“There was risk.”
I appreciated that answer.
“Should I have been told?”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
Richard looked at her.
Elena ignored him.
“The investigation prioritized identifying the wider group. In hindsight, once we confirmed someone was actively following you, we should have given you more information.”
“Thank you.”
I needed someone to say it.
Not that everyone cared about me.
Not that they were protecting me.
That I had deserved the truth.
I gave my statement.
Then I took my suitcase.
Richard walked beside me until we reached the guest elevator.
“Margaret.”
I turned.
He looked older than he had at dinner.
Not seventy-four.
Just tired.
“I’m sorry.”
“For which part?”
“Meeting you under false pretenses.”
I waited.
“For not telling you when it stopped being an assignment.”
My throat tightened despite myself.
Then he added, “And for letting you become part of something dangerous without giving you the choice to decide whether you wanted to be.”
That one mattered most.
I nodded.
Then I stepped inside the elevator.
Richard didn’t follow.
The next morning, Claire was waiting at the terminal.
She had flown down because she was terrified.
The moment she saw me, she ran toward me and wrapped both arms around me.
I let her.
Then I said, “You and I are going to have an enormous argument.”
She started crying.
“I know.”
“Did you think I couldn’t handle the truth?”
“No.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I knew you’d still go.”
I stared at her.
“Exactly.”
Claire looked confused.
“The choice was supposed to be mine.”
“I thought if you knew—”
“You thought I might make a decision you didn’t like.”
Her tears came harder.
“I’m sorry.”
I believed her.
I was still furious.
Those two things could exist at the same time.
Twenty minutes later, Richard came through the terminal.
Claire saw him and stopped.
“Oh.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Claire.”
