Page 180 of Reaper Said Mine

"That should concern both of us."

I gesture toward the spare chair.

She sits, and her gaze drifts to the displays surrounding me.

"What are you looking at?"

"Something ugly."

"That doesn't narrow it down."

I rotate a screen toward her.

She studies it.

Then another.

And another.

The color slowly drains from her face.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Wilcox leans back in her chair.

"They knew."

"I think so."

"How much?"

"I don't know."

The admission tastes bitter.

"I can't prove they engineered Zune's death," I continue, "but they expected negotiations to collapse."

Silence settles over the room.

Wilcox finally mutters, "God damn them."

I don't argue.

If these records mean what I think they mean, then people were moving pieces across a board long before anyone drew a weapon in that conference chamber. Gnash. Gobold. Theryki. Zune.

Maybe all of them.

Pieces.

Wilcox rubs her forehead.

"You need to be careful with this."

"I know."

"No." Her voice sharpens. "You don't."