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The FBI--or the Secret Service or Homeland Security or the White House, I wasn’t really sure on the details--kept Ivy in seclusion for nearly twenty-four hours They must have allowed her access to a computer, because her insurance policy didn’t rear its head, but they didn’t let her near a phone

I knew this because I knew, in the pit of my stomach, that if she’d had a phone, she would have called ot a call from Bodie instead Ivy really was okay Kostas really was dead--shot with an exploding round before anyone had a chance to see his face The number of people who knew his real identity could be counted on two hands--and that hy they hadn’t released Ivy right away

This, Bodie had been inforet their stories straight I deeply suspected that when the dead nized

Major Bharani was dead Judge Pierce was dead And noas Kostas

There was no one left to bring to justice--and no one left to tell the story, except for Henry and Asher and Vivvie and uilty parties dead, I wasn’t saying a word--for Vivvie’s sake, if not ut told me that Henry would do the same He would bury this, push it into the recesses of his mind where he kept the secrets that hurt him most The ones with the potential to hurt the people he loved

I wondered if he’d hate Ivy for this, too

I wondered if Ivy had ever really been the one he was mad at

Ivy’s fine That was the refrain I repeated to ain She’s fine She’s fine She’s co home But no matter how many times I told myself that, I could never be more than ninety percent sure, until the moment the door to Ada on the other side

They must have let her wash up at some point, because she looked as polished as she had the day she caht brown hair was pulled into a loose French braid at the nape of her neck

She walked like she had somewhere to be

I stood, frozen in place Ivy stopped a few feet away frory with her I’d been so scared I’d spent years telling myself that she didn’t matter, that she couldn’t hurtalike But the past twenty-four hours had washed all of that away

She was in me She was under my skin, and there in my smile and the shape of my face, and she would always matter She would always be able to hurtI could do, no space I could put between us to erase that

She’s here She’s okay She’s here The words beat out a gut-wrenching rhythhtly She took one step toward ht in front of ainst her, fell into her arhtly around her I buried --or maybe I was

But she was solid and real and fine I bent, ainst her chest She breathed in the s

"Tessie" That was all she said, my name