He had seen Madeline onto her flight to Florida with a long and heartfelt hug before walking to his own gate for his flight back to Arizona. Neither of them had had the heart to talk more about what they were facing before they had settled their lives a bit, so they had agreed not to speak about it again until they were next together, which would be at James’ funeral in two days.

No information had been provided to him about Laurie’s funeral, though he assumed that, like James’, it would sadly have to be closed casket, unable as they had been to identify any of the remains retrieved from the Indian Ocean.

He had not even started to think about the offer the admiral had made. He doubted that the White House would select him, even if he had the time to finish his thesis before the interviews started. Either way, he had bigger things to face than going job hunting.

He retrieved his old laptop from under a slew of junk on the coffee table and sat down on his unmade bed, the PC powering up as it settled on his lap, like a docile pet.

“OK, what do we have here?” he said to himself as Outlook came slowly to life on his screen.

“4,256 new e-mails, I’ll get right on those, now how about calls. Two. Great, love to everyone too. Mom, three weeks ago. Shit, need to call her back. And … Madeline …”

He flinched involuntarily at the sight of her name, then clicked playback.

“Neal,” came Madeline’s voice through the PC speaker, “just to let you know I got back fine. Listen … I wanted to say thanks … I haven’t said that yet. You know what for. You’ve been, just, you know, great.” Neal bit his lower lip, uncomfortably.

Part of him had been unable to stop blaming himself for it all, like it was his curiosity that had gotten Laurie and James killed, but when he had tried to say that to Madeline as they parted she had, in a more forceful tone than he had ever heard from her, told him never to say it again. She had met his guilt with such stolid fervor that he had stepped back, but she had placed her hands on his shoulders and said, firmly still but with real affection as well, that he was not to blame for what had happened, and that both James and Laurie would be as furious as her to hear him say it.