Page 104 of Sigma

“Goddammit.”

We’re within earshot now, so we both fall silent. When we’re ten or so feet away, Valentine and I both stop as one.

Rin is less composed than I’d thought, now that I can see her features more closely. She’s got her fingers knotted up, which means she’s trying to keep them from shaking. Her eyes are wide and she’s only just barely hiding her nerves.

“Well.” Valentine holds his hands palms up, drops them. “Here we are, Apollo.”

“Here we are.” He looks to his left, at Corinna. “A reunion, of sorts.”

“Let her go now.” Valentine’s voice is harsh.

If you listen very carefully, you can almost hear the faint, distant thumping of a helicopter.

I touch Valentine’s hand. “Trust me,” I whisper.

He doesn’t answer.

I take a step away from my husband. Hands out, in plain sight. “I’m sorry about your mother, Apollo. Really I am.”

He just stares at me. “Choices,” he mutters.

I’m not sure what that means, but I go with it. “Yes. I had a choice to make. It was life or death, and I chose my life. I chose a life with the man I love. I just wish I hadn’t had to take a life in the process.”

“You’ve taken four.”

“I have children now,” I say. “I’m not about to go quietly. Surely you understand that.”

The air fairly crackles with tension. I can almost feel Anselm preparing to take the shot.

Does he hear it? Does he know what it means?

“Choices,” Apollo mutters again.

His eyes go to Rin’s.

She looks up at him—and as a woman, I know the look she’s giving him.

“Sir.” One of the men is touching his ear. “Contact. Helo.”

Apollo looks at me.

At Rin.

At Valentine.

My heart hammers. Rin’s eyes widen as she comprehends what that means.

She moves…

In front of him.

22

Montagues and Capulets

In a horrid flash of icy comprehension, I understand my parents’ plan. I know the contingencies they’ve worked out for many different scenarios. I’ve sat in on security briefings.

Lure Apollo out here.