“Well enough to make a phone call, anyway. Cops were by, filled me in a bit on all your news.”

“I tried to call yesterday, but the nurse said you were still pretty out of it.”

“Painkillers, man. Gotta love ’em.”

I told him my own version of the events of the last few days, filling in a few gaps that had been overlooked by the cops.

Angie appeared in the kitchen doorway for a moment, and she’d been cornered by Trevor. Cameron, I gathered, had already left, along with most of our guests. I was trying to hear what they were saying at the same time as I was listening to Lawrence. Trevor was, I think, asking her again for a moment alone to speak to her.

“Fine, okay,” Angie said.

“Hang on,” I said to Lawrence, and then to Trevor, “You off, man?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Thanks.”

“We’re just gonna walk down the street a bit,” Angie told me. “I’ll be back soon to help you and Mom clean up. And,” she said, looking scornful, “to discuss what happened the other night at McDonald’s.”

“Sure, hon,” I said.

Back to Lawrence. He said, “I guess this is the last time you take advice from me on where to get a good deal on a car. Next time, try a dealer.”

“Barbie Bullock said the same thing. Might be the only advice he ever gave that was worth paying attention to.”

“Yeah, well, shit, sorry. I feel terrible about all this, like it was my fault.”

“It’s okay. I’ve still got the car. Got the door panels back, just need a little body work on the back to patch some bullet holes.” I paused. “There any satisfaction in knowing that the guy who did this to you is no longer with us?”

“I’ll tell you this much,” Lawrence said. “If Bullock had lived, I don’t know that they’d ever have convicted him for what he did to me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’d have made a pretty bad witness. I never really got a look at him. He got me as I was coming down the hall, going into my study, the lights were off, all of a sudden there’s this searing pain in my gut as he drives in the knife, and then he’s gone. I managed to drag myself into the bedroom, and the next thing I know I’m waking up in a hospital.”

“Yeah, well, maybe things have a way of working out, you know.”

“I wanted to call you to say thanks, for being there, calling 911 and getting me to a hospital, but also, I never had a chance to get back to you about that Trevor Wylie kid.”