“He did.”
“But none ofthissays that.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Rhys sets the rope aside carefully. His gaze drifts toward the window before returning to me. “Because once someone dies, everybody starts protecting different things.”
His response slides under my skin, and I step closer. “Were you protecting him?”
A long silence follows.
“Yes.”
The word catches me off guard. Not because of what it means. Because of how much regret lives inside it.
I swallow hard. “Then why tell me now?”
“Because you weren’t going to stop digging.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
Rhys exhales slowly through his nose. “No,” he agrees. “It doesn’t.”
The tension shifts again, different now. Sharper. More dangerous, too.
I set the reports down carefully. “You said he told you to leave him.”
His expression slams shut. There it is. The line he doesn’t want crossed.
I cross it anyway. “Why would he do that?”
Rhys looks away first—not avoiding—remembering. The cabin goes unnaturally still. Even the wind seems quieter. “Because he knew what was coming.” The words drop heavily between us.
I stare at him. “What does that mean?”
His jaw flexes once. “It means he knew more than I did.”
Fear slips cold fingers down my spine. Not because of Rhys. Because for the first time, I think I’m starting to understand Phoenix.Or maybe realizing I never did.
“You think he expected the ambush?”
“I think he expected something.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“No.” Rhys’s eyes darken. “It isn’t.”
I shake my head slowly, trying to force the pieces together. “Then why move? Why leave cover?”
Rhys’s voice lowers. “Because he chose to.”
The ground shifts beneath me again.No, that isn’t right. Phoenix wouldn’t knowingly risk people.Wouldn’t knowingly… “He wouldn’t do that.”
Rhys doesn’t argue. That somehow feels worse. “He believed in what he was doing,” he says quietly. “Enough to risk us for it.”
The breath leaves my lungs.Risk us.What does he mean?Us.
