Chad started to knock on the door of Natalie’s office, then paused. She sat at her computer, completely absorbed in whatever she was dong. She’d pulled back her hair with a clip, leaving a few stray wisps around her neck that fluttered in the breeze from the ceiling fan. The sleeve of the red T-shirt she wore only covered half of the bandage on her shoulder—a blunt reminder of everything they’d been through the past week. He’d been amazed at how well she’d held up the past three days, enduring hours of interviews as both the UN and the Dhambizan government worked together to sort through what had happened. And what the future of this country held.
He rapped lightly on the doorframe. “Hey. Are you about ready to go? Joseph’s waiting for us.”
Without looking up, she held up her hand for him to wait. “Give me another second or two.”
He stepped into the tiny office where she’d managed to add a few personal items to transform the space into something both functional and warm. His gaze stopped at the collage of photos hanging above her desk. Paris, Egypt, England, Rwanda, Brazil … He hadn’t realized she’d visited so many places. Which was only one of the dozens of things he still wanted to learn about her.
She swirled around in her chair and shot him an apologetic look. “Sorry.”
“You’re not supposed to be working today.” He sat down across from her in the other chair. Because of the tight quarters, they were so close that their knees touched. Not that he was complaining. He leaned forward and squeezed her leg. “How are you feeling?”
She pulled the clip from her hair and ruffled the back before securing it again. “Besides trying to endure this heat wave?”
“Yeah. Besides the heat.”
“Well, thanks to the sleeping pills you prescribed, I’m feeling pretty rested. And I have to admit that it was good to be back home in my own bed last night even though I have a mountain of work to do to get everything cleaned up from the break-in. I just wish … I don’t know.” She started playing with the edge of a chipped fingernail. “Paul called me a little bit ago and told me that the police have confirmed that it was Stephen’s body found in the bombed vehicle.”
He reached for her hands and held them between his. “I’m so sorry. I know that while it doesn’t come as a surprise, that’s not what you wanted to hear, either.”
“I guess I kept hoping that somehow there had been a mistake.” Natalie pulled away from him and turned back to her computer. “And there’s something else, Chad.”
She held up an envelope while he scooted his chair beside her. “I received a letter this morning. He must have put it in the post last Friday afternoon.”
Chad tensed. “What does it say?”
“There are letters he wanted me to give to his wife and daughters if anything happened to him. I know it won’t change anything, but I’m hoping it will help.”
“So he had this planned all along?”
She nodded.
“So his death wasn’t an accident?”
“No, and I guess he wanted me to know that once it was all over. When he found out about the car bomb, he didn’t know how to stop it, because Patrick was keeping a close watch on him. He decided that the only way to save the president was to ensure that the president wasn’t in the car. It was crowded that night, and he bribed the man assigned to drive the president to switch to the fourth car. It was a gamble, I suppose, but since President Tau was used to simply following the guard into the vehicle, he didn’t question anything. I’m sure Patrick was counting on that.”
“And then Stephen drove the car with the bomb.”
“Exactly. He was assigned to drive one of the decoy cars, making the switch even easier.”
“So he was trying to make up for the mistakes in his past?”
“And apparently he made a lot of them. He bought the house in Switzerland with money skimmed off the books from aid organizations. I guess he’s been doing it for years, but until lately he was too afraid to spend it.”
“So that’s how he bribed the driver?”
“Yes, and for him, this was the only way he thought he could finally be at peace. I guess he lied to us that night because he didn’t want to take a chance of anything going wrong.”
Chad tapped his fingers on the desk. “Paul’s going to need to see these.”
“I know. I’m planning to send him copies right away.” She turned toward him. “The only good thing about all of this is that his letters bring about some closure. He might have made a lot of mistakes, but at least I don’t have to wonder anymore which side he was playing on. He did what he thought he had to do to save the president.”
“And he did save him, Natalie. Which in turn helped stop what could have been a horrid civil war.”
A lone tear rolled down her cheek. “But we could have found another way to stop it without him dying.”
“Maybe for him, that’s what he had to do On the bright side, they’ve arrested Patrick, as well as General Dumasi, who allegedly was being backed financially by Yasin so that he could take over the country during the elections.” He drew out a low whistle. “There’s nothing like a few hundred million dollars worth of natural resources as motivation.”
“Which means that this won’t be the end of trouble for this country.”
“At least the UN is claiming Tau’s victory was fair. Other than a few angry protestors, things have been fairly quiet.”
“And that’s not the only good news. The helicopter will be here in five minutes. Do you think you can make it?”
Natalie’s smile reached inside his heart and tugged. “You know I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”