HOURS LATER, DINNER was ready.
Jade always prepared delicious meals, and while they were both grieving in their own ways, they didn’t once speak of Ruby and Sapphire. They talked about food, the places they had been and people they have come to know.
She served apple pie for dessert.
‘How did you go with the emails?’
‘Not very far,’ he said. ‘Decryption isn’t my strong suit.’
‘Show me again.’
A quick student, Jade wore a fresh pair of gloves without being reminded before taking the papers from White.
He studied her as she studied the coded email. Jade and Ruby looked very similar and shared the same mannerisms. He got up to clear the table before his imagination ran away from him driven by male testosterone, because even in her early 50s, Jade could pass for Ruby’s older sister. She
