“I’d give anything to never again see the things I’ve seen. And I’d give more if it meant I could undo all the fucking awful things I’ve done.”

“Oh, sweetie.”

Michelle sat on the cot and draped an arm over Mollie’s shoulders. Mollie tensed. Michelle and Joey were close.

Mollie whispered, “You know about what I did to Joey, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m so sorry about that.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

Mollie remembered the sensation of eyebrow bristles stuck between her teeth. She suppressed a gag reflex and said, “Of course it was.”

Her breath came in little gasping sobs. Michelle hugged her until it no longer felt like she was going to hyperventilate. Mollie rested her head on the other woman’s shoulder, wincing when her bandage tugged at the stitches on her cheek.

“Let me guess. You came to find me because you guys just realized your plan won’t work without Franny. You need him to get into the hospital.”

A look of surprise flashed across the other woman’s face, but the corners of her mouth twitched up in a faint smile. “Yeah, actually.”

It was confirmation and a question. Mollie shrugged.

“This ace I can barely control anymore? There’s a little part in the back of my mind—or there used to be, back when I wasn’t three-quarters batshit—constantly thinking about stuff like this. How to get from A to B, do I know where B is, on and on and on.”

“It’s second nature to you. Not to the rest of us.”

“Hmm.”

Michelle rubbed her hands together. “We’ll probably find him at the precinct house. They’ll know where to find him if he’s not there. I think you’re familiar with the place, yes?” Sometimes Michelle had so much tact it practically dripped out of her ass. But Mollie appreciated how she made no issue of dumping Jamal Norwood’s body, and a handful of mafia thugs, into the center of Fort Freak. “We should go get him now.”

Mollie stood. The aluminum poles in the cot frame were digging into her shins. “No offense, but I think it’s gotta be me and Ray in New York while you keep an eye on Bruckner. I give him shit for flashing that badge around like he gets off on it, but let’s be honest. The director of SCARE is probably the only thing that’ll stop them from arresting me the second I set foot in Fort Freak.” Mollie looked away, her face turning hot as she remembered all the shit Berman made her do for Baba Yaga. Every terrified joker they snatched. She didn’t want Michelle to glimpse the full brunt of her shame. Lamely, she concluded, “I’m not real popular with the NYPD right now.”

“No,” said Michelle. “I suppose you wouldn’t be.”

Franny had pulled the graveyard shift. Franny was at his desk trying to clear the files and waiting to see if he’d catch a murder call. He was also obsessing over Baba Yaga’s certainty she would escape justice.