I limp into the bathroom and bang my forehead into the mirror for clarity. None comes. I squeeze my eyes shut until my face hurts. Nothing. When I open my eyes it’s still just me. Otto Starks, knee-deep in crime. Bereft of everyone he thought he loved. Then I get an idea. It’s a bad idea—in fact, it’s excruciating—but it’s the only one I’ve got. I lock the bathroom door, enclose myself in a stall, throw back a few succinylcholine chloride for courage, and call Nunes. My tongue still feels like a piece of burned toast and my voice comes out in radio static, but I still speak the words.

“I want to make a deal.”

“Where are you?”

“I want two things. Immunity for myself and—”

“The time for that has passed, Starks. The best thing you can do is turn yourself in.”

“I can give you what you want.”

“Too late.”

“I can bring you the Rat Burglar. Tonight.”

“What?”

“And Jimmy the Hat,” I say. “And Azar. That interest you?”

There is a long pause on the line. Nunes’s respiration seizes up. So does mine, but for different reasons. The deal I’m seeking is justified, I keep telling myself. It isn’t evil. Charlie took everything from you. Now you’re going to save her life. Is it so wrong to save your own?

And don’t thieves belong in jail in the first place?

Is that so evil of me?

Passionately, I tell myself it isn’t. I tell myself again. If I can repeat it another 62,398 times I might believe it.

“How?” she says finally.

I don’t really have an answer to this. Instead I just say, “Do we have a deal?”

“It’s too late for you, Starks. You didn’t talk when you had the chance. You assaulted four members of the Janus response team. Two officers were critically injured in your escape from the CDC unit. Any way you look at it, you’re getting a long jolt.”

“You know I didn’t assault anybody.”

“No I don’t. You’ve lied to me from day one.”

“All right. Fine. I give up. I confess. I’m the mang. You got me. But right now I’m saying I’ll bring you the Rat Burglar. And Jimmy the Hat and Azar. Think of the shot of credibility it would bring the department. Think of the art you’ll save by putting away the Rat Burglar. Think of the lives you’ll save by picking up Jimmy the Hat. Think of the headlines you’ll grab by downing Azar’s whole operation. Hell, you’ll be a hero, Nunes.”

“Why now?” she says warily. “What made you change your mind?”

“The Rat Burglar...betrayed me. I want my life back.”

“You’ll never get it back, Starks.”

“Call it revenge, then. Call it whatever you like. Do I get immunity?”