You cannot shame it or reason with it or move it with a mother’s tears.

You can only be more careful than it is, hold the one piece of leverage it needs, and refuse, no matter what, to give that leverage up.

Harlan had told me the data was the only thing keeping my son alive.

The calm voice on the phone confirmed it — because if there had been any other way to close the exposure, it would never have bothered to call me at all.

I called Harlan and told him they’d made contact directly.

“It was always going to happen,” he said.