“I knew it.” He snaps his fingers. “I could sense it, Bobby, the way she spilled her guts.”

“Well, I know her. I know how to handle her, and right now, it’s a delicate situation.”

He whispers, “With her?”

“God, no. Not delicate like that. I mean, with the cops. They’re asking questions, making something out of nothing, but I lied to them about that appointment.”

“Why?”

“I panicked.”

“So tell them. Get them off your case.”

“I would, but it’s too late now. Do you realize how bad that would look? How bad that would make me look?”

He thinks on it and nods.

“So here’s what we have to do.” We, I say, intentionally grouping us together, making sure he believes we’re still a team. “We have to lay low. Ride this out until those assholes stop nosing around. They’ll get bored eventually. And I’m saying this for your own sake, man: you need to go dark for a while.”

He laughs. “Get out of here, man.”

“I’m serious, Ray. I’m looking out for you. You don’t want to get involved, and you sure as hell don’t want to piss off a—what did you call her?”

“Bunny-boiler.”

“Right. Leave her be. Let her calls go to voice mail and keep your side of the street clean. They’ll close the case eventually and we can all get on with our lives, but in the meantime, we have to ride this out without making something out of nothing.”

“Nothing,” he says, looking up at the roof, but he takes it all in and caves. “All right. If that’s how you want to play this.”

“It is.”

“You have to call me if shit gets out of hand again, though.”

“I will. In the meantime, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I can take care of it.”

Unconvinced, he nods.

“All right,” I say. “I have to get back in there.”

He nods again.

“Take home some of those cake things for Leon. Some sandwiches, too. Have a good time in there, buddy.”

“Sure thing,” he says. Somber. Resigned.

I slap him on the shoulder and walk away, knowing that this was the end of us. I wonder if he knows it too, and if he feels the pinch of grief, sensing this might have been our last meaningful conversation, the end of an era. One more witness down.

I go inside and say polite words to people without hearing their responses. The cloud in my ears is too loud. I have nothing to hide or defend, so I don’t need Ray’s assistance, and anyway, he’s the one who demanded I trust my instincts. My instincts say he could be my family’s undoing. He should have dropped it. I did nothing wrong. When I step away to refill my drink, Ray and his family are already gone.

Simone