"Ready to roll out, Philsy?" Grissom asked as he slung his backpack over one shoulder.
Phil nodded. "Just about." He sat by the window in Gabi's room in the Fish Factory and looked out at the ocean. "Gathering my thoughts." He smirked. "I guess that's a good thing for a telepath to do once in a while."
The mercenary nodded. "Must be rough on you."
"What's that?"
Grissom shrugged. "Well, Gabi's dead, the guy responsible for her dying is out there somewhere, Leslie left, and you're about to go out and do more of what you did in New York. Don't tell me that doesn't get to you."
Phil turned. "I can't deny that. Honestly, there's not too much keeping me going right now."
"But?"
"But I can't just cease to function. We've got a job to do here. There's a very desperate man who needs his kids back. And that," Phil said, "is a situation in which I definitely can function." He looked back out the window. "When all this is over, I'm sure I'll have a lot to think about. But I can't have all that on my mind when I'm out there on a mission."
"I have to know one thing," Grissom said.
"And that is?"
"When this is over," the mercenary asked, "are you leaving too?"
There was a long silence.
"I... I don't know," Phil said hesitantly. "You guys... this team... it's all I have left. I don't know if I can walk away from that."
"Not even if you could find out who you are?"
Phil shook his head. "Honestly, with some of the things I've done, I'm not sure I want to know who I really am. All that matters now is that I'm Phil Smith of the MBL. My identity - like your identity - is tied to this team now, no matter what happens. All I'm concentrating on is this mission. I'll worry about everything else once I get the chance."
Grissom nodded. "Fair enough." He looked at his watch. "We'll be in touch," he said, indicating the tiny high-frequency earpiece in his right ear. "How are you planning on getting there without arousing the suspicion of any of those blokes who might be watching?"
Phil smiled. "You forget with whom you're dealing, my friend. I'm creative."
Grissom shrugged. "Take care of yourself, mate." He turned and headed down to the motor pool, Intrepid keys in hand.
Phil got up to close the window - and noticed two scraps of paper tucked beneath the comforter. He picked them up and read the first one, a torn-out scrap of journal paper.
Phil, If you get this, it probably means that something's happened, and I'm no longer there with you...
It was from Gabi. Phil tucked it into his wallet carefully. He would read it later, when he could afford the emotional distraction.
The second was a folded piece of notebook paper with neatly-printed writing on it.
Phil, I guess I should start by saying I'm really sorry everything happened this way. It all came up so fast that I don't think either of us knew what to make of it. I'm really sorry about Gabi. I never really knew her, but I know she was very important to you.
Anyway, I'm leaving now, but I wanted to leave this for you, and I figured you'd wind up in here at some point. I know you're really torn up over this whole situation, but I want you to know that my offer still stands. I don't know when I'll see you again, but I do know that my feelings for you haven't changed. I'm sure that's cold comfort now, as I'm not there and someone you love very much was just taken from you, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I never let you know that I care about you.
I really want to keep in touch, but I don't know how easy that will be where I'm going. Turner - if that's even his real name - sounded like he was all business. Anyway, I have a strong-encrypted text-messaging system in my phone and palmtop, and I want you to have it so you can communicate with me. The addresses and encryption sequences are at the bottom of this page.
Please get in touch with me soon. I really need to hear from you.
Love always, Leslie
Phil folded the paper up and put it in his wallet with the other note. He would deal with this later.
Phil looked in the mirror. If this mobster had spies all over the place, then chances were that they knew who he was and what he looked like.
