Maya called on Thursday evening, voice tense with request Ral had been expecting since she'd told David about her past.
"David wants to meet you," she said. "He's processed everything I told him about the campaign, the deaths, the prison time. Now he wants to meet the person who coordinated it all. Wants to understand who I am by understanding who you are."
"When?" Ral asked.
"This Saturday. Lunch in Baltimore. Neutral location. I'll be there too obviously. He's not trying to confront you—he genuinely wants to understand."
"Understand what? That I coordinated thirty-four deaths protecting my daughter? That I'm monster who destroyed dozens of lives including my own? What's there to understand?"
"That we're humans who made terrible choices in terrible circumstances," Maya replied. "That
