Rachel whispered:
“How did that happen?”
Ethan knew she did not mean the milkshake.
How had her husband become someone she feared?
How had Cole’s narrative entered their marriage?
How had Ethan let silence become evidence against him?
He folded the wet towel.
“I don't know.”
Rachel stood.
“I need air.”
“Rachel.”
“Not now.”
She walked toward the door.
Laura noticed.
Ethan remained seated.
Every instinct wanted him to follow.
Another part understood that following someone who asked for space was not always love.
Sometimes it was panic.
He stayed.
The diner gradually resumed breathing.
Laura returned.
“You okay?”
Ethan looked at his shirt.
“Need laundry.”
“That isn't what I meant.”
“I know.”
Marcus sat opposite him.
Rachel’s salad remained untouched.
Laura remained standing.
“We have a problem.”
Ethan looked toward her.
“Cole?”
“Yes.”
“He knows.”
“That was eventually inevitable.”
“Not this early.”
Ethan wiped the table.
“Whose decision was it to walk in here?”
Laura looked irritated.
“Mine.”
“Then don't complain about timing.”
Marcus almost smiled.
Laura did not.
“He crossed a line.”
“He crossed several before today.”
“He publicly assaulted a cooperating witness.”
“Technically poured dairy on him.”
Laura stared.
Ethan shrugged.
“Accuracy matters.”
“You're impossible.”
“So I've been told.”
Marcus opened the folder.
“This may accelerate everything.”
“How much?”
“Depends what Cole does next.”
Ethan looked toward the door.
“What do you think he'll do?”
Laura answered:
“Exactly what powerful people do when uncertainty enters the room.”
“Try to learn who knows what.”
Ethan nodded.
“Then he starts making mistakes.”
“Yes.”
“That’s what we're waiting for.”
Laura sat.
“But now you're exposed.”
“So is he.”
“That isn't balance.”
Ethan understood.
People imagined intelligence work as secret identities and clever traps.
Most of it was asymmetry.
Who knew what.
Who believed they knew what.
Exposure shifted risk.
Laura continued:
“We're moving Paul Merrick tonight.”
“Good.”
“Your shop gets surveillance.”
“No.”
“Not optional.”
“Visible?”
“No.”
“Fine.”
“We also need you and Rachel somewhere else temporarily.”
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
Laura’s patience thinned.
“Ethan.”
“My house is secure.”
“Against a corrupt county sheriff with deputies?”
“Some deputies.”
“We don't know which.”
“Exactly.”
“That supports my argument.”
“It supports mine.”
Marcus interrupted.
“Where's Rachel going?”
Ethan looked toward the window.
She was standing near their truck.
Arms crossed.
Alone.
“I don't know.”
Laura followed his gaze.
“Fix that before anything else.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Investigator giving marriage advice?”