The search for his father had been his life. No question. He had 
looked for traces of him everywhere: his tapes, Annapolis, a carrier
deck, a courtroom. He had spent time, money and energy on searching 
for his dad more literally as well, and not all of it was his own. 

But what else could he have done? His dad had gone missing, and nobody
else seemed to be doing anything about it. He couldn't have left it
alone. That just made him crazy. And he had found out along the way
that he was good at looking around and finding things out. It made 
him a good fighter pilot and a good lawyer; it might yet make him a
good man.

If he remembered to look around and pay attention. 

His mom's grief and his stepdad's unfed hunger for acceptance were not
entirely his fault. But he had been blind to them too long. He had
been blind to a lot of things that he shouldn't have been.  It wasn't
sound mission planning to disregard the rest of the people you loved
for the sake of one of them.

He heard a rustle in the woods behind them and checked six with a 
start, his hand reaching for the sidearm he didn't carry. He saw
a small furry animal scurry through the underbrush and relaxed. 

He turned to Mac. Her face was etched with worry, her hair windblown, 
and their gun ready in her hand. 

He looked at her and knew there was something about the picture that
he was missing. But he felt that way around Mac a lot, and he had to 
say something, not just stare. 

"Feeling jumpy?"

She grimaced. "Nothing that a runway at Dulles won't cure. And you?"
Her eyes probed his.

"The taiga's state land. I saw a wagon back on the lady's farm, and
there's no telling how far into the taiga her brother took the 
bodies. This is as far as we can go, without support from both 
governments." He turned and looked out over the taiga one more time.
"At least I can tell my mother how my father died. That's what my 
dad would have expected from me." 

"Do you really think your father would have expected you to follow 
his trail all the way to Siberia?" Her tone softened. "You've done 
more than anyone could have expected."

"So have you," he answered. "So have you."