We have nowhere to go.”
I held her for a long time, feeling the slow, rhythmic beat of her heart steadying against mine.
“We have seven acres of black dirt in Virginia,” I said softly, watching the heavy steel door swing open as Christian Shaw and six federal marshals stepped into the room.“The hydrangeas need pruning before the frost hits.
And the greenhouse roof has a leak on the south corner.”
I lifted my chin and looked at Shaw across the sterile white room.
The Director didn’t draw his weapon.He didn’t order handcuffs.
He looked at Julian groaning on the floor, looked at the empty weapon on the tray, and then dipped his head in a slow, respectful salute to the ghost who had just settled the last account on the ledger.
“Let’s go home, Chloe,” I said.
And for the first time in twenty-two years, the silence that followed felt like peace.
