"I talked to Warren this morning," she says, changing the subject with a casualness that feels deliberate. "He's very pleased with himself."
"About what?"
"He thinks he's close to finding Dad's leak." She says it lightly, but I catch a tightness in her tone. "The mysterious source who gave Dean all those documents. Warren's convinced he's narrowed it down to a handful of suspects."
"Good. The sooner we find them, the better."
Kate makes a noncommittal sound. "If you say so."
"You don't think we should find them?"
"I think Warren sees conspiracies everywhere." She sets down the water bottle and meets my eyes. "It could havebeen anyone, Carter. A staffer. A contractor with access to the wrong files. Someone who got drunk at a party and ran their mouth to the wrong person. Not everything is a grand betrayal orchestrated by enemies within."
I shake my head. "No. The leak was comprehensive. Whoever it was had deep access."
"Or they were patient." Kate shrugs. "Either way, I doubt Warren's going to find them. People who are smart enough to pull off something like that are smart enough to cover their tracks."
"You almost sound like you admire them," I say.
"Maybe I do." She meets my gaze squarely. "Maybe I think it takes guts to tell the truth about powerful people. Even when those people are your own family."
The words land harder than she probably intends.
"Dean’s article was full of exaggerations," I say. "He took ambiguous documents and spun them into something sensational because that's what sells papers."
"Is that what you really think?"
"Yes."
"All of it?"
I open my mouth to say yes again, but something stops me.
Kate has a watchful expression on her face, like she's giving me space to say something I haven't been able to say out loud.
"I think some of it was exaggerated," I say carefully. "I know as much as anyone that there can be a fine line between tax avoidance and tax evasion. We listen to the tax lawyers. It only makes sense, but the bad stuff. That’s not true. It’s not who we are."
"Isn't it?" There’s an intense look in her eyes now. I glance around. There are staff standing at the other side of the room, waiting for us to give them any instructions. I don’t think they can hear us. Kate has always been like this, so distrustful of Dadand the whole Crane Machine as she calls it. But she’s always kept her criticism within the family. For a crazy moment, I wonder if it was her. If she was the one who spilled everything to Jamie Dean.
But then I know it can’t have been. It wouldn’t surprise me if she betrayed Dad if she caught him doing something bad, but she wouldn’t betray me. There is no way in a thousand years that Kate would have done this to me.
I shrug by way of response. "Dad makes deals. Everyone in politics makes deals. That's not corruption. That's just how the game is played."
"Right." Kate picks up her water bottle again, takes another drink. "The game. Everyone loves the game until they end up as a piece on someone else's board."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you should pay attention, Carter." Her voice is gentler now, almost sad. "You've spent your whole life believing the version of our family that Dad wanted you to believe. The noble dynasty. The public servants. The Cranes who built this country." She pauses. "But that's not the only version of the story."
"And what's your version?"
"Dad is as dirty as the rest of them.” She tosses her towel into the hamper by the door. "But you know that, just as I know that. The only difference is that I’m the only one who isn’t denying it.”
She walks out before I can respond, leaving me alone in the clubhouse with my thoughts.
I shower and change, but I can't shake what Kate said about paying attention.
Ihavebeen paying attention. I've read the exposé over and over, front to back, looking for the gaps in Dean's logic. And I found them. It’s full of circumstantial evidence treated as proof.The story isn't airtight. People like Kate and Jamie want to believe the worst, so that’s what they see.
