With his arms raised to avoid provoking a shot from Darcy or Zack, Reed walked slowly to Kate and helped her up. His captors were too busy bickering with each other to stop him. In a brotherly way, Reed helped Kate dust off, and he comforted her with a hug.
"Reed, what are you doing here?" she whispered incredulously.
"I'm on your side," he replied.
Her face looked trusting, as if she were pleased to discover that someone she liked wasn't a villain after all.
She clung to him for a moment, welcoming the chance to compose herself. Then, she moved away and stood on her own, staring angrily at Darcy and Zack.
"There comes a time, Zack, when the New Leader's aides have to be willing to do extraordinary things in exceptional circumstances," said Darcy. "Did you read the last chapter of my book?"
Zack whined like a wayward pupil, saying, "I don't have time for idle academics."
"I read it," said Laura. "The last chapter is where she condones any lengths to achieve her end. I don't think she meant that as idle academics."
"We step over the norms. We create new norms for ourselves," Darcy said proudly. "There's been a change in plans, Zack. You need to come to grips with that and meet the challenge."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"We're at war, and they're the enemy. You need to end the threat right here and now."
"Then, why doesn't she kill us?" Reed posed his question to Zack. "It's her cause, too. Why doesn't she get her hands dirty for it?"
"Yeah, why not?" Zack wanted to know.
"You're the assistant to Ken and me," Darcy said, sneering at Zack. "You take care of it. Dispense with them—now!"
"What!" Zack exclaimed in utter disbelief. "I write hit pieces. That's it."
"If you think this is just about word play, man, you're a piker," Reed said, taunting him.
Zack fidgeted. His sweat dripped on the gun.
Bulged eyes and a crazed smile dominated Darcy's face. "We'll stage it," she cried. "A double-murder committed by Reed Miller, and then, his own suicide."
Reed, the sisters, and even Zack gaped at Darcy. Everyone could tell she was becoming deranged.
"You'll do the talking points, Zack." Darcy continued, engrossed with her scheme. "We'll say that Reed was a lover to both sisters. They found out. They confronted him. He decided to kill them both, then himself!"
"I thought I was having an affair with the senator," said Laura.
"That was last week," Darcy insisted. Her eyes looked glassy, and her face looked dazed, unreachable. "This week we need a new spin, Zack. You'll put together a new narrative."
"Are you crazy?" Zack whispered, almost to himself.
"The truth is like clay, and we're the sculptors. We knead it. We work it. We mold it. We massage it to suit our ends. You're the expert at that, Zack."
"I can't massage three murders, Darcy."
"We'll use their gun and put it in his hands. That's the gun you're holding," Darcy continued in her delusion.
"Of course, it's the gun you're holding that does the job, Zack." Reed jibed. "Darcy never intended to kill us. That was the Neanderthal's job. Now that he's gone, it's your job."
"Go on, Zack. Do it!" Darcy's face lit up with a diabolical excitement for impending violence.
Zack hesitated as he held the gun on Kate, Laura, and Reed.
"Our ends are noble. We mustn't be timid," said Darcy.
"What's the noble end for Zack in this endeavor? A jail cell for the rest of his life?" Kate asked Darcy.
"I have news for you, Zack," Reed added. "The end isn't noble. It's depraved. The end is nothing more than feeding the raw lust for power of your handlers, a lust that totally breaks their ties to reality."
"You're a coward, Zack," Darcy said, disgusted. "You don't have the courage for what needs to be done."
"But Darcy," Zack pleaded, "remember when you, me, and Ken were labeled by the media as the heart, the fist, and the mouth of the presidency? You liked that. You said that fit in with the theories in your book. You're supposed to be the heart. Remember?"
"You're supposed to be the fist. Some fist you are!" Darcy complained.
"Some heart you are," said Zack.
Darcy sneered. Now, her gun wavered—first, pointing at Reed and the women, then pointing at Zack.
"Where's the heart?" Zack persisted. "We're supposed to have a heart and use non-violent means, like in a democracy, right?"
"Ironic from the man who was rigging an election," Laura mumbled to her companions.
"Democracy!" Darcy scoffed. "Such a sweet-sounding word, such a giddy fantasy. You want to ride the white horse, but you never want to see the underbelly of the beast." Darcy looked entranced by an inner vision, beyond the reach of any argument or plea. "You're like all the other self-fashioned devotees of great movements, Zack. When things out of your comfort zone have to be done, you recoil." Enraged, Darcy pointed her gun at Zack.
"If you're so comfortable with murder, then why don't you do it?" Zack asked combatively.
"I've shown my commitment to our great movement, our power, our place in history. If you want a share in that power, you need to do something bold to earn our respect."
The gun in Zack's hand was poised to do the job, if she could persuade him.
"After Ken and me, it'll be you, Zack. You'll be the third most powerful person in the world!" Consumed with an open, shameless, irrepressible craving for the power she desired, Darcy's eyes flashed excitedly.
Zack hesitated. He nervously shifted his weight from one leg to the other, the cuffs of his pants brushing the ground. The fate of the nation now rested on the man with the droopy pants.
"Shoot! That's an order!" Darcy charged, her gun now pointed at Zack's chest.
Zack's gun still pointed at Reed and the sisters, his finger on the trigger.
The victims had moved closer together. Laura and Kate held each other close. Reed stepped in front of them, his arms extended out to his sides to shield the sisters. Laura bent her head. Kate closed her eyes.
Then, suddenly, Zack looked as if a fog had finally lifted. His eyes widened in understanding and his body pivoted as he realized the answer to his own question. "There is no heart."
With a blast, Zack's gun fired. But the three captives remained standing. Darcy staggered. With a bullet wound to her chest, she struggled to raise her gun and aim it at Zack's heart. She pulled the trigger, but flinching in pain, she hit his midsection instead. They both hit the ground, and a shower of blood darkened the pavement.
Reed retrieved his gun, pushed Darcy's gun out of their reach, and then lingered for a moment over the conscious casualties. "You're not the last word on the human race!" He gestured to himself and the sisters, and he declared triumphantly, "We are!"
Laura felt tears pouring down her face, in relief, in elation, in admiration. This was the Reed she knew—a full-throated, tireless fighter for the ideas and values he ardently held. She knew that he had not lost any of his fire for the precious things in his life, including her. The tension of the afternoon and of his year-long ordeal suddenly drained from his face. The boyish grin that had charmed her in their glorious year together now returned. He flashed it at Laura.