the news says, and you know it. You knew it before you met me.”
Quispe didn’t flinch, but her mouth turned down, and that was as close as Nita was going to get to an acknowledgment. “You led me to believe that an INHUP leak exposed Fabricio’s travel information.”
“Ah, you mean Fabricio Tácunan?”
Quispe’s eyes widened slightly, and Nita smiled at her small victory.
“You hadn’t figured that part out yet, had you?” Nita crossed her arms. “In fact, despite what you seem to think, there’s a lot you haven’t figured out.”
“Then why don’t you tell me?”
For a moment, Nita was tempted, but then she shook her head. “Whatever confession you’re hoping to tape here and use as evidence, it won’t work.”
“This isn’t being taped.”
But Nita knew she’d guessed right by the way Quispe’s hand shifted ever so slightly to her left pocket, where no doubt something was recording this conversation.
“Sure.” Nita sat down again and turned her face to Kovit. “But I’ve nothing more to say.”
Quispe was silent a long time, long enough that Nita wondered if she’d left and Nita hadn’t noticed, when the click of her shoes approached. She looked down on Kovit, eyes traveling over all the tubes he was hooked up to and settling on his face.
“Why?” Quispe finally asked. “He’s a monster.”
Nita shrugged. “Aren’t we all?”
“Not like that. Not like him.”
It was a fair point, and Nita didn’t have a counter to it. Finally, after a moment, Nita whispered softly, “He was on my side. He was the only one on my side. The only one I could trust in an ocean of lies and betrayal. INHUP, Fabricio, my family. Everyone was lying to me. Except Kovit.” She raised her eyes to Quispe. “I think you underestimate the power of trust.”
Quispe’s jaw tightened, and her voice was full of hurt as she whispered, “I was on your side. You could have trusted me.”
Nita looked down. “I did. But I didn’t trust INHUP, and I didn’t trust that you were as wary of them as I was.” And I didn’t think you’d be on my side if you knew the truth about who I was and what I’d done.
They were silent a time, watching Kovit’s chest rise and fall before Quispe finally said, “If he survives and the DUL doesn’t go back up, I’ll testify against him at his trial. I’m not letting him get away with murdering that agent.”
Nita nodded. “I’d expect nothing less. May justice prevail.”
Quispe’s mouth curved in a warped smile that said she knew exactly how different their ideas of justice were. “I hope it does.”
Quispe didn’t say anything else, just sat for a few minutes with Nita as they watched a monster sleep, the beep of the heart monitor counting his victims and the hiss of the respirators chronicling their screams.
Forty-Two
KOVIT WOKE THE NEXT DAY.
Nita was dozing beside his bed. She wasn’t sure how long he’d been awake, only that at some point, she glanced at him and saw he was watching her with those dark, long-lashed eyes she was so familiar with.
He tried to say something, but he still had a tube down his throat, so all that came out was a choking noise. Trembling, Nita reached over, touched his hair softly, reverently, as though she couldn’t quite believe it, and called for a doctor.
Kovit was surrounded in a flurry of activity as the medical staff swarmed him. Machines were unhooked. Different machines were hooked. The tube was taken out of his throat, which sounded like a very painful process if Kovit’s yelps and groans were anything to go by.
The doctor spoke to him in stilted English, and Kovit responded blearily. He asked for water, and they gave it to him. After a few minutes, the hubbub died down, and Nita returned to her seat next to him.
“Hey,” he croaked.
“Hey.” Her chest was so tight she barely got the word out.
He gave her a cracked smile. “You look terrible.”
She laughed hoarsely. “You should see yourself.”
“Who, me?” He attempted a charming smile. “I’m sure I’m the most handsome patient in the hospital.”
She laughed a little. “Sure, you’ll win the hospital beauty pageant crown.”
He took another sip of water, and his smile fell, his expression turning pensive. His eyes strayed to the policeman at the door and then back to Nita. “I get the feeling I missed a lot.”
She spent the next hour updating him, careful of what she said in case the policeman was listening. She managed to unobtrusively tell him the story