Page 70

CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE

THE KELLERS

Sarah Keller pulls her bag behind her, turning to see if Bob and the kids are keeping up. The Amtrak train to D.C. was delayed and she’s going to be late for her appointment.

Michael and Heather wear backpacks and strut through D.C.’s Union Station, seeming to take no notice of the majestic great hall—New Yorkers, unimpressed with this lesser version of Grand Central. Bob grouses as he trails behind.

The front of the station has a line for cabs. To Keller’s surprise, the lawn, usually a beautiful lush green, is covered with tents. Another sign of the times.

“Stan said he’s circling around.”

When her old boss and mentor makes it to the front of the station, Keller checks her watch. “I don’t think I’m gonna make it.”

“You go,” Bob says. “We’ll get an Uber to the hotel. I’ll take the kids to the museums, and you can find us later.”

She gives him a you sure? look.

“Go,” he says. She kisses Bob and gives the kids—thirteen-year-olds not keen on hugs in public—a squeeze.

Inside the sedan, Stan greets her with a stiff nod, makes a show of looking at his watch. “You always like to make an entrance.”

God, she misses him.

An hour later, they’ve made it through security at Quantico and are seated in the first row. Stan rarely makes an appearance at these things, so the Quantico folks are rolling out the red carpet.

Keller flashes back to when she participated in this very ceremony. The pride she felt finishing her grueling FBI training. How patriotic she felt. How full of purpose.

She didn’t know then her real purpose would be to spend her life with a bald guy with a penchant for dad jokes and the two bright lights they created together.

Someone slips into the seat next to her. Keller smiles. “I’m so glad you made it,” she says to Jay McCray.

“Not every day I get an invite to Quantico,” he says. “And besides, my wife needed a break. My retirement hasn’t suited her.” He grins.

The associate deputy director—who obviously drew the short straw this year—appears at the podium. He gives a stock speech, likely the same one given to Keller so long ago, yet it somehow still manages to give her a lump in her throat. Then the graduating class materializes.

Keller and Annie Hafeez make eye contact as Annie walks across the podium. Her family—it looks like multiple generations of Hafeezes are here—clap politely.

Few good things came out of the case that brought Keller and Annie and McCray together. But helping a young woman find her purpose—making sure the Bureau took notice of an applicant with such promise—is something Keller will always be proud of.

At the end of the ceremony, she and everyone in the room stand as the graduates recite the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s oath.

And Keller recites every single word.