long hair it was easy to see he was a soldier in his very blood, in a way the rest of us never were. “Because those emotions would interfere with the current mission or the next one.”
“Exactly. Morehead doesn’t want a biography; she wants to remember. She wants memories. She wants what others take for granted, to hear a song and recall a dance or a feeling. She craves the small things that don’t come about in a report: the first time she was kissed, if and when she was in love. She wants to recall even insignificant particulars that she may never have shared with another soul.”
“How do you know this?” Sparrow asked.
“I don’t,” Walters said. “I have no concrete proof. I have over fifty years of service, including watching and manipulating the lives of others. There were clues in Lawson’s ranting, but the conclusion is mine.”
“Why are you willing to work with us even after that news story?” Sparrow asked.
Walters lifted his hands before bending down to retrieve a briefcase. “Do not fear. Your men thoroughly checked the contents prior to allowing me entry.” He pulled out a plain manila envelope and handed it to me. “Mr. Murray.”
Everyone watched as I bent the small clip and opened the flap. Tilting the envelope, a picture fell into my hand. It was a simple snapshot. The colors had faded over time. As I stared, my heart beat faster and a lump the size of my fist formed within my throat. It had been a long time since I’d seen his picture, yet I had no doubt that the smiling man beside a younger Edison Walters was, in fact, my father, Rendell Murray. I looked up at the man across the room. “Thank you.”
“Pierce,” Walters said, “emotions don’t work in war and we’re constantly in a war. Once you had those back along with your past, you were no longer a resource the Order could control. It’s the medication that works to create our finest team. They are focused and loyal.”
“Most of them,” I wanted to say but didn’t.
Walters tilted his chin toward me and the picture. “But there was a time I had them, a time when entering the Order was a decision based solely on patriotism. With each loss of a good man or woman, a good friend, it doesn’t require a pharmaceutical to relieve a person of emotion or memories; it’s a conscious choice. In my opinion, it’s better not to have the memories or the emotions.” Walters took a breath and looked at Sparrow. “It’s my theory that Morehead wants that pain of remembering. As I said, I believe she’s a hell of a lot better off without it, but that isn’t why I’m willing to help. I’m willing to offer you what I can because Jettison and Morehead are deserters. In hindsight, I should have authorized Morehead’s death after the fire. I didn’t. I made a mistake and I want to rectify that.” He smiled at me. “And she made a mistake I can’t overlook.”
“What was that, sir?” I asked.
“She went after Rendell’s daughter-in-law. That is unacceptable.”
Lorna
“He’s beautiful,” I said, staring down at the small baby boy in my arms. It was difficult not to pry his little fingers open and marvel at his small hands and count his fingers and his toes. I was certain I wasn’t the only one who had done it; I knew the answer was five fingers on each hand, five toes on each tiny foot, yet I couldn’t stop myself.
“We think so,” Madeline said, sitting on the other sofa with her daughter at her side. Their similarity was striking as Ruby leaned into her mom. Both of their dark hair was piled on their heads in messy buns. Even after giving birth, Madeline could be mistaken for Ruby’s sister instead of her mother. Their only glaring difference was their eyes. Ruby’s were from Patrick and based on what I knew of Madeline’s biological father, hers must have come from her mother. As they sat, they were in constant contact, one placing her hand on the other or tipping her head to the other’s shoulder. I would suppose after what happened at the hospital, they both needed and wanted the connection their close proximity provided.
“Don’t you just want to hold him all the time?” I asked.
Madeline grinned, her green eyes shining. “I do.” She reached out to Ruby’s knee. “When Ruby was born, she was so small that I could hold