'Yeah, Neil. What if he wins his argument?'

Thomas shrugged. She looked like Nora, he thought. She looked like Nora when she was frightened.

'We should go,' Samantha said, rooting through her purse. She looked up and smiled girlishly. 'I'm barely fit to drive as it is. How about you? You okay?'

'I'll just take a cab home.'

'Home? The day's just beginning, professor. You're coming with me.'

Thomas smiled, more relieved than annoyed. The thought of returning home made him feel hollow. 'You think so, do you?'

'I know so,' she said to her purse. 'You need to tell Shelley all this.'

She stood abruptly and Thomas found himself following. There was something about her manner, a breezy certainty, that demanded he acquiesce. 'Tell me,' she said as they walked to her white Mustang, 'when was the last time you saw Neil Cassidy?'

And like that, the spell was broken. He was just another tool in her investigative kit, he realized, a way of nailing his best friend.

'About six months ago,' he inexplicably replied.

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER FIVE

August 17th, 1.54 p.m.

The lie nagged him so much the most he could do was stare out the windshield at the flash and glare of passing vehicles. Why hadn't he just told her the truth?

They think he's a serial killer, for Christ's sake!

And Nora was making love to him.

'Where are we going?' he asked numbly.

'Back into the city. To the Field Office.'

'Things will be crazy, I imagine,' he said lamely.

She cocked her head. 'Crazy?'

'You know, with the Chiropractor and all.' In these days of broadband it was rare for anything non-political to rise above the disjointed din of millions pursuing millions of different interests. The niche had become all-powerful. The Chiropractor story was a throwback in a sense, a flashback to the day when sitcoms or murders could provide people a common frame of reference, or at least something to talk about when polite questions gave out.

'Actually things will be quiet,' Sam replied. 'The NYPD's hosting the Chiropractor Task Force.'

Thomas said nothing, stared at two kids in SUNY sweatshirts waiting at a bus stop.

Tell her the truth! Neil's gone off his fucking rocker! You sensed it last night. You just knew something was wrong. He could see them, Neil and Nora making love. He thought of her little 'yoga trick', the one they would laugh about on Sunday mornings. She had always been so hot, so frank with her lust. He could almost hear her whisper in his ear…

'So goooood… So good, Neil…'

His hands were shaking. He took a deep breath.

Tell her!

Sam was turning right on a street he didn't recognize. 'Are you sure you're okay, professor?'