Page 50 of Girl in the Water

Karin must have seen something on his face, because she said, “Miss Wintermann is from Brazil, so she knows the country, and she’s fluent in Portuguese. She’s a woman. A lot less threatening, large, and obvious than you are. She can pass for local. She’ll be able to get into places, talk to people you might not be able to reach. I’m bending the rules here, but I’m not letting a six-month-old baby be lost. After having talked with Miss Wintermann, I’m confident that she can be a valuable asset to this mission.”

“I’m aware of Miss Wintermann’s experience.” Ian clenched his jaw so tightly, it wouldn’t have surprised him if he spit out teeth when the meeting was over.

Karin handed him a folder that looked identical to the one Daniela was holding. “The details are in here. Your flight leaves tomorrow. I suggest you both go home and start packing.”

He nodded as he got up and didn’t say anything else, because he didn’t trust himself to speak.

He strode out into the office bull pen, which was—thank fuck—empty, since it was late in the day. He couldn’t handle chitchat at the moment. Even Elaine the office manager had gone home, her desk by the entrance deserted, the wall next to it wallpapered with grandbaby pictures.

Daniela followed Ian out into the hallway. “Please don’t be mad.”

He didn’t reply. He marched up the stairs and kept going. He didn’t open his mouth until they were in his car in the parking garage. “I want you to call Karin and quit. I’ll take the case.”

He flashed her the look he usually saved for kidnappers. And that showed just how serious the situation was, because for as long as he’d known her, his driving need had always been not to intimidate her but to protect her. Today, for the first time, hewantedto scare her.

And of course, she decided not to be scared.

A stubborn light came into her eyes. “No.”

“What do you mean, no?”

They were friends, but it was more of a guardian kind of relationship, where he guided her and protected her, and she did as he asked, had almost always done as he asked, from their first meeting.

Daniela put on her patient face. He disliked that look. It made her seem all mature and always made him feel juvenile, as if somehow they’d had a sudden role reversal.

She said, “Remember back in Santana when you were teaching me how to protect myself and you said I’d never again have to do whatever other people told me, including you?”

“Exceptme. I’m pretty sure, I saidexceptme.”

She shook her head.

A couple of cars passed. Nobody paid any attention to the two of them.

“Don’t be stubborn about this.”

She kept the patient look. “I’m declaring my independence.”

If she began talking in Cantonese, he wouldn’t have been more taken aback. “You’ve always been independent. I never tried to—”

“You didn’t. You made me independent. But now I’m declaring it for myself. Because I’m an adult.”

“You’re twenty-two.”

“Exactly my point.” She flashed a confident smile. “I graduated from college.”

“Yes!” He grabbed on to that. “You finished pre-law, and now you’re going to apply to law school. You want to study international law. You want to be a human rights lawyer.”

“You want me to be a human rights lawyer.” Her eyes and voice held gentleness, as if she was trying to let him down easy.

What the hell was happening?

“I want to help people in bad situations,” she said. “I want to be there with them. I know you’d rather have me safe in an office. But that’s not my dream.”

“Since when?”

“You saved me. I want to do that for others. It’s important to me.”

He let his head drop onto the steering wheel. Tried to think. True, he had been the one to send away for law school information packets. But only because law school had been her dream. Hadn’t it?