I came so close to telling you what I know, Chloe. But I couldn’t take the risk. It’s been so long now that I don’t know if Bramnik’s ever coming back, and who the hell knows who might end up in charge around here? The idea of Greenbrooke running things makes me break out in a sweat.

Yes, I thought about talking to Kip Mayer, except he hardly steps out of his office apart from trips back to the Authority, and every time he does that it’s a Patriot agent behind the wheel of the jeep. I took a chance anyway and went to the compound and asked to speak to Mayer, and as soon as she saw me the woman manning the desk got up and disappeared. I waited around for a minute or two, until a Patriot agent came out through the same door and asked me what I wanted.

That’s when I knew that Greenbrooke was just waiting for some excuse to get rid of me. I decided the best thing I could do was to find some mission that would take me away from everything for a good long while in the hope that this all blows over, or Bramnik comes back, whichever comes first. I know they’re watching me, and that means they’re watching you too. The farther away I am from you, the safer you are.

If you’re reading this, Chloe, you know that I love you. I never really felt alive until I came to this place and found you. This, I realize now, is my home.

Now maybe you understand why I had to go to such elaborate lengths to hide these pages. I still don’t know what Wallace might have been about to tell me that night, but if Casey really means to hurt the Authority, it’s going to be just as bad for us as it is for them.

If anything happens to me, and you find this, the rest is up to you and the others. Maybe I should have told you anyway; I don’t know. But I couldn’t ever bear the thought of you being hurt by them.

I put the last page down. Chloe was twisted around in her seat, staring towards the window and the ocean beyond. She glanced towards me, and hurriedly wiped at her eyes with one sleeve.

For the first time in my life, I understood what it meant when people said they’d had the wind knocked out of them. I felt like a deflated balloon, limp and empty, my mind reeling. The three of us just sat there for a good minute before I finally found the gumption to say anything.