Matty bit his lower lip, still smiling, and he blinked tears down his cheeks, still smiling, and he nodded, still smiling. “Yeah.”

They walked the half block back to the Mercedes. Once inside, with the dome light throwing harsh shadows and the heater pumping, Shaw asked, “Have you called the police?”

“Yeah. I mean, I think. I kind of lost my mind for a little. I just ran. How did you find me?”

“I’ll tell you another time.” Shaw could still feel the heat from the alley, that burning napalm settling into every crack and cranny inside him. “You can buy me a drink. Anywhere but Allure.” Matty actually ducked his head in embarrassment at that, but before he could respond, Shaw added, “I need to make some decisions fast, so you’ve got to tell me what happened tonight. As clearly as you can remember.”

“I was home. After you left, I just stayed there. I was putting up some of the pictures, the ones you saw, and I had dinner at home. Then I went to your office. I know it was stupid.” He plucked at the cardigan and the shirt—two of the buttons were still done up wrong—as though to point out that he’d never made it to bed. “After I talked to you, I came home. I was going to brush my teeth when I heard somebody at the door, and I thought maybe it was you.” Matty ducked his head again. “I don’t know, I just thought maybe you wanted—”

Shaw’s mouth was sandpaper. He wanted to hear it. He wanted to hear what Matty thought he might have wanted.

But Matty just said, “I looked through the peep-hole, thank God, and it was that guy. One of the ones that has been following me all day.”

“What did he look like?”

“Big. Really big. Bald. White. Not young, but not really old either.”

“Thirties? Forties?”

“Somewhere in there.”

“So he’s knocking on the door?”

“No, he didn’t knock. I told you, I heard somebody at the door. Like they were trying to turn the handle. And that’s when I went to look because I thought it was you.” Matty’s face could have started wildfires across the continent. “I think he was trying to pick the lock because I could see the handle jiggling. And I’d set the deadbolt, but—I don’t know. After that, I don’t really know. I was so scared.” His shoulders turned inward, and his voice shrank. “I was terrified. I didn’t even think. I just grabbed my phone and ran. I took the fire escape.”

“I know you were scared. I know you were doing what you thought was best. But if this happens again, Matty, you’ve got to stay in a secure space and wait for the police. What if there had been someone waiting for you at the bottom of the fire escape? What if they’d wanted you to do exactly that?” Shaw saw the look of hurt and embarrassment on Matty’s face, and he reached out, brushing the back of his hand across Matty’s cheek, feeling the superheated skin slick with tears. It was so easy. That was what set Shaw vibrating like he was tuned into some cosmic harmony. It was so easy to do this, to reach out and touch him, to enjoy touching him, when Shaw had spent his whole adult life trying his absolute hardest not to touch, not to enjoy, not to let his feelings slip to the surface. All those years wasted when it could have been easy like this. “I’m not mad at you, baby,” and a part of Shaw’s brain heard that word and sent up a signal flare, danger, danger, and that same part seemed to watch Shaw going into freefall, but it just felt so damn good to touch Matty, to feel his breath change in response to that touch, to know, just from the way Matty looked at Shaw, that Matty wanted this, wanted him. “I’m just telling you because I want you to be safe.”