The thought of it brought his hand to the numb spot on his forearm, checking automatically for any change in feeling—a habit that the busyness of the past week had derailed. It would be nice to keep it derailed. He got out of the car and went into the house.

Madeleine wasn’t knitting after all. He could hear her playing her guitar.

“I’m home!” he called out.

“I’ll be down soon,” came the voice from the second floor.

He listened as she played through a few more bars of something pleasantly melodic, ending in a loud resolving chord.

After a few seconds of silence she called down to him, “Listen to number three on the machine.”

Jesus. Not another disturbing message. He’d had more than his fill for the day. He hoped this one would be innocuous. He went into the den to the old landline phone, pressed the button to get to number three, and listened.

“I hope I’m reaching the right Detective Gurney. I’m really sorry if I’ve got the wrong one. The Detective Gurney I’m looking for has been fucking a whore by the name of Kim Corazon. He’s a pathetic, disgusting old fool who’s at least twice the whore’s age. If you’re the wrong Detective Gurney, maybe you could pass along a question to the right one. Ask him if he knows that his son is fucking the same whore. Like father, like son. Maybe Rudy Getz could turn it into a RAM reality show—Gurney Family Gang Bang. Have a nice day, Detective.”

It was the voice of Robby Meese, all pretense of smoothness stripped away, the vocal equivalent of a serrated knife.

As he was replaying the message, Madeleine appeared at the den door, her expression unreadable. “Do you know who that is?” she asked.

“Kim’s ex.”

She nodded grimly, as though the idea had already occurred to her. “He seems to know there’s some sort of relationship between Kim and Kyle. How would he know that?”

“Maybe he saw them together.”

“Where?”

“Maybe in Syracuse?”

“How would he know Kyle was your son?”

“If he’s the one who bugged her apartment, he’d know a lot.”

She folded her arms tightly. “Do you think he might have followed them back here?”

“Possibly.”

“So he could also have followed them yesterday to Kyle’s apartment?”

“Tailing someone in city traffic isn’t as simple as it sounds, especially for someone not used to driving in Manhattan. It’s too easy to get separated with all the stoplights.”

“He sounds motivated.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, he sounds like he really hates you.”

Chapter 34

Allies and Enemies