Chương 10
Nobody spoke.
The silence lasted perhaps fifteen seconds.
Then Claire said, “Okay.”
Another pause.
“Send me the address.”
The call ended.
Claire remained in the dining room.
Sophie moved first.
Alexander caught her gently by the shoulder.
“Give her a minute.”
Sophie frowned.
“She needs a hug.”
“Probably.”
“Then why wait?”
Alexander looked at her.
“Because sometimes people need to decide when they are ready to be touched.”
Sophie considered this with unusual seriousness.
Then she nodded.
“Okay.”
Claire came into the kitchen a moment later.
Her face was pale.
Emma stepped forward.
Claire lifted one hand.
“I’m okay.”
Emma stopped.
Claire looked at Alexander.
“Legal wants to meet Monday morning.”
“Good.”
“They are bringing outside counsel.”
“That also sounds reasonable.”
“And Daniels says the board has already asked whether I should be placed on leave while they investigate.”
Emma’s face changed.
Claire saw it.
“Paid leave.”
“That still sounds bad.”
“It is not good.”
Claire looked at Alexander.
“But I sent the email.”
“Yes.”
“Mercer will know soon.”
“Probably.”
Claire swallowed.
For a second, the fear came back full force.
Then Sophie quietly held out half a croissant.
Claire looked down at it.
“I thought Alexander said one each.”
“This is mine.”
“You’re giving me half?”
Sophie nodded.
“Because you’re having a bad morning.”
Claire took it.
“Thank you.”
Sophie leaned closer.
“But if you don’t want it, I can finish it.”
Claire laughed.
This time nobody stared.
They simply started eating.
Claire’s meeting on Monday lasted ninety-three minutes.
Alexander knew because he checked his phone at ninety-one and ninety-two and then became annoyed with himself at ninety-three.
He was in a conference room at headquarters while a civilian analyst explained maintenance shortfalls on vehicles nobody in the room had driven that month.
Alexander had heard the briefing twice already.
The third version contained more slides and less useful information.
His phone remained face down beside his notebook.
Collins noticed him glance at it.
Alexander noticed Collins noticing.
Neither said anything.
At 10:47, the phone vibrated.
Claire’s message contained four words.
I’m on paid leave.
Alexander read them once.
Then again.
The analyst kept talking.
A colonel across the table asked a question about spare parts.
Alexander typed, Are you home?
The reply came almost immediately.
Parking garage.
He stared at the screen.
Then he wrote, Do you want company?
The typing indicator appeared.
Disappeared.
Returned.
Yes.
Alexander closed his notebook.
“Collins.”
The major looked up.
“You have the room.”
Collins’s eyebrows rose.
“Sir?”
“I have somewhere to be.”
Nobody asked where.
Colonels had the advantage of creating silence when they moved with enough purpose.
Alexander hated that he was using it.
He hated more that he did not care.
Claire was sitting in her car when he reached the office complex twenty-five minutes later.
She had not started the engine.
Her hands were folded over the steering wheel.
Alexander tapped lightly on the passenger window.
Claire startled.
Then she unlocked the door.
He got in.
The car smelled faintly of peppermint gum and old coffee.
A child’s purple mitten lay on the floor near his shoe.
Claire looked straight ahead.
“They took my laptop.”
Alexander waited.
“And my building badge.”
He said nothing.
“They said it’s standard.”
“It probably is.”
“I know.”
Claire laughed once.
“I hate when you do that.”
“Do what?”
“Refuse to lie just because the truth is unpleasant.”
Alexander adjusted his coat.
“I have lied plenty.”
“Not to me.”
He looked at her.
Claire still did not look back.
The parking garage lights made everything gray.
Cars came and went around them.
A woman in scrubs loaded two grocery bags into a hatchback three spaces away.
Somebody’s alarm chirped.
Ordinary life kept moving.
Claire pressed her lips together.
“Outside counsel asked whether I had ever encouraged Richard.”
Alexander’s jaw tightened.
Claire noticed.
“It was a fair question.”
“That doesn’t make it pleasant.”
“No.”
“What did you say?”
“That I had dinner with him twice.”
“You told me that.”
“I told them I kissed him once.”
Alexander went still.
Claire finally looked at him.
“There.”
“There what?”
“The face.”
“I am listening.”
“You’re judging.”
“I’m not.”
“You absolutely are.”
Alexander looked through the windshield.
Claire waited.
He exhaled.
“I’m not judging you for kissing him.”
“For what, then?”
“For not telling me.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“That sounds dangerously close to believing you were entitled to know.”
Alexander turned toward her.
“You’re right.”
The answer stopped her.
He continued.
“I wasn’t entitled.”
Claire’s shoulders lowered slightly.
“I didn’t tell you because it makes everything messier.”
“Yes.”
“And because I knew you would look at me differently.”
“I don’t.”
“You did for half a second.”
Alexander looked away.
Claire’s mouth twisted.
“Thank you for proving my point.”
He rubbed one hand over his jaw.
“Fine.”
“Fine what?”
“For half a second, I wondered if I had misunderstood something.”
Claire flinched.
Alexander hated himself immediately for the honesty.
He continued before she could shut down.
“Then I remembered that consent to one kiss is not consent to six weeks of unwanted contact.”
Claire stared at him.
“That should be obvious.”
“It is.”
“Then why did your face do that?”
“Because humans are not filing cabinets.”
Despite herself, Claire laughed.
Alexander looked at her.
She shook her head.
“That may be the worst explanation you’ve ever given.”
“It is still accurate.”
The laugh faded.
Claire rubbed her thumb against the steering wheel.
“I liked him at first.”
Alexander said nothing.
“He was funny.”
She looked embarrassed by the admission.
“He remembered things.”
“What things?”
“My coffee order.”
She shrugged.
“Which days the girls had activities.”
“Those are normal things to appreciate.”
“He sent me lunch when I was stuck at work.”
Claire stared at the dashboard.
“The first time he showed up at the house, I was happy.”
Alexander watched her carefully.
“He brought Thai food and a bottle of wine.”
She gave a small, humorless smile.
“Emma liked him.”
“That changed.”
“Yes.”
May you like
“When?”
“The third time he came over without asking.”
