“About why you’re smoking again. About why you leaked information to Caleb Rye. About why you think I’m the one using the archives.”
Linda’s heart pounds. But she keeps her expression neutral. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Don’t you?” Ruth’s eyes are sad. She looks so disappointed. “I know you, Lin. I know when you’re scared. When you’re protecting someone. When you think I’ve become the enemy.”
The intimacy in her voice is worse than anger. Linda wants to believe her. Wants this to be a misunderstanding. Wants their thirty years to mean what she always thought they meant.
“What do you want, Ruth?”
“Help me understand,” she says softly. “Tell me what you think is happening. Let me explain. Let me prove you’re wrong.”
There’s hope in Ruth’s eyes. Real hope. Like she genuinely wants to fix this. Like they can move past whatever Linda suspects and go back to being partners.
Linda wants to believe it so badly it hurts. But she doesn’t. She simply doesn’t.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Decades of partnership and intimacy war with suspicion and fear in Linda’s expression.
Ruth watches and waits for the moment when Linda decides whether to trust Ruth.
Ruth lets the silence stretch between them. She wants Linda to see her vulnerability, her hurt, and her need to understand what went wrong between them.
“I fed information to Caleb,” Linda says finally. “I thought if his books got enough publicity, whoever was repeating the old operations would be too exposed to continue.”
Ruth nods slowly. “That’s what I thought. That’s why I came to your apartment to confirm it. But you lied to me.”
“Are you behind it?” The question is barely a whisper. “Are you the one using the archives?”
Ruth reaches for Linda’s hand. “No. God, no. Is that what you think? That I’d use what we saved together to hurt people?”
Tears fill Linda’s eyes. “I didn’t want to think it. But after Anara, and then the Colonial Pipeline?—”
“I know. I see the similarities.” Ruth steps closer. “But Lin, I’m trying to figure it out, too. Who could have copied your archives without you knowing? Someone must know about them.”
“Nobody knows. Just us.”
“Someone must.”
Linda shakes her head. “There have always been rumors. You know that. But I never told anyone.”
“Neither did I.”
“Really?”
“Really.” Ruth’s voice rings with conviction. Truth and lies are woven together so tightly she’s not sure she knows the difference anymore. “I thought maybe you shared them with someone. That’s why I asked. Not because I suspect you. I’m trying to protect you.”
Linda is desperate to believe her. It’s etched all over her face. She wants it to be true that their partnership isn’t broken and that the woman she’s loved for three decades isn’t a monster.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I should have trusted you.”
“It’s okay.” Ruth pulls her into a hug. Linda relaxes against her. “We’re okay. We’re going to figure this out together.”
Linda nods and wipes her eyes. Then she rests her head on Ruth’s shoulder, the way she used to.
Ruth continues to hold her. She rubs her back with one hand, as if Linda’s a child in need of soothing.
Linda sighs and softens.
