Chapter 28: Moving Forward

Three weeks later, Grace sat across from Agent Santos in the same impersonal coffee shop, but their talk felt different. She requested for the meeting and wrote down questions that needed to be answered before she could start.

"Thank you for coming to see me again," she told me.

Santos stirred his black coffee while scrutinising her face. "You look different. "More settled."

"I've made some decisions about my father's book and your investigation."

"And?"

"I won't testify against you if this goes to trial. But I am not going to defend your ways."

Santos nodded slowly. "That seems fair."

"I need to comprehend something, however. Did you ever think we may fall in love while you were keeping an eye on us? Not only a trauma bond, but true concern for one another?

"Honestly? No. "I expected the relationship to end once the immediate danger had passed."

"But it didn't."

"No, it did not. This shows I was mistaken about the nature of your connection."

Grace experienced a strange sense of vindication. "So you're admitting that your psychological assessment was flawed?"

"I admit that human behaviour is more complex than investigative profiles indicate. Your relationship lasted because it was built on more than fear.

"My father thinks you violated protocols."

"Your father thinks a lot of things. Some of them are actually correct."

"Will you face charges?"

Santos shrugged. "Possibly. But I sleep well at night knowing Derek Voss will die in prison and his network will be disbanded.

"Even if it cost you your career?"

"Especially then. "Some things are more important than career growth.

Grace observed his expression, attempting to reconcile this version of Santos with the cunning federal agent who had staged their panic for investigative objectives. "Do you regret anything

about how you handled our case?"

"I apologise that you and Mr. Chen felt more terror than was really necessary. I apologize that you were misled and used by people who were supposed to defend you. But I do not regret the outcome."

"What about the means?" How did you obtain that outcome?"

Santos remained silent for quite some time, carefully weighing his response. "In my thirty-year tenure, I've seen far too many instances in which we apprehended the visible criminals while the real power structure remained intact.

Low-level dealers are imprisoned, while kingpins recruit new dealers. We dismantle one money laundering enterprise while three others remain operational. Derek Voss was connected to networks spanning numerous states and involving hundreds of people."

"So you used us to get to them."

"I took advantage of the situation to achieve the best possible outcome. Your safety was always the first concern, but it wasn't the only one."

"That's a very clinical way to describe what felt like psychological torture."

"And what you described as psychological torture was, in my opinion, well controlled stress that served several reasons. You were never really in danger since we had troops continually monitoring your location."

"But we didn't know that."

"No, you didn’t. Because if you had known, Derek would have known, and the whole operation would have been jeopardised."

Grace felt frustration rise in her chest, the same anger she had felt during their first chat. "So our ignorance was essential to your success."

"Your genuine anxiety contributed to Derek's blunders. He had to feel you were truly weak for him to act foolishly and expose his entire network."

"You're still talking about us like we were tools rather than people."

Santos leaned closer, his expression intensifying. 

"Ms. Chen, in the six months following Derek's arrest, three similar networks were dismantled using the information we gathered during those final three days." Sixty-three people who

planned to expand into human trafficking were never given the chance. Two murder-for-hire operations were stopped. That investigation had far-reaching consequences that saved lives.

"And that justifies traumatising innocent people?"

"That justifies using every legal means available to prevent greater harm to more people."

"Legal doesn't mean ethical."

"No, it does not. However, ethical decisions are not always black or white.

For a few minutes, they sat silently as they both processed the significance of their exchange. Even though these weren't the answers she had hoped for, Grace knew she had received the information she had sought.

"Agent Santos, if you had to do it again, would you make the same choices?"

"Now that I know what the result is? Indeed. With what I now know, how much will it cost you and Mr. Chen? I might search for different strategies."

"But you might make the same choices anyway."

"I could. Because allowing Derek Voss and his associates to carry on with their operations would have resulted in more victims, more bloodshed, and more suffering for people.

Santos took a big file out of his briefcase as Grace was about to depart. 

Another issue you should be aware of. The publication of your father's book has been approved. Although it contains sensitive material, the Justice Department concluded that nothing in it exposes classified methodology or jeopardises ongoing activities.

"So he won't face charges?"

"Not for the book. However, his Bureau sources are suffering harsh repercussions for their unapproved information release.

"What kind of consequences?"

Termination, a security clearance revoke, and potential criminal prosecution. It's possible that your father's literary aspirations have ruined multiple professions.

Feeling the weight of the folder in her hands, Grace accepted it. "What's in here?"copies of your

case's original reports.

Everything your father utilised for his research, everything he had access to. I figured you might be interested in seeing the official account of what transpired.

"Why?"

"Because you deserve to know the complete truth, not just the version that serves someone else's narrative."

Somehow, Grace felt lighter as she made her way back to her car. Although the talk hadn't precisely brought her closure, it had allowed her to let go of the burden of being accountable for the decisions made by others. Santos had used his principles and priorities as a guide while making judgements. Her father's decisions had been driven by his own interests and worries. She might object to their strategies without accepting accountability for the results.

As she drove home, the file folder resting on her passenger seat symbolised yet another level of reality regarding the incidents that had moulded her life. She wasn't sure she needed to read it,

though, for the first time in months. The life she was creating with the man who had stayed with her long after the crisis was over was more important than the official account of her story.