Carol picked up on the second ring.
"Ms. Quinn," she said. "I was going to call you this afternoon."
"I need to talk to you first," I said.
A pause.
The kind that meant she already knew what about.
"Kieran Hayes," she said.
"Yes," I said.
"Come in at eleven," she said. "We have time before Thursday."
Her office was on the third floor of a building that smelled like old paper and good coffee.
I sat across from her desk.
She had her glasses off this time.
That felt significant.
Like this was the version of the conversation that didn't need notes.
"Tell me where it stands," she said.
"We've had dinner twice," I said. "We spend time together.
He's been present through most of what's happened since the island." I paused. "It's not nothing."
"No," she said. "It doesn't sound lik
