Kanezaki looked at him. “He did?”
Rain nodded. “At the end, he told me he’d always thought the son he’d lost as an infant was waiting for him. And that he was glad they were going to be together again.”
They were quiet for a moment, and Rain went on. “I don’t believe in that kind of thing myself. But if I did . . . I’d say you made Tatsu proud today.”
Kanezaki put his hand on Rain’s shoulder and looked away. After a moment, he said, “Thanks.”
“What’s going to happen?” Diaz said. “I mean . . . the CIA director, and the director of National Intelligence, and all those other people, too, dead on Grimble’s property?”
Rain might have answered himself. But then Dox or whoever would have teased him for micromanaging. And they would have been right. He looked at Kanezaki and raised his eyebrows.
Kanezaki nodded, then looked at Diaz. “Devereaux was already working overtime to plant stories about Russian disinformation. It wouldn’t be hard for a ‘senior intelligence official offering information only on background’ to build on that.”
“Do us a favor while you’re blaming it all on the Russians,” Dox said. “Don’t start an accidental nuclear war?”
Kanezaki chuckled. “Don’t worry. No one wants that, and no one is going to want any of this to be front-page news for longer than absolutely necessary. Especially with all the QAnon types trying to make hay of it.”
Maya was holding Frodo again, and Rain had the sense that the girl was feeling the weight of everything she’d just been through. Larison must have noticed, too, because he went over. Larison held out his hand, and Frodo licked it.
“Thinking about Ali?” Larison said.
Maya looked down. “Can’t help it.”
Larison nodded. “‘Do not be too sad, Sam. You cannot be always torn in two.’”
Rain assumed it was a line from The Lord of the Rings. A good line.
When Maya looked up, her eyes were wet. “Tom told me you were scary,” she said. “Maybe he doesn’t know you.”
Larison glanced at Kanezaki, then back to Maya. “Oh, he does. He just doesn’t know everything.”
“Does he know whether you’re a hugger?” Maya said.
Larison gave a small, surprised laugh. “I’m not generally, no. But someone seems to have made me a convert.”
Dox smiled and said, “It’s all right, he converted me to the intrinsic delights of hand-holding.”
Maya laughed. She hugged Larison, and Larison hugged her back.
Delilah moved over to where Livia was standing. “I heard what you said in the office,” she said. “I . . . I don’t like these men getting away with it, either.”
Rain hoped Livia would recognize that was Delilah’s way of apologizing for not always thinking the best of Livia. They were both proud, sometimes to a fault. Not that Rain could judge.
Livia nodded. “Thanks, Delilah. I never meant to drag you or John into this.”
“I don’t like them getting away with it, either,” Larison said. “But we know one of the men in the videos. Hobbs. We’re pretty sure he’s the one who got this whole thing rolling. And speaking just for myself, I don’t like the loose end he represents for us personally.” He glanced at Diaz and added, “I like to consider all the possibilities.”
Diaz nodded grimly, and Rain wondered what the woman might have done in the world if she hadn’t become a prosecutor. Well, it was rarely too late. For better or worse.
Livia looked at Larison. “I’m in.”