Page 106 of Sigma

“Confirmed, sir. Standing down.” The same voice.

“Leave us.”

“Sir.”

A crunch of boots on gravel, doors slamming.

My eyes are closed—the moment he stepped out from behind me, I’d been expecting the boom of Anselm’s rifle. It never comes.

Engines roar, and tires crackle across gravel, and then we’re alone, the four of us.

Apollo holds his hands out at his sides. “Corinna, get my phone from my back pocket, please.” When I take it, he gestures to Daddy. “Give it to him.”

Daddy takes the phone from me. “What’s happening, Rin?”

Mom leans against him. “No one is getting killed, that’s what.”

“The code to open the phone is six-six-one-one-three-three. Call your man and ask him to not shoot me.” A thick pause. “Please.”

A beat, and then the digital beeping of a keypad. “Yeah, no, it’s me.” Daddy’s voice is harsh, angry. “It’s over. Your part at least. No—I know. It’s…an evolving situation…yeah, we’re good for now. I’ll be in touch shortly.”

Apollo speaks. “Tell them to come get you.” Another short, heavy pause. “All three of you.”

I move to face him. His expression is…tortured. “Thank you, Apollo.”

He shakes his head. “You will go, now.” His voice is heavy.

“Yes.”

A nod. His eyes search mine. “You aren’t coming back.”

I hold his gaze. “You know where to find me.”

“Corinna Abigail Roth,” Daddy snarls. “Whatare youdoing?”

“Hush, darling,” I hear Mom say.

Apollo just stares down at me. “What if…what if I do the things you said…try to become…that man. But it’s not enough?”

I’ve never heard him sound anything less than sure of himself. It nearly breaks my heart. “You quotedStar Warsat me earlier. Now it’s my turn. ‘Do, or do not. There is no try.’” I don’t attempt to sound like Yoda, because this is a serious moment. I’m tempted to, though.

“I don’t knowhow, Corinna.”

“You just decide who you want to be, and you become him. Whatever is not that, you get rid of. Whatever is missing, you create it.” I touch his face. “If you can wade into arms dealing and drug distribution with the most violent and brutal and ambitious men on the planet and come out on top, you can become a good man.”

He smirks. “Those men do not frighten me.” He looks past me, at my father, and the smirk fades. “He does.” I don’t think it’s entirely a joke.

Daddy says nothing, to his credit. No posturing. No blustering.

I lift up and kiss him, once more. “Remember what I said, up there.” I look up at the tower, behind us. “Iwill. Okay? If you can find the good man inside you, Iwilllove him.”

“Fuck me running,” Daddy says. “I don’t believe this.”

“Hush, darling.”

Apollo does that thing where he swells, filling the space, taking up all the oxygen. “Then, I will. You’ll see.”

“I believe you,” I say, trailing my fingers down his jaw.