Page 64 of So Bleak

She rolled her eyes. Michael laughed and climbed into the driver’s seat. Moments later, they were on their way to the nearest donut shop the GPS identified. Behind them, the memory of death and madness receded. Ahead of them? Well, they would have to see.

***

“So who’s Elijah Grant?” Faith asked.

Michael pulled his attention away from Turk, who was happily resting after devouring three ring donuts. “Chef. Back in the nineties and early ought’s. My mom used to watch the Cooking Channel religiously. He wasn’t famous, really, but he was a guest on a few of the variety shows on the channel. He opened a restaurant in Philly in ninety… something or other. Anyway, it was slammed.”

“Not good?”

“Very not good. It actually won some recognition for being the most despised opening of any fine dining restaurant in the United States on record.”

“How can they verify something like that?”

“They can’t, but that’s not the point. People like extremes. Something either has to be the best thing that’s ever happened or an abomination before God and man. You can’t have both. So his restaurant had to either be perfect or a pit of horror. They chose pit of horror.”

She grinned. “I thought I was the one who was supposed to hate journalists.”

He shrugged. “I don’t hate journalists. I just… I really don’t like that about people.”

“That we’re all or nothing?”

“Well, that, but more that we delight so much in seeing other people torn down. How many times have you seen a story about a celebrity caught drinking or doing drugs or cheating on their partner or something, and all of a sudden all of these leeches come out of the woodwork and feel like they need to chime in on why these people are suddenly the spawn of Satan? Look at you with West. You brought the most prolific serial killer in fifty years to justice, and people want to bring up every mistake you’ve ever made. We can’t handle people succeeding.”

“I think people get jealous,” Faith said. “They can’t accept that anyone could have what they don’t have.”

Michael shrugged. “Maybe. Either way, it’s a shit personality trait. But so many of us seem to have it. Anyway, they tore Elijah Grant a new one, and it hurt him bad. The restaurant lasted just over a year before it shut down. He was found dead in the building by the new owners. Apparently he’d been there over a week.”

Faith grimaced. “Jesus.”

“Yeah. Not a pretty sight.” He polished off the last of his donut. “I still don’t feel bad for Tyler, though. There are a thousand better ways to handle that than poisoning people to death.”

Faith didn’t say anything for a moment. Michael looked at her and said, “Faith? What’s going on? I can see the wheels turning in your head. They’re not turning somewhere stupid, are they?”

She bit her lip. "I was going to kill West, Michael when he took Turk. And when he killed Gordon. I wasn’t going to turn him into the Bureau. I was going to kill him myself. That’s why I went off on my own for a little bit. I didn’t want someone else to find him and take him away before I could kill him myself.”

“Yeah, but West is a serial killer. Tyler’s victims were journalists and bloggers. At worst, they made bad jokes at someone’s expense or hurt their feelings because they didn’t love their rosemary rhubarb duck confit as much as the cooks did. It’s a little different wanting revenge on a serial killer for murdering your friend, stealing your dog and beating your boyfriend nearly to death than it is to want revenge on an entire industry and deciding to achieve that revenge by targeting random people who aren’t vicious murderers.”

Faith didn’t answer right away. She knew Michael was right, and she definitely didn’t think she was as evil as Tyler and West were.

But…

“I do feel bad for him. I know what it’s like to feel powerless. To have your entire worldview and sense of right and wrong stripped away from you violently and to be left to pick up the pieces. I picked up the pieces. Tyler didn’t. Yes, he’s a murderer and a bad person, and he deserves the life in prison he’ll get. But I feel bad for him.”

Michael nodded. “You’re a good person, Faith.”

“I try.”

She didn’t want to spend any more time dwelling on whether or not Michael was right about that, so she changed the subject. “Are you looking forward to going home to Ellie tonight?”

“What do you think?”

She laughed. “I think I don’t tell you enough how happy I am for you that you found the love of your life. But I am. I’m glad you found someone who checks all your boxes.”

“It’s not about checking boxes. But I’ll leave the lecture at that because I can tell you’re not in the mood for philosophy. Instead, I’ll just say, thank you. And I’m glad you found the love of your life too.”

Faith’s smile widened. “Yeah. I did.”

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

---