He left the hubbub and hadn’t been gone more than ten minutes when he felt the vibration of his phone against his leg. He retrieved the phone, looked at the window, and saw that the number was restricted. He knew that the Deckers’ landline phone was unlisted. It was probably Rina checking up on him. He debated letting it ring, but she’d probably keep calling until he answered. He took out his left earbud, clicked the green on button, and said, “Hi. I’m still alive.”

“That’s good to hear. What happened to your hand?”

The deep voice on the other end wasn’t Rina. “Chris?” Gabe started shaking. “Where are you?”

“Answer the question. What happened to your hand?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.”

“Then why’d you go to a hand surgeon?”

The man had eyes in back of his head. “It’s nothing, Chris. It isn’t even worth talking about.”

“Talk about it anyway.”

“I got in a fight. It was a little sore. It was fine, but Rina…Mrs. Decker insisted I go to the doctor. How’d you know about it? Where are you?”

“You got into a fight?” The line went quiet. “You’re the most nonconfrontational person I know. What the hell happened?”

“Someone tried to grab my briefcase. I fought him off.”

“Why the hell did you do that?”

“Because I had all the stuff you gave me in there.”

“Gabriel, all that shit is replaceable. Your hands aren’t. Are you out of your fucking mind?”

“Well, I didn’t know how replaceable the stuff was, seeing you’ve been hard to reach lately and you get very piqued when I bother you.”

“So I get piqued. It’s better than ruining your life. Don’t fuck around with your hands, okay?”

“I didn’t do it on purpose. Where are you?”

“I’ve got to go.”

“Decker thinks you’re innocent.”

Donatti gave out a mirthless laugh. “He’s feeding you shit. He wants to fry me.”

“Maybe. He wants you to come down and take a lie-detector test.”

“Fuck that.”

“He thinks it’ll clear you. He said you could pass it even if you did murder Mom.”

This time, Donatti’s laugh was genuine. “He’s right about that. Tell him to fuck himself.”

“How about if I say you’re not interested. He’s going to know about this phone call. He checks my phone records. What do you want me to tell him?”

“Whatever you want.”

“What’s going on with Mom?”

“Ask your pal Decker. He’s been following in my footsteps. What else has he been telling you?”

“Lemme think…” Note to self: pretend to think. “He knew you were in town on Tuesday. He said you’re both on the same path, only he’s a couple steps behind you.”

Silence on the other end. “Go on.”