Page 154

“Partly.”

For the first time, some of the defiance leaves his face.

“You want me away from her.”

“I want several things. If one solution addresses two problems, I do not consider that a flaw.”

“You jealous bastard.”

“Take my offer, Reid. Prison might be slightly more survivable than the alternative.”

He says nothing.

Then, finally, he asks the question I knew he would.

“Where does Emma fit in all of this?”

I let him sit with it.

He answers himself.

“If I say no, you’ll kill her.”

“I would solve the problem you leave behind.”

“Fuck you.”

“That is not a third option.”

“You’re threatening to kill her to get me into prison.”

“I am explaining the available outcomes.”

“I disappear, she dies.”

“If you disappear, Emma continues asking questions. Bennett continues asking questions. Lisbon continues asking questions. Genevieve does what Genevieve does. Eventually someone makes a mistake I cannot correct quietly.”

He studies me.

“Ten years ago, you would have killed her already.”

“Possibly.”

“And yet, you didn’t.”

“You don’t judge a study before you’ve seen what it becomes.”

“Emma isn’t one of your paintings.”

“No. That is why she remains interesting. And, really, quite useful.”

Another email arrives.

Bennett has now requested photographs from the Whitaker inventory.

I read it twice.

Let him.