Not yet. No, Sully said, “Not yet. ” They both understood what not yet meant. It meant the question was being kept open rather than being answered, which was a different thing from not asking it. Sully looked at his hands. Hands that showed their history the way all working hands did.

Now, the other thing he said, Boon looked at him. Portland, Sully said. Portland, Boon said, 22 years ago. A situation requiring a decision made in seconds with consequences that had lasted considerably longer than either of them had calculated at the time. Boon had made the call.

He’d believed then and believed now that it was the right call for the people he’d chosen to protect. But the cost had fallen on Sully’s side of things. Sully’s daughter had gotten pulled into the aftermath in a way the decision had made worse before it made better. The worst part had lasted 3 years. The better part had taken longer to arrive than it should have.

She’s all right, Sully said. She’s in Portland still. Good life. She figured out most of what happened eventually. She doesn’t hold it against you.

I know, Boon said. I’ve kept track of her. Sully’s eyes sharpened. You’ve been keeping track, not interfering, just knowing, making sure. Salty was quiet a long moment.

You should have told me, he said at the time, what the decision was going to cost. There wasn’t time, Boon said. And I knew you’d say no. You would have said no, and the other outcome would have been worse. I’ve always known you know that, too.

Knowing it doesn’t mean it didn’t cost me something, Sully said. No, Boon said, “It doesn’t. ” The silence between them wasn’t comfortable, but it wasn’t hostile, either. It was the silence of two men who had been through enough together that they could sit in the difficult parts without needing to rush past them. “I didn’t come here to settle it,” Sully said finally. I’m not sure it settles completely.

I came because what Pierce is building toward if he decides you’re a threat he can’t manage quietly it won’t stay clean. Your daughter is here. Boon looked at him. So what’s the plan? Sully said working on one.

Boon said you’ll be here a few days. Few days. Sully said. They spent those days in the garage mostly. The easy companionship of men who had known each other long enough that working side by side didn’t require conversation to be legitimate.