Page 235 of Silent Target

“He tried to protect you.”

“How do you know?”

“Because that’s what fathers do.”

I look at him.

A shadow crosses his face.

His father’s name was inside the First Circle files too.

“We lost both of them to the same people.”

“Yes.”

“I spent years working in the building where Whitmore planned his death. I trusted men who helped cover it up.”

“You didn’t know.”

“I should have.”

Caleb’s expression hardens.

“No.”

The force of the word stops me.

“You were his daughter. You loved him. You believed the explanation because the people responsible controlled the truth.”

My eyes burn.

“He gave the eulogy.”

“I know.”

“Whitmore stood beside my mother and told us how much he respected my father.”

Caleb’s hands close slowly into fists.

“He wanted to see what he had done.”

The cruelty of it steals my breath.

A sob escapes before I can stop it.

Then another.

I cover my face.

Caleb pulls me into his arms.

His body is warm and solid around mine.

He doesn’t ask me to be strong.

Doesn’t tell me to stop crying.

He simply holds me while years of hidden grief tear through me.