This was it, moment of truth.
But when the receptionist emerged, it wasn’t to tell him to leave. Instead she ushered him past the heavy mahogany door, into a broad window-lit office and the presence of Minister Maxim Holloway, who rose up from behind his desk even as the door fell shut.
“I hope you’re here to discuss the outbreak in Atlantia,” Holloway said dryly, “and not anything incriminating.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
Noam stepped deeper into the room, far enough to rest his hands atop the back of one of Holloway’s guest chairs. Holloway himself hadn’t moved, sharp gaze tracking Noam as if he thought Noam might be liable to pull out a gun and shoot him in his own office the way he shot Tom Brennan.
Don’t think about Brennan.
“Are you involved?” Noam asked.
Holloway lifted one black brow. “That’s very bluntly put. But, yes. I am. I have been, since the beginning.”
Both of them were carefully stepping around the words that mattered, the ones that felt like pinned grenades:Resistance. Rebellion.
Noam’s grip tightened on the chair.
“I want to help,” he said.
Holloway sighed. He placed his fingertips lightly atop the surface of his desk, as if that would ground him. “Dara said you might.”
So Daradidwant Noam involved, after all.
“Your position is precarious,” Holloway went on. “You might find it difficult to escape the complex to make meetings. I suffer the same problems. We’re both very visible—to Lehrer, among others.”
To Lehrer.That was delicately put. Did Holloway know the truth?
“I’ll figure it out.”
“I’m sure you will.” Holloway tipped his head to one side, considering. And for a moment, Noam worried this had been a mistake. He’d assumed Holloway was with the resistance because he delivered a message from Dara. But he might be a double agent. All of this could be fed right back to Lehrer the moment Noam left.
And by now Noam ought to know: there was no one he could trust. Not really.
He’d paid attention to Holloway’s political rise following Lehrer’s coup. Holloway had taken a bold position in government, hard on crime and harder with punishment. He was a member of Sacha’s party, the Republican Democrats. Most of the legislation he supported was far right of center. In fact, he took the opposite stance from Lehrer on almost everything—only Noam got the sense that was exactly how Lehrer wanted it. If Lehrer truly saw Holloway as a threat to his power, he could easily put him under persuasion.
Lehrer and Holloway might be enemies on the public stage, but in the shadowy wings of the political theater, they were allies.
Just how deep did that alliance run?
Noam had to decide. The only thing worse than the wrong choice was complacency.
Holloway was still watching with that same suspiciously penetrating gaze. “We could use your help,” he said. “Now that Lehrer is aware of our existence, we’re hamstrung. He expects an attack.”
“I know exactly what Lehrer expects,” Noam said grimly.
Holloway’s lips twitched, almost a smile.
“There’s a meeting tonight,” he said. “The bar on Rigsbee next to the barbecue joint. Nine o’clock.”
Noam’s heart leaped toward his throat. Holloway wasn’t wrong about the challenges of getting away. At nine, he’d be expected to be one of two places: in the barracks, getting ready for bed, or in Lehrer’s apartment. And he didn’t think Ames was gonna buyit’s classifiedas an excuse much longer. But.
“I’ll be there.”
What a fucking mess,he thought all the same that night when Lehrer texted him 8:00 p.m. and Noam hurled his phone onto the opposite side of the sofa.
“That’s aggressive,” Bethany commented from her position in the armchair by the window.
