“No violent crimes?”

“Those charges were filed separately. The ones I mentioned are all under the RICO Act.”

“Will you be convicted?”

“Not if I can find a way out. My attorneys tell me the feds will offer a plea bargain, but the terms won’t be nice.”

“What kind of sentence are you looking at?”

“Forty years. Plus forfeiture of a shitload of property, which really pisses me off.”

“Forty years? Well, I’m sorry to hear that. I don’t think I’ll wait, but I’ll miss you.”

He laughed. “It hasn’t happened yet. The good news is these investigations move forward at the typical government pace. Glacial. It’ll take ’em years. In the meantime, there are contingencies in place.”

“Well, that’s interesting. What contingencies?”

“I’ve told you enough. The point is, if I opt out, you might consider going with me. There’s more than one kind of prison.”

“Don’t be theatrical.”

“I’m stating a fact. Stay married to Channing and you know what you’re in for. He’ll have a string of affairs that everyone will know about before you do. The best you can hope for is an affair of your own.”

“Which is where you come in.”

“Why not? I’m not trying to talk you into anything, except maybe taking off with me when the time comes.”

“I should go.”

“It’s not even two o’clock. You don’t have to be home until four.”

She laughed. “You’re bad. If I’m not careful, I’ll end up calling my therapist about you.”

“You’re in therapy?”

“I was. Twice a week for a year.”

“Why?”

“I lost a child.”

“You want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Did therapy help?”

“No. That’s why I quit. I got tired of the sound of my own voice. Grieving is like being ill. You think the entire world revolves around you and it doesn’t.”

He reached out and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. “Poor little sparrow.”

“Yes. Poor me,” she said, but she didn’t pull away.

Monday morning, Saul came into Dante’s office with a thick packet of papers in hand. “We’ve got a problem.”

Dante was sitting at his desk, toying with a letter opener that he then tossed to one side. He folded his hands in front of him. He was not a happy man and the last thing he needed was another problem. “What.”

“Georgia called. She needs to meet with you.”

“Why is that a problem? Tell her I’ll pick her up at the usual place.”

“That’s not the problem I was referring to.”

“Forget the bad news. You look grimmer than usual and I don’t want to hear about it.”

Saul was silent.

Aggravated, Dante said, “Fuck you. What?”

“Maybe I can come back later.”

Dante made an “out with it” gesture with his hand.

“The payroll was intercepted. That’s why Georgia wants to talk to you. Some schmo in Miami didn’t get word Audrey was out of the loop so he shipped the cash as usual. Her landlady intercepted the package. The money’s gone.”

“What do you mean, gone? When was this?”

“Friday.”

“And Georgia’s just now reporting in? Tell her to get it the fuck back.”

“She tried, only now there’s a local private eye in the mix. I guess she and the landlady are in it together. Georgia sent guys to both places, here and up there, and there’s no trace. Rumor has it they turned it over to the sheriff’s department in San Luis Obispo.”

“Well, that’s terrific,” Dante said. “What else?”

“Georgia thinks the PI has been tailing her.”

“Georgia’s PMSie. Every thirty days, she turns paranoid and thinks someone’s after her. Fuckin’ drama queen.”

“Sounds convincing to me. Maybe you ought to hear it from her.”

Dante waved a dismissive hand. “Fine. You got more? Because so far you’ve only darkened my mood by half. You can do better than that.”

“I wondered if you’d given any further thought to Cappi. He’s asking too many questions and I don’t like his drift.”

“I gave him a nugget of information and we’ll see what he does with it. I told him we purge business records every Thursday at noon. I made it up on the spot, but what does he know? He’s double-dealing, he’ll hightail it back to whoever’s running him and tattle on us. I figure the feds will show up with search warrants and tear the place apart. Destroy his credibility and then what’s he worth?”