“I was hoping you’d know.” I didn’t know what Froehmer knew and what he didn’t know. He was connected to a lot of people, cops, crooks, lawyers, most everyone in town. He never let on about anything, or hardly anything, but I always assumed he knew everything and tried to work from there. But just because he knew everything, didn’t mean I had to tell him all of it. I tried to only tell him enough, to see what he might say on his own. I was trying to make some sense of it. Pieces were taking shape, but I didn’t know how they all fit together.

“I’m going to find out,” Froehmer said. He drank some more coffee. “How are you doing otherwise?” He’d asked me that when we first sat down. I told him the same thing. “I’m doing all right.”

“You need to keep busy,” he repeated. “You’re good on your own. You proved that.”

I wondered if that was the point of it. You never knew with him. He made everything seem like a test, as if you were always auditioning for something, something you never knew was available or not. All I knew was that I didn’t care if he called with another job or not. I didn’t want to be busy. I didn’t want to listen to Froehmer tell me what I needed and didn’t need. I didn’t want to hear anything. I didn’t want to sit in a car without Frank. I didn’t want any of it. I wanted to go back and find out what happened. That was going to keep me busy enough. But I knew Froehmer would call again. He had me under him. I couldn’t walk away, no matter what I wanted.

We walked out of the diner and Froehmer started to walk away without a word. “I’ve got something for you,” I told him, and we walked down the street to my car. Froehmer stayed on the sidewalk as I went to the passenger-side door of the car. He was cautious, I thought. I reached in and got a brown paper bag and handed it to him. Froehmer took it and looked inside. It was the object he wanted from the job. I wasn’t going to take it, but once the cops let me go, I was so mad I went back and took it anyway.

Froehmer was surprised. I could see it in his face, one of the few times I’d ever seen him show it. Maybe he was impressed. “I knew you could do it,” he said. “I knew you still had it. You’re a smart kid.”

I was trying to stay a step ahead of Froehmer, but I didn’t really know what I was doing. Maybe it had been a test. Maybe I passed.