“Madam Chair,” she said, quietly, “I only wanted to thank you for believing me.

Director Ainsworth swore no one up here would ever take my word over his.” I looked at her young, nervous face and remembered every time I had swallowed my own voice to keep a fragile peace at home.

“Don’t thank me for doing what was right,” I said.

“But promise me one thing.

Promise me you’ll never sign your name to a lie to protect someone else’s ego or someone else’s career.” She nodded, and her eyes filled, and as the doors closed I understood that coming back to this work was no longer about Zane at all.

It was about making sure that fear could not force honest people into obedience on my watch.