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“Wait. You’ve been listening to my calls and reading my emails?”

“It’s all standard stuff,” he said. “The Patriot Act has given us a lot of power.”

“Too bad America doesn’t seem any safer,” Warren said, angrily.

“Let’s not get into a political debate,” Mr. Sully said. “As both of you have had contact with Mr. Stevenson before, we want to wire you and get something we can use in court.”

“Absolutely not,” Warren said.

I raised my hand. “Hold on a minute. Don’t I have a say in this too?”

Warren looked at me.

“If I can finish the story that I started in Afghanistan and clear your name at the same time, I’m all about helping,” I said, looking back at him.

“You don’t understand the risks,” he objected.

I turned my attention back to Mr. Sully. I wasn’t ready to commit but was definitely interested. “What do you need me to do?”

“Easy. We’ll give you a recording device, and you get Melvin to admit what he’s doing.”

“He hasn’t even told me anything yet,” Warren said, shaking his head.

The fact he was so worried about me made me glow on the inside. Most of the joy, however, was extinguished by the reality of what the FBI was asking us to do.

Warren shook his head. “There has to be another way.”

“Believe me, we’ve tried. These guys are slick.” Sully eyed Warren. “You’re not involved in any of this, right? If so, the time to tell me is now.”

“No,” Warren said firmly.

“Fine,” Mr. Sully replied. “I have to fill out all the paperwork to get this started, but if you two stop in tomorrow afternoon, we’ll have the equipment ready for you. All you need to do at that point is get Melvin to slip up and say something incriminating.”

“Oh, is that all?” Warren scoffed sarcastically. He stood and shook his head again. “Come on, Rose. Let’s get out of here.”

“You two be safe,” Mr. Sully said.

We walked out of the office and back downstairs.

“Those guys are fucking nuts,” Warren said once we’d made it outside. “We’re not going through with this.”

“We have to,” I said.

“We don’t have to do anything.” He placed his hands on my cheeks, staring into my eyes. “I care about you so damn much, you know that?”

“And I love you.” Once the words had slipped out, there was no taking them back.

Warren kissed me, his lips saying everything without him having to say anything at all.

And then we rushed back to his apartment, to the better bed.

CHAPTER 30

Rose

Once through his apartment door, we were all over each. In that moment, it looked like things might finally get better between us. And if everything worked out, I might be able to become a journalist again, and his name would be cleared once and for all.

I couldn’t help smiling as we made our way to his bedroom.