“Wait, let me write this down.” Myron mimed a pen and paper. “Cheat. A. Little.” He looked up. “Great tip. Are you also going to tell me that behind every great fortune there’s a great crime?”

“You mocking me?”

“Maybe a little, Chick.”

“You think, what, this country is a meritocracy? That we all start in the same place, all have the same chances? That’s crap. I played college football. I was a running back. Was pretty good too. One day I realize that every guy who is trying to tackle me is on steroids. And every guy who is trying to take my position? Steroids. So I have a choice. I can take steroids too. Or I can stop competing.”

“Chick?”

“What?”

“This is an odd argument for cheating on your wife,” Myron said.

“I didn’t cheat.” He leaned in close. “But my point is, either way, you’re leaving this alone.”

“Is that a threat, Chick?”

“Those texts have nothing to do with my kid. And I get your motive here.”

“My motive is finding your kid.”

“Right, sure. You want to hear something that still haunts me? Brooke wanted to call Win as soon as Rhys was taken. Day one. But I talked her out of it. I thought the cops could handle it. I wanted to—and this is funny after what I just told you—I wanted to play by the rules. Do things by the book. Funny, right? So I live with that.”

“You’re not making any sense, Chick.”

He leaned in close. Myron could smell the whiskey. “Whatever happened between me and Nancy,” he said through gritted teeth, “it has nothing to do with my son. You hear me? You need to step off before someone gets badly hurt.”

Myron’s cell phone sounded. He looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Brooke Baldwin calling. He showed it to Chick before bringing the phone to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Chick told me you two were meeting,” Brooke said. “Is he with you now?”

Myron looked at Chick. Chick nodded and leaned into the phone. “I’m right here, hon.”

“Did you both see CNN?”

“Yes,” Myron said.

“I taped it,” Brooke said. “I’ve been watching it freeze-frame.”

Chick said, “So?”

“So I’m not convinced that boy is Patrick Moore.”

Chapter 20

Just seeing Terese’s name on his caller ID made Myron’s bunched shoulder muscles unknot. He hit the answer button as he headed to his car and without preamble said, “I love you so much.”

“No knock on Win,” Terese replied, “but that’s a much cooler way of answering the phone than ‘Articulate.’”

“I may not use it for everyone,” Myron said.

“Oh, why not? Make someone’s day.”

“Where are you?”

“In my hotel room,” Terese said. “Hey, remember the last time we were in a hotel room together?”

Myron couldn’t help but grin. “How many calls did we get complaining about the noise?”

“Well, Myron, you were awfully loud.”

Myron switched the phone to his other ear. “My toes were numb for a week.”