Esperanza said, “We, uh, have ten minutes, if you want me to wait outside.”

They let each other go and still held hands.

Myron arched an eyebrow. “A full ten minutes?”

“Oooh,” Terese said, “time for extended foreplay.”

“You two are cute,” Esperanza said in a voice that indicated that they were anything but. “You know how it’s never annoying to be around people madly in love? That.”

“Want to tell us why you’re here?” Myron asked her.

“I got the information on that residence faster than you might have liked. The town house is owned by a Jesse and Mindy Rogers. Big bucks. Dad is a hedge fund guy. Mom is a career diplomat. They have a sixteen-year-old daughter named Tamryn.”

“So why do we only have ten minutes?”

“She’s doing a summer internship at Fox News on Avenue of the Americas and Forty-Eighth Street. The News Corp building, like pretty much every high-rise in Manhattan, has security and requires ID to enter. Her ten-hour shift starts at two P.M., so if we get over there now—”

“We can maybe talk to her before she gets inside.”

“Right.”

Myron looked at Terese. “Will you wait for me?”

“Better than starting without you.”

“Not sure about that,” Esperanza added.

Both women laughed. Myron did not.

“Let’s go,” he said.

* * *

Myron and Esperanza were standing on the Avenue of the Americas in front of the high-rise when Myron finally asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Tom wants to negotiate custody of Hector now.”

“Hey, that’s great news.”

Esperanza just stared at him. “Don’t do that.”

“What?”

“You’re going to lie to me now?”

“I didn’t touch him, I swear.”

“What did you do?”

“I just paid Tom a little visit.”

“You mean like Win does?”

“No, I didn’t go near his apartment.”

“Where, then?”

“It was outside a nightclub,” Myron said. Then: “Do you know your ex-husband is sporting a man bun now? He’s over forty, isn’t he?”

“Don’t deflect attention from the matter at hand. What did you do?”

“I nicely suggested he make peace with you.”

“That wouldn’t sway Tom.”

“I may have mentioned that Win was back.”

Esperanza tried not to smile at the thought of Tom’s face when he heard that. “You shouldn’t have done that without telling me.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s so patronizing, you know that, right?”

“It wasn’t meant to be.”

“It may also be vaguely sexist,” Esperanza said. “If Tom were a woman, would you have made the same threat?”

Myron opened his mouth, closed it, spread his hands. “Did I mention he was sporting a man bun?”

She sighed. “Okay, I can’t argue with that.”

They stood and waited.

“Remember when you asked me why I didn’t say anything before you married Tom?”

“It was a few days ago. I can sometimes remember back a whole week.”

“I told you I didn’t think it was my business to interfere. Do you remember what you replied?”

Esperanza nodded and quoted herself: “‘Whose business was it, then?’”