“Stop being such a wuss. I support you, don’t I?”

“Take a paternity test, Chris. I’m willing.”

“Maybe you are, but I’m not.” A pause. “You have blood relatives, Gabe. You got a mom and an aunt and a grandfather. You have a father—whoever he is.”

“You know you’re being ridiculous—”

“Who knows?” Donatti continued. “I’m betting that in the future, your mom will conceive a kid from someone else and you’ll have a sister or a brother. Even more so, unlike me, you’ll probably have your own children.”

“You know that I’m commonly called your son—”

“Me? I got no one. I got no mom. I got no dad. I got no brothers and no sisters and no grandparents. Both my parents were only children, so I have no aunts, uncles, cousins. I have no known blood relationships except you.

“If I found out that you weren’t mine, that your mother had cheated on me and fucked some other guy while I was penned up, I’d say adios and eat a gun. To me, it’s better to die than to live out life as an extinct species.”

MARGE KNOCKED ON the open door sash, then walked into Decker’s office. “From what the dealers say, it’s a 2004 Honda Civic. Same car that Garth drives.”

Decker pointed to the seat across from his desk. “We’ve already got a BOLO on it in California. Call up Vegas Metropolitan and ask them for help. Tell them it might be part of a crime scene.”

“Already done.” Marge sat down.

“Were they cooperative?”

“Not too bad. I think that Detective Silver would take us more seriously if we went down in person. I’ve talked to Oliver. We’d like to drive down and hunt around over the weekend.”

“Fine with me. I’d go with you except that my whole family is in town and I’ve got to go to Adrianna Blanc’s memorial service tomorrow.”

“Pete, if you want, we can drive down later and I can go to the service. I know how you feel about working on Shabbos. And how often do you have all your kids in one place?”

“Thanks for the offer, but I have to go. If I don’t show up, Kathy Blanc will be pissed at me, and she’s pissed enough as is. It’s at eleven o’clock. I’ll have plenty of time with my family in the afternoon. Besides I’ve got this irrational scintilla of hope that maybe Garth or Mandy will show.”

“Delusions make life worth living.”

“I can get you money for airplane tickets to Vegas if you don’t want to drive.”