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JUSTICE
My heart wails like a siren in my chest.
Cooper.
Dead.
Tortured.
Bridget… traitor.
I’ve never before understood that saying about people who weren’t comfortable in their own skin. Now, emotions slice daggers across raw memories. Bridget teaching me Lao. Training together in the gym. In the firing range. Playing Mario Kart. WatchingSpy Kidswith tears of laughter streaming down our faces.
It hurts. I want to scratch, tear at my arms, my legs. I’ve always known what’s right: my family. And what’s wrong: those who went against my family. Family going against family… against me? I can’t endure this helpless, aching pain.
Someone knocks on the door.
No one speaks.
No one moves.
No one breathes.
Time seems to stop, along with the place where my heart should be beating. If I could put a knife to the tension, it would probably snap back and kill someone.
On impulse, I stand, grab Sandesh’s hand, and tug him until we’re flanking Momma’s desk on the opposite side of Leland, whose face is blank. A united front.
Smoothing down her dress, Momma finally manages, “Enter.”
Looking like a cross between a yogi and a math nerd with her lopsided bun and dark-framed reading glasses Bridget enters and keeps her eyes focused singularly on Momma.
My sister’s composure sends a prickle of irritation along my skin. Her perfect pale skin is unflushed, but she has to know why she’s been brought down here.
“You betrayed the family,” I blurt, going for the jugular. “Forget me; that doesn’t matter.” Lie. It matters to me. “But conspiring with Cooper to take down operations? Why?”
For a long, long moment Bridget simply stares at Momma. Neither of them says anything, though their eyes remain locked.
I’d think this was a battle of wills, except I know Momma would never play that game.
After a minute of this shit, I’m itching to slap Bridget. I just accused the woman of betraying our family, of conspiring with Cooper and she’s got nothing to say? “What the fuck, Bridge? Say something.”
Bridget blinks, casts her eyes down. “I am ready for whatever punishment you see fit to give me.”
My heart kicks hard in my chest.She did it. Itwasher.
“You admit this?” Momma leans a hand on her desk. Her eyes, always so clear, are cloudy and confused. “Tell me the truth, daughter. This is important. If you have any reason to cover for another, you must not. We need to be able to trust the others.”
Bridget shakes her head “You don’t have to worry. You’ve found the right person to blame.”
My stomach rolls, hits a guardrail, then plunges over a ravine. It’s all I can do not to puke or walk over and shake the shit out of her. I want to hurt her the way she’s hurt me. But more than that, I want to know… “Why? Why did you do it?”
Bridget’s eyes dart between me and Sandesh, Momma and Leland. A subtle flush rises up her neck into her cheeks. “I did it to keep you, the family, and everyone here safe.”
“Bullshit.” I jab an angry finger in her direction. “Safe? Telling Walid I was after him in Jordan, giving him step-by-step directions to track and find and kill me? How was thatevergoing to keep me safe?”
Her serene expression falters as she shakes her head. “That didn’t happen. Yes, Walid was given information that warned him of your initial operation. He was told Jordan was a safe place for him and his brother to meet, but that was so your mission would end. I can promise you, contact with Walid stopped there.”
“Liar. Explain how he tracked me into a Syrian desert.”
