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“I’m inclined to agree,” Kelsey said slowly.
That surprised him. He blinked at her a few times, relieved to have some support.
“Whatever is in those files, Maxwell didn’t want anyone to see,” Jessica said.
“How does that help us?” Samuel countered.
Baruti crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the door. “I think it’s worth getting our hands on those files. If we can. And if it’s safe to do so.”
“We came all this way and you want to leave?” Jessica swung her head looking from Kelsey to Samuel and back. “My hope is that the files give us actionable intel we could use with the help of the UK government to get Maxwell into custody. But you’re right, without knowing what’s in them… That’s why we’re here.”
Samuel crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s a lot of risks to take when we can’t afford more.”
Baruti stroked the thin chin strap of hair along his jaw. “It would help us a lot if the UK police could step-in and handle Edward.”
Samuel glared at his partner. Seriously?
Read the damn room.
“Samuel?” Jessica stood and crossed to stand in front of him.
“You said we’d leave after the meeting. Now you want to stay. That wasn’t the agreement.” And he’d fucking known. He’d known it wouldn’t be that simple.
“Think about the difference this could make. What’s the harm in waiting to hear from Oliver, hm?”
“We don’t know that we can trust him,” he said slowly.
“But in a little while we’ll know who he is and then we can make a better choice.” She threw her hands up. “We were going to stay through the night, anyway. What’s wrong with considering all the options?”
Because he knew it wasn’t about options. It came back to Jessica wanting to protect Robin and this being the only way she saw forward. There were other ways. Though eventually, they would have to confront the Edward problem head-on.
“How long then? How long do we stay and take this risk?” he asked.
She blinked at him. “I… I don’t know.”
He shook his head. “That’s not good enough.”
Jessica stared at him for several moments, her face growing more impassive by the moment until the lawyer was looking at him. “Is it not good enough because I’m here and this involves me? Or is it not good enough because you think there is a threat to all of our lives equally?”
The answer was obvious to him, which meant she knew it, too.
Was there a point in answering? Would he apologize for wanting to keep her safe?
Jessica shook her head after a prolonged silence. “Samuel, I think it’s best if we hit pause on this and talk about it in the morning. After we’ve all had a chance to think things through and get some rest.”
“I won’t change my mind,” he said.
Her tone was downright frigid as she said, “That’s unfortunate.”
“Come on, man,” Baruti said softly and took a step toward the adjoining door.
“We need to make a plan now,” Samuel insisted.
“There is no plan to make right now because we aren’t in agreement, and I won’t simply leave because you’re over-protective.”
Baruti patted Samuel’s shoulder.
What was wrong with her? Did she want to die? Was that it?