“It would help if we could resolve the Mercer matter without making this personal.”
There it was.
The seam in the kindness.
“You’re being nice to me because you want something.”
His smile disappeared.
“I will not discuss the contract at dinner.”
He did not say:
You are right.
So dinner never happened.
That night, Vance and Daniel put the full appointment documents in front of me.
“You are not supporting the Mercer review,” Vance said.
“You are responsible for its military oversight.”
“And Arthur knows?”
“No.”
Daniel clarified.
“He knows there is a review.
He doesn’t know exactly where your office sits in the chain.”
I thought about the gate.