I gaped, almost tempted to laugh. If I wasn’t trembling with anger and shame, I might have. “Strong? You think you’re strong? You’re the weakest man I ever met. You threw Tuck under the bus and blamed him for what you did. My God.” I put my palm to my forehead. “You were willing to watch Tuck go back to prison rather than take responsibility for those drugs. He called you out and you still continued to lie.” I felt nauseous at the thought of what might have happened if our plane hadn’t gone down, if we’d landed and I’d watched as Charlie reported Tuck for the drugs Charlie knew very well were his. But Charlie wasn’t the only one to blame. Yes, he had fooled me, but I’d let myself be fooled. And maybe, in some sense, it had been easier for me to believe Tuck was now a bad person, because otherwise, I’d have to admit my deep, and apparently unrelenting, attraction toward him. Not that any of that even mattered now. The point was, Charlie was a dishonorable, lying dick and it was over between him and me. “How could I ever look at you the same way again, Charlie? You make me sick. When we get back, we’ll go our separate ways.”

Anger flashed in his eyes, another crack in his armor. “Jesus, Emily. You’re making too much of this. None of that even matters. Those drugs are now ash in some field. No one’s going back to prison. Just let it go.”

But I couldn’t because it wasn’t the drugs themselves, it was his character I wanted no part of. If he could do that, what else was he capable of? “Tuck is going to help us get back to California, despite the fact that you lied about him and blamed him for what you did.”

“You’re the one who fired him.”

His words felt like a punch because they were true. I had. I’d fired Tuck based on lies. I’d believed Charlie even though Tuck had begged me not to and I felt overwhelming guilt now because of that. “You’re right, I did. I should have seen through you, and I didn’t. I take responsibility for that.”

Charlie huffed. “Whatever. Listen, they have cots set up for us next door, including a locker and some clothes. I’m wiped and we’re both saying things we don’t mean. I’m going to get out of this bullshit—” he pointed down to his dirty outfit and disgusting shoes “—and get some sleep.” He leaned toward me. “Think about what I said, Emily. We can start fresh. Leave him behind and get back on track. I know we can.”

“Not a chance. Good night, Charlie.”

He paused but then turned and walked away.