“You may have to sell the gallery, Bette, and liquidate your interest in the business jet service also,” he said.  He decided it was best to just give it to her straight, and up front.  As their investigation progressed, with Bette’s help, he knew the enormity of the risks she had taken, and grew to admire her courage.  He also knew about Tina.

Bette didn’t say anything at first.  She rubbed her temples, held her head in her hands, exhaled.

“Will it keep Tina safe?” she asked quietly.  “If I go back to her, will she be alright?”

He drew a breath, then exhaled, choosing his words carefully.

“It’s the safest way, Bette.”

”You know as well as I that you can never say never.  But even if someone picks up on some stray thread that we, or you, left hanging, years from now, and starts to pull on that, to try to unravel this whole thing, it will be really difficult to follow a trail to you if you aren’t in the gallery business, and if you have no business reason to go to Paris.  There just won’t be any credible business connection that could be made.” 

Bette was quiet.  Her head was still on her hands, and her face and eyes were hidden from view.

“Bette, I know that this means giving up on everything that you’ve built…”

She cut him off “All that doesn’t matter, Mike.  I just want to know if Tina will be safe if I do all that. And if I can help keep her safe.”

Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes. She swallowed.  She needed to see this through.

He nodded. “If you get back together with her, you’ll both have to move.  Cut your business and other ties to L.A.  Make it hard to track things back to you, Bette.”

Bette shut her eyes.

Mike said gently, “Look we can try and help make it happen.  We’ll talk to a few people, see if someone can talk to someone about hiring Tina in New York, maybe.  And you can put a tidy sum together to build a nest egg for the two of you, together with the compensation we’ll be giving you, we can help you sell the gallery, and liquidate your holdings in the jet service.”