“A multiplier. He said that it raised the stakes, that we had to talk about it.”

“It raised the stakes?”

“That’s what he said.”

“When are you getting together?”

“At noon on Wednesday. At his place in Ashokan Heights.”

Gurney had the impression she was leaving something out. “And?”

There was a pause. “Oh, God … I hate to ask you this. I feel like such a naïve, helpless little idiot.”

Gurney waited, pretty sure he knew what was coming.

“My vision of what this was going to be like … my assumptions … the way I thought … What I’m trying to say is … my thinking about all of this is obviously not very sound. I need … I need the support, the input of a clearer mind. I have no right to ask you this, but … please …?”

“You want me to come to your Wednesday meeting with Getz?”

“Very much so. Would you? Could you?”

Chapter 33

Getting the Message

At the sign on Franklin Mountain welcoming him back into Delaware County, Gurney left the afternoon sun behind him and descended into a clouded valley. Weather in the mountains seemed to change hourly.

During the remainder of his drive home, he had to keep switching his wipers on and off. He hated driving in the rain—heavy rain, light rain, drizzle, anything gray and wet. Grayness and wetness tended to fertilize his worries.

He became aware of a soreness in his jaw muscles. He’d been clenching his teeth—a side effect of the tension and anger propelling his thoughts.

PTSD. Post-traumatic stress disorder. Three unnerving words. If Holdenfield was right, if his thinking was damaged …

What was it Kim said she needed from him? The input of a clearer mind than hers? He let out a sharp little laugh. Clarity was not currently his strong point.

The thought of their phone conversation reminded him of the seven messages in his voice mail he hadn’t listened to. He was just turning up the mountain lane to his farmhouse, telling himself he’d listen to the messages as soon as he got there. But, afraid of forgetting again, he decided to pull over and go through them.

The first three were from Kim—increasingly stressed requests for him to call her.

The fourth was from Kim’s mother, Connie Clarke.