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“Because you look like you're about to fall over.”

“I'm fine.”

“You haven't slept.”

“Neither have you.”

“I don't have an eighteen-year-old daughter who appeared out of nowhere or a woman I thought I'd lost forever sitting upstairs.”

I stare at him.

Arthur puts both hands up.

“I said nothing.”

“You said a lot.”

“I'll wash dishes.”

He turns around.

I go to the security room.

Four monitors show the roads and approaches surrounding Red Canyon.

Nothing moves.

Good.

Taylor sits at the desk.

Will is checking equipment.

“Vega?” I ask.

“No contact.”

“Keep it that way.”

Taylor looks at me.

“You really aren't telling her?”

“No.”

“If something happens⁠—”

“She can't reveal what she doesn't know.”

He nods.

That's the end of it.

We all understand compartmentalization.

It kept us alive overseas.

It will keep Sage alive now.