"Quédese donde está, doctor.
I'm not asking."
I moved toward the living room with Ethan behind me.
Nora had pulled Lily back into the kitchen doorway, one hand on her daughter's shoulder.
Priya stayed at the desk in the study, her laptop still open, the audit log still glowing on the screen.
Dr.
Vale was standing by the sofa.
He hadn't tried to run.
Of course he hadn't.
In twenty years, I had never once seen Martin Vale sweat.
He straightened his coat cuffs as if he were about to deliver lab results.
"Claire,"
he said, "I need you to listen to me.
Not as your doctor.
As your friend."
"You're not my friend,"
I said.
"You're the reason I've been dizzy for three months."
His face did something small and complicated.
For a moment I thought it was guilt.
Then I understood it was calculation.
He was measuring the room.
