"No backup plans today," he says, expression steady as he finishes the message, "if I don't negotiate, we're all dead, and if the negotiations go wrong, I'm still dead, and the rest of you will be imprisoned at best." There's a pause, and then, "if that happens, get out; of all of us, you're the only one who stands a chance."

"You already know I will," she lies, as if she doesn't already know she'll be at his side until the end; if they want him dead, they'll have to buy him with their blood.