“Think he made us?” Max asked.

“I don’t know.”

Max pulled onto a side trail and parked. The night was heavy and dark, the moon hazy behind thin clouds. Max glanced at Lyle and saw the same slump of disappointment in his friend’s shoulders that Max felt in his own.

“We have the phone number,” Max said.

“But no way to ping it without coming clean with Bolger. And if I know Tate Bolger, it’ll be you and I who go to jail, not Reed.”

Max thought back to Niki’s parting words: If you need me, I’ll be here for you. Could he really ask her to cross the line again? To put her career in jeopardy for him? He had no right… but there was a child’s life at stake.

Max swallowed his misgivings and said, “I may have an idea.”

CHAPTER 33

Reed had to keep his head. His anger at Spud’s betrayal had been screwing with him all night. He’d been confusing drink orders, forgetting to keep track of tabs. He had spent years putting his plan together, and Spud had thrown it out the window. The fool couldn’t wait a few more weeks to get his money. He had no mind for strategy—no patience—and now Reed couldn’t stop picturing his hands around Spud’s throat.

But as he finally made his way toward the shack, the hum of the tires seemed to have a calming effect on Reed, and his anger dropped from a boil to a simmer. Reed needed Spud to come back from St. Paul. He would have to play nice. All would be forgiven, because the idiot was still useful. They could still salvage the plan if Spud returned.

If Spud didn’t return, Reed would simply leave Grand Rapids earlier than he had planned to, making a swing down to St. Paul to tie up a loose end.

With his heart rate once again calm, Reed turned on the radio, his presets all tuned to country music stations. He sang along with a song about a woman who had done her man wrong. He could relate.

Sandy had been far worse than any country song could capture. Sure, it had been good in the beginning. Her introverted personality matched up well with his alpha-male tendencies. She could cook, and clean, and hold down a job. And while the sex wasn’t mind-blowing, she acquiesced to some things she would have been embarrassed to admit.

But all that changed when Pip came along.

Sandy hadn’t wanted to name him Reed Jr. She said it was because she didn’t want the boy to grow up being called Little Reed, but Reed knew better. It was Sandy’s first step toward pushing Reed away. Even after he won that argument and she wrote Reed Jr. on the birth certificate, she insisted on calling him Pip.

Soon after they’d brought Pip home, Sandy became demanding, as though having the kid around gave her some kind of authority. She refused to do household chores, telling Reed that if he wanted them done he could do them himself. She even went so far as to cut her hours at work so that she could spend more time with the boy. She didn’t talk to Reed about it—she just did it. So Reed canceled her cell phone contract to make up for Sandy’s reduction in income. Sandy blew a gasket.