Chapter 33 - 33 The Watcher

The morning after our confrontation arrived with a brittle, cold silence. The air in the house felt different, charged with a new and dangerous energy, like the atmosphere just before a lightning strike. I found Charles in his study before seven, his back to me, his voice a low, urgent murmur as he spoke into a secure landline. He had accepted my "offer" to be "in" on his problem, but his version of inclusion was clear: I was to be seen and not heard, useful but silent. I was an asset, not a partner, and my role was to perform my function without question, a tool to be used while he handled the real work.