother loved him, who never did you any harm, he’s just excess? His life means nothing?”

“We had to finish.” The tremors rose up in his voice now, and his eyes watered. “We needed justice for Susann. For Gabriel.”

“You needed blood, and Willow craved it. She craves the kill like you crave the funk. You gave it to her. You needed someone to blame so you made your list and fuck anybody who happened to be caught in her crosshairs. Now he is.” She tapped Zach’s photo. “That’s what you created. It’s what you’ve fucking wrought.”

“She’ll go to Alaska. Live free. You’ll never find her.”

“She’s not going anywhere. Don’t you fucking get it?” Eve demanded as she sprang up, swooped around the table. “She’s not done, and she won’t be. Tell me, fucking tell me, if you weren’t already thinking about other names. Who else screwed things up for you in your fucked mind, Mackie? The stepfather? Oh, I’d bet my badge he was on your next mission.”

She saw the flicker in his watery, ruined eyes. “He took your place. Lowenbaum. He pushed you out. Patroni. He didn’t understand. Oh, yeah, you were already working all that out in your head. And she’s like you. She’s looking for blood, for blame. Your eyes and hands, Mackie. She’s an addict, Mackie, just like you. Her addiction is death, and you gave her the first hit.”

“She’s avenging—”

“Nothing!” Eve interrupted. “You broken down piece of shit, this isn’t about justice. It’s not even about revenge. It’s about murder. It’s about you giving her the green to kill whoever she wanted. That’s what she’s doing now. And this boy here, he’s top of her list. Don’t make me take her out. Look at me, goddamn you. Don’t make me take her out, and don’t think, not for a second, I’ll hesitate to do that if she gives me no choice. Her life’s in your trembling hands, because with or without you, I’ll find her. With or without you, I’ll stop her. But without you, I may have to give someone else the green. Without you, she may never be sixteen.”

“You won’t find her.”