My eyes have crossed. I’m in and out of a REM state. Ben-David is explaining to Manning that in the Jewish religion God is One, meaning everything that is, is a part of the Almighty. Including the angels, including the devils.

Including Instancer.

All perform the will of the Almighty, whether they know it or not.

“How does that help us?” I say. “How do we kill this motherfucker?”

BEN-DAVID

He can’t be killed. He can’t be wounded. He fears nothing, not even God. He thinks he’s smarter than God. Can he read our minds? Are we pawns for his amusement? Is he toying with us, playing us for fools?

MANNING

He can fall.

BEN-DAVID

What?

Manning says this so softly I barely hear it.

MANNING

(to me)

On the catwalk in the subway, remember? Instancer slipped. He fell.

BEN-DAVID

What are you talking about?

Manning sits up.

MANNING

He can fall. He’s subject to gravity.

Manning shoots me a look that says, Get this down. Don’t forget it.

He cranes all the way upright.

MANNING

We can’t overpower him. We can’t kill him. But we can make him fall.

25

THIS IS HOW THE WORLD ENDS, PART TWO

WE’RE ON EL AL FLIGHT 26 to Tel Aviv, Manning and me. Forty-eight hours have passed. I’m checking my news feed every ten minutes.

Four more “LV” murders have been reported. Ben-David has decamped for the Holy Land two days ahead of us, alone, on the last El Al flight out of Kennedy. Rachel had bolted ten hours earlier.

Our exodus, Manning’s and mine, plays out forty-eight hours after that.

It unspools like this:

Wednesday, April 26 (the day Ben-David flies to Israel), I’m in the office, at my desk, when I see Gleason’s tech sergeant exit the chief’s office and cross to Manning’s. The spaces are only a hallway apart, both with glass walls. The tech stops in Manning’s doorway, obviously delivering a message from the boss. Word around DivSix since the blow-up between Gleason and Manning two days ago is that Manning is about to be yanked from the “LV” investigation. Manning rises now and crosses from his own office to Gleason’s. I’m watching from my workstation as he enters. Lieutenant Silver is in Gleason’s office as well, along with Detective Kiriakin. Gleason’s tech sergeant hurries in, trailing Manning.

Words are exchanged between Gleason and Manning.

Through the glass I see Manning pull out his badge and gun and slap them onto Gleason’s desktop.

I get up and cross to Gleason’s doorway. No one stops me, so I march in. Gleason, without looking at me (his eyes never leave Manning’s), instructs his tech sergeant to put in motion the paperwork that will promote me to Detective Second Grade, raise my salary by $21,348, and install me in Manning’s slot on the division table of organization.