Ranger reacted as if she’d been slapped in the face. “What?”
“I’m done,” Liesel said.
Ranger turned sharply to Caspian, the heat rising behind her eyes.
“And you’re okay with this?” she asked.
Caspian met her gaze. “More than okay. We’ve both given enough. I’m done too.”
Ranger’s face turned bright red. “You ... you can’t just walk away, Caspian. Not now.”
“I’ve made my decision,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while, to be honest. I’m not asking for your permission. I’m telling you. I know what I want now.”
“Oh, really? And what’s that?” Ranger asked.
Caspian leaned back in his chair and let Ranger’s thick sarcasm fly by without reacting to it. He said, “I once said this to someone, but she didn’t believe me. I hope you will.”
“What are you talking about?” Ranger asked, clearly irritated.
“I’m looking into becoming a part-time bush pilot. There’s a lodge on Nahmakanta Lake my dad used to bring me to when I was a kid. I’d fly anglers in and out for four to five months a year. I’ll spend the rest of the time sailing the coast. I’m about to make an offer on a catamaran.”
Ranger stared at him for a few seconds, as if unsure if he was pulling her leg or not, then she let out a dry, cheerless laugh. “You? A bush pilot? You’ll lose your mind.”
“I don’t think so,” he replied. “But I guess time will tell.”
“You owe me, Caspian,” Ranger said. “After everything I’ve done for you, you still want to walk away? From me? No. That’s not how this works. And you sure as hell know it.”
Caspian sighed. “I don’t owe you anything, Samantha.”
A heavy silence hung in the air for a long moment, only to be broken by Drescher.
“Maybe he does owe you, Sam. But you owe me,” he said, tapping his fingers on his prosthetic leg. “Remember?”
Ranger looked at Drescher, her face faltering for the first time. Caspian thought he saw her anger morph into something heavier. She closed her eyes, then opened them again.
“Fine,” she finally said. “But I need Caspian to do one more job for me.”
“I’m not interested—” Caspian started to say, but Ranger raised her hand.
“Hear me out, okay? That’s all I’m asking.”
Caspian shrugged, then gestured for her to go ahead.
“It’s about Charles Mpassi,” Ranger said. “Everett Westcott’s number two.”
For some reason, Caspian’s left leg began to throb. “What about him?”
“He was as involved as Westcott in the decision to target your family. Maybe more. And he’s not hiding either. He’s been seen working with Chinese intelligence operatives in the DRC. He’s consolidating power, but not just in his country of origin, but also in Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, and even South Sudan. That shitbag is destabilizing the entire region. He needs to die.”
“But how? I thought Hearts United was done?” Caspian asked.
“Hearts United is done. It imploded after Westcott’s death, and we think Mpassi, or someone who’s loyal to him, planted the bomb in Westcott’s plane.”
Caspian stared at the floor. Something Ranger had said stirred something inside of him. Part of him wanted to finish what he hadstarted. Mpassi had come after his family. He couldn’t let him get away with it.
“If I go ... if I go after him,” he said slowly, looking at Liesel. “If I do that ... what happens to the life we’ve been building?”
Liesel grabbed his hand with hers. “If you need to do this, if you really need to, I’ll ... I’ll support you,” she said.
