I sat up with a jolt that made my side ache. “Mary Louise, where do you get off with that kind of statement? You were with me when all this started. In fact, if I remember correctly, it was your panic that made me wreck my car. Which has been impounded by the cops and may well never surface again. Exactly what about that am I inventing?”

“Okay, not making up,” she muttered. “And I’m sorry about your car. If I had the money I’d repair it for you. But it’s the same story with you every time. You can’t bear to be scared or beaten, so if someone threatens you, you have to take them on, no matter how big they are. Terry warned me about that when I started working for you, he said he saw you do it over and over again and that no one’s life is worth that much principle. And in this case you’re trying to take on giants. Don’t you see? Don’t you know?”

I clutched the phone so hard my sore palms began to throb. “No. I don’t.”

“Oh, Vic, use your brain. That didn’t take a beating Saturday night. You’re trying to go nose–to–nose with Robert Baladine. Who’s his best friend? Who got him that contract out in Coolis? And who can bury a body, no questions asked, faster than you can say “Jimmy Hoffa?’ Why didn’t you take that nice little assignment Alex Fisher dangled in front of you?”

“What on earth? You yourself advised me not to touch it. And if you think I want to be bought by some—”

“I know. You’re too damned holy to be bought off by a Hollywood slimeball. One thing you’d better believe—I’m not putting Josh and Nate at risk. Thank God Emily’s in France and I don’t have to worry about her. If you keep poking at this hornets’ nest, I’m resigning and flying out of town with the boys.”

You can’t quit, you’re fired. That’s the standard line in such cases, but I only thought it, didn’t say it. When I cooled off I’d regret it—Mary Louise is good for my little operation. But I hadn’t cooled off yet, and our good–byes were unfriendly. Especially after she said she didn’t have time to help put my files back together. She had exams, she was doing some work for a law firm that might let her take an internship, she had the boys in summer camp, she couldn’t possibly spend a week cleaning up the kind of wreck I was describing.