Page 110 of PSYCHOlogical

It was my turn to be truthful. I let out a light sigh. “I know.”

“Do tell,” he said, his tone slightly sarcastic.

“I killed him,” I admitted. “I had to. He was onto you, and he was quickly catching up with me. He once told me if he found out who McMurphy was, that he’d kill him himself. I couldn’t take the chance.” I looked him in the eyes. “I was the FBI Intelligence Branch mole.”

He grinned. “I know.”

“Bullshit,” I said, mimicking his earlier response.

“I suspected it but didn’t know. Not until I went to the DNI’s office.”

“How’d you figure it out?”

“They said Martin was found with a flash drive in his possession. He was a computer idiot. Everyone knew it. I guess everyone but you and the Director. Based on finding that flash drive, they decided he was the mole. I decided it was you.”

“The bad dream I had that night? When I jumped up out of bed? In the dream, I was turning in my badge. It didn’t go well. At least not in the dream.”

“Did you turn in your badge?” he asked.

I nodded. “I did.”

“How’d it go?”

“Better than expected. It’s over.”

He reached into his pocket, removed his phone, and flipped it open. The glow from the phone’s screen illuminated the sharp line of his jaw. I watched curiously as he pecked at the keys with his thumb. When he was done, he smirked, and then shoved the phone into his pocket.

My phone pinged.

He tilted his head toward the sliding doors. “Better see who’s texting you.”

I got my phone from the night stand, returned to the deck, and opened the text. It was a response from Vincent’s burner phone to a text I’d sent him on the night Jack kidnapped me. I gazed at the two text messages.

ME: What are we going to do when this is over?

VINCENT: Spend a lifetime trusting one another.

I looked up. Vincent was gazing toward the pitch-black horizon. The light from the bedroom illuminated one side of his handsome face. I had one more thing I felt a need to admit. Saying it was a risk, but a risk I was willing to take.

“I love you,” I said softly.

He looked at me and smiled. “I love you, too.”