I simply watched him go until the elevator doors slid shut, hiding him from view.

The hallway slowly cleared, the reporters rushing downstairs to file their stories.

Marcus turned to me, his phone in his hand.

“The driver is waiting downstairs, Cassandra,” he said. “The boys are at your mother’s house in Bethesda. They’re waiting for you.”

“Thank you, Marcus,” I said. “I’ll take it from here.”

“What about the office?” he asked. “The board will want to meet first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Tell them I will be there at nine,” I said. “We have a lot of work to do.”

I walked down the broad marble steps of the courthouse, the cool autumn air hitting my face as I stepped through the glass exit doors.

The world outside was bright and noisy, filled with the usual traffic of suburban Maryland.

I walked down the sidewalk, my heels clicking rhythmically against the concrete.

For the first time in eight years, the weight was gone.

I got into the back seat of the waiting car and closed the door, shutting out the noise of the city.

“Bethesda, please,” I told the driver.

As the car pulled away from the curb, I looked out the window at the blue sky, thinking only of Nolan and Parker, and the quiet house waiting for us in the woods.