The next day he got into another fight with Amy about the divorce. He felt she was stalling and told her so. He believed she was still afraid of David, and she did admit that he could still intimidate her. Of course that set him off. He hated the guy so much for the pain he had caused him. Even though David had known nothing about him the whole time he had dated Amy. They fought for an hour and he ended up apologizing for God knows what.

He was a master at bad timing. He had told Amy about Kathy and when he was walking her down to her car after their battle he decided to introduce them. Not that Amy was ever jealous of him talking to other women. It was like she felt absolutely confident he could never find another woman attractive next to her. The trouble was she was right.

He had seen Kathy enter her apartment only moments before but when he knocked there was no answer. Amy waited with all the enthusiasm of a rock.

“Maybe she’s in the bathroom,” she suggested.

“Maybe.” Matt had Jimmy in his arms. “Too bad, I think you’d really like her.”

“I’m sure Would.” Amy yawned. “I can meet her another time.”

In the basement of the complex, where they parked, Amy brought up the idea of taking Jimmy by herself on Friday. She had brought up the possibility before, but he had always vetoed it. She just had to run into one person she knew and it would all be over. He repeated his concerns but she remained adamant.

“I’ll take him down to Orange County,” she said. “I don’t know anyone there. I want to do some shopping for him. He needs new clothes.”

“He has plenty of clothes.”

“You don’t trust me, do you? You worry I’ll run off with him.”

The thought had crossed his mind. “It’s an unnecessary risk. When we’re out of California, you can take him all you want.”

“I deserve to spend time alone with my son. Who knows how long it will take to get away from David?”

“Ain’t that the truth,” he muttered.

“That isn’t fair. You want him out of the way so badly, get rid of him.”

“How?”

“Kill him.”

“I’ll buy a gun today.”

“Why the sarcasm? You kidnapped a kid. I would think killing an asshole like him would be a snap for you.”

He studied her. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“You keep putting all this on me. Why don’t you do something for a change?”

“Amy. In case you didn’t know, I’m not a murderer.”

She glowered. “Sorry, I didn’t know that.”