“Simple, easy, and low stakes. My favorite combination.”

Even so, there’s a sense of clarity that settles over him, a feeling he’s had a hundred times. He’s not a man who panics, and crisis is his domain. His gaze drifts to a place on the wall behind David, eyes moving rapidly with thought.

“I presume he won’t act in the next twelve hours or you wouldn’t have come here. Does anyone else know? Is there anyone he’s—“ he almost says closer to, but catches his wording “prone to listen to a deterrent from?”