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“Isn’t it?” Patrick flashed back. “Loyalty. None of us, except Sidney himself, knows exactly what he did…or why. We take the word of the people we know against those we don’t. We trust the people who are like us, and who trust us. It’s natural.”
“It’s tribalism,” she replied. “We should be beyond that.”
“Beyond loyalty, patriotism, trusting, and being worthy of trust? What is beyond that? Every man for himself?”
“You’re using words—”
“Well, what the hell else?”
“No! I mean you’re using them, making them mean what you want, emotion, not thinking.”
“About what? It’s a big thing to be trusted, Jem. Look at Cassie and Sophie. They trust you in everything. Would you give that up? Betray it?”
“That’s not fair! They are my children! That’s not tribalism, it’s…family.”
“Which is the beginning of the tribe. Do you want to walk through life alone?”
“Of course not! But that’s different. Sophie’s a baby; Cassie’s only three!”
“When are you planning to stop? When she’s six? Twelve? Eighteen?”
“When she marries!” she flashed back. “But that’s not the point, Patrick, and you know it! There comes a time when you can’t give loyalty without thinking.”
“Questions of loyalty don’t often give you time to debate.”
“Then you need to know what matters most, before you have to make a decision,” she replied. It sounded smug, and she knew it, even as the words were on her tongue.
He shook his head. “And you know it all, Jem?”
“No, I don’t! Of course I don’t. But I know I don’t decide the Thorwoods are right because I know them, and Sidney is wrong because I don’t.”
“And Daniel is your brother? That means nothing? Don’t expect me to believe that you don’t trust him, because you’ve known him all his life.” He smiled reluctantly. “I’ve seen that same look on your face when you watch him that you have for Cassie. Just for an instant.”
“All right! So, he’s my little brother.”
“I like it. And actually, I like him. And I had to tell him yesterday that it’s highly possible the man he’s defending for petty embezzlement is also guilty of murder. The body of some other man who worked at the embassy just washed up on the shore of the Potomac. He took it well…considering.”
She let out a gasp, then a sigh of sorrow. “I’m so sorry.”
“Yes. It’s bad,” Patrick agreed. “And I see that you’ve got to be on his side, a bit.” After a moment, he added, “You know when you look at someone you love, you’re beautiful, really beautiful.”
She looked at him and found her eyes full of tears. “That’s because I love you. It doesn’t mean I agree with you over everything!”
He doubled up with sudden laughter.
“I don’t!” she shouted.
“I’m a detective, sweetheart. I had that worked out the second time I met you!”
“That doesn’t mean Sidney’s guilty, or innocent…or right, or wrong.”
“Nobody’s always right, or always wrong.”
“Nonsense,” she returned. “You’re always right—aren’t you?”
CHAPTER
Thirteen
