“Harrison, tell them!” she cried as they cuffed her. “Tell them I protected you. Tell them what he did to you. Julian poisoned you against me!”
Harrison did not answer.
Then Julian appeared in the doorway.
He had insisted on waiting in the hall with Graham. Thorne had agreed only after placing two agents beside him. Now he stood tall despite the crutches, raincoat still damp, his face pale but steady.
Deborah saw him and went utterly still.
Julian looked at her for a long moment.
“You told me my father was ashamed of me,” he said.
Deborah’s lips parted.
“You told him I was dead,” Julian continued. “You told a mother in Queens nothing, because her son’s body was useful to you. You lied to everyone because the truth was the one thing you couldn’t control.”
Deborah’s eyes filled with tears, but they were tears of defeat, not remorse.
“You ruined everything,” she whispered.
Julian shook his head. “No. I survived it.”
