Page 25 of Grave Danger

With that question, Jack could see that he’d put his finger on the source of Andie’s angst. She couldn’t possibly make that ask.

“Without a good lawyer, a six-year-old girl will never see her mother again,” said Andie. “Yasmin goes back to Iran to live in the sole custody of an abusive father. What tune would I be whistling if we were talking about Righley, instead of Yasmin?”

“So, you’re actually happy I have this case.”

She chuckled with exasperation. “No, I’m nothappy.”

“I’m totally confused,” said Jack.

“Look at this from my perspective. The rub, as I have always seen it, is that your criminal defense work always put you adverse to law enforcement, adverse to the FBI—to the people I see at work every day. I asked you to cut back on your criminal work. You agreed. And I was so grateful for that. IthoughtI had come up with the solution to our problem.”

“It will take time. I can’t just drop all my criminal cases.”

“Don’t drop anything. There’s no point.”

“Now I’m beyond totally confused.”

“This new case proves that my proposed solution accomplishes nothing.”

“That’s a little hasty, don’t you think?”

“No, it’s obvious. Getting ambushed by the State Department was the realization of my worst nightmare. Don’t you see what that tells us, Jack?”

“It tells us that your solution didn’t work in this case. But the verdict is still out. It could still be a good solution.”

“No, Jack,” she said, breathing out the words. “It tells us there is no solution.”

Jack felt chills. “What are you saying, Andie?”

Her eyes glistened, and even in the dim lighting, Jack could see that she was on the verge of tears.

“That makes me so sad, Jack. Really sad—for us.”

Jack struggled to sound positive. “Hey, come on now. This is us. We can work this out.”

“I’ve tried so hard.”

“Let’s talk about this.”

“I’m exhausted.”

“Let’s talk it out with Dr. Laura,” he said, alluding to the radio talk show host.

She tried to smile. “Dr. Stanger.”

“Yes. Dr. Stanger. I’ll even make the appointment.”

“Let me sleep on it.” She rose and started across the room, but she wasn’t headed toward the master bedroom. She stopped at the entrance to the kitchen, then turned.

“Good night, Jack.”

Jack heard the scuff of her slippers on the floor as she continued down the hall to Righley’s room. Max finally woke and immediately looked for Andie.

“Et tu, Brute?” asked Jack.

Max just wagged his tail, as if everything he did was an act of love, then followed Andie’s trail into the bedroom.

And the door closed.