52

WASHINGTON. D.C.

BRIAN HAD STOPPED PACKING. Vanessa stepped out of the bathroom of their cozy hotel suite to find him staring out the window, the suitcase only half filled on the bed.

“We’ve got to get going.” She tightened the bath towel across her chest. “The guy at the front desk said the airport traffic’s unpredictable.”

Brian turned to face her. “I changed our flight,” he said. “We’re not leaving until tonight.” The light from the window behind him made his features dark and unreadable.

She frowned. “Why would you do that?”

Brian stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. “Because your brother-in-law called and asked us to come to a press conference this morning. Claire is planning to make some sort of announcement.”

“About?”

“He didn’t go into it. He just said he really wishes we’d be there.”

Vanessa lowered herself into one of the armchairs by the window. In the distance, the Washington Monument nearly glowed in the sunlight. Brian had changed their plans, radically, and she wondered why she felt so little annoyance at him for not consulting her. She tried to muster up a solid sense of indignation, but it remained small and petty and not worth expressing. Still, a press conference?

“I’ve spent the last few days going out of my way to avoid the media,” she said, her voice flat. “And now I’m supposed to voluntarily sit in a room full of reporters?”

Brian sat down on the edge of the bed next to her and squeezed her arm. “They won’t be there to see you,” he said. “They’ll be there for Claire.”

She shook her head, her damp hair chilly on her shoulders. What was Claire up to? She remembered her sister’s allusion to old memories and the pain in her voice, and she felt an unexpected desire to protect her from harm. Claire didn’t know how ruthless the press could be.

“You’ve accomplished what you wanted to on this trip,” Brian said. “You did most of what you needed to do. But there’s one final obstacle you need to take care of, and that’s you and Claire.” He squeezed her arm again. “We’re going to this press conference.”

She reached out to lock her hand with his. She and Claire were no longer children, no longer filled with childhood fears and fantasies and rivalries. And there was one thing Vanessa now knew with absolute certainty: Her sister was not her enemy.

“Yes,” she said. “We’re going.”