My first cogent thought was that I wanted to brush my teeth and I was afraid to turn on the sink.
I clambered up my towel rack, shivering, grabbing a towel to dry myself off. My badge was lying on the ground in my shower, its lanyard halfway down the drain. I retrieved it, and slammed the shower door shut afterward. I threw a second towel down on the mess I made and ran out of the room.
I sat on my bed, knees to my chest, with my hands clutched over my mouth. My trial was forgotten … or maybe this was it somehow, already begun.
German began from the other room and my phone rang. I got it off my nightstand.
I looked at the number. Ti. Last time I’d seen him, he’d been missing half his face—but …
“Ti—you wouldn’t guess what just—”
A different voice cut me off. “Edie? It’s Rita. Madigan’s wife.”
That made more sense. “I remember. How is Ti?”
“About that—look—Edie,” she began. “My family, we pass for normal. We’re good people, Edie. You met us, you know that, right?”
I nodded into the emptiness of my bedroom, wondering what her speech had to do with me. “Of course. Rita, what—”
“And there’s no moon tonight, Edie. That meant that Madigan couldn’t stop him. We’re all normal, all human, tonight. There’s nothing we could have done.”
I crept to the edge of my bed. Grandfather’s German went up another notch in volume. “Rita, what are you talking about?”
My doorbell rang.
“I’ve got to get the door now—” I stood.
“Edie, don’t answer it,” Rita said.
“What?” I pulled on my robe and ran down the hall to look through the peephole. A man with broad shoulders, a hat, and a high scarf was there.
“Madigan didn’t want me to call. But—we’re the same, Edie. I thought you’d want to know. He’s done horrible things and you don’t want any part of what he’s done.”
Outside, the man knocked.
“Edie,” said a slurred voice that I thought I recognized. “Edie, let me in.”
The man outside looked up at me. I recognized his eyes. “Gotta go,” I told Rita and hung up.