"Bess, we're sorry to keep you waiting." Conrad walked through the door just as I pocketed my phone. Russell followed through the next and closed it so our meeting was protected from prying ears."Russell and I were in a meeting with government to further quell sparks about what went on Iran."

"How did that go?"

"As well as we expected it to. People were surprised by what happened, and generally, they were worried about your safety.. How are you holding up?" Conrad sat down behind his desk, which often signaled he meant business. Russell sat on the couch across from me, listening to the conversation intently.

"Besides the burn and cut, I'm good. I'm hanging in there."

"Good."

"How's Lina?" I questioned about Munsey's wife of almost twenty-one years. I'm not sure why I had asked, but the words had slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them. Up until this point, I had been pretty good friends with her, at least until I had gathered enough evidence to prove her husband was guilty of the crimes he had committed.

"Devastated," Conrad mentioned with a hint of sadness in his voice. No government job was without their faults, especially when you chose to betray your country and those you worked with. I had expressed this before, but it was usually the families who suffered for their actions.

"I can't imagine the hell she's going through right now." I felt the weight of those words twist at my stomach, knowing their daughter and son were around the same age as Alli and Jason. If the repercussions were bad for her, they were probably even worse for them. Kids were brutal and unforgiving these days when they had anything to tease about. "Where are we on finding Juliet?"

"At the moment?" Russell chimed in after staying relatively silent for most of the conversation. "In the wind. She's long gone from the location where the call was made." I sighed loudly, closing my eyes in defeat. I may have made it my mission to weed out the bad apples, but I never for a moment expected them to be my friends.

"Make no mistake, they could have done a lot more damage if you hadn't convinced me going to Iran was necessary." Conrad nodded gravely, leaning forward in his chair. "I also note those who lost their lives will never be lost on any of us. Which is why I want to hear it from your point of view on what happened that night."

"Right." I swallowed hard, gearing up for something I didn't feel like discussing. If I had the power to erase any torturous and not worth repeating moment, I would have done in it a second. "I walked into the Javani's home around seven in the evening. Zahed introduced me to his wife, ."

"Allow me to introduce my wife, Marajel." Zahed had proudly introduced his wife as she came around him to shake my hand. She was strikingly beautiful with her jet black hair and olive skin. I remember thinking how beautiful she was and how had he ever scored such a woman. Okay, so I knew how Zahed married her. Since I had known him, he had always been a gifted, smart and kind man to everyone around him. I had always referred to him in my mind as a loveable but bald teddy bear.

"We made small chat about some of her work as an architect, and then he introduced me to his boys, Abdol and Katan."

"Former CIA. She studies her enemies darling." Zahed had joked lightly when his wife had drawn surprise at the fact I knew what buildings were hers. I really hadn't been making it up, as the Zarand commercial tower really was my favorite there in Iran.

"Katan was speaking in Persian when he and Abdol came into the room. They asked if I came from the Great Satan, which I hadn't heard of before. Just when you think you've heard everything."

"But you went with it," Russell mentioned crossing his leg over the other with a small smile. "Did they know you could understand them?"

"No. They did not know I could understand them." Farsi-known as Persian to Americans-was one language I knew how to speak fluently. Although once upon a time I wasn't sure it would be necessary to learn so many languages, it really did come in handy at times. "Marajel did make them speak in English. I was more amused by the fact they had a sense of humor at such a young age."

"I imagine this is where things took a turn for the worst." Conrad's eyes darkened, his lips pressing together tightly in anticipation.

"Almost, yes." I sucked in a deep breath, although my chest tightened a little and my stomach tightened at the aspect of relaying the story. Up until now, I had been in denial that I would ever have to repeat what happened. "Marajel ushered the boys into the other room to finish their homework, while Zahed and I talked about everything from family to the coup. After we finished, I excused myself to call Alli because it was her birthday and Zahed went to call President Shiraz to fill him in about the coup."

"The big sixteen."

"Yeah" I huffed out, hardly believing I had a sixteen-year-old. On the other hand, I was glad for the change of subject. Conrad or Russell may not have caught on, but doing so gave me a moment to catch my breath again. "She's got her driver's permit and I have no doubt she's going to pass.

"You raised some pretty smart kids. I have no doubt she'll use caution on the road whenever she's behind the wheel." Conrad nodded thoughtfully, changing the subject once again and my stomach twisted in knots at the prospect of delving deeper into that night. "As for the coup in general, it was a senseless act what both Munsey and Juliet did, and those who died will not die in vain.

"Believe me, I won't let it."

"I know you won't. It's why I hired you." Conrad stood, pushing his chair back against the wall as we finished up our conversation. Honestly, I was more than relieved he wasn't pushing for more information, for we all could guess what happened next. However, if I wasn't telling it here, I was bound to be telling it somewhere else. "I have to admit, I did think it was a little crazy when you and Russell approached me about Marsh's death not being an accident. It would also have been even worse knowing we never did anything about it. You are both two people I can trust to do their job and figure out the rest."

"Absolutely." Russell nodded resolutely as he brushed a hair off his pant leg and stood up quickly from the couch.

"Then I think we can adjourn this meeting for a couple of days. At least until we can get a handle on what to do next."

I nodded numbly as we all walked towards the door. Even though I was relieved our meeting was over for now, I knew I couldn't hold in my emotions much longer and I needed to get to a place where I could collect my thoughts before moving on with the next part of my day.