David glanced askance at me as I held my breath. Saying nothing, he made a careful turn onto the parkway. “No to everything. He’s very upset.”

I settled in my seat, flustered and worried.

“You need to thank him if he ever talks to you again,”

David said tightly. “He thinks the world of you, which is the main reason I didn’t go back on my agreement to get you in to see Saladan.”

My gut twisted. “What do you mean?”

He hesitated while he passed a car. “He’s hurt you didn’t trust him, but he didn’t say one bad word about you, even stood up for you when I called you a flighty airhead.”

My throat tightened and I stared out the passenger-side window. I was such an ass.

“He’s of the backward opinion that he deserved being lied to, that you didn’t tell him because you felt he couldn’t keep his mouth shut and that you were probably right. He left because he thought he let you down, not the other way around. I told him you were a fool, and that any partner who lied to me would end up with their throat torn out.” David made a puff of scorn. “He kicked me out. Four-inch man kicked me out. Told me if I didn’t help you like I said I would, he’d track me down when the weather broke and give me a lobotomy when I slept.”

“He could do it,” I said, my voice tight. I could hear the threatened tears in it.

“I know he could, but that’s not why I’m here. I’m here because of what he didn’t say. What you did to your partner is deplorable, but so honorable a soul wouldn’t think highly of someone who didn’t deserve it. I can’t see why he does, though.”

“I’ve have been trying to talk to Jenks for the last three days,” I said around the lump in my throat. “I’m trying to apologize. I’m trying to fix this.”

“That’s the other reason I’m here. Mistakes can be fixed, but if you do it more than once, it’s no longer a mistake.”

I said nothing, my head starting to hurt as we passed a river-overlook park and pulled onto a side street. David touched his collar, and I read in his body posture that we were almost there. “And it was sort of my fault it came out,” he said softly. “Bane has a tendency to make you loose in the lips. I’m sorry about that, but it was still wrong of you.”

It didn’t matter how it came out. Jenks was furious with me, and I deserved it.