“Then it’s a different scenario!” Jared glanced in my direction, and then took a breath, attempting a calmer tone. “You said it yourself. It doesn’t feel right to tell him.”

I sat down, scanning the siblings with my eyes before speaking. Outwardly, Claire was angry. But her eyes were begging for understanding. Telling Ryan anything was a huge step for her, and just as Jared struggled with it two years before, Claire was now fighting with her conflicting feelings. She needed her brothers to support her

I took a seat across from Jared, and next to Claire. The choice was meaningful, and I hoped that they would notice. “Maybe Claire is looking for your blessing, Jared,” I said.

“Or just some understanding,” she grumbled.

Bex stood up, and walked across the kitchen, picking up a plate, and then setting in front of me. It was an omelet, loaded with ham, green onion, mushrooms, and cheese.

“Thanks,” I smiled.

Bex nodded, and then touched his sister's shoulder. “Claire, I love you. But if you’d take a step back and think about this. Ryan is a cop. He’s investigating murders you committed. What do you think he’s going to do when you tell him you murdered his partner? You think he's going to forgive you because he saw your eyes in the desert?”

“The partner that orchestrated his kidnapping and ultimate demise,” Claire said. “Listen,” she sighed, “I know how it looks on paper. I may not be in love with Ryan, but he says he’s in love with me. If he listens to what I have to say, and I approach it carefully, I think he could be an asset.”

“We can’t take that chance,” Jared said, finality in his voice.

Claire stood, her palms flat on the table. “You took the same chance when you told Nina, and she wasn’t even an asset! Her life has spun out of control since the second you revealed yourself to her, Jared. At least let me make my own decision, like you did!”

Jared's nose wrinkled in disgust. “You were on me for months about Nina, Claire! How quickly you forget the hours I spent listening to your lectures on doing the right thing. Keep the secret. Keep the secret! That's been your mantra for years!”

Tears filled Claire’s eyes as her face turned red. “Coming from you!” she screamed. “You know what it’s like to have no one, and you know what it’s like to finally be free of the burden of what we are; to have someone else besides your mother, or your brothers to confide in! I have no one, Jared! You’ve lived it, and you still deny me the liberation you insisted on?”

Jared shifted in his seat, but I could see in his eyes he would not yield. Claire saw it, too.