Melinda stepped forward. “What happens now?”
Kenneth looked at her carefully. “That depends, in part, on what you choose to do next.”
She swallowed. “I’ll cooperate.”
“No,” Connor said.
She did not look at him.
“I’ll cooperate,” she repeated.
Connor’s face hardened into something cold and familiar. “You have no idea what you’re doing.”
Melinda looked down at Elliot.
“I think I finally do.”
I saw then that she was not brave in the way people are brave in movies. She did not lift her chin dramatically. She did not deliver some perfect line. She looked terrified. Her hands shook. Her eyes were swollen. Her guilt sat plainly on her face.
But she still stood there.
Sometimes courage was only the decision not to lie one more time.
Kenneth handed me a single sheet. “This is the temporary filing summary. Don’t read it all right now unless you want to.”
