Wouldn’t they find it way more likely that these were his pictures, that he took, that it’s his phone—and who knows how long they would hold him there until they could ascertain otherwise. Figure out what those photos really were.

Holding him there while Joey sits at Aldo’s getting madder. And finally gets up and goes after Emily.

No, they wouldn’t believe it. Not for a minute.

Hell, he wouldn’t believe it. Not for a minute.

And speaking of minutes, the clock is ticking. The traditional clock on the precinct wall: second hand sweeping, minute hand clicking, both silently taunting and torturing him. Precious minutes that he’s losing forever, sitting here waiting for this Lopez.

He should never have tried the code and called the businessman. It was an impulsive mistake that could cost him his life.

It’s not too late to learn from that first impulsive mistake. And not make a second one.

“Hi, I’m Detective Lopez. So sorry about the wait.” Overweight, moving slow. Like a symbol of the whole department, thinks Zack. How fast can they really move?

The only rescue, Zack realizes, is going to come, somehow, from him.

“So what can I do for you?” says Lopez, settling slowly behind the cluttered desk.

“Nothing really,” says Zack, standing up. Smiling his big, barista-winning smile—his artificial version of it. “No need to waste your time, Detective, I’ll…I’ll just file a report online.” And he turns to go, just catching Lopez’s confused expression.

A confused, befuddled expression that says it all. Captures instantly and perfectly for Zack, the whole bureaucratic, methodical, standard approach to a criminal complaint.

The criminal of the complaint now moving swiftly, focused, sharklike, toward his friends and toward him.

Zack hurries out of the precinct.

Turns the phone back on and nervously checks for messages as he exits.

Christ. There’s Zack’s phone number on the screen. A missed call from Joey.

What new threat? What new twist? I’m at Aldo’s, Zack. Where the fuck are you?

The cops can’t help him. They’ll never believe him. Zack is on his own.

9.

9.

Joey had done a dime. Armed burglary with assault.

It was his third stretch. His longest by far. All told, he’d spent more of his life in prison than out. Not a surprising or uncommon stat in his crowd. In his world.

He’s been out a year now. A busy year. A productive year.

He’d come out planning to go clean. Start fresh. Doing a full dime took it out of him. Just about killed him, literally and figuratively. So he really did want to fly right.