Page 243 of Silent Target

“We expose Graves.”

“And Whitmore?”

“We find him.”

“Archive Seven?”

“We stop it.”

His answers are certain.

Simple.

Very Caleb.

“What happens to us?”

That question silences him.

He turns toward me.

Rainwater drips from the edge of the roof between us and the darkness.

“What do you want to happen?”

“I asked first.”

“I’m not good at this.”

“I noticed.”

One corner of his mouth moves.

Then the humor fades.

“I’ve spent most of my life leaving.”

“Missions?”

“People.”

“Why?”

His gaze travels over the rain.

“Distance kept them safe.”

“Did it?”

“No.”

The word carries every person he couldn’t save.

“I told myself caring made me less effective. That if I stayed detached, I would see the danger sooner.”

“But you cared anyway.”

“Yes.”