Chapter 39

4:15 p.m. Good Friday, April 2, Passion Ministry

“Will she live?” Sheila asked as the sirens echoed off the buildings. A small knot of staff huddled in a doorway, whispering. Phil stood near the back, with his wife and children.

“Don’t know,” Oscar replied. “Lost a lotta blood.”

“Lucky thing you got here and immediately put pressure on the wound. By the way, where were you?”

“Huh?” He turned. “Whaddya mean?”

Sheila fussed her hair. “Brendan called for Rachel. Said you wanted to see her here.”

Before he could reply, his cell phone rang. “Jus a sec,” he said. “Yeah? Wha—you again! Look, lady—”

“Don’t hang up, Oscar!” Virginia begged in his ear. “For God’s sake! I’ve got information you need.”

“I don’t need your kind of information.”

“Wait!” Virginia shouted. “Brendan’s dangerous!”

“What!?”

“Now’re you listening? Good. Look, when I was there, Brendan threatened me. I’d accidentally found a book of his, and he...well, I think he would’ve hurt me if Harry hadn’t come.”

“Harry! You know where he is?”

“No, but there’s something...weird about him. This’s gonna sound crazy, Oscar, but, this guy—he’s smaller than Brendan but he threw him across the room with one hand. And there was this bluish glow.”

“Huh? Glow?”

She was talking but Oscar didn’t hear. Rachel’s words about Harry echoed in his mind. “…a little out there...X Files stuff.”

“Oh... never mind!” Virginia was saying, “Thing is, I copied his notebook and gave it to the FBI. They’ve just called me. It’s a list of those abortion doctors who’ve been murdered. You’ve got a killer in the Ministry!”

He cut her off. Immediately directed his men to search for Brendan.

“You think Brendan did that?” Sheila asked, nodding at the studio.

“Maybe.”

Sheila shook her head. “Why, Oscar? Why would Rachel cut her own throat?”