Karen said, “I’ll tell him this evening, Peter, and that way he has the night to get used to the idea and maybe even excited about meeting you. Then you can meet him tomorrow. You can come to the house. If it goes well, the two of you might go to dinner. You could take him to Dasher’s in Brunly. It’s his favorite.”

“All right. Sure.” Peter was starting to nod, thinking that it sounded pretty good.

Karen said, “One thing.”

“What?”

She looked at Dani, then at Nick and T.J. “It would be less threatening if it were just the two of you.”

“Me and Dani?”

“You and Toby.”

Dani shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Peter leaned back and looked uncertain. “I never go anywhere without the guys. What if I get mobbed?”

Karen flattened her hands on the table. “You’re not going to get mobbed in my home, believe me.”

Peter looked at me, even more uncertain. I nodded. He made a little shrug and then he looked back at Karen. “Okay. That sounds fine. That sounds like you’ve got it all figured out.”

She gave him the flat, cool, vee-pee eyes. “I do. I’ve been figuring it out for the past ten years, so I’m good at it.”

Peter nodded again. “Okay. If that’s the way you want to play it. We can check in here. It’ll be fine.” This wasn’t Peter Alan Nelsen. The real Peter Alan Nelsen had stayed in the city and this was Mr. Reasonable, Peter Alan Nelsen’s alter ego. Sure. That was it.

The waitress went through a little swinging door they have behind the bar and came back with a fat guy and a skinny black guy with a marcel. She pointed at Peter. Karen watched them for a moment, then said something under her breath and stood. She looked tired again, the way she had the night before when we were going through the bank records and Toby had come out. She said, “Thank you for meeting me here instead of coming to the bank, Peter. And thanks for waiting to see Toby. If we continue to cooperate, I know this all will work out to the good.”

Peter looked surprised when she stood, and he took her forearm. “Hey, where you going?”

Karen stiffened as if someone had thrown a switch and she didn’t look tired anymore. She looked hard and bright and she stared at his hand without moving.

Peter said, “What?”

Karen’s eyes flicked up from the hand to Peter’s left eye and held there. Locked on.

Peter gave embarrassed and let go her forearm. “Sorry.”

Karen nodded once, giving him okay, then gathered her purse. “I have work.”

“That’s it? We don’t see each other for ten years, and you have work? I’ve got a lot to tell you. I’ll bet you’ve got questions.”