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They are going to say this was suicide.”
    “If we stay here, they will say it was us.”
    Her nose wrinkled. “That’s ridiculous. Just because we came upon the body hardly means they can accuse us of her murder.”
    “I’m not sticking around to find out. You decide what you want to do. If you want to take that gamble.” He turned on his heel and strode from the room. When she didn’t hear the crunching of glass, she glanced up. He marched back into the room. He grabbed her arm and set about dragging her from the room.
    “What are you doing?” she asked.
    “My conscience won’t allow me to let you make this terrible mistake. You're leaving with me.” When she started objecting, he continued, “And the only way you will be able to stay is by putting up your fists and fighting me.”
    She relented and let him pull her from the house. Outside, he set off at a jog, towing Khaya along. He didn’t stop until he reached a house on the other side of town. “
    “Whose house is this?” she asked.
    “Mine,” Merrit said as he slotted his key into the lock.
     
    ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
     
    A figure emerged from the shadows, hood pulled low, hiding his face. He watched the door close behind them. This was going to be a problem. Merrit’s involvement with the girl was yet another unwanted complication. The Echelon weren’t going to be happy.
     
     

Chapter Five
    Closing the Gap
     
     
    Merrit put a kettle of water to the boil. He’d always believed that there was nary a problem that couldn’t be made better, if not solved, with a warm cup of tea. He thought that a laughable notion now.
    Ever since he met her, he’d wanted to spend more time with Khaya, thinking up excuses to talk to her, but this wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind. Still, he felt a flutter in his stomach when he carried the tray of tea and bread into the sitting room – his sitting room – and there she was.
    She gave him a tremulous smile, making his heart beat a little faster. “What are we going to do?” she asked.
    “We leave tonight, as planned.”
    “It would look suspicious if we don’t go back tomorrow," she said, after a pause. "If the Company is behind this, we don't want them suspecting that we know something.”
    “I guess you’re right,” he said uncertainly. "But what are you going to tell them if they ask you anything?”
    She shrugged. “Depends on what they ask.”
    “Yes, but if they ask you if you know why she committed suicide?”
    “But she didn’t. Commit suicide, I mean.”
    He took a breath, wondering if she was deliberately being difficult. “Yes, we know that, but the person who killed her went through some effort to make it look like a suicide. And if it was the Company, they will try to reinforce that perception.”
    “I guess I would just say I don’t know why she would commit suicide. I didn’t know her all that well anyway.”
    “Good,” he said with a nod. He studied her for a moment. She always seemed so tough, but he thought there was a vulnerability to her. It made him want to give her a reassuring hug, but he didn't dare. The scar above her eye wrinkled as she frowned. He once asked her what had happened there. She said she’d had a fall when she was little and gashed her head. He wondered if that was truly what happened.
    “I guess I have to get home,” she said.
    “You’re not staying?” he asked, disappointment on the edge of his words. “I mean, will you feel safe alone at home?”
    “I should be just fine,” she said.
    “Let me at least walk you home.”
    “Fine, but don’t think I’m a scared girl.”
    “I wouldn’t even entertain the notion,” he said with a grin.
     
    ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
     
    Merrit arrived at work, as always, a couple of minutes after he was meant to be there. He found that as long as he didn’t push his luck too far, Peater didn’t bother him over it. He took his time climbing the stairs to the main library floor. He glanced over his shoulder at the