A faint smile touches my mouth. “I look forward to it.”
Maya takes the phone back before Raven can reply.
“We will be ready,” Raven says to her, all business now. “I want you armed. I want you visible to Leon long enough to identifyhim and confirm the exchange, then you follow the extraction plan. No improvising.”
Maya’s eyes remain on mine.
“I understand.”
“You do not have to do this,” Raven adds, quieter.
“Yes,” Maya says. “I do.”
The call ends.
For a moment, neither of us speaks.
Then Maya drops the phone on the bed and folds her arms over her chest.
“You told her I was going.”
“Yes.”
“You told her before you told me.”
“I told her you would be involved.”
“That is a very careful way to phrase it.”
“It is accurate.”
Her eyes narrow.
I take another step closer.
“You wanted Leon alive,” I say. “You wanted the chance to look at him while the world heard what he did. Tomorrow gives you that chance.”
“And you?”
The question is quiet.
More dangerous than her anger.
I stop in front of her.
“You know what I am.”
“That is not an answer either.”
“No,” I say. “It is the truth.”
For a second, I think she will hit me. I would let her.
Instead, she presses her lips together and looks away.
“Tomorrow,” she says.
“Yes.”
