“Oh, come on. You haven’t been out for days. The sun is out and it has warmed up considerably.”

“Where would I go?” Laurie questioned with a shrug.

“That doesn’t matter,” Jack encouraged. “Take a walk in the park, go Christmas shopping, visit your mother. Just enjoy some freedom.”

“JJ will know I’m gone the second I walk out the door. I’ll be worried sick.”

“You don’t have much confidence in me.”

“As a pediatrician? No, I don’t. Look, I feel lucky to be able to be home with JJ full-time. It would be a lot tougher if I had to go back to work and entrust his care to someone else. Think of it more like that. You are making it possible for me to do what I want to do, rather than me being stuck.”

“Do you mean that?”

“I do. It’s not easy right now, but we’ll be able to start treatment again soon. And the more effort I make, the more confident I am about the ultimate outcome.”

“Okay,” Jack said. He wished he shared her optimism. Giving her a squeeze, he got to his feet and walked to the window. Warren and the others were in the midst of their first game, running up and down the basketball court.

“I think I’ll head out for a little b-ball,” Jack said.

“Good idea, provided you don’t get hurt,” Laurie said. “I’d rather not have another patient in the house.”

“I’ll try to keep that in mind,” Jack said before heading upstairs to change.

Chapter 23

23

6:30 P.M., SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2008
NEW YORK CITY

James had Father Maloney bring James’s beloved Range Rover around from the garage and park it momentarily on the 51st Street side of the residence. A 1995 model, it was hardly a new car, but to James it represented freedom. In the fall and winter months, he used the car to drive to Morris County, New Jersey, to a small lake called Green Pond to spend random solitary weekends at his cottage. It was a heavenly sanctuary from the weekly blur of his endless official responsibilities.

James climbed up into the driver’s seat, heading west, then south along the Hudson River on the West Side Highway.