Andrea had deliberately avoided looking at Kyle any more than necessary. For all her outward bravado, she was barely holding it together. Her heart hammered relentlessly against her ribcage, its rhythm so intense and rapid that each beat blurred into the next, like a single drawn-out clench. And if haunting images of a lifeless Kyle on the rainy steps of the courthouse could break her down, then the thought of him in the morgue, looking like what was left of Jones…
But she needed this one look, needed the reassurance that he was still there. Needed to remember what was at stake, what she was fighting for. She just hoped he'd understand how desperate she'd been, that she couldn't think of any other way…
It had been a bizarre experience calling Sergei and explaining what she needed from him. She hadn't had time to be afraid or disgusted or to stress over what she was going to say. There was no time to waste.
