“Yes.”

“Nancy’s text before we boarded—what did you make of it?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Chick doesn’t seem to trust her. How about you?”

Brooke thought about that. “She’s a mother.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, in the end, she’ll do what’s best for her kid. Not mine.”

Mee brought over waters and warmed nuts. She set them down and turned away.

“You don’t think she wants to help?” Myron asked.

“No, Nancy gets the pain. She gets it more than anyone, I suppose. But self-interest is a powerful motive. So is a mother concerned for her child. She said in her text, ‘I’m doing what’s best for my son. And yours.’ She didn’t type, ‘I’m doing what’s best for our sons.’ Do you see?”

“I do.”

“So what do we do about it?”

“We do what’s best for your son,” Myron said. “And hers.”

Chapter 12

When they landed, there was another message from Nancy to Brooke: We’ll come by your house tomorrow at 9 AM, okay?

Brooke read the message to Myron and Chick.

“Who the hell is ‘we’?” Chick asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Ask her.”

“I think we should wait,” Brooke said. “I feel like maybe it’ll spook her.”

“Spook her how?” Chick asked.

“I don’t know. Myron?”

“I think you wait,” Myron said.

Brooke typed the reply: Ok, see you tomorrow.

There were two limos waiting, one for the Baldwins and one for Myron. Brooke stopped before she got in and turned to Myron.

“You should be there tomorrow. You saved their son. They’re in your debt.”

Myron wasn’t so sure about that, but he said, “Okay.”

He waited until Brooke and Chick and the limousine were out of sight before heading toward his. When he slid into the back, the driver said, “It’s all been arranged. I’m to stay with you all night.”

“Great.”

“So to the high school?”

Myron checked his watch. “Yeah, that should work.”

He sat back. The world would probably fall apart tomorrow, but tonight would be, if not life affirming, somewhat normal. It was six thirty P.M. when they hit the town oval in front of the high school. The oval, a half-mile perimeter where the townsfolk liked to jog or take brisk walks or share some gossip, had been cleverly dubbed “the Circle” because, hey, close enough. The town police station was across the street. The town library was on the bottom right as you entered the Circle. The town recreation center was on the top right. The town church took up a lot of the left, and there on the top of the oval, front and center, if you will, was the expansive town high school.

Key word: “town.”

The driver pulled up to the gym. Myron opened the heavy metal door and stepped inside. The gym was empty, dark. That surprised him, but then he remembered that they had built a new facility back behind the football field. This one, the one that had meant so much to Myron, was now the “old gym.” It looked it. It looked a hundred years old. It looked like something that should have peach baskets instead of basketball hoops.